Mike Hughes

Daily Best Bets

Best-bets for Dec. 20: two winners and a young hero

1) “Survivor” finale, 8-11 p.m., CBS. This started with three lawyers (some of them keeping that a secret) and 15 others, including a nurse, a bartender and a truck driver. And now? All the lawyers are still there – Julie Alley, 49, and Katarah Topps, 35 (they’re shown here, center and right, in a glimpse from last week) plus Jake O’Kane, 26. But 13 of the others are gone, leaving only Austin Li Coon, a grad student, and Dee Valladares, an entrepreneur, both 26. Tonight, we’ll have a winner and a 10 p.m. after-show. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / December 18, 2023
Daily Best Bets

Best-bets for Dec. 19: a night for finales and survival

1) “A Murder at the End of the World” finale, Hulu. Over six previous episodes, we’ve seen strangers meet in an eerily futuristic house, in a menacingly remote piece of Iceland. Now three of them are dead and the police are stymied by a snowstorm. A youmg genius (superbly played by Emma Corrin, shown here, who was the first Diana in “The Crown”) must solve this. In the best mystery tradition, it’s a result few people would have predicted. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / December 17, 2023
Daily Best Bets

Best-bets for Dec. 18: showdown time on “The Voice”

1) “The Voice,” 8-10, NBC. The final five get one more chance. There are two singers apiece with Reba McEntire (Jacquie Roar and Ruby Leigh) and Niall Horan (Huntley, shown here, and Mara Justine), one with John Legend (Lila Forde) and none with Gwen Stefani. They’ll each do a ballad and an uptempo song; Also, Bryce Leatherwood, the winner a year ago, performs. Viewers will vote and learn Tuesday who won. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / December 16, 2023
News and Quick Comments

“Crown” found deep humanity amid royal chaos

Wrapping up its six-season run, “The Crown” (shown here) showed how good long-form TV can be.
Writer-producr Peter Morgan had already mastered the short take: His Oscar-nominated “The Queen” (2006) was a brilliant visit to a brief, befuddling time after Diana’s death.
Then he took the big sweep: In seven years, six seasons and 60 episodes, he viewed the first 54 years of Elizabeth II’s reign.
The story ended with Charles’ wedding in 2005, with his mom ready for 17 more years. Getting to that point was fascinating, in the six episodes that arrived Thursday (Dec. 14). Read more…

By Mike Hughes / December 15, 2023
Daily Best Bets

Best-bets for Dec. 17: Lots of animation, plus Willie at 90

1) “Willie Nelson’s 90th Birthday Celebration,” 8:30-10:30 p.m., CBS (but 8-10 p.m. on the West Coast).We’ll overlook the fact that Nelson’s 90th birthday was 233 days ago. Any excuse to hear this 12-time Grammy-winner (shown here) is fine. Also performing are his sons, plus stars from country (George Strait, Miranda Lambert, Chris Stapleton) and beyond (Keith Richards, Norah Jones, Dave Matthews, Sheryl Crow, Beck, Gary Clark Jr. and Snoop Dogg). Read more…

By Mike Hughes / December 15, 2023
Stories

New worlds? Percy is ready for them; so is Walker

The notion might seem overwhelming: A regular lad is whisked away to a special place, where he must do big things.
That happened to Harry Potter … And to Percy Jackson, the centerpiece of an epic series that starts Wednesday (Dec. 20) on Disney+ … And, sort of, to the actors playing them.
To Walker Scobell (shown here), who stars as Percy, such changes are a natural part of life. He grew up in a military family, accustomed to new schools and new lives.
“I think that helped with being an actor in general,” he said at a virtual press conference. “My dad is so used to moving a lot and our whole family is. So it wasn’t a big change.” Read more…

By Mike Hughes / December 15, 2023
Weekly Previews

Week’s top-10 for Dec. 18: Big-deal finales … and two debuts

1) “The Voice” finale, 8 p.m. today and Tuesday, NBC. Tonight, the five finalists each do a ballad and an uptempo song; then viewers vote. The performances will be recapped at 8 p.m. Tuesday; at 9, finalists perform with their coaches – Lila Forde with John Legend, Ruby Leigh and Jacquie Roar (shown here) with Reba McEntire, Huntley and Mara Justine with Niall Horan. Also performing: Keith Urban, AJR, Tyla, Jelly Roll and Earth, Wind & Fire and Dan + Shay. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / December 14, 2023
News and Quick Comments

Christmas TV soars; here’s updated schedule

As Christmas nears, networks have made a few additions, subtractions and schedule-flips.
ABC added “The Sound of Music” (shown here) for Dec. 17 and gave it the full Sunday-night landscape, from 7-11 p.m. CW added an extra night of “The Chosen,” nudging “Grandma Got Run Over By a Reindeer” to Dec. 22. And the Turner networks (TBS, TNT, Turner Classic Movies) made several swithes.
With that in mine, here’s an updated round-up for Dec. 14-24. (For general reference, the original list still exists, under “stories.”)
This skips most Christmas episodes of regular shows and (with a few exceptions) reruns of TV movies. For theatrical films, it includes the eternal ones and skips the rest. Also, it barely scratches the vast resources of streaming networks; check your streamer for details. Here we go: Read more…

By Mike Hughes / December 14, 2023
Daily Best Bets

Best-bets for Dec. 16: Kate, Grinch & Frosty

1) “Saturday Night Live,” 11:29 p.m., NBC. A good season could turn into a great one: Kate McKinnon (shown here) is hosting and Billie Eilish is the music guest. “SNL” often seems to have one person who dominates the sketches. It’s Bowen Yang now (with Kenan Thompson a close second); at other times, it’s been Eddie Murphy, Will Ferrell, Kristen Wiig and, especially, McKinnon. Add Eilish and you may have one of the show’s best episodes. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / December 14, 2023