Mike Hughes

Weekly Previews

Week’s top-10 for Aug. 5; re-visiting “Woodstock”

1) “American Experience,” 9-11 p.m. Tuesday, PBS. To the outside world, Woodstock (shown here) was a mess – too much mud and chaos, too little food and water. But the people who were there tell a different story – a mega-crowd absorbing good vibes and great music. Just shy of the 50th anniversary (Aug. 15-18), this compelling film views Woodstock from the start … including the scramble for a new site, five weeks before the event. The stage barely got finished, the fence never was finished, but the party went on. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / August 1, 2019
News and Quick Comments

CBS faces woes over stereotypes and sex comments

LOS ANGELES — Just as CBS is renewing “Love Island,” its other summer reality show faces fresh scrutiny.
“We have heard things about (‘Big Brother’) that we are not comfortable with,” Kelly Kahl, the network president, confirmed.
One of the show’s producers has already been chastised for prompting a contestant to give outspoken soundbites, he said, and will be talked to after the season. And all of the network producers get training in facing “unconscious bias.” Read more…

By Mike Hughes / August 1, 2019
Daily Best Bets

Best-bets for Aug. 3: Globetrotting and a Globetrotter

1) “Gordon Ramsay: Uncharted,” 11 p.m. ET, National Geographic. After spending lots of time grumbling and cursing in kitchens, Ramsay (shown here) headed out to the world. The opener took him to the mountains of Peru; this one (which debuted Sunday) takes him to New Zealand. Ramsay – who did a lot of fishing in his Scottish boyhood – tries to catch and cook seafood in the style of the naive Maori. With interesting people and gorgeous settings, the result is fairly entertaining. Next, on Sunday, is Morocco. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / August 1, 2019
Daily Best Bets

Best-bets for Aug. 2: “SHIELD” saves the world

1) “Agents of SHIELD” season-finale, 8 and 9 p.m., ABC. Epic in scale and (presumably) in budget, “SHIELD” has had modest ratings. Still, it’s been renewed annually, possibly because Disney (ABC’s parent company) owns Marvel and makes profits selling sci-fi shows overseas. Now “SHIELD” has been given one more 13-episode season for next summer. Tonight, ABC says, the team tries “to stop the end of everything.” That seems like a worthy goal. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / July 31, 2019
Daily Best Bets

Best-bets for Aug. 1: A farewell to zombies

1) “iZombie” series finale, 8 p.m., CW. For the second straight night, CW ends one of its best shows. On Wednesday, it was “Jane the Virgin”; tonight is “iZombie.” Both are bright-looking, with a smart and likeable woman at the core; only one, however, has someone munch the brains of murder victim, hoping to absorb memories and attitudes. That’s Liv (shown here), a doctor and inadvertent zombie who works in the morgue and helps police. Now she has a bigger goal — preventing a war between humans and zombies. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / July 30, 2019
News and Quick Comments

PBS: The one spot with no regime change

LOS ANGELES — In a TV world filled with regime change, PBS’ Paula Kerger is the exception.
Already the longest-lasting head of a major network, Kerger announced today (July 29) that she’s signed for five more years as the network’s president and CEO
.That’s not what she expected when she started the job 13 years ago, Kerger said. “I thought, ‘Five years, maybe.’” Read more…

By Mike Hughes / July 29, 2019
Daily Best Bets

Best-bets for July 31: Farewell to “Jane”

1) “Jane the Virgin” series finale, 9 p.m., CW. Jane’s grandmother (shown here with her daughter and granddaughter) has always loved telenovela finales. “The good people get what they deserve,” she says. “And there’s usually a wedding.” Now we get all of that and more. It’s the 100th episode (if you count the 8 p.m. hour of interviews as No. 99) and many of the key issues were settled in No. 98. Still, there are a few surprises … including a bizarre wedding vehicle. Eventually, good people — and good viewers — do get what they deserve. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / July 29, 2019
Stories

At last, TV has lots of sketchy women

LOS ANGELES — TV has always been fond of sketch comedy.It’s gone from Sid Caesar and Milton Berle to The Kids in the Hall and “Saturday Night Live.” It’s had the full range of people … but only if your range is mostly confined to white males.But now there’s the flip side — two shows centering on all-female casts:– “A Black Lady Sketch Show” (shown here) opens Friday on HBO, with four black women at the core. “It hadn’t been done before,” Issa Rae said. She produces the show and is in some sketches, but says this was propelled by Robin Thede and “her passion for comedy.” Read more…

By Mike Hughes / July 29, 2019
Daily Best Bets

Best-bets for July 30: Close Encounters with space and politics

1) “Close Encounters of the Third Kind” (shown here) and “Star Wars” (both 1977), 8 and 10:30 p.m., Turner Classic Movies. It’s a splendid night for space. PBS’ “American Experience” concludes its rerun of the excellent, three-part “Chasing the Moon” (8-10 p.m.). And TCM has these masterpieces from Steven Spielberg and George Lucas, respectively. And yes, 1977 was a fun year to go to the movies. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / July 28, 2019