News and Quick Comments

News and Quick Comments

For retro-TV fans, here’s a fresh look

TV’s retro-surge has another player.
Now CW is jumping in, with a series of one-hour documentaries. Over eight Mondays (starting Oct. 13), “TV We Love” will range from the esteemed “I Love Lucy” (shown here) to … well, “The Brady Bunch.”
Retro-TV took hold with the changeover to HDTV. Suddenly, each station had three extra channels that viewers could reach without cable.
PBS used those to create PBS Kids and other specialties. Most stations, however, simply lined up channels that offer oldies, from “Star Trek” to “All in the Family” to cowboy movies. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / September 18, 2025
News and Quick Comments

CBS gives us Earth, Wind & Cyndi

As TV networks scramble for their niches, CBS has found a big one — music, especially the kind that spans generations and continents.
Earlier, the network announced an “Earth, Wind & Fire” celebration for Sept. 21. Now it has added Cyndi Lauper one (shown here) for two weeks later.
Those specials, also on Paramount+, involve top music producers from different eras. The EWF one is from Ben Winston, 43; the Lauper one is from Ken Ehrlich, 82. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / September 11, 2025
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It’s a fresh trove for “Bachelorette” and “Stars”

Grasping for more (and younger) viewers, ABC has found a fresh treasure trove: “The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives.”
That show’s central character — Taylor Frankie Paul (shown here), 31 and a mother of three — has been announced as the new “Bachelorette” star.
The news comes shortly after two of the show’s other regulars were chosen for ABC’s “Dancing With the Stars.”
Both Jen Affleck and Whitney Leavitt will be dancing on the show, which starts its season from 8-10 p.m. Tuesday (Sept. 16). “Secret Lives” returns Nov. 13 on Hulu (which, like ABC, is owned by Disney). “Bachelorette,” is merely listed for some time in 2026. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / September 10, 2025
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News: 30-year crossover, Tracy Morgan comedy, more

Here’s new turf for a TV crossover — a mystery that spans three decades.
That will happen Nov. 11, when CBS juggles the order of two shows.
“NCIS: Origins” (shown here), which usually follows “NCIS,” this time will air first. The show follows Gibbs’ early years, starting in 1991; he’ll face a mystery … that will then be tackled by the “NCIS” crew, in modern times.
That was one of several moves announced by CBS. Others include: Read more…

By Mike Hughes / September 5, 2025
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“SNL” adds four newcomers, plus a sorta-new guy

Now that it’s finished its 50th year, “Saturday Night Live” seems to be paying extra attention to its future.
The 51st season (starting Oct. 4) is adding five new people, one of biggest turnovers in decades. That includes Ben Marshall (shown here) — the towering redhead from “Please Don’t Destroy” videos — plus four lesser-knowns.
The show is also dropping some, but hasn’t said how many. In recent weeks, four people — Heidi Gardner, Devon Walker, Emil Watkin and Michael Longfellow — have said they won’t be back, without mentioning whether that’s by choice. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / September 2, 2025
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Teeny, tiny conference enlarges its TV deal

A micro-mini sports conference is enlarging its national TV deal.
Right now, the Pac-12 has (despite its name) exactly two teams. But it will add seven more next season … as its deal with the CW network grows to annually include 66 games in three sports.
The Pac-12 has a steep sports tradition, including 51 Rose Bowl winners in football and 15 national championships in men’s basketball. But prior to last season, most of those winners — including UCLA, with 11 of the basketball titles — left. The Pac-12 had only Oregon State (shown here) and Washington State. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / August 27, 2025
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For one teen, life became a musical whirlwind

For a moment in the 1950s, real life was like someone’s daydream.
A small-town teenager visited Broadway. A few hours later, she was at the core of the Rodgers-and-Hammerstein empire.
This comes to mind now, as Turner Classic Movies has a spurt of classic musicals. The films (also on HBO Max) include:
— Shirley Jones films Monday (Aug. 25). “Oklahoma” (shown here, 1955) and “Carousel” (1956), both with Gordon MacRae, are at 5:30 and 8 p.m. ET; “The Music Man” (1962), with Robert Preston, is at 10:15 p.m.
— Donald O’Connor films Thursday. That peaks at 8 p.m. ET with “Singin’ in the Rain” (1952), with Gene Kelly — who choreographed dazzling dance numbers and then performed then with O’Connor and Debbie Reynolds. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / August 23, 2025
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Wyle’s “Pitt” sweeps TCA awards

Twenty years after leaving “ER,” Noah Wylie is back on top of the TV world.
His “The Pitt” (shown here) — an intense medical drama on HBO Max — has swept the Television Critics Association awards, announced today. It won for program of the year plus best drama and best new program; Wylie also won the award for individuals in a drama.
Other winners included “The Studio” on Apple TV+ (comedy), “Adolescence” on Netflix (movie or miniseries) and “Traitors” on Peacock (reality), plus HBO’s Pee-wee Herman documentary and the 50th-anniversary special for “Saturday Night Live.” The individual comedy award went to Bridget Everett in HBO’s “Somebody Somewhere.” Read more…

By Mike Hughes / August 20, 2025
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Cancer special brings some Nashville flair

The upcoming “Stand Up to Cancer” special — sprawling across much of the TV universe on Friday (Aug. 15) — will partly have a country-music feel.
The show will be from Nashville, with music by such local acts as Jon Pardi (shown here), Dan + Shay, Jelly Roll, Brothers Osborne and the Nashville Community Gospel Choir.
Also performing will be the Jonas Brothers, Gavin DeGraw, Marcus King, Noah Cyrus (Billy Ray’s daughter, Miley’s younger sister) and gospel great CeCe Winans. Sheryl Crow — who grew up in small-town Missouri and sometimes drifts between pop and country — will host and perform. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / August 10, 2025