News and Quick Comments

News and Quick Comments

It’s a gloomy road to a happy ending

It kind of felt like I was in the wrong theater.
I was there for “Snow White.” (Don’t judge.) But this felt more like I’d stumbled into “Les Miserables.”
I was hoping for happy little guys who whistled while they worked. Instead, I saw miserable souls under a vain ruler who knew nothing about the common man. If I’d wanted that, I could have watched CNN.
Eventually, it all works out and there’s a happy ending. (Sorry, I should have put up a spoiler alert.) But it was a rough road to get there. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / March 22, 2025
News and Quick Comments

A fourth network? The “pipe dream” persisted

(This is the latest chapter of a book-in-progress, “Television, and How It Got That Way.” If you scroll up one, you’ll see all of the chapters so far, including this one, in their places in the book.)

For 30 years, a fourth TV network seemed like mere myth.
That was after the death of DuMont and before the birth of Fox. There were several tries, all imploding quickly.
One such fizzle (a 1967 latenight show led by Bill Dana, shown here) was declared by Jack Gould, the New York Times TV critic, to seal things. It was “further evidence that expansion of commercial TV is little more than a pipe dream.” Read more…

By Mike Hughes / March 16, 2025
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“Anora” is a triumph of creative chaos

\For screenwriters, there’s a helpful chaos theory.
It’s one of the reasons that “Anora” (shown here) – in theaters now, on Hulu starting March 17 – was a worthy winner of five Academy Awards, including best picture.
That still doesn’t mean everyone should rush to see it. This film has enough of many things – sex, nudity, language – to disrupt fragile souls and bring arrests in fragile nations.
But it also has much more – great characters, perfect performances (especially by Oscar-winner Mikey Madison) and clever chaos. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / March 8, 2025
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It was a great half-hour, anyway

This year’s Academy Award show gave us 31 great minutes.
It also gave us 194 not-great (and, sometimes, not good at all) minutes. But at least we got something.
The great ones were at the very start. There was a musical burst from Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo that took an 85-year leap from “Over the Rainbow” to “Defying Gravity.”
Then came Conan O’Brien’s sharp monolog. (We’ll forgive his nasty mini-film that preceded it; O’Brien made up for that later with a terrific little film introducing younger generations to movie theaters.) Read more…

By Mike Hughes / March 3, 2025
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Good news: Fox renews “Doc”

For fans of TV drama, there’s some good news:
“Doc” will be back next season on Fox – this time for 22 episodes. Also, other shows – led by ABC’s “Grey’s Anatomy” – are set for their spring return.
Based on an Italian series, “Doc” started with an offbeat notion: After a car accident, a doctor has lost eight years of memories, both medical and personal. She struggles to revive her career and her life.
That may sound like a stretch, but the cast (led by Molly Parker, shown here) and the writing make it work. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / February 26, 2025
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It’s a Keith/Blake convergence

CBS has a fresh way to launch a music talent show.
Very simply, it will use the stars from other networks’ shows.
“The Road,” this fall, will feature Keith Urban (shown here) (previously on “American Idol,” and Blake Shelton, previously on “The Voice.” Shelton will produce it with Taylor Sheridan, the “Yellowstone” creator, and others. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / February 25, 2025
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Oscar telecast tries new music plan

The Academy Awards will have a different approach to music this year.
Gone are the separate performances – some good, some bad – of the five nominated songs. Instead, the show will have what it calls music celebrating filmmaking and its legends.
Performing that night (7 p.m. ET Sunday, March 2, on ABC) are:
Read more…

By Mike Hughes / February 25, 2025
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A life lived out loud — and on camera

One day, we’re told, a Juilliard professor heard something upsetting.
Someone was performing an adjusted version of a classic. He stomped in, asking who dared to edit Rachmaninoff.
He found Hazel Scott, age 8, at the piano. She had made changes because her hands weren’t yet big enough for some of the moves.
Scott (shown here) would soon become Juilliard’s youngest student. And, in her teens, the youngest performer at the elegant Cafe Society. And, at 22, the spark for a brief movie strike. And, later, a star on TV and in Paris.
That’s told in a fascinating “American Masters,” at 9 p.m. Friday (Feb. 21) on PBS. Add an “American Experience” profile of Walter White (9-11 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 25) and you have a strong finish to Black History Month. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / February 19, 2025