News and Quick Comments

News and Quick Comments

PBS heads back to Broadway

PBS will be back on Broadway next month.
It will stuff four Fridays in May with “Great Performances” shows. That includes two full musicals — “Suffs” (shown here) and “Top Hat” — plus a documentary and a Nicole Scherzinger concert.
This has become a tradition, for the month leading into the Tony awards. Each year, “Great Performances” puts new specials alongside ones from London. In this case, “Top Hat” and the Scherzinger concert were filmed in England, the others in the U.S. The line-up, all at 9 p.m., is: Read more…

By Mike Hughes / April 3, 2026
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“Bridgerton” has more barriers to break

The lush “Bridgerton” series still has barriers to break. Its next season will apparently be the first with an LGBT romance at its core.
As filming began in London, the Netflix show said it will focus on Francesca’s relationship with Michaela (they’re shown here), her late husband’s cousin.
Through its first four seasons, “Bridgerton” has brought many inter-racial romances and marriages (including Francesca and her husband, John Stirling) to high society in the early 1800s. The fourth season broke class barriers, when Benedict Bridgerton fell in love with a servant. Gay romance has also been touched upon briefly; now it moves to the center Read more…

By Mike Hughes / March 24, 2026
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“Bachelorette” is dropped before it starts

“The Bachelorette” has suddenly been yanked from ABC’s schedule, three days before it was set to open its season.
The decision came after TMZ released a video showing Taylor Frankie Paul (shown here) seemingly attacking her ex-boyfriend Dakota Mortensen and throwing several chairs at him. The incident led to Paul pleading guilty to aggravated assault. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / March 19, 2026
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Even in somber moments, Oscar joy and optimism

Billy Crystal has strong moments at the Oscars, but none like this.
In a a eulogy for his friend, Rob Reiner, he did it all. It was sometimes funny, sometimes emotional, but always a celebration of a great life.
It included the professional — now-classic movies at the start of Reiner’s directing career — and the personal. With his wife Michelle, Reiner successfully championed progressive causes, including gay marriage;
That was part of the best (and busiest) in-memoriam stretch in Oscar history. It started with Reiner, paused in the middle for Diane Keaton, then closed with Robert Redford and the unexpected touch: Read more…

By Mike Hughes / March 16, 2026
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It’s somber Larry and hopeful Barack

Here’s an odd-couple pairing: Barack Obama and Larry David.
One speaks of hope and “yes we can”; the other professes hopelessness and “we probably can’t.” Now they sort of have a show together.
“Life, Larry and the Pursuit of Unhappiness” will debut at 9 p.m. June 26 on HBO. That’s a Friday, a night that has worked well for Bill Maher.
David (shown here) co-created and stars in the show. Obama isn’t necessarily in it, but Higher Ground (his company with his wife Michelle) is the production company. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / March 14, 2026
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Chicago crossover: high stakes, strong emotions

NBC’s post-Olympic push hits a peak Wednesday (March 4).
That’s when all three Chicago shows mold into one high-stakes, high-octane night (shown here). The result — even with some scattered flaws — is compelling.
Fresh from high ratings for the Winter Olympics, the network wanted to keep the momentum. The first week, that meant launching “The Voice” on a Monday, with a quick rerun on Wednesday. The Chicago shows would have to wait a week. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / March 4, 2026