Mike Hughes

HBO’s show has size, scope and righteous dismay

Danny McBride has spent large chunks of the past decade as HBO’s counterpoint.
Other shows, from “Sopranos” to “Game of Thrones,” had epic scope. His focused on one angry guy.
McBride created and starred in “Eastbound & Down” and “Vice Principals,” played fuming hulks. “They believe they were owed something more than what they got in life,” he said.
Now “Righteous Gemstones” goes the opposite way. Eli Gemstone (John Goodman, shown here) and his kids (McBride, Edi Patterson and Adam Devine) have it all – jet, mansion, money, more. Read more…

Best-bets for Aug. 16: Wu is a reluctant TV star

1) “Fresh Off the Boat,” 8:30 p.m., ABC. Here’s a rerun of an episode that put more focus on Constance Wu (shown here), who became a movie star in “Crazy Rich Asians” … then grumbled when “Boat” was renewed for next season. She plays the mom, now an author; as she looks forward to a book-store reading, her husband is excited about a book tour and buys a recreational vehicle. Read more…

Best-bets for Aug. 15: Belatedly, “Baskets” is fun

1) “Baskets,” 10 p.m., FX. For four seasons, the life of Chip Baskets (Zach Galifianakis) has been a slow, downhill slide. Now comes a detour – a broadly funny trip to the state Capitol, to protest a bullet train that would buy the land his rodeo is on. Chip heads there with his twin Dale (also Galifianakis), and their mom. She’s played with subtle perfection by Louie Anderson (shown here), who’s already won an Emmy in the role. It’s a funny and warm episode; the descent resumes in next week’s series finale. Read more…

“Baskets” departs with some fun … and despair

In a moment of exasperation, Christine Baskets says what viewers have been thinking:
“Sometimes, I think you just want to fail at life,” she tells her son Chip.
She’s right, you know. That’s what has kept FX’s “Baskets” from being a good show … and, alas, what dragged down the first season of Showtime’s “Kidding.
”Now “Baskets” is wrapping up its fourth and final season. It has a terrific episode (shown here, with Louie Anderson) this Thursday (Aug. 15), then a so-so finale a week later. “Kidding” will start its second season Nov. 2. Read more…

Best-bets for Aug. 14: Troubled teen, privileged pros

1) “David Makes Man” debut, 10 p.m., Oprah Winfrey Network. In books and movies, Winfrey leans toward complex people in depressing circumstances. So it’s logical that she linked with Tarell Alvin McCraney, whose play was the basis for the Oscar-winning “Moonlight.” With his own boyhood as an example, McCraney gives us a brainy 14-year-old (shown here), commuting from a tough housing project to a magnet school. One mentor (Phylicia Rashad) is a teacher, another is imaginary. It’s not an easy story. Read more…

Best-bets for Aug. 13: A genial visit to Detroit and Florida

1) “Family Pictures,” 8 and 9 p.m., PBS. This wraps up a two-night, three-hour series, taking a genial look at contrasting places. In Detroit, we range from a long-time hat store (shown here) to the daughter of a music-shop owner who recorded the sermons of C.L. Franklin and two spirituals by his teen daughter Aretha. Then Florida ranges from a cowboy to a former migrant kid who’s principal of a migrant school. Read more…

JoJo and Jordan find their home-rehab reality

LOS ANGELES — On “The Bachelorette,” they might have seemed like a TV cliche.
He was the quarterback; she could fit any prom-queen image. Both are telegenic and whip-smart; she’s descended from doctors, he’s related to sports royalty. Even the names, JoJo and Jordan, seemed right.
And after the show ended? “We got back to reality,” said Jordan Rodgers, 30. “(She’s) like, ‘Hey, here’s what I do. Come along with me.’ I’m like, ‘Whoa, OK. All right, boss.’”
She’s a tough boss and colleague, as TV’s “Cash Pad” shows. “I love to work,” said JoJo Fletcher, 28. Read more…

Best-bets for Aug. 12: “Infamy” blends horrors stylishly

1) “The Terror: Infamy” debut, 9 p.m., AMC. Two horrors – one supernatural, the other real and historical — blend. The backdrop is the internment of Japanese-Americans during World War II. On an island and at the camp, the terror begins – ill winds, ominous predictions, sudden blindness or death. This clearly isn’t for everyone, but it’s well-crafted. Despite his surname and his past credits (“Narcos”), Josef Kubota Wladyka has family roots in Japan; he directed this beautifully. Read more…

At last: A perfectly good comedy

LOS ANGELES — For two weeks, I’d been seeing shows that promised to be fresh or fun or edgy or some other good thing.
And then, on the final day of the Television Critics Association tour, I saw my new favorite show. It’s called “Perfect Harmony” and it’s a perfectly harmonious blend of comedy, warmth and music. Read more…

Best-bets for Aug. 11: Teens soar and sing

1) U.S. Gymnastics Championships, 8-10 p.m., NBC. After three nights on cable, the event jumps to NBC for its finish; this is the women’s championship, the key part for American viewers. This often showcases future Olympic stars; past winners include Simone Biles, five times; Shawn Johnson and Jordyn Wieber (shown here) twice each; Dominique Dawes; and Mary Lou Retton. Now we’ll see another champion — a year before the Olympics. Read more…