News and Quick Comments

News and Quick Comments

Leaphorn leaps to LA in February

There’s good news for fans of tough, taut drama:
“Dark Winds” (shown here) will be back for its fourth season. It arrives earlier than usual (Feb. 15 on the AMC cable channel) and gets its three main characters back together.
Based on Tony Hillerman novels, the show has been produced by the late Robert Redford and George R.R. Martin, the “Games of Thrones” author. In each of its first three seasons, it had a 100-percent score among critics tabulated by Rotten Tomatoes. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / October 23, 2025
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CBS plans a modest-but-cheery Christmas

CBS has announced a modest-but-cheerful batch of Christmas shows.
Barring late additions, the line-up has no holiday movies, no holiday music specials and two animated specials — one new, one not. Filling in will be some other weekend specials (Kennedy Center Honors, family film awards, Latin music), plus some festive game shows. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / October 16, 2025
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An early Halloween: Bart vs. Satan and grease

Ah, the sweet memories of state fairs — bright lights, loud music, fast rides … and grease. Lots and lots of grease.
That’s what we see on “The Simpsons” (shown here), at 8 p.m. Sunday (Oct. 19) on Fox.
There are deep-fried pickles and deep-fried cheese steaks. There’s mac-n-cheese on a stick and fried butter sticks on a stick. There’s more.
What could go wrong? Plenty, since this is the annual “Treehouse of Horror.” Read more…

By Mike Hughes / October 16, 2025
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“Lucy”: It took a village to create a TV miracle

(Portions of this are excerpted from “Television, and How It Got That Way,” a book-in-process. I’m running it now, because of an “I Love Lucy” profile airing at 8 p.m. Monday, Oct. 13, on CW. For the almost-complete book, click “The Book,” on the right side of the home page.)

To ponder the miracle of “I Love Lucy,” consider the void around it.
This was 1951, when TV was young and wobbly. There were a few worthy shows — Sid Caesar, Ed Sullivan, live dramas — and a lot of others.
In a week of primetime shows that fall, you’d find wrestling (twice) and boxing (twice). You’d find “Georgetown University Forum” and “Johns Hopkins Science Review, “Youth on the March” and “American Youth Forum,” plus “Film Filler” and “Lessons in Safety.”
Into that shaky field came the “Lucy” show. “It should bounce to the top of the ratings heap,” a Hollywood Reporter critic wrote. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / October 10, 2025
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Coming up: one more strong performance by Warner

Most people knew that Malcolm-Jamal Warner (shown here) was a skilled comedy actor. He’d been doing that since he was 13.
But in recent years, the Fox network has shown us something else: This guy was gifted at drama — filled with subtle intensity.
Now we see one final example: Warner — who died in a swimming accident in July, at 54 — has an emotional role in “Murder in a Small Town,” at 8 p.m. Tuesday (Oct. 7) on Fox. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / October 2, 2025
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“Raymond” special joins the nostalgia flurry

Somehow, situation comedies have become cozy artifacts.
They once ruled television. Now they provide fond memories, sort of like your grandpa’s checkers set.
The latest example is “Everybody Loves Raymond: 30th Anniversary Reunion,” from 8-9:30 p.m. Nov. 24 on CBS and Paramount+. That’s a Monday, putting it against a nostalgia show on CW … and a flurry of nostalgia networks. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / October 1, 2025
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Beach bods to the rescue: “Baywatch” rebooted

The Fox network is going back to the beach — again.
Last season, it tried “Rescue HI-Surf,” which never quite found the vibe of the old “Baywatch” (shown here). So next season it will … well, reboot “Baywatch.”
There will be different characters, but the same red swimsuits and, perhaps, same concept — lifeguards who look good in beachwear, while saving lives. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / September 23, 2025
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For retro-TV fans, here’s a fresh look

TV’s retro-surge has another player.
Now CW is jumping in, with a series of one-hour documentaries. Over eight Mondays (starting Oct. 13), “TV We Love” will range from the esteemed “I Love Lucy” (shown here) to … well, “The Brady Bunch.”
Retro-TV took hold with the changeover to HDTV. Suddenly, each station had three extra channels that viewers could reach without cable.
PBS used those to create PBS Kids and other specialties. Most stations, however, simply lined up channels that offer oldies, from “Star Trek” to “All in the Family” to cowboy movies. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / September 18, 2025
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CBS gives us Earth, Wind & Cyndi

As TV networks scramble for their niches, CBS has found a big one — music, especially the kind that spans generations and continents.
Earlier, the network announced an “Earth, Wind & Fire” celebration for Sept. 21. Now it has added Cyndi Lauper one (shown here) for two weeks later.
Those specials, also on Paramount+, involve top music producers from different eras. The EWF one is from Ben Winston, 43; the Lauper one is from Ken Ehrlich, 82. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / September 11, 2025