Mike Hughes

Stories

Basketball bounced him toward “Will Trent” stardom

These days, Ramon Rodriguez’s world is all about crimesolving.
On “Will Trent” (shown here), at 10 p.m. Tuesdays on ABC, he stars as a cop with many minuses – dyslexia, rough childhood, stern surface – and one great plus: He seems to see everything, listen to everyone.
“I wanted him to be a believable, multi-faceted man,” novelist Karin Slaughter said. Many readers “really love him and think he’s sexy, … because he listens to women.”
But for years, Rodriguez’s life had nothing to do with this. “I didn’t want to be an actor …. Basketball was my biggest passion,” he told the Television Critics Association. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / January 12, 2023
Daily Best Bets

Best-bets for Jan. 14: heroes of fact, fiction & football

1) Football, 4:30 p.m. ET, Fox; and 8:15 p.m., NBC. The college season has finally finished, but the pros are just starting their play-offs. That starts now with San Francisco (shown here) hosting Seattle and then Jacksonville hostingh the Los Angeles Chargers. There are three more games Sunday, plus Monday Night Football. The six winners will then join the two top-seeded teams; all will be two wins from the Super Bowl. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / January 12, 2023
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Just what we need — one more TV +

Americans now have one more choice in their +-filled lives.
They’ve already confronted Disney+, Paramount+, Discovery+, AMC+ and, for a brief blip, CNN+. Now – starting Sunday (Jan. 15) – they have MGM+.
This one has a flashier name than most. (MGM is “one of the most venerable and beloved brands in the history of our industry,” claimed Michael Wright, the MGM+ president; one of its first new shows, “Murf the Surf,” shown here, reflects ’60s-style pizzaz.) It also has a smaller impact; unlike some of its plus-pals, it:
— Is a new name for an existing service, Epix. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / January 11, 2023
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A golden night for a long-delayed comeback

It was one of those neat, full-circle moments:
The first Golden Globe of the night went to Ke Huy Quan (shown here), for “Everything, Everywhere, All at Once.” He thanked Steve Spielberg, who gave him his great roles (“Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom” and “Goonies”); he also granted that his career went stagnant after that.
And the last Globe of the night went to Spielberg. His “Fabelmans” was named the best drama movie, shortly he won for best-director. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / January 11, 2023
Daily Best Bets

Best-bets for Jan. 13: Bode, blazes, “Blue Bloods”

1) “Fire Country,” 9 p.m. CBS. A quick success, this is near the top 10 in the Nielsen ratings and has been renewed for next season. At the core is Bode (Max Thieriot, shown here), trimming his prison sentence by fighting fires; his unit was sent to his home town, renewing old troubles. Now his ex-girlfriend and his mother face medical emergencies, after a crash creates a power outage and starts a blaze. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / January 11, 2023
Stories

A surgeon’s life takes a witchly turn

Rowan Mayfair has a mixed life – empty at home, busy at work.
She’s a gifted neurosurgeon, navigating a hospital filled with male egos. She doesn’t need any complications, but now there’s one more: She’s a witch who can inadvertently kill with her mind.
All of that happened in the opener of “Mayfair Witches” (shown here with Alexandra Daddario), available on AMC+. The second episode (10 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 15, on AMC and AMC+) takes it from there.
Lots of TV characters seem to find they are witches or werewolves or such. Most are young, their lives in flux anyway; author Anne Rice changed that when she created Rowan. “She’s been a good girl for her whole life,” said Esta Spalding, co-creator of the eight-week series. But then she finds “that other side of her, which is powerful and potentially destructive.” Read more…

By Mike Hughes / January 11, 2023
Stories

From “Trek” to “Grease,” Paramount+ mines its past

If you want to start a big-time streaming service, here’s a tip: It helps to have a movie studio.
That’s what Disney+ and HBO Max do. They have treasure hunts through the Disney and Warner vaults, finding films to re-make, revise or re-imagine. And lately, Paramount+ has done the same.
Once a modest streamer called CBS All Access, it has been renamed and re-vitalized, jumping from four million subscribers (four years ago) to closer to 50 million. At Television Critics Association sessions, it offered ambitious plans, many of them linked to past Paramount hits.
“Star Trek” has been a key. Paramount+ has launched two large series (“Discovery” and “Strange New Worlds” ), an intimate one (“Picard”), an animated one (“Lower Decks”) and “Short Treks.” Now the “Next Generation” cast is re-uniting on Feb. 16, for what will be the final “Picard” season – maybe. “There is still enormous potential for narrative, in what we’ve been doing,” said star Patrick Stewart, 82, (shown here with Levar Burton). “And there are doors left open.
Meanwhile, other shows are also being mined. There’s: Read more…

By Mike Hughes / January 10, 2023
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Back, at last, to sunny (?) California

PASADENA — It was three years ago that we headed home from the Television Critics Association sessions, already looking forward to the next ones.
These trips, twice a year, run for two-plus weeks in California, bringing blue skies, sunshine, optimism and TV stars. Then the world stopped.
Today (Jan. 9), the TCA finally started its first in-person sessions since January of 2020. Onstage this morning was Kiefer Sutherland … just as he’d been so often in the past. He was followed by the young cast of a “Grease” prequel (shown here). Everything was back to normal … except, of course, it wasn’t: Read more…

By Mike Hughes / January 9, 2023
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It’s overcrowded, over budget and kinda fun

It was Yogi Berra, the famed philosopher, who best summed up the Disney World experience.
“No wonder no one ever comes here,” he once said. “It’s too crowded.”
Berra (also known for baseball) was talking about a New York restaurant, but his comment perfectly suits the mega-theme-park (show here) in Orlando. By all logic, the crowded conditions would keep people away … except, quite obviously, they don’t.
I went during what books describe as one of the quieter times, waiting until Jan. 2 to enter the parks. Walking past one ride, I mentioned that the stated wait-time was two hours. “It’s insane,” a stranger said, while pushing a baby stroller. Still, a 13-year-old whom I know to be exceptionally sane waited two-and-a-half hours for the “Avatar” ride. Afterward, he pronounced it as worth it. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / January 9, 2023