Mike Hughes

Stories

A “True” leap — from Mexico City to the Arctic

Crafting a new edition of HBO’s “True Detective,” Issa Lopez had opposite impulses.
One was to go with sorta-familiar characters.. “I’d heard that people just write themselves over and over again,” she said, in a press forum. “That might be true.”
And the other was to go with a wildly unfamiliar setting. She did that, too.
“True Detective: Night Country” (shown here) — starting at 9 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 14, on HBO and Max — gives us Jodie Foster and Kali Reis as police detectives. Tough and relentless, they may have the qualities Lopez hopes to see in herself. “They are also the women that I fear I am,” she said. “They have flaws that I see in myself.”
But the location? This is set in the Alaskan Arctic and filmed in Iceland, a zillion or so miles from her turf. “I’m Mexican, so I was not prepared,” she said. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / January 6, 2024
News and Quick Comments

The best movie? Globes and Choice differ (a little)

The next couple Sundays will be award-show days.
It will be the Golden Globes (8-11 p.m. ET, CBS) on Jan. 7 and Critics Choice (7-10 p.m., CW) on Jan. 14. We’ll end up hearing a lot aboug “Barbie” (shown here); we’ll also get an idea of movies to catch up on.
The shows do have other things to offer: There’s humor from the hosts – Jo Koy for the Globes, Chelsea Handler for the Critics Choice. The Globes also have a full set of TV categories. Still, the important thing may be telling us which movies to look for, pror to the Academy Award nominations (Jan. 23) and ceremony (March 10). Read more…

By Mike Hughes / January 5, 2024
Daily Best Bets

Best-bets for Jan. 7: Globes, “Grimsburg,” “Great and Small”

1) “All Creatures Great and Small” season-opener, 9 p.m., PBS. The sweet, village-veterinarian life will be shaken in this excellent season. Tristan has left for World War II and James, who’s talkimg with Helen (they’re shown here) about having a baby, might be next. Siegfried will soon hire a bookkeeper and a young vet. Tonight brings gentler problems, including a stray dog and a sort-of-stray boy. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / January 5, 2024
Weekly Previews

Week’s top-10 for Jan. 8: Lots of drama, in football and beyond

1) Football. The week starts and ends with big games. Today, the college season has its national championship at 7:30 p.m. ET on ESPN and ESPN2, with a pregame show at 7. Michigan (shown here) and Washington – undefeated and ranked No. 1 and 2 – collide. Then the pros start their month-long playoffs. There are two games Saturday and three on Sunday, plus one more on Monday, Jan. 15.
Read more…

By Mike Hughes / January 4, 2024
News and Quick Comments

Want new dramas? Here’s a sorta-strong Sunday

For TV, this is the post-strike time when dramas gradually return.
A few arrive soon; NBC has “La Brea” on Jan. 9 and the Chicago shows on Jan. 17. Others will be much later — “Grey’s Anatomy,” March 14;“9-1-1: Lone Star” next fall.
But for viewers in a real hurry, there’s PBS. In one burst Sunday (Jan. 7), it has two season-openers (“Miss Scarlet and the Duke” and “All Creatures Great and Small”) and a series debut (“Funny Woman,” shown here).
As it happens, all three improve as their six-Sunday season advances. “Miss Scarlet” starts quite poorly, then rights itself. “Funny Woman” goes from OK to quite good. “All Creatures” starts at very good … then gets even better. Let’s look: Read more…

By Mike Hughes / January 4, 2024
Stories

“Purple” and “Wonka” revive musical movies

At times, it seemed like Hollywood had made its last musical.
The genre felt wobbly and weary. And then …
Well, then we got bursts like this, with two big-deal musicals side-by-side in theaters. They are opposites: “Wonka” starts in a place of joy, “The Color Purple” (shown here) in a place of despair. Yet they both stir us, musically and emotionally. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / January 3, 2024
Daily Best Bets

Best-bets for Jan. 5: “Videos” returns; so does “Fire”

1) “Greatest @Home Videos,” 8 p.m., CBS. Born amid the pandemic’s burst of online originality, this has its 10th special. It’s the second with an award-show theme. Cedric the Entertainer picks the best videos from around the world, settles on a top two and lets viewers choose. Max Greenfield, who stars with him in “The Neighborhood” (shown here) shows up as “verifier of the results of stuff.” Read more…

By Mike Hughes / January 3, 2024
Daily Best Bets

Best-bets for Jan. 4: comedies(old and new) and wedding (golden)

1) “The Conners,” 8:30 and 9 p.m.,, CW. This is a first: A show that still has new episodes on one broadcast network will have reruns on another. “The Conners” (shown here) starts its sixth season Feb. 7 on ABC, but now it reruns its first season here. That starts with some terrific episodes – the first with the family impacted by Roseanne’s death, the second with David (Johnny Galecki) visiting. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / January 2, 2024
Daily Best Bets

Best-bets for Jan. 3: “Magnum” ends, “Family” starts

1) “Magnum P.I.” finale, 9 and 10 p.m., NBC. This often juggles opposites — a sleek crime tale and a clumsy drama. That’s true in the first hour, with a clever crime scheme sharing time with a flat phone-hotline story. But the second hour (shown here) handles personal stories briskly and focuses on the crime. With one flaw – this guy was foolish to hire Magnum – it’s a winner, a good way to end the series. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / January 1, 2024