Mike Hughes

Best-bets for Dec. 19: It’s title time for football

1) Football conference finals. It’s conference-championship time, with bowl berths at stake. ABC has three games – the Big 12 (Oklahoma, ranked No. 10, and Iowa State, No. 6) at noon ET, the ACC (Notre Dame and Clemson, No. 2 and 3, shown here in a previous game) at 4 p.m. and the American Athletic Conference (Tulsa, No. 23, and Cincinnati, No. 9) at 8. There are more, including the Big Ten at noon ET n Fox (Ohio State, No. 4, and Northwestern, No. 14) and the SEC at 8 p.m. on CBS (Alabama, No. 1, and Florida, No. 7). Read more…

Trump in Florida: A modest proposal

There’s a law, you know, that says people must be informed if a pedophile moves into the neighborhood.
So I’m proposing a new one: People must be informed if their new neighbor is a sexual predator, a scammer, a schemer and an ex-president. Also, if he might cheat at golf.
That’s a bit specific, I guess, so let me explain: Read more…

Best-bets for Dec. 18: Cartoons and quarterbacks

1) Animation, everywhere. The night starts with the very best: The brilliant “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” is 7 p.m. on TNT, rerunning at 7:30 p.m. Then you could switch to ABC, for “Olaf’s Frozen Adventure” (shown here) at 8 and “Shrek the Halls” at 8:30; both have so-so stories, but lush, movie-style animation. Then it’s over to Freeform for the “Grinch” cartoon movie (2018) at 9 p,m., “The Star” (2017) at 11 p.m. and “Simpsons” Christmas reruns at 1 and 1:30 a.m. Read more…

“The Stand”: King’s potent, twice-told tale

For most authors, Hollywood wonders if any of their stories should be filmed.
For Stephen King, it’s a different matter. They all should be filmed, apparently, so there’s another question: Which ones should be done a second time?
The latest is “The Stand” (shown here), which arrives Thursday (Dec. 17) for a nine-week run on CBS All Access. It follows plenty of other King two-timers, including “Carrie,” “It,” “The Shining,””Salem’s Lot,” “Pet Semetary,” “Creepshow,” “The Dead Zone” and more.
In short, Hollywood really likes the guy. “He’s one of the great storytellers in the history of humanity,” said Benjamin Cavell, the “Stand” showrunner. Read more…

Best-bets for Dec. 17: “Carol,” comedies, more

1) “A Christmas Carol” (1999), 8 and 10 p.m., TNT. It’s a three-Carol day, which some people might figure is two – or even three – too many. Freeform has the Jim Carrey version (2009) at 3:45 p.m.; FX has the Guy Pearce one (dark, dreary and way too long) at 8 and 11:30. But give this one a try; it’s sharply filmed and Patrick Stewart (shown here) is the consummate Scrooge. Read more…

Two specials celebrate a Pride-ful life

Over the next few days, viewers can celebrate one of the great figures in Americana music.
Charley Pride died Saturday (Dec. 12) at 86, of complications from COVID. By various counts, he had between 29 and 36 No. 1 country hits, including “Kiss an Angel Good Morning” and “Is Anybody Goin’ to San Antone?”Now come two chances to revisit his life, via:
– PBS. “Charley Pride: I’m Just Me,” an excellent “American Masters” documentary, is available through Dec. 26 at www.pbs.org/americanmasters and on the PBS app.
– The CMT cable channel. “CMT Remembers Charley Pride” will air at 8 p.m. Wednesday (Dec. 16), rerunning on 9 a.m. Thursday and noon Saturday. It will include clips of Pride, plus comments (new or past) from his wife of 64 years, plus Tim McGraw, Loretta Lynn, the late Merle Haggard, Shania Twain and Darius Rucker … who had a key connection with Pride this year. Read more…

Best-bets for Dec. 16: Finales for “Masked” and “Race”

1) “The Masked Singer” finale, 8-10 p.m., Fox. Only three singers remain, neatly hidden under the masks of Sun, Mushroom (shown here) and Crocodile. They’ve already outlasted some talented pros – old (Paul Anka), young (Tori Kelly, Taylor Dane), in-between (Clint Black) and multi-faceted (Dr. Elvis Francois, the Mayo Clinic’s “singing surgeon”). Then again, snowboarder Chloe Kim and basketball’s Lonzo Ball also came close. Tonight, they’ll be unmasked and the judges will choose the champion. Read more…

Best-bets for Dec. 15: “Big Sky,” big voices

1) “Big Sky” mid-season finale, 10 p.m., ABC. This has been a mixed blessing so far. Yes, it has great dialog and skilled actors; we expect that from David E. Kelley shows, from “L.A. Law” to “Big Little Lies.” But the story has an overload of truly wretched people, including (shown here) a cop and a trucker who have abducted two teen sisters and a trans prostitute .Kelley has promised that a part of the story will conclude this week; when the show returns Jan. 26, it will have at least 11 more episodes. Read more…

“The Prom”: Ryan Murphy and stars, at their best

I’m starting to be OK with Ryan Murphy’s Netflix deal.
It took me a while. When he signed it (two-plus years ago), I grumbled that a streamer had stolen one of TV’s best producers, the guy behind everything from “Glee” to the O.J. Simpson mini-series.
But now comes “The Prom” (shown here), the zestful musical that has just arrived on Netflix (and in a few movie theaters). Chances are, few people except Murphy could have pulled it off. Read more…

Best-bets for Dec. 14: A surge of music

1) “The Voice” finale, 8-10 p.m. NBC. This is a big music night, with performers — see below — including Billie Eilish (shown here), Kelli O’Hara … and the final five for “Voice.” Blake Shelton has two singers – Jim Ranger and Ian Flanigan – in the running, with one apiece for Gwen Stefani (Carter Rubin), John Legend (John Holiday) amd Kelly Clarkson (DeSz). Tonight’s performances rerun at 8 p.m. Tuesday, with the two-hour finale at 9. Read more…