Mike Hughes

Daily Best Bets

Best-bets for June 11: Songs soar on Tonys show

1) Tony Awards, 8-11 p.m. ET, CBS. Each year, this ripples with great Broadway musical moments There should be more than ever this time, in a show that’s unscripted, due to the writers’ strike. Expect music from host Ariana DeBose (shown hosting last year’s Tonycast), from the nominated musicals — revivals (“Sweeney Todd,” “Into the Woods,” “Camelot,” “Parade”) and new (“Some Like It Hot,” “New York, New York,” “Kimberly Akimbo,” “& Juliet,” “Shucked”) — and more, including “Funny Girl” and a Joel Grey tribute. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / June 10, 2023
Daily Best Bets

Best-bets for June 10: “SNL” stars, past and present

1) “Gilda Live” (1980), 8 p.m. ET, Turner Classic Movies, and “Saturday Night Live,” 11:29 p.m., NBC. Here’s some fun for “SNL” fans, past and present. First, is a film of a Broadway show; deftly directed by Mike Nichols, it has Gilda Radner (shown here) at her best, in gently amusing sketches and songs. Then an “SNL” rerun has Miles Teller as host and Kendrick Lamar as music guest. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / June 10, 2023
News and Quick Comments

Jesus’ life becomes a primetime series

Having dumped its superheroes, the CW network is now going with the ultimate hero.
Gone are Superman, Batman, Stargirl, Arrow, The Flash and more. Arriving is Jesus.
On July 16, the mini-network will air “The Chosen” (shown here) on Sundays. The show, first funded by crowdsourcing, already has 25 episodes (from three seasons) CW plans to air the last of those on Christmas Eve. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / June 10, 2023
News and Quick Comments

Tonys plan to pack night with music

With lots of time on its hands, this year’s Tony Awards ceremony will be awash in music.
The telecast will be 8-11 p.m. ET Sunday (June 11) on CBS, with some West Coast stations airing it twice – at 5 and 8 p.m. PT. There will also be a preview show at 6:30 PT on Pluto, hosted by Julianne Hough and Skylar Astin.
With the writers strike continuing, there won’t be a script. That leaves plenty of time for music from the casts (including “Shucked,” shown here), the host (Ariana DeBose) and others. Alongside the awards (for musicals and plays), there will be: Read more…

By Mike Hughes / June 8, 2023
Stories

Here’s the good, the bad and the schlocky

Yes, movies keep trying to be bigger and better.
But it’s time to celebrate the opposite – ones that are brash and bizarre and, at times, really bad.
On Friday night (June 16), Turner Classic Movies has a sort of schlockfest, from “Beach Blanket Bingo” (shown here) and “Barbarella” (8 and 9:45 p.m. ET) to the notorious “Plan 9 From Outer Space,” at 5:45 a.m.
All of them fit the loose category of “camp.” In a short film on its website, TCM describes camp as when “artifice and exaggeration transcends taste” and when it has “style over substance,” a place where “pretentiousness and virtue are left behind.” Read more…

By Mike Hughes / June 8, 2023
Stories

CW fills out its summer line-up

The CW network – in the midst of a year-round makeover – has finally set the rest of its summer plans.
Even before the writers’ strike, the mini-network (under new ownership) was shedding its expensive superhero adventuress. Instead, it’s going for unscripted shows or scripted ones from other countries.
An example of the former is “Inside the NFL,” coming to CW this fall, after previous runs on HBO, Showtime and Paramount+.
That fall line-up will have several Canadian shows, which are also key to the plans now (including “Family Law,” shown here). Here’s the summer line-up: Read more…

By Mike Hughes / June 7, 2023
Weekly Previews

Week’s top-10 for June 12: no-rerun comedy, mysteries, zombies

1) “The Wonder Years” season-openers, 9 and 9:30 p.m. Wednesday, ABC. In a rerun-and-reality summer, here’s a surprise – a new season of a pleasant-enough comedy-drama (shown here in a previous episode), set in the late 1960s. Both episodes – one in New York, the other back in Alabama — have key guest roles. In the first, Travis Burgess is a surprising neighbor. In both, Phoebe Robinson (“Everything’s Trash” and “2 Dope Queens”) is Dean’s fun (and wild) aunt. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / June 7, 2023
Daily Best Bets

Best-bets for June 9: “SWAT” survives, streamers grow

1) “SWAT,” 8 p.m., CBS. Twice, this has survived almost being banished. CBS canceled it for next season … then reversed itself and gave it a final 13 episodes. It planned to bump it for a reality show, starting tonight … then pushed that back two months. So here is “SWAT” (shown here in a previous episode) in its usual spot, with a rerun from last October: The unit’s armored vehicle has been stolen and could be used in a terrorist attack. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / June 7, 2023
News and Quick Comments

Podcasts and murders combine for fun (again)

(This is an updated version of the “Based on a True Story” review)
In the modern media world, two genres have entwined.
There are true-crime podcasts and there are streaming networks’ comedy-dramas. Mix them together and you have a delight.
First was “Only Murders in the Building,” the Steve Martin gem that starts its third season Aug. 8 on Hulu. Now comes Peacock’s “Based on a True Story” (shown here) with its entire first season Thursday (June 8). Read more…

By Mike Hughes / June 6, 2023
Daily Best Bets

Best-bets for June 8: fun with geese and judgements and such

1) “Animal Control,” 9 and 9:30 p.m., Fox. Both reruns manage to blend big sight gags and clever dialog. In this hour, we literally see a wild goose chase and a pig in a blanket; we hear about a red herring and an elephant in the room. We also see Frank (Joel McHale, shown here in a previous episode, left) scramble to duck blame for taking a tranquilizer dart. And in some hilarious moments, two folks who had iffy student behavior must now give a school presentation. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / June 6, 2023