Mike Hughes

Best-bets for Aug. 21: Stars (and networks) link

1) “Stand Up to Cancer,” 8 p.m., ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox, E, Showtime, Hulu, Amazon, YouTube, more. The first six specials raised awareness, plus $603 million for cancer research. They were on even-numbered years, but missed 2020 because of COVID. This one is hosted by comedy people – Anthony Anderson, Sofia Vergara, Ken Jeong and his wife Tran Ho (they’re shown here with their daughters)– and has music from Brittany Howard and from Common with Stevie Wonder. Segments include Ciara, Deon Cole, Jennifer Garner and more. Read more…

Best-bets for Aug. 20: Video fun returns

1) “The Greatest #AtHome Videos” season-opener, 9 p.m., CBS. When the pandemic shut Hollywood last summer, networks scrambled for alternatives. There were some duds, but there was also this likable trifle. Originally called “Stayathome Videos,” it was a genial tribute to people who use their stuck-at-home time cleverly, creating delightful videos. The confinement ended, but the creativity continues; Cedric the Entertainer (shown here) introduces new works. Read more…

Best-bets for Aug. 19: New (mostly) episodes bring fun, drama

1) “Brooklyn Nine Nine,” 8 and 8:30 p.m., NBC. This final season, just 10 episodes long, is being tossed away in a late-summer slot. That’s odd treatment for a comedy that’s been good – sometimes very good – for eight years. Yes, it’s sometimes too busy, not giving the humor a chance to build or to breathe; still, that pace works well in both of tonight’s stories. First, there’s a “blue flu” the captain suspects is phony; then Jake and Amy(shown here) each have a huge work day, while splitting child-care duties. Read more…

Discovery+ is (sometimes) minus clothes

In the mega-billion-dollar world of streaming networks, people still have basic questions:
What is Discovery+, anyway? How did it become important? And what does it have that’s special?
One partial answer to that last question is … well, nudity.
At a virtual session with the Television Critics Association, programming executive Lisa Holme discussed “putting the + in Discovery+.” The session focused on six shows; by coincidence, perhaps, half of them had something to do with nudity: Read more…

Best-bets for Aug. 18: a surge of new shows

1) “House Calls With Dr. Phil” debut, 9 p.m., CBS. For five weeks, “Love Island” dominated the schedule. Now that it’s finished, CBS has lots of room to play with. It’s pulling reruns off the shelf and inserting three new hours – two tonight and one Friday. This one has Phil McGraw (shown here) visiting families, starting in Utah, where a teen hasn’t spoken to her father (living in the same house) in years. Read more…

Beat-bets for Aug. 17: Witches & wagon trains

1) “Motherland: Fort Salem,” 10 p.m., Freeform. Epic moments rippled through recent episodes. Raelle (shown here) was kidnapped; her long-missing mother died while saving her. Nicte – founder of the Spree terrorists – was captured, almost escaping by stealing Tally’s face. Now the young witches face bigger questions: Can Tally (shown here, background) successfully interrogate Nicte? Can she spur doubts about General Alder? Can Raelle commune with the enigma in the lab? It’s a strong hour, setting up next week’s season-finale. Read more…

It’s a “Perfect” mini-series team

This is a blend that works neatly:
Start with two Australians – novelist Liane Moriarty and actress-producer Nicole Kidman …. Have David E. Kelley write a mini-series from a Moriarty novel … Then load up on other stars.
That worked for HBO’s “Big Little Lies.” In the first of its two seasons, “Lies” won the best-miniseries Emmy, plus seven others, including ones for Kidman and two of her co-stars.
And now the combination returns with Hulu’s “Nine Perfect Strangers” (shown here), starting Wednesday (Aug. 18). Read more…

Best-bets for Aug. 16: Romance (real and fictional) is tangled

1) “Bachelor in Paradise” season-opener, 8-10 p.m., ABC. A week after “The Bachelorette” ended, five of the guys show up in this spin-off. Tre Cooper (shown here on “Bachelorette”), Aaron Clancy, Connor Brennan, James Bonsall and Karl Smith are among the 10 men at a Mexican resort, alongside 13 women. Hosting is Wells Adams, a bartender who was eighth in the 2016 “Bachelorette” and is engaged to Sarah Hyland of “Modern Family.” He’ll have various co-hosts, starting with David Spade. Read more…

Ralph: presidential power in a witchly world

When pre-med student Sheryl Lee Ralph reached college, she got a quick lesson in being “the other.”
That was 1972, the first year Rutgers admitted women. There were only 450 of them – about one-percent of the enrollment; it was good preparation for her acting career.
“There was no room for me,” Ralph (shown here) – who has a key guest role in the season’s final two episodes of “Motherland: Fort Salem” – said of early auditions. “People were not open to open-casting back then.” Read more…

Best-bets for Sunday, Aug. 15: Farewell to love, Cassie and more

1) “Unforgotten” season-finale, 9 p.m., PBS. Battered by the emotional stress of cold-case murders, Cassie (Nicola Walker, shown here) tried to retire early. Officials said she had to stay three more months, to get a pension. She soon obsessed on a final case – a murder 30 years ago, linked to a car filled with police-academy grads. Short on sleep, she was close to solving it – then had a fierce car crash. Here’s the potent finish, putting an exclamation point on a great (if grim) season. Read more…