Mike Hughes

Stories

Rita Moreno: A chaotic career goes forever

Rita Moreno’s movie career has lasted approximately forever.
She was 18 when her first film, the soon-forgotten “So Young, So Bad,” opened. And her newest one?
That’s Steven Spielberg’s “West Side Story,” on Dec. 10. “On Dec. 11, I’ll be 90 …. The planets are aligned,” she told the Television Critics Association.
That’s a 72-year span, highlighted in a documentary at 9 p.m. Tuesday (Oct. 5) on PBS. It’s a story in which her role in the original, 1961 “West Side Story” movie (shown here) takes a key spot. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / October 1, 2021
Daily Best Bets

Best-bets for Oct. 3: Two seasons end, one begins

1) “Grantchester” season-opener, 9 p.m., PBS. On one level, this is an uncommonly bright hour: The crimesolving vicar vacations at a summer resort with his housekeeper (plus her husband), his curate (plus his secret lover) and his Geordie (they’re shown here) the cop (plus wife and kids). A solid murder mystery ensues – while planting the seeds for wrenching moments in the weeks ahead. There’s a lot of that sometimes; the “Call the Midwife” season-opener, at 8 p.m., is exceptionally grim. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / October 1, 2021
Weekly Previews

Week’s top-10 for Oct. 4: a ghastly good week for CBS

1) “Ghosts” debut (shown here), 9 and 9:30 p.m. Thursday, CBS. Ever since “Big Bang,” CBS has stuck to a comedy formula. It has sharp, verbal shows; most are produced by Chuck Lorre, most have a studio audience. Now it detours – no Lorre, no audience, lots of sight gags. The result works wonderfully. In “iZombie,” Rose McIver showed she’s perfect at sci-fi humor. Now she plays a young wife who has a near-death experience; after surviving, she’s the only living person who can see the ghosts in her historic house. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / September 30, 2021
Daily Best Bets

Best-bets for Oct. 2: “SNL” returns, with packed cast

1) “Saturday Night Live” season-opener, 11:29 p.m., NBC. As rumors swirled, fans feared the worst. Maybe Kate McKinnon was leaving … or Cecily Strong … or Kenan Thompson. But all three are back for this 47th season; only Beck Bennett and Lauen Holt are leaving. Bowen Young and Chloe Fineman move up to the main company, with three newcomers added. Owen Wilson (shown here) hosts the opener, with Kacey Musgraves as music guest. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / September 30, 2021
News and Quick Comments

“All Rise” rises from the dead

Another canceled TV show has been rescued, this time by a three-way coalition.
“All Rise” (shown here) was dropped by CBS after two seasons. In the new plan:
– Those seasons will rerun on both HBO Max and Hulu, beginning Dec. 1.
– They’ll also rerun on the Oprah Winfrey Network. All three – OWN, HBO Max and Hulu – will then add a new, 20-episode season. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / September 29, 2021
Stories

“Midwife”: basic birthing, in a chaotic world

“Call the Midwife” is back, with a gentle journey through history – human history, medical history, even fashion history.
Yes, fashions. This series (8 p.m. Sundays, PBS) was set in 1957, then advanced one year each season. The new season (starting Oct. 3) is in 1966 – the Beatles era, when London’s “Carnaby Street” look was starting to catch on.
That’s especially clear in the fourth episode (Oct. 24), when young actress Megan Cusack arrives, playing a nursing student. She’s shown here in her uniform, but at dinner, she surprises others – including the nuns — with her flashy dress.
“It truly does feel like a costume,” Cusack told the Television Critics Association. “When you put it on, you are getting into that era and that vibe and the fact that she likes to stand out.” Read more…

By Mike Hughes / September 29, 2021
Daily Best Bets

Best-bets for Oct. 1: birthday bashes for mice, maestros, more

1) “The Kennedy Center at 50,” 9-10:30 p.m., PBS. Fifty years (and 23 days) ago, the center opened, offering an elegant home for … almost everything. Now it has a 50t-birthday celebration, on the same night as Disney World (shown here). This concert ranges from classical to hip hop. There are splendid moments from Kelli O’Hara, Dianne Reeves, violinist Raymond Chen and more. Joshua Henry opens the show with a passionate “A Change is Gonna Come” and closes it – joined by Common and a chorus – by turning “Glory” into one of the greatest TV moments of 2021. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / September 29, 2021
Daily Best Bets

Best-bets for Sept. 30: a triple-opener on ABC

1) “Station 19” and “Grey’s Anatomy” season-openers, 8 and 9 p.m., ABC. It’s a crossover night, starting with personal problems at the firehouse. Just as Maya was marrying Carina (shown here) at the end of last season, she learned she’d been fired as captain; Andy blamed her own husband, Sullivan. Those issues and others are interrupted by crises at a festival. That takes us to the hospital, with its own woes. Bailey has trouble hiring doctors; Meredith, whose late mother lingers in her mind, meets a guy who knew her. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / September 28, 2021
Stories

All Rhodes lead to wrestling world

Chances are, few Black girls in Canton, Michigan, envision figure-skating careers.
Even fewer, perhaps, dream of moving South and being an executive for an upstart wrestling group.
Brandi Rhodes has done both. She’s also a wrestler, a new mom and a star (with her husband Cody, sown here) in “Rhodes to the Top,” a reality show that airs after wrestling, at 10 p.m. Wednesdays on TNT.
“The biggest surprise to me about wrestling is how engrossed you become in it …. I’m consumed by it,” she told the Television Critics Association. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / September 28, 2021
Daily Best Bets

Best-bets for Sept. 29: “Big Brother” ends, “Riverdale” sings

1) “Big Brother” finale, 9-11 p.m., CBS. The last remnants of summer TV are finally fading; after tonight, only “Bachelor in Paradise” will linger on the big networks. “Big Brother” started with 16 people and is now down to three – Xavier Prather, 27, a lawyer; Derek Frazier, 29, a safety officer; and Azah Awasum (shown here), 30, a sales diector. Tonight, one of them gets $750,000. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / September 27, 2021