Mike Hughes

News and Quick Comments

Good news: Satire survives and thrives

This is the golden month for political satire: The final weeks of an election ripple with possibilities.
And now some of that potential has been realized: “Saturday Night Live” is off to a strong start … and Seth Meyers (shown here) had a hilarious “Closer Look” special in prime time.
This should be the time when satire thrives, but you can’t be sure. In August of 2016 — amid snowboalling interest in the election — Comedy Central suddenly canceled Larry Wilmore’s late-night show. Four years later, it looked like COVID might mute all laughter. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / October 9, 2020
News and Quick Comments

A soul-crushing loss for movie theaters

This is another leap forward for the streaming world … and a nasty fall backward for movie theaters:
“Soul” (shown here), the new Pixar movie, won’t be in theaters after all, at least in the U.S. On Christmas Day, it will debut on Disney+; it will only reach theaters in parts of the world that don’t have the streaming service.
This is the third film to make that jump for Disney. It was “Hamilton” on the 4th of July, “Mulan” last month and now “Soul” for Christmas. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / October 9, 2020
Daily Best Bets

Best-bets for Oct. 11: It’s zombie Sunday

1) “Fear the Walking Dead” season-opener, 9 p.m., AMC. The fifth season ended 14 months ago, with Morgan wounded and alone. That’s the perfect set-up for a pandemic production, when smaller casts are ewelcome. Tonight, just two people are key to Morgan’s life – a skilled hitman, sent by Virginia, and a stranger (shown here) with an unstated mission. The result is fierce and gory, but thoroughly involving. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / October 9, 2020
Weekly Previews

Week’s top-10 for Oct. 12: Music stars, reality debuts and bad Bart

1) Billboard Music Awards,” 8-11 p.m. Wednesday, NBC. After a half-year delay, the awards finally arrive, with lots of top performers. They include Kelly Clarkson (shown here), the host; Garth Brooks, getting the Icon Award; and Post Malone, leading with 16 nominations. Songs will range from a premiere by Demi Lovato to En Vogue’s 30-year-old “Free Your Mind.” Also performing are BTS, Sia, Alicia Keys and Luke Combs, plus links – Deja Cat with Tyga; Khalid with Swae Lee and country’s Kane Brown. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / October 8, 2020
Daily Best Bets

Best-bets for Oct. 10: The big games — football and politics

1) Football and “Saturday Night Live,” 7 p.m. ET and 11:29 p.m., NBC. This is the Saturday that NBC dreamed of when the shutdown began: Fifth-ranked Notre Dame hosts Florida State; then is the second of five straight new “SNL” episodes. When the show returned last week, viewers weren’t sure what to expect: Would it be muted because of President Trump’s illness? All worries were quickly doused by host Chris Rock and by the opening bit — a Trump-Biden “debate” (shown here) with Alec Baldwin and Jim Carrey. Now Bill Burr hosts, with Morgan Wallen as the music guest. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / October 8, 2020
Daily Best Bets

Best-bets for Oct. 9: Lakers could clinch title

1) Basketball, 9 p.m. ET, ABC. For a while there, ABC feared the worst – a four-game sweep by LeBron James (shown here) and the Los Angeles Lakers. The Lakers did win the first two games, but a Miami Heat victory Sunday extended the series. Then the Lakers won Tuesday, giving them a 3-1 lead and a chance to wrap it up tonight. With its scripted shows being delayed by COVID, ABC needs all the games it can get. It has a pre-game show at 8:30 ET and Jimmy Kimmel’s pre-pregame show at 8. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / October 7, 2020
Daily Best Bets

Best-bets for Oct. 8: Sci-fi and new comedies

1) “Connecting” and “Closer Look Thursday” debuts, 8 and 8:30 p.m., NBC. First is a new effort – flawed, but fun – to make a socially distant show about social distance. Mismatched friends – ranging from the immensely lovable Annie (upper left) to a doofus named Rufus (upper middle) – chat online. It’s occasionally serious and often funny … but the biggest laughs will probably come from “Closer Look.” Seth Meyers offers a mock-newscast … something he has mastered on “Saturday Night Live” and his own latenight show. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / October 6, 2020
News and Quick Comments

A COVID bonus: CBS gets primetime football

As COVID decimates the TV networks, it occasionally gives them a break.
Now comes a big one: Tonight (Monday, Oct. 5), CBS gets some primetime football.
That’s 7:05 p.m., with the Patrick Mahomes (shown here) and the current Super Bowl champions (Kansas City Chiefs) hosting the previous champs (New England Patriots). It partly collides with ESPN’s regular “Monday Night Football” – now pushed back to 8:50 p.m. – with the Green Bay Packers hosting the Atlanta Falcons. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / October 5, 2020
Daily Best Bets

Best-bets for Oct. 7: V-P debate … and lots of alternatives

1) Vice-presidential debate, 9 p.m. ET, ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox, PBS and news channels. There’s a fine chance this debate will be better than the presidential one last week. Mike Pence and Kamala Harris have worked within the rules of order in courtrooms and in Congress; neither one, we expect, will interrupt 100-plus times. And yes, there are plenty of alternatives, including a key CW night that includes “Devils” (shown here); see No. 3. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / October 5, 2020
News and Quick Comments

Latino voters flash political power

A new math ripples through this year’s political campaign.
Yes, the ethnic groups are key. But now, by a smidgen, Latinos are the largest of the groups.
At times, said Bernardo Ruiz (whose PBS documentary airs at 9 p.m. Tuesday), that’s a hard group for anyone to dominated. “The Latino vote has never been a monolith.”
But at times. it seems like one. “Latino Vote: Dispatches From the Battleground” starts with a Latino surge, helping Bernie Sanders more than double anyone else in the Nevada primary. That was sparked, Ruiz told the Television Critics Association recently, by “the work that Chuck Rocha (shown here) … and others did, including a number of local organizers ancommunity activists.” Read more…

By Mike Hughes / October 5, 2020