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Her quirky show helps fill a comedy void

When it comes to comedies, TV has turned upside down.
Now it’s the broadcast networks that fail to be funny. And it’s the streamers or a basic-cable network that fill the void.
Already arrived are FX’s “English Teacher” and Hulu’s “How to Die Alone” – a delight (shown here) that we’ll get back to in a minute.
Coming next are the second seasons of the “Frasier” reboot and “Colin From Accounts” (Sept. 19 and 26, both on Paramount+) and “Shrinking” (Oct. 16, Apple TV+). Also, there’s the final season of the delightful “What We Do in the Shadows” (Oct. 21, FX), with more coming. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / September 14, 2024

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Yes, even Hallmark can change

TV has a few things that seem permanent and unyielding.
There’s “NCIS” and “Law & Order,” Judge Judy and Charles Barkley and the Hallmark Channel. Except, now even Hallmark is changing.
The basics will stay the same. This season, the cable channels (Hallmark and Hallmark Mysteries) will combine for about 100 new movies, 40 of them with Christmas themes. Attractive young men and women will still bicker briefly, before deciding they kind of like each other.
But beyond that are the changes, including:
— Streaming. Hallmark Movies Now expands to become Hallmark+, with lots of old shows and some new ones. It starts Tuesday (Sept. 10) with a series (“The Chicken Sisters”), a movie trilogy (“Love on the Danube,” shown here) and a reality show (“Celebrations with Lacey Chabert”); there will be more soon. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / September 6, 2024

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CBS tries (carefully) a third morning-show hour

CBS is taking its first, hesitant steps toward having a longer morning show.
On Sept. 30, “CBS Mornings Plus” will debut at 9 a.m. ET. Tony Dokoupil, one of the “CBS Mornings” hosts, will stick around for the third hour, joined by Adriana Diaz. (They’re shown here.)
But the network says the show will only be on a few stations it owns – in Los Angeles, Chicago, Detroit, Miami and San Francisco – plus the streaming service, CBS News 24/7. Presumably, it could expand to others. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / September 4, 2024

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The first new shows: 1 out of 2 works fine

The first two new shows of the TV season are coming, bearing responsibility.
After a slow spring and a slack summer, viewers need something good. Now the fall season begins with:
— “English Teacher” (shown here), at 10 p.m. Mondays on FX, starting Sept. 2. It’s quite good; once it sheds its early monotone, it leans toward terrific.
— “Universal Basic Guys,” at 8 p.m. for three Sundays (starting Sept. 8) on Fox, before sliding to 8:30 when “The Simpsons” returns on Sept. 29. The opener is mainly for people who are amused when a mistreated chimp rips off the protagonist’s face. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / September 2, 2024

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“Only Murders” is back and better

The streaming world is full of brief pleasures — movies … six-episode series … epics that take two years between seasons.
But then there’s “Only Murders in the Building” (shown here). Each summer, it brings a fresh, 10-episode season; each seems even better than the previous ones.
That’s especially true of this fourth season, which arrives Tuesday (Aug. 27) on Hulu. It’s fresh and different, yet richly mines its past. Many actors return from previous seasons … even some whose characters were killed or jailed. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / August 26, 2024

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PBS has fresh surge of election specials

As the political conventions ended, networks retreated to their previous lives.
They have new game shows and old cop shows. The election is confined to their newscasts and occasional debates.
With one exception. PBS was the only broadcast network to give all of prime time to the conventions; now it has more coverage. In addition to “PBS News Hour” (7-8 p.m. weekdays on most stations) and any debates, that includes:
— “Counting the Votes” (shown here), 9:30 p.m. Tuesday (Aug. 27). Margaret Hoover starts with Jeb Bush and the bipartisan reforms that followed the 2000 election chaos in Florida. She goes on to tour other states and finds, among other things, that virtually every presidential vote is now on paper. (I posted a story on this previously, but I’ll include it at the end of this list.) Read more…

By Mike Hughes / August 23, 2024

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Donahue led the golden years for daytime talk

Phil Donahue, who died Sunday at 88, reflected a time when we could find neat surprises in odd parts of the day.
There were entertaining shows – Merv Griffin, Mike Douglas, Dinah Shore, Rosie O’Donnell, Ellen DeGeneres. And there were the two masters who could do it all – Donahue (shown here) and Oprah Winfrey.
And yes, those entwined. As a kid, O’Donnell would rush home from school to watch Griffin; Winfrey has said there would be no “Oprah” show if there wasn’t a “Donahue.”
Those two might talk lightly with stars one day … do family issues the next (Donahue even had on-air DNA tests) … then tackle major issues. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / August 19, 2024

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Blake’s films were fun to watch … and to make

Blake Edwards had this odd notion. Movies, he felt, should be fun to make and to watch.
That first always seemed true. “He would fall off his chair laughing,” Lesley Ann Warren told the Television Critics Association.
And the second? Audiences loved most of his Pink Panther movies, shrugged at some of his other films, then buzzed about “10” and “Victor/Victoria.” Edwards received an honorary Academy Award, then was semi-forgotten.
Until now. At 8 p.m. Tuesday (Aug. 27), PBS’ “American Masters” offers a jaunty journey through Edwards’ life.
This was a writer/director known for broad comedies like “The Pink Panther” (show here). But his work was different: Read more…

By Mike Hughes / August 19, 2024

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Debate sets site, moderators, more

The Sept. 10 debate – which once seemed iffy – has some specifics now.
ABC today offered these details:
— It will be at the National Constitution Center (shown here) in Philadelphia, at 9 p.m. ET.
— The moderators will be David Muir and Linsey Davis. They’re the anchors of the newscasts of, respectively, ABC and its streaming service, ABC News Live. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / August 16, 2024

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Hallmark+ sets a Sept. 10 debut

On Sept. 10, viewers will face a rare dilemma: Should they watch the first Harris-Trump debate or obsess on Hallmark?
Hmmm … fate of the free world or love amongst the chaste and beautiful. Why is life always so complicated?
Actually, you could catch both. It’s just that Sept. 10 (already the date of the ABC debate) is now the starting date for Hallmark+.
Company executives had previously laid out the general idea. (See separate story.) A small streaming service (Hallmark Movies Now) will be folded into this larger one. In addition to shows from the two Hallmark cable channels, it will soon include other movies (shown here), plus a series, a mini-series and a surge of reality shows. Now the details are available; they include: Read more…

By Mike Hughes / August 14, 2024