Mike Hughes

Stories

Trebek was a stately (and silly?) figure

Alex Trebek was the good, grey eminence of game shows– a reassuring sign that there are correct answers and absolute truths.
Trebek died today (Nov. 8) at 80, after almost two years of pancreatic cancer. He had been a TV presence for 58 years – totaling only nine months of joblessness, he said – including the past 36 as the “Jeopardy” host..
“He symbolizes learning and knowledge to (a) second or third generation,” Ken Jennings, one of the show’s all-time champions, told the Television Critics Assocation in January. And he makes “it look effortless,” added Brad Rutter, another all-time champ. “This guy, no matter what he’s going through, just gets better and better.”
There was also a flip side, somewhere under that dignified surface. “I love silliness,” Trebek said. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / November 9, 2020
Daily Best Bets

Best-bets for Nov. 10: The Tuesday dramas return

1) “NeXt,” 9 p.m., Fox. After being bumped by the elections last week, the Tuesday dramas boom back. “NeXt” is mid-crisis, as connected computers gain power. Shea, a cop, knows that her husband and son are targets. As they try to flee off the grid, she and LeBlanc head to Dartmouth, where this might be based. Late in the hour, LeBlanc (John Slattery) has a great monolog and some powerful moments with a friend (shown here) – confined to a computerized wheelchair – who may be involved. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / November 8, 2020
Daily Best Bets

Best-bets for Nov. 9: Competitions and a COVID drama

1) “All Rise,” 9 p.m. today, CBS. This episode was a big deal in May — the first one about social-distance, shot via social-distancing. Actors used their own homes, with characters communicating Zoom-style, shown here. (The actors playing Kurt and Rosa are married and did a scene together.) Judge Lola (Simone Missick) presides at the first virtual trial. The case is too simple, but it was an OK try at something others soon did better. Dorian Missick, the star’s husband, adds flavor as a disc jockey. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / November 7, 2020
News and Quick Comments

When do shows return? Let’s update, via ABC, CBS, Fox changes

The list of returning TV shows now gets a major update.
Newly arrived are the mid-season plans (January, mostly) for Fox and for ABC’s game and reality shows. That follows CBS’ news that its entire Friday line-up will start Dec. 4. And it follows ongoing arrivals, including “Young Sheldon” (shown here).
The only major shows still in limbo are ABC’s “The Rookie” and two CBS shows — “Evil” and the Queen Latifah reboot of “Equalizer. Here’s a revised list of season-opener dates, alphabetical by category. It sticks to primetime and to the five commercial broadcast network; others — cable, streaming, PBS — tend to have shows come and go throughout the year. It skips shows that were simply added to fill gaps this fall. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / November 7, 2020
News and Quick Comments

It’s charming-village time, yet again

A familiar story gets fresh twists in “The South Westerlies.”
That’s a mini-series that arrives Monday (Nov. 9) on the Acorn streaming service (www.acorn.tv). Despite a slow-start and an open-ended finish, it’s a journey worth taking.
And it happens to be a scenic journey. This is set in West Cork, an Irish area popular with tourists, with its jagged coastline and even a tad of surfing.
Kate Ryan (Orla Brady, shown here) used to love summers there, but now she’s strictly a city person, living in Dublin and ready for a promotion to Oslo. First, however, she’s assigned to spend some time in a West Cork village. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / November 6, 2020
Daily Best Bets

Best-bets for Nov. 8: Two openers and a dandy documentary

1) “Rebuilding Paradise” (shown here), 9 and 11:47 p.m., National Geographic. Ron Howard was already a great director of scripted films, with an Oscar (“A Beautiful Mind”) and a nomination (“Frost/Nixon”). Lately, he’s also been doing documentaries. After the 2018 wildfire, he focused on the gorgeous town of Paradise, Ca. There, we meet likable people, including a man who tells of going “from town drunk to mayor.” After the blaze, he was one of the first to rebuild. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / November 6, 2020
Weekly Previews

Week’s top-10 for Nov. 9: Country, plus lots of season-openers

1) Country Music Association awards, 8-11 p.m. Wednesday, ABC For the first time in almost forever, an award show has a studio audience – a small, safe one, the CMA says. Hosts are Reba McEntire and Darius Rucker (shown here) – the show’s first Black host in 45 years; the previous one, Charley Pride, gets a lifetime award. Rucker and McEntire will perform together. He’ll also link with Lady Antebellum; she’ll link with Thomas Rhett, Hillary Scott and Chris Tomlin. And Jason Aldean leads a Charlie Daniels tribute. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / November 5, 2020
Daily Best Bets

Best-bets for Nov. 7: Chappelle once, Ringo twice

1) “Saturday Night Live,” 11:29 p.m., NBC. Four years ago, Dave Chapelle (shown here) hosted “SNL” after the election, when some viewers were still in shock. Kate McKinnon sang “Hallelujah”; Chapelle offered a soothing (and funny monolog), then linked with Chris Rock in a gentle sketch mocking White friends unfamiliar with bad news. Now Chappelle is back, in an episode that was added belatedly – a sixth straight new episodes, after soaring ratings for the first five. The mood may vary with the official vote count. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / November 5, 2020
Stories

Film captures a town’s post-blaze comeback

If Ron Howard had invented “Rebuilding Paradise” as fiction, Woody Culleton would be ideal.
He’s a sturdy, folksy-seeming guy who’s been around. He’ll tell you frankly that he went “from town drunk to mayor.”
And he’s a real person, a handy symbol for Howard’s documentary movi (shown here), which debuts at 9 and 11:47 p.m. ET (6 and 8:47 p.m. PT) Sunday (Nov. 8) on the National Geographic Channel.
That’s exactly two years after the Camp Fire roared through Northern California towns. It killed 86 people, destroyed 8,200 buildings and touched virtually everything in Paradise. A few months later, the town – listed at 26,000 people – had shrunk to just over 2,000. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / November 4, 2020
Daily Best Bets

Best-bets for Nov. 6: Corden conquers silly tale

1) “Great Performances: One Man, Two Guvnors,” 9 p.m., PBS. Americans know James Corden as a terrific talk-show host, but he’s also a gifted comedy actor. Here, belatedly, is the U.S. debut of a 2011 special, with Corden (shown here) as a luckless chap who secretly has two bosses … and must keep them apart. Based on a 1743 farce, this is mostly loud and silly; what seems funny onstage can seem way over-the-top onscreen. Still, Corden — who won a Tony award in the role – is a marvel. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / November 4, 2020