Mike Hughes

Weekly Previews

Week’s top-10 for Jan. 24: debuts and a great “Alien” return

1) “Resident Alien” season-opener, 9 p.m. Wednesday, Syfy. Here is one of TV’s best shows, rippling with wit and weirdness. It hasn’t received the attention and awards it deserves, but you can catch up via Hulu or Peacock or more. Or just start with this brilliant episode. An alien killed Dr. Harry, took over his body (shown here) and prepared to kill all humans. There were technical woes, so he tried to return home. Then there was a stowaway and a crash. Now he has a concussion and babbles the truth … which is ignored. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / January 21, 2022
Daily Best Bets

Best-bets for Jan. 22: Forte, films, football

1) “Saturday Night Live,”  11:29 p.m., NBC. A decade after leaving “Saturday Night Live,” Will Forte finally returns as host. That fits neatly with the fact he’s now doing “MacGruber” (shown here) – originally an “SNL” character, then a failed movie, now a series – on Peacock. Forte did eight years on “SNL,” then had his own “Last Man on Earth” series for three years. He’s been busy with voice work and had a serious turn in “Nebraska.” Tonight’s music guest is Maneskin. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / January 20, 2022
News and Quick Comments

PBS diversifies — from Harriet to hip hop

PBS – once considered mostly a cozy place for classical music, British dramas and French cooking – is broadening its scope.
Paula Kerger, the network CEO, has announced projects for this fall, ranging from Harriet Tubman to Chuck D (shown here) and hip hop history. She also announced long-range efforts that, she said, “will elevate new voices … and amplify diverse perspectives.” Read more…

By Mike Hughes / January 19, 2022
Daily Best Bets

Best-bets for Jan. 21: “Judas” goes solo

1) “Stars on Stage,” 9 p.m., PBS. This wraps up a series that gave three Broadway-style talents each an hour-long concert. Now it’s Brandon Victor Dixon’s turn. On Broadway, he’s portrayed the music greats – Eubie Blake and Berry Gordy; he’s won a Tony (for producing the “Hedwig” revival) and been nominated for two more. Still, more people may know him from two live TV performances – in “Rent” and a sensational, Emmy-nominated turn as Judas in “Jesus Christ Superstar” (shown here). Read more…

By Mike Hughes / January 19, 2022
Daily Best Bets

Best-bets for Jan. 20: comedies and historic tragedy

1) “Women of the Movement” conclusion, 8 p.m., ABC. With the world watching, two women testified in a packed Mississippi courtroom. One was a store clerk, 27; after Emmett Till (14, visiting from Chicago) talked to her in 1955, he was kidnapped and killed. The other was Emmett’s mother, Mamie Till-Mobley. The case would propel the civil rights movement; Till-Mobley (played by Adrienne Warren, shown here with Cedric Joe as Emmett) would go on to get a master’s degree and be an educator and an activist. This wraps an intense mini-series; a documentary follows at 10:31. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / January 18, 2022
Stories

Single, drunk life sparked new series

For years, Simone Finch was at the edge of great TV, hoping to be part of it.
Then her own life became a starting point. The result is “Single Drunk Female,” a comedy-drama that debuts at 10 and 10:30 p.m. Thursday (Jan. 20) on Freeform.
“I started writing this in 2012 – before I got sober, actually,” Finch said. “And then I got sober – and then I realized it was about a girl getting sober.”
Now she’s further along – almost eight years without a drink – and can look back at a precarious time. Her story finds Sam (Sofia Black-D’Elia, 30, shown here) back from rehab, living with a mother (Ally Sheedy, 59), who thinks, as Sheedy puts it: “She’s not going to come change my life and my habits.” Read more…

By Mike Hughes / January 16, 2022
Daily Best Bets

Best-bets for Jan. 18: Broadway revives, Naomi frets

1)“Great Performances: The Broadway Revival,” 9 p.m., PBS. Right now, Adrienne Warren is starring as Emmett Till’s mother in an ABC mini-series that concludes Thursday. Before that, she drew raves in a Tina Turner musical (shown here) … until COV ID closed Broadway, “It crushed me,” she says here. After a 19-month break, the show returned … and she had to relearn everything. “It was hilarious,” she says, “and also terrifying.” She’s one of many people in an involving (but repetitive) look at Broadway’s comeback. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / January 16, 2022
Stories

Lizzie (or Sophie or someone) is grown up now

So Lizzie McGuire gets to be a grown-up after all – sort of.
The new show is “How I Met Your Father,” Tuesdays on Hulu, starting Jan. 18. It’s a different character (now named Sophie), with different producers; but it’s still Hilary Duff (shown here), with Lizzie-like zest.
And it reflects another show (a sequel to Duff’s “Lizzie McGuire”) that started and then stopped. “Comparing it to the ‘Lizzie’ that never was,” Duff said, “I think she’s a totally different character and we … have a lot more fun with what people are doing in their 30s.” Read more…

By Mike Hughes / January 15, 2022