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Good news for some shows, limbo for others

As the Fox network nears its Super Bowl spotlight, there’s good and bad news about its future:
— The good: “The Cleaning Lady” (shown here with Elodie Yung) has been renewed for a third season. That could have gone either way; the show has had modest ratings and a serialized story that reached some conclusions as the second season ended.
— Also good: Fox has expanded its agreement to put all of its scripted and reality shows on Hulu, the day after they air.
— And the bad: The spot after the Super Bowl on Feb. 12 – a perfect place to launch a new drama or showcase a fairly new one – will instead go to “Next Level Chef.” Read more…

By Mike Hughes / February 2, 2023

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It’s a life of TV fame and (sometimes) soup-can meals

(This is mainly for people in the Lansing, Mich., area, but should be of interest to others, especially “Shameless” fans. Jim Hoffmaster, who did 69 episodes of that show, is the subject of a fascinating documentary. It’s returning to Lansing for a week at the Studio C theater, beginning at 6:15 p.m. Friday, Jan. 27. With that in mind, I’m repeating this story, from a few months ago.)
Here are some moments in the life of a successful TV actor. Jim Hoffmaster (shown here) was:
— Visiting his alma mater, Durand (Mich.) High School, when a young woman rushed in, grinning. She was meeting the guy who plays Kermit on “Shameless” – “my favorite character on my favorite show.”
— At a street fair in Lansing,, doing one of his silly dances; the crowd cheered. “That’s as close as I’ve ever been to being mobbed,” he said later, by phone.
— And back home in Los Angeles, in a crowded studio apartment. No, he doesn’t have elegant dinner parties there. In fact, he never has guests … and he sometimes eats soup straight from the can. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / January 26, 2023

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Good news: quietly clever “Bob” has been renewed

One of TV’s best shows has just been renewed for next season.
And no, it’s not one that grabs awards or lands on 10-best lists. It’s “Bob (Hearts) Abishola,” the quiet gem that airs at 8:30 p.m. Mondays on CBS.
The network had already renewed its other comedies, two good ones (“Young Sheldon” and “Ghosts”) and “The Neighborhood.” Now it adds “Bob,” a quiet success. In its fourth season, it’s been averaging six million viewers, sometimes sliping into the top 10. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / January 26, 2023

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Here’s the opposite of the dim/hairy news

Back in 1975, newsman Charles Kuralt chastised TV stations for “hiring hair, not brains.”
A typical anchorman, he said, has great hair and an empty mind. He “wouldn’t know a news story if it jumped up and mussed his coiffure.”
And now – a mere 48 years later – we have the exact opposite. Geoff Bennett – half of the new “PBS NewsHour” anchor team with Amna
Nawaz (they’re shown here) – has no hair and a sharp, journalistic brain. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / January 22, 2023

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Back from sunny (?!?) Hollywood

“The sun will come out tomorrow.”
— Annie, a delusional optimist

“It never rains in California?
But girl, don’t they warn ya?
It pours, man, it pours”
— Albert Hammond; also, Sonny and Cher, Mamas and Papas and others, all realists

A dandy TV tradition finally returned, after a three-year absence.
Twice a year, the Television Critics Association used to gather in Hollywood. For two weeks, critics talked to stars and others. They filled their notebooks with quotes and their bodies with food and drink. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / January 21, 2023

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Apple’s less-is-more approach brings quality

As Apple TV+ sets its line-up, one thing is clear: The less-is-more approach sort of works.
Other streamers are into more-is-more, the scheme that propelled Netflix. They spend billions and run up huge deficitts, to assemble lots of subscribers worldwide. Various reports put Netflix at 223 million subscribers, Amazon Prime at 200 million, Disney+ at 164 million and HBO Max at 77 million.
By comparison, Apple has fewer viewers (34 million last year) and fewer shows. But many of those shows have made an impact; they’re led by the Emmy-winning “Ted Lasso” and the much-praised “Schmigadoon” (shown here), “Severance” and “The Morning Show.”
Now Apple has announced that “Schmigadoon” will return April 7 and “Lasso” will be back sometime this spring. Meeting with the Television Critics Association, it set these dates: Read more…

By Mike Hughes / January 20, 2023

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FX and AMC push forward, against a streamer surge

The TV world keeps transforming. Streamers soar; broadcast networks stumble.
But what about all of those in-between – the basic channels that come free to cable subscribers?
“The basic-cable business is really struggling to compete,” John Landgraf, whose FX domain includes the upcoming “Snowfall” (shown here) told the Television Critics Association. “I think FX sand AMC are kind of holding the fort right now.”
Both looked potent in his staff’s tabulation of critics’ top-10 lists for 2022. FX was No. 2, trailing only the HBO Max streamer; AMC had the No. 1 individual show – the final season of “Better Call Saul.” And both had impressive lineups to show the TCA: Read more…

By Mike Hughes / January 13, 2023

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Just what we need — one more TV +

Americans now have one more choice in their +-filled lives.
They’ve already confronted Disney+, Paramount+, Discovery+, AMC+ and, for a brief blip, CNN+. Now – starting Sunday (Jan. 15) – they have MGM+.
This one has a flashier name than most. (MGM is “one of the most venerable and beloved brands in the history of our industry,” claimed Michael Wright, the MGM+ president; one of its first new shows, “Murf the Surf,” shown here, reflects ’60s-style pizzaz.) It also has a smaller impact; unlike some of its plus-pals, it:
— Is a new name for an existing service, Epix. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / January 11, 2023

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A golden night for a long-delayed comeback

It was one of those neat, full-circle moments:
The first Golden Globe of the night went to Ke Huy Quan (shown here), for “Everything, Everywhere, All at Once.” He thanked Steve Spielberg, who gave him his great roles (“Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom” and “Goonies”); he also granted that his career went stagnant after that.
And the last Globe of the night went to Spielberg. His “Fabelmans” was named the best drama movie, shortly he won for best-director. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / January 11, 2023

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Back, at last, to sunny (?) California

PASADENA — It was three years ago that we headed home from the Television Critics Association sessions, already looking forward to the next ones.
These trips, twice a year, run for two-plus weeks in California, bringing blue skies, sunshine, optimism and TV stars. Then the world stopped.
Today (Jan. 9), the TCA finally started its first in-person sessions since January of 2020. Onstage this morning was Kiefer Sutherland … just as he’d been so often in the past. He was followed by the young cast of a “Grease” prequel (shown here). Everything was back to normal … except, of course, it wasn’t: Read more…

By Mike Hughes / January 9, 2023