Mike Hughes

Stories

Music, masses and fireworks: TV’s set for the 4th

On the July 4 weekend, it seems, all Americans will simultaneously be:
— Partying outdoors, with music and fireworks and such; and
— Sitting at home, watching music and fireworks and such.
At least, that’s the plan, as networks set massive 250th-birthday plans.
Fireworks? NBC will be in New York, as usual … CBS and Fox News will be in Washington, D.C. … ABC and its cable and streaming chanels will be in Nashville and Disneyland …PBS will be in Colonial Williamsburg — a day after many of its stations are at Mount Vernon.
Music? You’ll find lots of country stars — Reba McEntire, Blake Shelton, Trace Adkins, Tim McGraw, Clint Black, etc. — plus others, including Post Malone, Bebe Rexha, Ne-Yo, Jon Batiste, Kelli O’Hara and Judy Collins.
Here are the plans, with details pending; all are for the 4th, except where noted. We’ll start with the networks that have been doing this every year: Read more…

By Mike Hughes / June 19, 2026
Daily Best Bets

Best-bets for June 21: monsters and mysteries

1) “House of the Dragon” (shown here) season-opener, 9 p.m. Sunday, HBO and HBO Max. Here is epic filming — TV on a mega-movie scale. At one point, the show had expected to close its second season with the Battle of the Gullet. Now, instead, it uses that to give the third season a huge start. Dragons, ships and warriors collide in the water between two kingdoms.
Read more…

By Mike Hughes / June 18, 2026
Weekly Previews

Week’s top-10 for June 22: “Bear,” Brooks, music

1) CMA Fest, 8-11 p.m. Thursday, ABC. Riley Green and Lara Spencer host a night with country’s top stars. There are long-timers — Blake Shelton, Luke Bryan, Lainey Wilson, Keith Urban, Gretchen Wilson, Jason Aldean, Tim McGraw –plus relatively fresh forces. They include Ella Langley (shown here with Green), Jelly Roll, Cody Johnson, Shaboozey and Molly Tuttle. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / June 18, 2026
Daily Best Bets

Best-bets for June 20: great movies, old and new

1) “Bonnie and Clyde” (1969), 5:45 p.m. ET, Turner Classic Movies; and “Project Hail Mary” (2026), 8 p.m., MGM+. Some 57 years apart, both films blended smart stories, great actors (shown here are Faye Dunaway and Warren Beatty as Bonnie and Clyde) and great cinematic skill. That’s also true of “Top Gun: Maverick” (6:50 and 10 p.m., Paramount Network) and the “Godfather” (6 and 9, Showtime) and “Lord of the Rings” (2, 6 and 10, TruTV) films. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / June 18, 2026
Stories

No build-up needed: “Dragon” is in battle mode

Amid all the “Games of Thrones” extremes, all the sex and spectacle and such, a pattern emerged.
Viewers got used to “a slow build and then there’s an explosion — maybe midway through and then certainly near the end” of a season, said Ryan Condal, writer-producer of “House of the Dragon” (shown here) a “Thrones” prequel.
That’s what makes the third “House” season such a surprise: It starts (9 p.m. Sunday, June 21, on HBO and HBO Max) in full battle mode.
“I think it’s going to put people back on their heels,” Condal said, in a Zoom press conference. “It just comes out so heavy and unexpectedly.” Read more…

By Mike Hughes / June 17, 2026
Daily Best Bets

Best-bets for June 19: a potent Juneteenth

1) “The Clash of Nations,” 8-10:05 p.m., History. Two boxing matches (1936 and ’38) were seen as global symbols. Max Schmeling (left) represented “German superiority”; Joe Louis (right) was the rising Black American. This film debuts on Juneteenth (which marks the end of slavery), preceded by films on Jesse Owens (6 p.m.) and the stars who followed Jackie Robinson (4). Read more…

By Mike Hughes / June 17, 2026
News and Quick Comments

Knicks Network? That’s NBC for now

NBC is turning the New York Knicks’ championship into a three-day celebration. That includes:
— Tonight (June 15): The Knicks do a takeover of Jimmy Fallon’s “Tonight Show,” at 11:35 p.m.
— Tuesday: At 10 p.m., “Password” has the Knicks’ Josh Hart competing with Jimmy Fallon; there’s even a category focusing on the team. (The previously scheduled hour with Ice-T will air later.) And at 12:35 a.m., Karl-Anthony Towns (shown here) visits Seth Meyers’ late show.
— Wednesday: Og Anunoby visits Meyers’ show. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / June 16, 2026
Daily Best Bets

Best-bets for June 18: Elvis, Elsbeth and dinosaurs

1) “Surviving Earth,” 8 p.m.. NBC. A lush, tropical era prevailed for millions of years, we’re told. As this hour begins (232 million years ago) that’s ending. Rains abate as new creatures — early mammals (shown here) and dinosaurs — roam. With great special effects, it’s a fairly good hour, followed by a splendid “Americas” rerun visiting the Amazon. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / June 16, 2026
Stories

You think it’s bleak now? Just wait

After the first couple “Vampire Lestat” episodes, we’d be tempted to call the show bleak. Or grim or downbeat or such.
Lestat, after all, is a rock-and-roller (shown here) who doesn’t just rip up hotel rooms after the show. He also rips up bodies, barely survives an attack and reflects on his tortured childhood, 130 years ago.
But hey, that was just a warm-up. From here, said Sam Reid (who stars), “it gets pretty bleak.”
Rolin Jones — who created this show, which continues the two seasons of “Interview With The Vampire” — agreed. Starting with the third episode (9 p.m. June 21, on AMC), “it’s going to get about as dark as we’ve ever gone.” Read more…

By Mike Hughes / June 14, 2026
Daily Best Bets

Best-bets for June 17: new Homer; random awards

1) “The Simpsons,” Disney+. Yes, a new episode is arriving in June — and for streaming-only. Disney+ is celebrating the fact that it now has all 37 seasons of the show, plus the movie and shorts. This one has Marge (shown here in a previous episode) imagine life with alternate Homers; there will be two more new episodes this summer. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / June 14, 2026