Mike Hughes

Daily Best Bets

Best-bets for April 12: finales for “Abbott” and Pam

1) “Abbott Elementary” season-finale, 9 p.m., ABC. This clever little show has been a bright spot for ABC, getting decent ratings, especially in the 18-49 age group. Now it wraps its first season, a week before “Black-ish” (9:30) ends its eighth and final year.  Tonight, the Abbott school has its annual trip to the zoo (shown here), with lives in transition. Janine faces a big choice … Tariq has been offered a job in New York … and Barbara ponders her future, after learning that her favorite reptile (a tuatara) has been retired because of age. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / April 10, 2022
Stories

It’s dance time, with or without a pandemic

Let’s consider this a benefit from the pandemic.

Yes, the lockdown made people better at laptops and Zoom calls and maybe home-cooking. Beyond that, it drove them to dance … setting up “Come Dance with Me” (shown here0, which debuts at 8 p.m. Friday (April 15) on CBS.

“This was pre-pandemic when we first got into it,” LL Cool J, one of the producers, told the Television Critics Association. “Even at that time, I felt … the world could use a nice family show that people could dance to.”

Then the world changed, said Chris O’Donnell, another producer. “Covid hit and Tiktok hit and all of a sudden, we found ourselves sheltering in place with our families and doing our little dance moves.” Read more…

By Mike Hughes / April 9, 2022
Daily Best Bets

Best-bets for April 11: lots of music and 9-1-1 calls

1) CMT Music Awards, 8 p.m., CBS. Country music fills the night, including the Judds’ (shown here) first TV performance in 20 years. Other duos include Maren Morris with Ryan Hurd, Cole Swindell with Lainey Wilson, Mickey Guyton with Black Pumas, Jason Aldean with Bryan Adams, Thomas Rhett with Riley Green and Jimmie Allen with Monica and Little Big Town. Also performing: Carrie Underwood, Keith Urban, Kelsea Ballerini (who hosts with Anthony Mackie), Kane Brown, Miranda Lambert, Walker Hayes, Carly Pearce, Old Dominion Read more…

By Mike Hughes / April 9, 2022
News and Quick Comments

ABC plans a playful summer

ABC is planning another game-stuffed summer, but with a difference:
This time, it will have three new games, alongside the vintage ones.
The network’s summer success has been built on pieces of the “Bachelor” franchise (also returning this summer, with Gabby Windey and Rachel Recchia, shown her), plus games from way back. This summer – starting in July, after the pro-basketball playoffs — that continues: “Press Your Luck” goes back to 1983, “Family Feud” (now with celebrities) to 1976 and “$100,000 Pyramid” to 1973 (when it was merely $10,000).
But joining them will be the new shows. “Generation Gap,” hosted by Kelly Ripa, has kids and grandparents answering trivia about the others’ generation. “The Final Straw” has people trying to remove objects from a tower, without making it fall. And “Claim to Fame” is more of a reality show, involving people who, at first, don’t reveal their link to more-famous relatives; it’s hosted by Kevin Jonas, 33, of the Jonas Brothers and his not-famous brother Frankie, 21. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / April 8, 2022
Daily Best Bets

Best-bets for April 10: “Eve” exits strongly, “61st” enters grimly

1) “Killing Eve” series finale, 8-10 p.m., BBC America. This has always been a great (but odd) series. It shouldn’t surprise that the finale (which reruns Monday on AMC) is sometimes weird and generally superb. As it starts, Villanelle is in the Scottish woods with another hitwoman … Konstanin is grooming a young assassin … Carolyn is pensive about her old days in The Twelve … and Eve (shown here with Villanelle in a previous episode) is convinced The Twelve must die. There are odd detours, a big (but quick) finish and then a final jolt. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / April 8, 2022
Stories

Laurie’s first love returns to the screen

A first love can have a powerful grip on someone – even on a well-bred British lad.
So Hugh Laurie says he’ll always remember “my first-ever crush.”  Frankie Derwent was “quick and bold and ready to take a chance.”
And fictional. She’s a character in a novel – “Why Didn’t They Ask Evans?” (shown here) – that he’s adapted and directed; it reaches the Britbox streaming service on Tuesday (April 12). Read more…

By Mike Hughes / April 8, 2022
Weekly Previews

Week’s top-10 for April 11: Lots of country, three First Ladies

1) CMT Music Awards, 8 p.m. today, CBS. Eight days after the Grammys, CBS focuses on country. It has the Judds’ first TV performance in 20 years, plus other duos – Maren Morris with Ryan Hurd, Cole Swindell with Lainey Wilson, Mickey Guyton with Black Pumas, Jason Aldean with Bryan Adams, Thomas Rhett with Riley Green, Jimmie Allen with Monica and Little Big Town. Also: Carrie Underwood, Keith Urban, Kane Brown, Miranda Lambert and Kelsea Ballerini (shown here), who hosts with Anthony Mackie. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / April 7, 2022
Daily Best Bets

Best-bets for April 9: lies, laughs and commandments

1) “The Ten Commandments” (1956), 7-11:44 p.m., ABC. Back in 1956, this was considered a movie marvel – an epic that traced the life of Moses (Charlton Heston, shown here), even managing to part the Red Sea. It won an Oscar for special effects and was nominated for six more, including best picture. By modern standards, it’s a bit stiff; still, it’s become an Eastertime tradition, this year airing on the eve of Palm Sunday. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / April 7, 2022
Daily Best Bets

Best-bets for April 8: Beach music (no, not Beach Boys)

1) “Now Hear This” season-opener, 9 p.m., PBS. In the first two seasons, Scott Yoo (shown here) traveled Europe, visiting places where classical masterpieces began. But this year he stays in the U.S. … and finds ample greatness. This hour traces Amy Beach, who (in 1896, at 29) was the first American woman to have a symphony published and performed. Yoo (a violinist) and his wife Alice Dade (a flutist) sample gorgeous music from Beach and other women. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / April 6, 2022