“Dead Pixels” (shown here) is back and … well, a bit deader than before.
This was one of the shows we welcomed last summer: In the depth of the pandemic, the CW was reaching out; it was brightening the season with imported fun.
Now the mini-network is repeating that approach: New, scripted shows are scarce in the summer, so it has a bunch of them, especially ones from other English-speaking countries. They’re from: Read more…
TV critics have confirmed what the Emmy Awards suggested – the year of COVID was also the year of streamers.
Last week, the Emmy nominations came out, dominated by streaming networks and pay-extra cable. Now the Television Critics Association nominations echo that.
Streamers piled up 46 TCA nominations, led by five for “Ted Lasso” (shown here), which starts its second season July 23 on Apple TV+. That compares to only 10 for all of over-the-air TV – four for NBC, four for PBS (mostly its kid shows), three for CBS, zero for ABC, Fox or CW. Read more…
A half-century ago, the fictional Carol Brady was living TV’s version of don’t ask, don’t tell.
he married Mike Brady and merged their families as “The Brady Bunch” (shown here with Alice, the housekeeper). He had three sons and was widowed; she had three daughters and, well … ???
The plan was for her to be divorced, said Lloyd Schwartz, a “Brady Bunch” producer and the son of creator Sherwood Schwartz. ABC said no. “Divorce was a taboo topic on television, so they said, ‘Let’s just leave it so you don’t know.’”
Schwartz relates that in “History of the Sitcom,” which CNN airs at 9 p.m. Sundays. Its two-hour opener (July 11) offered a quick, slick ride through depictions of family and sexuality. Read more…
It would be best to watch Kristen Wiig’s new movie with a large, loopy audience.
Date night would be good; bar night would be better. Alas, neither is likely.
Intended for movie theaters, “Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar” was stopped by COVID. Ater a video-on-demand run, it has just debuted on Hulu. Home viewers will love some parts, but others will leave them going: “Huh?!?”
At the core are two terrific characters (shown hee), created by people who know comedy. Wiig was the go-to star of “Saturday Night Live” for years, then became a movie star. Annie Mumolo has had supporting and voice roles on TV and has written a few small movies and one big one. Read more…
At first glance, our summer TV line-ups already seem to be loaded.
There’s a ton of reality shows, a half-ton of game shows. There are oceans of sharks. ABC has the basketball finals and NBC is waiting semi-patiently for the July 23 start of the Olympics.
Is there anything missing? Yes, actually. New, scripted shows have been scarce … until now.
They’ll arrive in one gulp on Sunday (July 11). That night has the debuts of three series(including HBO’s “White Lotus,” shown here) and the season-openers of two more; that’s five new, scripted shows … plus one that looks at past comedies. Read more…
So this is what a winning streak looks like: Suddenly, the Chicago Cubs (shown here with Kris Bryant) get a spot on ABC … the first in decades.
And the streak is only one game, following a dizzying, 11-game losing streak. Turnarounds are great.
Usually, ESPN carries the Sunday-night basetball games. At 7 p.m. ET on Aug. 8, however, the Cubs-White Sox game will be produced by ESPN, but will air on its sister channel, ABC.
ABC did carry a wild-card game last year, but that was its first post-season game in 25 years. Read more…
Occasionally, it seems, TV veers away from its summer silliness.
You just have to know where to look … which is mostly PBS.
The network has just announced three “Frontline” films, plus six on “POV.” Those documentaries span the globe – Palestine, Peru and Puerto Rico, plus India, Afghanistan and the U.S, – and cover serious issues, from toppling statues (shown here) to propping up the economy. Read more…
(This is an updated version of the previous 4th-of-July story, now including NBC and more of the performers.)
Sure, you could consider this year’s 4th-of-July mega-concert to be same-old, same-old.
After all, this is the 41st year for “A Capitol Fourth” on PBS …. and the 83rd year since July 4 became a paid federal holiday … and the 245th since the Declaration of Independence was signed.
But Ali Stroker, one of the performers, feels this time is different. “In the re-emerging, we have the option to make the world we’d like to have.”
She’s emerging from a year on pause. A Tony-winner (shown here on her winning night), she suddenly had no Broadway to audition for, fewer places to perform. “Singing in my bathroom, to my laptop, wasn’t necessarily prime conditions.” Read more…
For fans of “Highway to Hell” and “Ice Road Truckers” and more reality, this all seems familiar.
Trucks get stuck in the snow, their wheels spinning … They teeter into a ditch … The ice buckles under them, preparing to dump them into the lake … Bikers zoom alongside, attacking the driver … And …
OK, maybe some of those don’t happen much in real life. That’s why we have fiction and Liam Neeson, whose movie characters keep having some very bad days.
His latest film is “The Ice Road” (shown here), which has just arrived on Netflix. It’s the worst nightmare of any driver’s ed instructor, times (approximately) a thousand. Read more…
“Highway to Heaven” will return to TV, three decades after the death of the man who molded it.
Michael Landon (shown here with Victor French, his co-star) created the show, produced it, directed most of the episodes and starred as a probationary angel, helping people on Earth.
The new version will be on cable’s Lifetime, with key differences: It will be a movie (not a series), planned as the first of several. And this time, the angel will be a Black woman, played by Jill Scott. Read more…
