Month: September 2026

News and Quick Comments

Surprise: “SNL” opens season with a basketball star

It will be a different sort of season-opener for “Saturday Night Live” this fall: No movie star, no comedian … but, instead, a basketball player.
That’s Jalen Brunson (shown here), who led the Knicks to the championship. He’ll host on Sept. 26, with Katseye as the music guest.
That will be followed by more-traditional hosts — a movie star (Dakota Johnson), a comedian (Shane Gillis) and — appropriately, on Halloween — a horror-film star (Inde Navarrette). Details, at 11:29 p.m. on NBC, are: Read more…

By Mike Hughes / September 9, 2026
News and Quick Comments

We don’t have to wait until October to be frightened

Apparently, we don’t have to wait until next month to get really, terribly, awfully frightened.
October is when Freeform has its “31 Days of Halloween” (with fairly gentle tales) and others — AMC, Syfy, etc. — have variations. But Paramount+ now helpfully tells us about the horror films it already has.
That includes all three “A Quiet Place” films, all four “Pet Semetary,” all seven “Paranormal Activity: and all eight “Scream” (depicted here). Horror movies seem to have lots of sequels. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / September 8, 2026
Daily Best Bets

Best-bets for Sept. 10: two comedy gems

1) “Colin From Accounts” final season, Paramount+. In one eight-episode clump, here’s the entire season. It’s written (beautifully) by the married duo of Patrick Brammall (left) and Harriet Dyer (third from left), who also star. Starting three years after his drunken proposal, this gets some big laughs, then ends with warmth and humor. Once you’re past the Australian accents, it’s a delight. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / September 8, 2026
News and Quick Comments

Specials surge: VMAs, “Judge Judy” and more

In the new TV world, award shows and specials have become more important. Now CBS is planning a flurry for this fall.
That includes a three-Sunday stretch of “Video Music Awards” specials (Sept. 13, 20 and 27), sandwiched around one special with Cedric the Entertainer and another with “Judge Judy” (shown here). All of those are before the network starts its new season, in the first week of October. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / September 6, 2026
Stories

Steinem: a joyous journey to change the world

In her early days as a free-lance journalist, Gloria Steinem said, one editor dismissed her abruptly.
That was at Life magazine. “We don’t want a pretty girl,” he said. “We want a writer.”
Steinem told the story in “Famous Last Words,” a fascinating Netflix show whose interviews aren’t released until after the person’s death. This one debuted Thursday (Sept. 3), the day after her death at 92.
What it shows is the Steinem (shown here) we’re accustomed to. She joked, laughed, recalled her decades of women’s-rights struggles fondly. “It doesn’t feel hard,” she said. “It feels like fun.” Read more…

By Mike Hughes / September 5, 2026
Daily Best Bets

Best-bets for Sept. 7: fun with “Sunny” and “Schitt’s”

1) “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia,” 9 p.m., FX and FXX. The gang is sort of in its natural habitat here — a Renaissance fair (shown here), where weirdness is normal. Naturally, they take it too far, in an episode that’s erratic, but quite funny. That’s followed by a good “Adults” rerun, with Anton finding that people do, unfortunately, sometimes listen to him. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / September 5, 2026