Mike Hughes

Daily Best Bets

Best-bets for Sept. 27: A mega-night of Homer, “Fargo,” Comey, more

1) “The Simpsons” season-opener, 8 p.m., Fox. In a burst of self-discovery, Mr. Burns finds that his workers don’t like him. His solution is in the “Undercover Boss” style: With an elaborate disguise, pretend to be a new worker. The result is darkly funny and a reminder that animation shows weren’t stopped by COVID. The season-opener of “Bless the Harts,” “Bob’s Burgers” and “The Family Guy” follow at 8:30, 9 and 9:30 p.m.
Read more…

By Mike Hughes / September 25, 2020
Stories

Daniels towers over his “Comey Rule” role

It’s a problem Jeff Daniels rarely faces – being too short for a role.
But this was a role anyone in Hollywood – well, anyone except Brad Garrett or John Salley – would fall short of. Daniels was playing James Comey, the 6-foot-8 former FBI director.
“I put two-inch lifts in my shoes,” Daniels said, “which got me to 6-foot-5 …. I could act the other three inches.”  (He’s shown here with Comey towering over Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates, played by  Holly Hunter, who’s 5-foot-2.)  
That’s part of the towering persona of someone who exudes authority. Comey confirmed that, Daniels said, during the only day he visited the set of “The Comey Rule,” the Showtime mini-series. “He said, ‘You’ve got my posture, the uprightness.’” Read more…

By Mike Hughes / September 24, 2020
Daily Best Bets

Best-bets for Sept. 26: Eddie Murphy’s triumphant return

1) “Saturday Night Live,” 11:29 p.m., NBC. A week before launching its new season, “SNL” reruns one of its best episodes. Eddie Murphy (shown here) had stayed away from the show (not counting an anniversary special) for 35 years. Once he returned, however, he did all of his best characters – including a brilliant “Mr. Robinson’s Neighborhood” bit in which he swiped Amazon packages in his gentrified neighborhood. He won an Emmy (his first) for best comedy guest; Lizzo is the music guest Read more…

By Mike Hughes / September 24, 2020
News and Quick Comments

Documentary masters tackle the MacDonald mystery

Like many teen-ager, Marc Smerling wanted to see a horror film.
But the movie – it may have been a “Halloween” re-release, he said – was sold out. Instead, he saw “The Thin Blue Line,” Errol Morris’ distinctive documentary about a murder case.
“It blew me away,” Smerling recently told the Television Critics Association. He savored “the visual storytelling, the soft of courage it took to make something that incredible.”
Now, decades later, he’s working with that filmmaker. “A Wilderness of Error” (shown here with Dr. Jeffrey MacDonald and his wife) — debuting at 8 p.m. Friday, Sept. 25, on FX — is directed by Smerling; Morris wrote it, adapting his own book. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / September 24, 2020
Stories

“Gone Girl” author finds a writer’s utopia

Gillian Flynn is now at a blessed stage of her career.
“I can make up anything right now,” she told the Television Critics Association recently. Proof is “Utopia” (shown here) the wildly distinctive series that arrives Friday (Sept. 25) on Amazon Prime.
Earlier, Flynn was confined to non-fiction, including a decade at Entertainment Weekly. Her novels – including the mega-seller “Gone Girl” – were steeped in the hard choices of almost-normal lives.
But underneith those gritty tales was a fantasy writer, waiting to emerge. “My dad raised me on EC Comics and we’d talk about Ray Bradbury,” said Flynn, 49. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / September 23, 2020
Daily Best Bets

Best-bets for Sept. 25: Heavy stuff or light videos

1) “Greatest #AtHome Videos” return, 8 p.m., CBS. Alongside lots of dead-serious shows today, we get an amiable trifle. This began as a one-shot special in May, showing how some people used their pandemic time to create videos – funny (including the “Les Miserables” take-off shown here), quirky, sometimes even emotional. That came back for four summer Fridays and now is a temporary series. Tonight, we see a high school principal’s version of M.C. Hammer’s “U Can’t Touch This” … followed by a suprise virtual visit from Hammer. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / September 23, 2020
Daily Best Bets

Best-bets for Sept. 24: Re-visit the “Discovery” and “Filthy” debuts

1) “Star Trek: Discovery” opener, 10 p.m. CBS. For six previous series – scattered over 54 years – “Trek” focused on the captains. This one – which previously aired on CBS All Access – centers on the science officer (Sonequa Martin-Green, shown here). A human raised in the Vulcan culture, she has Spock-ian logic and Kirk-ian passion … nudging her near mutiny tonight. The hour feels a bit cold and militaristic, but has an epic look. This is big-screen stuff, spectacular in its visuals and in its villains. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / September 22, 2020
Stories

Emmys were fun — in a drearily monotonous way

The Emmy telecast had been on for 73 minutes Sunday, before an American won an award.
The entire first hour on ABC (yes, the American Broadcasting Company) was spent giving prizes to Canadians. “Schitt’s Creek” (shown here) swept all seven of the awards given on-air for comedies – best series, plus four acting awards and ones for directing and writing.
It was a remarkable – and monotonous – stretch for a pleasant little show that is usually ignored. Having finished its run on the obscure PopTV channel, “Schitt’s Creek” is now confined to the CW Seed streaming service. The Emmy voters had ignored it for years … then showered it with those seven on-air wins and two more (costumes and casting) before the telecast.
When all of that finally ended, it was time for the award for the best variety talk series … which went to John Oliver, an Englishman.
Eventually, the Emmys did find some Americans and revert to their traditional state … which involves HBO winning everything. That included Emmys for best: Read more…

By Mike Hughes / September 21, 2020
News and Quick Comments

The new TV season has started … sort of

(This is an updated version of a story from the previous week.)
We finally have an answer to TV’s peskiest question: When will the season start?
It started (sort of) on Sept. 21, with Fox’s “L.A.’s Finest” (shown here) and “Filthy Rich” and CBS’ “Manhunt.” It will be smaller than past years, but there will be lots of new shows on the five commercial broadcast networks.
Fox is the most thorough. With one exception – it has to wait a couple weeks for Thursday-night football – it will be rerun-free. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / September 21, 2020