News and Quick Comments

News and Quick Comments

Busy times: from Honest Abe to Joe Exotic

You know life is promising when the news ranges from Abraham Lincon to Agatha Raisin, from Meat Loaf to Joe Exotic. All show up in recent announcements about TV; that includes:
— The “Tiger King” mini-series now has a starting date. The eight-hour film begins March 3 on Peacock, under the title “Joe vs. Carole.”
This is the scripted version of a true-life story originally told in a documentary that became a hit during stay-at-home stages, early in the pandemic. Kate McKinnon (shown here) of “Saturday Night Live” plays animal activist Carole Baskin, with John Cameron Mitchell as the self-named Joe Exotic, a private zookeeper eventually convicted of trying to hire someone to kill her. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / January 24, 2022
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PBS diversifies — from Harriet to hip hop

PBS – once considered mostly a cozy place for classical music, British dramas and French cooking – is broadening its scope.
Paula Kerger, the network CEO, has announced projects for this fall, ranging from Harriet Tubman to Chuck D (shown here) and hip hop history. She also announced long-range efforts that, she said, “will elevate new voices … and amplify diverse perspectives.” Read more…

By Mike Hughes / January 19, 2022
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ABC plans Oscar host, adds Koy pilot, renews “19”

(Please note: This is anewsy TV brief, from information that’s EMBARGOED until 12:45 p.m. ET today. The “Station 19” info is embargoed until noon, the Jo Koy info until 12:45, so please don’t put this online or elsewhere until then.)
By Mike Hughes
Looking ahead to next season – one without “Black-ish” – ABC has ordered a comedy pilot with comedian Jo Koy (shown here).
It has also nenewed “Station 19” for its sixth year. “Grey’s Anatomy,” the show that spawned it, had already been renewed for its 19th year.
Read more…

By Mike Hughes / January 11, 2022
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TCM sets tributes to Poitier and to MLK Day

A 24-hour Sidney Poitier tribute is coming to Turner Classic Movies next month.
And we won’t have to wait for all of it: “The Defiant Ones” (1958) airs at 11 a.m. ET Monday (Jan. 17), in a Martin Luther King Day marathon … and again at 10 p.m. ET Feb. 19, in the Poitier tribute, which includes the Oscar-winning “In the Heat of the Night” (shown here with Poitier and Rod Steiger).
“Defiant Ones” brought raves for Poitier, who became the first Black nominee for the best-actor Academy Award. Five years later, with “Lilies in the Field,” he became the first Black winner.
He was never nominated again, but did win a lifetime Oscar in 2002. He also received lifetime awards from the Golden Globes, the Kennedy Center, the American Film Institute and the Screen Actors Guild. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / January 8, 2022
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Jan. 6 anniversary: Anderson Cooper at his best

As the first anniversary of the Jan. 6 crisis (shown here) nears, two things have been added and one has been dropped.
Removed is Donald Trump’s plan for a news conference at his Florida resort. Trump said he’ll wait until a Jan. 15 rally in Arizona; and he said it in a Trump-style statement:
“In light of the total bias and dishonesty of the J6 Unselect Committee of Democrats, two failed Republicans, and the Fake News Media, I am canceling the Jan 6th Press Conference at Mar-a-Lago on Thursday and instead will discuss many of those important topics at my rally.”
And added are a morning event with speeches by Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, plus coverage throughout the day by the C-SPAN cable network. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / January 5, 2022
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The mid-season rush begins

The TV Season 2.0 has begun. And yes, we really need it.
The first step came Sunday (Jan. 2), when Fox debuted “Next Level Chef,” which promptly jumps to Wednesdays. On Monday, ABC launches a new “Bachelor” and NBC has the gentle fun of “Kenan.”
But the real burst starts Tuesday (Jan. 4). Two of broadcast TV’s best shows return (“This Is Us” and “Black-ish”) and a terrific new comedy arrives — “Abbott Elementary,” created by and starring Quinta Brunson, shown here.. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / January 3, 2022
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Betty White: an 82-year TV career

Betty White started her TV career before people had TV sets. Really.
White– who died on New Year’s Eve, 17 days shy of her 100th birthday – described that in “Here We Go Again” (Scribner, 1995).
She had just graduated from Beverly Hills High and fancied herself – incorrectly, she later said – as a possible opera singer. She and a classmate were asked to sing a shortened version of “The Merry Widow” in front of a TV camera.
“Our telecast only carried from the sixth (floor) to the ground floor,” where it was viewed by “our parents and a small handful of interested parties.” Read more…

By Mike Hughes / January 1, 2022
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Three agree: “West Side Story” triumphs

Chances are, few things in this universe will draw unanimous agreement from People magazine, arts critic Ken Glickman and me.
Here’s one that does: Steven Spielberg’s “West Side Story” (shown hee) is a triumph, well worth seeing.
Those sources are quite different. The magazine worries about whom Jennifer Aniston is dating; Ken doesn’t. He’s a classical conductor/critic; I’m just a writer who sometimes succumbs to alliteration.
Ken and I did once agree that the Stratford theater summer had one great musical and one bad one. We just didn’t agree on which was which. But now comes a movie most people can savor: Read more…

By Mike Hughes / December 30, 2021
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Carole King: the eternal pop star

Carole King is perfecting a new concept – the eternal pop star. Consider:
– She was still a teen-ager when some of the songs she co-wrote – “Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow?” and “Take Good Care of My Baby” – became hits in 1971.
– And now? She’ll turn 80 on Feb. 9 and remains relevant. Proof of that is in “Carole King & James Taylor: Just Call Out My Name,” which debuts at 9 p.m. and midnight ET Sunday (Jan. 2) on CNN, repeats at the same times Jan. 8 and then goes to HBO Max.
The film uses footage from the 2010 tour by King and Taylor (shown here), adding fresh interviews with both, plus their colleagues. Clearly, King – like Paul McCartney, who will turn 80 on June 18 – is remaining a force forever. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / December 28, 2021