Mike Hughes

News and Quick Comments

“Highway” gets a movie reboot

“Highway to Heaven” will return to TV, three decades after the death of the man who molded it.
Michael Landon (shown here with Victor French, his co-star) created the show, produced it, directed most of the episodes and starred as a probationary angel, helping people on Earth.
The new version will be on cable’s Lifetime, with key differences: It will be a movie (not a series), planned as the first of several. And this time, the angel will be a Black woman, played by Jill Scott. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / June 21, 2021
Daily Best Bets

Best-bets for June 23: Season ends for “Black,” starts for “Dark”

1) “The Blacklist” season-finale, 10 p.m., NBC. After eight years of tangled twists and smart dialog, “Blacklist” might be ready to share a few secrets. Elizabeth Keen (Megan Boone) has shattered her FBI career, while obsessing on catching Raymond Reddington (James Spader), the former mentor who killed her mother. (They’re shown here in an early episode.) Now he has a disturbing request, before he’ll reveal his true identity. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / June 21, 2021
Daily Best Bets

Best-bets for June 22: College kids are brainy or witchy

1) “College Bowl” debut, 10 p.m., NBC. This notion goes back to 1953 on radio and ‘59 on TV. Now it has droll, dry work from Peyton Manning (shown here) as the host and his brother Cooper as sidekick. The opener has Auburn-Alabama and Michigan-Minnesota, with eight more schools arriving on the next two Tuesdays. A few of the categories (including spelling) make so-so viewing and the “speed round” makes the first round fairly insignificant. Overall, however, it’s a modestly interesting hour. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / June 20, 2021
Daily Best Bets

Best-bets for June 21: Start summer on the beach

1) “Gidget” (1959), 9:45 p.m., Turner Classic Movies, and more. On the first full day of summer, TCM has a spree of summer movies (see separate story, above). “Gidget” is partly old-school — sweet girl, warm family — and partly new, with a teen (Sandra Dee, shown here) who surfs with the guys. Other summer settings are in Betty Grable’s “Moon Over Miami” (1941, 8 p.m.), the French comedy “Mr. Hulot’s Holiday” (1953, 11:30), the Bogart-Bacall “Key Largo” (1948, 1:15 a.m.) and Andy Hardy’s “You’re Only Young Once” (1938, 3:15 a.m.). Read more…

By Mike Hughes / June 19, 2021
News and Quick Comments

Miley sets Pride Month concert on Peacock

For the second straight Friday, viewers can catch a major special keyed to Pride Month.
On June 18, it was a “Pose” marathon. And on June 25, Peacock will add a concert, “Miley Cyrus Presents Stand B You.”
Cyrus (shown here), who identifies as pansexual, has been a long-time supporter of LGBT issues. She’ll sing her own hits, including “The Climb” and “Party in the U.S.A.,” plus such slongs as “True Colors,” “Believe,” “We Belong,” “Dancing Queen” and a medley of “Music,” “Express Yourself” and “Like a Prayer.” Read more…

By Mike Hughes / June 17, 2021
Daily Best Bets

Best-bets for June 19: A busy, passionate Juneteenth

1) “Fight the Power: The Movements That Changed America,” 8 p.m., History. On Juneteenth – a day that celebrates the end of slavery — this film views the impact of key movements. Co-produced by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, it ranges from early civil rights protests to current Black Lives Matter (shown here) ones, plus others involving gays, women and union members. The channel also has documentaries on the Tuskegee Airmen (7 p.m.), the Tulsa massacre (9:02 p.m. and 12:03 a.m.) and civil rights (11:05 p.m.). Read more…

By Mike Hughes / June 17, 2021
Stories

Summer movies: silly, sunny, sometimes splendid

For filmmakers, summer has always been a favorite time.
It has the right backdrops – sun and surf and such; it also has people in shorts and swimwear.
But there’s more to it than that. It’s the time when characters “get out of their comfort zone,” said John Malahy, author of the new “Summer Movies.”
His book outlines 30 films, from the serious to the silly, from the highly regarded “Jaws” to … well, “Beach Blanket Bingo” (shown here). Some trends arise. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / June 17, 2021
Weekly Previews

Week’s top-10 for June 21: Debuts and finales cross paths

1) “Making It” season-opener, 8 p.m. Thursday, NBC. It’s been a long wait for one of TV’s best competition shows. The first two seasons brought Emmy nominations for its hosts (Amy Poehler and Nick Offerman, shown here) and a Television Critics Association nomination for best reality show. Then came an 18-month shutdown. But now it’s back, with likable contestants (taxidermist, muralist, etc.) making projects that have personal links. “So many tears in episode one,” Poehler says. And quite a few laughs. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / June 16, 2021
Daily Best Bets

Best-bets for June 18: Juneteenth (almost) parties and streaming debuts

1) “Juneteenth: Together We Triumph,” 9-11 p.m., ABC. For the second year, ABC has a special keyed to the celebrations (shown here) on Juneteenth weekend. This one (on the eve of the holiday) is hosted by Leslie Odom Jr., with music by Jimmy Allen, Chloe Bailey (of Chloe x Halle) and Leon Bridges. Michael Strahan interviews Barack Obama; there are features on Black farmers, artists and businesses, plus looks at soul food and at new links with whites in small towns and with Asian-American religious leaders in cities. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / June 16, 2021