Mike Hughes

Best-bets for July 8: Zoey, Elvis, dunks and more

1) “Grown-ish” season-opener, 8 p.m., Freeform. As her senior year of college nears, Zoey has a plan: She and Aaron will host a vacation at a Mexican resort; their friends (shown here with her in an earlier episode) will savor sun, sex and alcohol. Alas, the alcohol soon prevails. Secrets are blurted, friendships are trashed … and there’s a major plot twist. “Grown-ish” is basically a comedy (a “Black-ish” spin-off), but the humor is fairly sparse. Instead, we get sleek visuals, smart writing and characters worth rooting for, flaws and all. Read more…

Best-bets for July 7: sexy singles night on CBS

1) “Big Brother” season-opener, 8-9:30 p.m., CBS. For more than two decades, this has propelled CBS’ summers. Once a social experiment for all ages, it now focuses on people who are young, attractive and assertive. Now Julie Chen (shown here) introduces the new group: One woman, a phlebotomist, is 40, but all the others are between 21 and 30; one man, a farmer, is 32, but the others are in their 20s. The show also has a lawyer, a scientist and lots of salesfolks; it continues at 8 p.m. Thursdays and Sundays. Read more…

Best-bets for July 6: a deep dive into Latino life

1) “The Latino Experience,” 9 p.m., PBS. Filmmakers keep making great shorts … which TV keeps ignoring. Here’s an exception – 13 films by Latinos, in one-hour chunks on three Tuesdays. This week has a pair of scripted gems; both deal with death – imagined (in a charming, 13-minute opener) and real (6 minutes). The documentaries vary in quality and in subject: We see young poster-makers using old-time crafts … gay and trans dancers … and (shown here) the tangled lives that straddle the U.S.-Mexico border. Read more…

Best-bets for July 5: It’s a good-shark/bad-shark night

1) “Shark Beach With Chris Hemsworth” (show here), 9 p.m., National Geographic. TV’s shark summer is back: “SharkFest” starts today, for a six-week run on two Nat Geo channels; “Shark Week” is July 11-18 on Discovery. We’ll see lots of creepy creatures, including (at 8 and 10 p.m. today) “When Sharks Attack” and “Rogue Shark?” But “Beach” has a feel-good tone. Hemsworth says he “grew up in paradise” in Australia and surfed at 6. He meets diving veteran Valerie Taylor … and sees his first great white. Read more…

“Paranormal” has tiny budget, big laughs

Being a TV star in New Zealand isn’t your full, Hollywood experience.
For one thing, Jemaine Clement can tell you, budgets are slim. His “What We Do in the Shadows” is made with American money. “Wellington Paranormal” (shown here) – belatedly reaching the U.S. on July 11 – was originally just for New Zealand and is “probably between one-fifth and one-tenth of the budget.”
So the actors might keep their day jobs. For the first three seasons, Karen O’Leary was a TV star AND kindergarten teacher. “The kids don’t care at all,” she said. “And that’s the good thing about children.”
There’s one other key difference: New Zealand shows – or, at least, “Wellington Paranormal” – might be funnier than American ones. Read more…

Week’s top-10 for July 5: sharks, sitcoms and sexy singles

1) “Big Brother” season-opener, 8 p.m. Wednesday, Thursday and Sunday, CBS. Ever since 2000, this has propelled CBS’ summers, mostly becoming a playground for young people who are telegenic and assertive. Tonight, it’s paifed with “Love Island” (shown here), each with a 90-minute opener. On “Big Brother,” we’ll meet eight women; one is a 40-year-old phlebotomist, but the others range from a 21-year-old grad student to two women who are 30. We’ll meet eight men; a farmer is 34, the others are in their 20s. The house also has a lawyer, a scientist, a teacher and lots of salesfolks. Read more…

Best-bets for July 4: Two specials pack Fourth flair

1) “A Capitol Fourth,” 8 p.m., PBS, rerunning at 9:30. This celebration spans the country. From Washington, D.C., there’s host Vanessa Williams, plus Gladys Knight, Mickey Guyton, Jimmie Allen, Ali Stroker, Laura Osnes, Renee Fleming (singing the National Anthem), the National Orchestra and closing fireworks (shown here in a previous year). Also: Alan Jackson will perform be in Nashville and Jennifer Nettles and Auli’i Cavalho in New York City, with Jimmy Buffett, Cynthia Erivo, Pentatonix and Train all in California. Read more…

Summertime silliness overload? Switch to PBS

Occasionally, it seems, TV veers away from its summer silliness.
You just have to know where to look … which is mostly PBS.
The network has just announced three “Frontline” films, plus six on “POV.” Those documentaries span the globe – Palestine, Peru and Puerto Rico, plus India, Afghanistan and the U.S, – and cover serious issues, from toppling statues (shown here) to propping up the economy. Read more…

Best-bets for July 3: It’s a great movie night

1) “Saving Private Ryan” (1998), 6:05 p.m., Showtime; and/or “Top Gun” (1986), 8 p.m., Starz. For this 4th-of-July weekend, cable has some military movies that are strong on patriotic fervor. “Private Ryan” is a Steven Spielberg masterpiece that manages to be a strong human draman (with Matt Damon, shown here, Tom Hanks and more) and a stirring adventure. And in its 20-minute D-Day scene, it’s a reminder of the horror of war. “Top Gun” is a peacetime (mostly) tale of hot-shot pilots at work and play, brilliantly directed by Tony Scott. Read more…

Best-bets for July 2: ongoing impact of Lear, Selleck

1) “America Masters: Norman Lear,” 9-10:30 p.m., PBS. It was a hard-scrabble start for Lear (shown here): His dad, full of dreams and schemes, spent three years in prison for selling phony stocks; Lear left college to fight in World War II, worked as a publicist … then did TV comedy. Two networks balked at “All in the Family,” but it became No. 1 for five straight years. At one point, Lear had five shows in the top nine, while nudging TV into topical turf. This excellent rerun profiles a strong talent who’s now 98. Read more…