Mike Hughes

Daily Best Bets

Best-bets for Feb. 16: “Black Church” soars, new comedies struggle

1) “The Black Church” (shown here), 9-11 p.m., PBS. One of the season’s best shows begins its joyous, two-night run. Henry Louis Gates does point out flaws in some Black churches – biases against women and gays and more. Mostly, though, he looks at immense progress. He ranges from tiny shacks to a 14,000-seat arena with video screens and a band. He tells of slaves who brought religions – Christian, Muslim, more – from Africa and transformed them, making into pillars of survival, change and great music. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / February 14, 2021
Daily Best Bets

Best-bets for Feb. 15: True artistry and true crime

1) “American Experience: Voice of Freedom,” 9-11 p.m., PBS. This starts a great PBS week, including the superb “The Black Church” on Tuesday and Wednesday, plus an emotional season-finale of “All Creatures Great and Small” on Sunday. First is this compelling portrait of Marian Anderson. The world’s highest-paid singer, heralded by Arturo Toscanini for a “once in 100 years” voice, she was banned by a Whites-only concert hall; instead her free Lincoln Memorial concert (shown here) drew 75,000 people. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / February 13, 2021
Stories

“Black Church” ripples with history, humanity

For centuries, the Black church has towered over American life.
“The church was the epicenter,” Stacey Holman, producer-director of a vibrant PBS documentary, told the Television Critics Associaition. It was “where we could gather freely, we could commune freely.”
It’s been a place of music and message, said gospel great Yolanda Adams. “Jesus was always about uplifting the people who were downtrodden.”\
And it’s been a place of permanence, said Henry Louis Gates (shown here), the show’s writer and host. “The Black church is the oldest, the most continuous and most important institution” in African-American history. So he’s fashioned “The Black Church: This is Our Story, This is Our Song,” from 9-11 p.m. Tuesday and Wednesday (Feb. 16-17). Read more…

By Mike Hughes / February 12, 2021
News and Quick Comments

“Voice of Freedom” launches big PBS week

The world seemed to agree that Marian Anderson (shown here) was a great singer.
Audiences cheered; critics raved. Conductor Arturo Toscanani said this was a voice “one is privileged to hear only once in 100 years.”
What people didn’t agree on, in a segregated time, was where she could perform. That’s at the core of “American Experience: Voice of Freedom” (9 p.m. Monday, Feb. 15), a documentary that launches an exceptionally strong week on PBS.
It’s followed on Tuesday and Wednesday by Henry Louis Gates’ resounding “The Black Church: This Is My Story, This Is My Song.” The week ends Sunday with an emotional, Christmastime season-finale of “All Creatures Great and Small.” Read more…

By Mike Hughes / February 12, 2021
Daily Best Bets

Best-bets for Feb. 14: “Idol”returns, Lincoln lingers

1) “American Idol” season-opener, 8 p.m., ABC. Last spring, “Idol” did an impressive job of adjusting to social-distancing, with talented people (including Nick Merico, shown here) and strong, at-home performances. Now auditions begin in three California cities. Luke Bryan, Katy Perry and Lionel Richie are again the judges; Ryan Seacrest hosts … as he’s been doing since the opener, in the summer of 2002. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / February 12, 2021
Weekly Previews

Week’s top-10 for Feb. 15: A stellar stretch for PBS

1) “The Black Church,” 9-11 p.m. Tuesday and Wednesday, PBS. Here is non-fiction TV at its best – joyful, passionate, yet willing to point out faults. Henry Louis Gates ranges from tiny churches with lay pastors to a 14,000-seat arena (shown here) with video screens and a band. He tells of slaves bringing religions – Christian, Muslim, more – from Africa, joining White churches, then breaking off. He points to flaws – biases against women, gays and uneducated – and strengths, rippling with music and warm memories. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / February 12, 2021
News and Quick Comments

Lincoln: saved by a non-evil stepmother

We’ve heard plenty about evil stepmothers, so let’s hear the flip side – the good stepmother who helped shape the man who preserved the Union.
That’s one of the stories in “Lincoln: Divided We Stand,” which is part of an excellent documentary duo Sundays on CNN, starting Feb. 14: “Stanley Tucci: Searching for Italy” is 9 p.m. and midnightET, offering a warm survey of food and people; the Lincoln story is at 10 p.m. and 1 a.m. ET.
Abe Lincoln (shown here) had a hard-scrabble childhood in Kentucky and then Indiana, hitting bottom when he was 9. His mother died and his father decided he couldn’t raise the kids alone. Leaving Abe and his sister in their cold cabin, he rode back to Kentucky and asked a family friend to marry him.
Sarah Bush Johnson – whose husband, a jailer, had died – said yes. She arrived with three children, some cookware … and a collection of books, which Lincoln promptly gravitated to. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / February 11, 2021
Daily Best Bets

Best-bets for Feb. 13: wild year, romantic weekend

1) “A Wild Year on Earth,” 8 p.m., BBC America. In July and August, Greenland’s icebergs crumble, the great migrations begin and brown bears await their salmon feast. There are nasty creatures, from sidewinder snakes in the desert to mosquitoes on a rhino’s back – soon swooped up by birds. This series (shown here in a previous episode) has stunning footage; tonight, it ranges from nomadic Mongolians on horseback to a sly fox on an Alaskan island. He leaps out of hiding to snatch birds that were flying low to avoid sea gulls. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / February 11, 2021
Stories

“Clarice”: a CBS show with a movie soul

Watching the new “Clarice” series, you might think you accidentally switched channels.
Is this really a CBS show? Don’t worry; its producers were wondering the same thing.
“We had originally envisioned this as a streaming show,” Alex Kurtzman told the Television Critics Association. “And CBS said, really unequivocally, ‘Please put it on our network and we will let you make whatever show you want.’”
That opens the door for a lot. “Clarice” (10 p.m. Thursdays, starting Feb. 11) is a sequel to the “Silence of the Lambs” movie, following a young FBI agent (shown here) a year after she caught a serial killer. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / February 10, 2021
Daily Best Bets

Best-bets for Feb. 12: celebrating Abe and romance

1) “In Concert at the Hollywood Bowl” finale, 9 p.m., PBS. This starts with the perfect way to celebrate Abraham Lincoln’s 212th birthday: Gustavo Dudamel (shown here) conducting Aaron Copland’s “Lincoln Portrait,” with Vin Scully narrating. The rest of the night has vibrant Latino music with Carlos Vives, Cafe Tacvba and flamenco dancer Siudy Garrido. This series’ only weak spots have been the pleasant-but-empty video chats; this time, there are two of them … but the rest of the hour is superb. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / February 10, 2021