Mike Hughes

Best-bets for May 12: Let’s visit happier days

1) “The Happy Days of Garry Marshall,” 8-10 p.m. ABC. For two years, Marshall had TV’s two most-watched shows, “Happy Days” (shown here) and “Laverne and Shirley”; the next year, he had three of the top four, adding “Mork & Mindy.” He went on to movies and more, dying in 2016 at 81. Some of his top stars – Penny Marshall (his sister) and Robin Williams – have died, but others gather here, including Ron Howard, Henry Winkler, Pam Dawber and (from “Pretty Woman”) Julia Roberts and Richard Gere. Read more…

Best-bets for May 11: Britton’s back, “Asian” compels

1) “9-1-1” season-finale, 8 p.m., Fox. The series started with terrific work from Connie Britton as Maddie, a passionate 9-1-1 operator. She left – Britton had only planned to do one season – but returns two years later for this guest shot. Maddie (shown here) was one of the victims, when a train plunged off the tracks; people race to the rescue, including her ex-lover Buck. Then the second “9-1-1: Lone Star” episode reruns at 9:01. Read more…

Week’s top-10 for May 11: Finales and a potent documentary

1) “Asian Americans,” 8-10 p.m. today and 8-11 p.m. Tuesday, PBS. Spanning centuries, here is a richly researched story of pain and (eventually) triumph. Americans needed Chinese workers to build the Transcontinental Railroad in the 1860s, then hit them with the Chinese Exclusion Act in 1882. In the 1940s, they sent 120,000 Japanese (the majority of them U.S. citizens) to internment camps. These stories are told vividly Monday. Tuesday includes triumphs and the rise of activist movements (shown here). Read more…

Best-bets for May 10: Mother’s Day (revised)

1) Mother’s Day movies, cable. Is this our revisionist view of motherhood? FX has “Bad Moms” (2016, shown here) at 8 and 10 p.m.; Lifetime includes “Mommy Group Murders” (2018) at 4 p.m. and “Mommy Is a Murderer” (2020) at 8. Moms come across much better in “I Remember Mama,” at 8 p.m. ET on Turner Classic Movies. Irene Dunne and three of her co-stars received Academy Award nominations. Read more…

Documentary has pain and triumph

As Mike Nakayuma tells it, enlisting in the military “was not a deeply thought-out decision.”
Soon he was in Vietnam, heading into the jungle to induce firefights. A month away from going home, he was seriously wounded. “I thought, ‘I’m going to die.’” he says in “Asians Americans,” the compelling, five-hour documentary Monday and Tuesday (May 11-12) on PBS.
At the field hospital, the others were treated; he asked when it would be his turn. “They said, ‘Oh, you should have told us you were American. We thought you were a Gook.’” Read more…

COVID isolation spurs drama, comedy

The COVID-19 shutdown may have a dramatic effect on love, lust and life.
Now TV is jumping in with shows from the producers of “Good Trouble” (shownn here) and “Orange is the New Black.” Both will be taped in the actors’ homes, using remote technology – a method that’s been tried for drama (“All Rise”), comedy (“Parks and Recreation Reunion,” “Saturday Night Live”) and music. They are: Read more…

Best-bets for May 9: British drama, gritty or refined

1) “Line of Duty,” 11 p.m., AMC. To Americans, Keeley Hawes is the star of classy PBS dramas, from “Our Mutual Friend” to the “Upstairs Downstairs” reboot and “The Durrells in Corfu.” In England, however, she often does intense crime shows. Now AMC is rerunning this terrific series. As the six-week second season begins, Hawes is a cop (shown here), suddenly getting an emergency call. The early and late scenes in this opener pack a fierce jolt; in between is a solid drama, centering on a gifted actress. Read more…

CBS renews most of its line-up

For frustrated TV viewers, the pandemic may bring one plus – fewer cancellations of current shows.
At least, that’s the indication from CBS’ announcement today (Wednesday). In one swoop, it has renewed 18 shows … to go along with five that were previously renewed.
The virus shutdown came just as shows are usually shooting pilot films, leaving a question: Would networks take a gamble – grabbing a show without a pilot – or simply keep what’s already there? Read more…