Mike Hughes

Best-bets for June 16: Good start for “Good Fight”

1) The Good Fight” opener, 9 and 10 p.m., CBS. One of TV’s best shows has had a stealth-like existence. “Good Fight” has had three seasons on CBS All Access, which reaches less than 4 percent of TV homes; now its first season (10 episodes) spends the summer on CBS. This “Good Wife” spin-off starts with Diane losing her money in a Madoff-style scam. Soon, Lucca (shown here, foreground, fighting Christine Lahti in court) lures her to a mostly black law firm. Coming along is Diane’s goddaughter … whose dad was the scammer. Read more…

Frankie’s era? Well, it looked great

In a land of dark dramas, we might all wish we lived in Frankie Drake’s world.
That’s 1920s Toronto, where even the the crooks are neat and well-spoken. In this detective drama, Frankie is a sleek redhead, zooming around on a red motorcycle. It seems like fun, but …
“The bane of my existence for Season One was trying to operate the cars and the motorcycle,” said Lauren Lee Smith, who stars.
Especially that motorcycle: “It lit on fire at one point. (And) when you’re supposed to be going forward, it would reverse.” Read more…

Week’s top-10 for June 17: Blue-sky debuts and a “Trouble” return

1) “Good Trouble” return, 8 p.m. Tuesday, Freeform. Every now and then – but not often – TV has a surprise like this: A fairly good show delivers a terrific episode. This one is called “Percussion” and it keeps having Dennis — wracked with pain and self-loathing — pound his drum set. He has a brief-but-passionate storyline; Mariana has a so-so one. The real power involves the end of the trial of the cop who killed a black teen. Callie, the lawyer (Maia Mitchell, show here with Beau Mirchofff) and Malika, the activist, are enmeshed, with fierce impact. Read more…

“Endeavour” finds American-style cop clash

The trouble with English cops – at least, the TV ones – is they’re so unrelentingly cooperative.
They work together, pay attention, stay flexible. That’s fine for some things – solving crimes, for instance – but not for making an American-style cop show
.Fortunately, “Endeavour” — the mystery series on PBS’ “Masterpiece” — has figured that out. The new season, which starts Sunday (June 16), stirs things up. Read more…

Best-bets for June 15: Two versions of Kenan comedy

1) “All That” opener, 8:30 p.m., Nickelodeon; reruns at midnight. Long before he became an eternal “Saturday Night Live” star, Kenan Thompson did this kid-themed sketch show (shown here). He was 15 when he started there; at 41, he’s back to help produce this reboot. Kel Mitchell (who co-starred with Thompson in the original, then in a series and a movie) is also producing. Two of the other originals (Josh Server and Lori Beth Denberg) show up tonight, with the Jonas Brothers as guests. Read more…

“The Good Fight” brings its good run to CBS

Strolling through the summer TV line-up can feel like a trip to a perverse flea market.
There’s a miniature-golf show (really, on ABC) … and a 3-on-3 basketball league … and the sort of soap opera where the groom denounces the bride and attacks the wedding singer. There are magicians and jugglers and feuding roommates and ’80s game shows and ….
Wait … flea markets also have their gems. In the midst of all this nonsense, “The Good Fight” is spending summer Sundays on CBS. It has strong stories, great dialog and gifted actors. Read more…

Best-bets for June 14: A master playwright gets the spotlight

1) “American Masters: Terrence McNally,” 9-10:30 p.m., PBS; check local listings. McNally (shown here) has been a theater force for generations. His first show reached Broadway in 1963; his “Frankie and Johnny at the Claire de Lune” revival is there now. In between were about 17 other Broadway shows, winning four Tonys (plus a lifetime one). He’s ranged from farce to pain, from small shows to the epic “Ragtime” musical. Here’s a terrific portrait of a Texan who has lost two lovers to AIDS, but remains optimistic and funny. Read more…

Best-bets for June 13: Basketball is back (barely)

1) Basketball, 9 p.m. ET, ABC, with previews at 8 and 8:30. A couple more points one way and this would be over; Toronto, which had never been in the finals before, would be celebrating its championship. But Steph Curry and the Golden State Warriors slipped past the Raptors on Monday, 106-105. Now the series moves to San Francisco; if the Warriors win tonight, things will be back to Toronto for the final game. Read more…

Best-bets for June 12: Double-Oprah, plus games and more

1) “Queen Sugar” season opener, 9 p.m.; and Central Park Five interview, 10, Oprah Winfrey Network. It’s a huge night for Winfrey and Ava DuVernay. They produce “Queen Sugar,” the intense drama (shown here) about a Louisiana family; this season, Nova’s book brings ripples of rage. They also produced (and DuVernay directed and co-wrote) “When They See Us,” the Netflix mini-series about the five black youths incorrectly convicted of rape. Now Winfrey interviews them, in a special that Netflix will simulcast. Read more…

Tonycast 2019: Wit prevails, in a noisy night

The Tony telecast had been on for, maybe, three seconds when James Corden reminded us why we were watching.Yes, TV is in a new golden age. Still, nothing matches the explosive fun of live entertainment.Corden managed to say this in full-scale song-and-dance. He had another number, mid-show, that again proved there are an awful lot of clever lyricists out there. Let’s start there: Read more…