News and Quick Comments

News and Quick Comments

Masterful films eye voting and gossip

Let’s say you decide to turn Tuesday (Oct. 20) into a documentary film festival.
You ignore the rest of TV – “Voice,” “Bachelorette,” even the World Series – and watch two PBS films back-to-back. It’s “American Masters” at 9 p.m. and “Frontline” at 10:30 (check local listings).
Chances are, you’ll emerge impressed. These films are richly crafted … yet thoroughly different.
The “Masters” film – “Walter Winchell: The Power of Gossip” – is set mostly in the 1930s to ‘50s; the “Frontline” one – “Whose Vote Counts?” – is about the current chaos of long lines (shown here) and tangled rules for votin Read more…

By Mike Hughes / October 19, 2020
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Baseball bumps Bart’s “Treehouse” tales

One national pastime (baseball) has blotted out another (“The Simpsons”).
That means this year’s “Treehouse of Horror” episode (shown here) – a good one – will be delayed by Fox. However, the previous ones will be rerun often on cable.
Fox had been promoting the 31st annual “Treehouse,” a “Simpsons” Halloween special that spins three bizarre tales. What it sometimes didn’t mention was that the show would be bumped if a seventh and final game emerged in the National League playoffs.
And then? The Atlanta Braves led three games to one, but the Los Angeles Dodgers won the next two, forcing the game at 8 p.m. ET Sunday (Oct. 18). Read more…

By Mike Hughes / October 18, 2020
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Fun-loving Pepe a symbol of hate? Not on purpose

Pepe the Frog (shown here) is a friendly sort – big-eyed and green (as are many frogs) and casual.
He’s also been co-opted by alt-right and white supremacist groups. The Anti-Defamation League included him in its hate-symbol database.
That combination confounds Pepe’s creator. “It is hard to control anything on the internet,” Matt Furie recently told the Television Critics Association in a virtual session.
Now his story is told in a fascinating documentary. “Feels Good Man,” a Sundance Film Festival award-winner, will be 10 p.m. Monday (Oct. 19) on most PBS stations (check local listings), under the “Independent Lens” banner Read more…

By Mike Hughes / October 16, 2020
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“Last Man Standing” still stands … but only for one more year

After standing for a decade, “Last Man Standing” (shown here) is near the end.
Fox announced that the upcoming season – a full, 22-episode one, starting in January – will be its last.
The show will have run nine seasons, spread over 10 years and two networks. That makes Tim Allen one of TV’s most eternal stars; adding “Home Improvement,” he’ll have 17 seasons and 398 episodes Read more…

By Mike Hughes / October 15, 2020
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CBS finally sets its season-openers

A major chunk of the new TV season has finally been scheduled.
CBS announced November starts for 10 of its series. That includes all three “NCIS” shows and five of its six comedies — including one new show, “B Positive” (shown here) — plus “SWAT” and “All Rise.”
That still leaves 10 others waiting to be scheduled. Most are hourlong dramas, including the two “FBI” shows and the three Friday ones.
The move matches others made by big-three networks. NBC will launch several of its shows around the Nov. 10 season-opener of “This Is Us”; two days later, ABC starts its big moves with a crossover of “Station 19” and “Grey’s Anatomy.” Read more…

By Mike Hughes / October 13, 2020
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For Blacks, the car brings freedom and fear

For four centuries, mobility has been crucial to Blacks in America.
At first, a PBS documentary points out, it was banned. Many slaves never traveled more than a mile.
Much later, travel was joyous (shown here) … or perilous. The film takes us through the “Green Book” era of discrimination … and on to the fears that go with a modern traffic stop.
That leads to its title: “Driving While Black: Race, Space and Mobility in America” airs from 9-11 p.m. Tuesday (Oct. 13) on PBS. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / October 12, 2020
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TV gets bonus football games and more

The sports world has been giving some big breaks to TV networks … and to viewers.
Breaks are needed, at a time when COVID has slowed the fall TV line-ups. During that time, any sports event brings a spurt of interest; lately, the breaks have gone to:
– CBS. For the second straight week, it gets a primetime, pro-football game. Both games were postponed because of COVID, then re-scheduled as a weekday bonus. This one could be a dilly: At 7 p.m. ET Tuesday (Oct. 13), two undefeated teams collide, with Josh Allen (shown here) and Buffalo (4-0) at Tennessee (3-0). Read more…

By Mike Hughes / October 11, 2020
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Good news: Satire survives and thrives

This is the golden month for political satire: The final weeks of an election ripple with possibilities.
And now some of that potential has been realized: “Saturday Night Live” is off to a strong start … and Seth Meyers (shown here) had a hilarious “Closer Look” special in prime time.
This should be the time when satire thrives, but you can’t be sure. In August of 2016 — amid snowboalling interest in the election — Comedy Central suddenly canceled Larry Wilmore’s late-night show. Four years later, it looked like COVID might mute all laughter. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / October 9, 2020
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A soul-crushing loss for movie theaters

This is another leap forward for the streaming world … and a nasty fall backward for movie theaters:
“Soul” (shown here), the new Pixar movie, won’t be in theaters after all, at least in the U.S. On Christmas Day, it will debut on Disney+; it will only reach theaters in parts of the world that don’t have the streaming service.
This is the third film to make that jump for Disney. It was “Hamilton” on the 4th of July, “Mulan” last month and now “Soul” for Christmas. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / October 9, 2020
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A COVID bonus: CBS gets primetime football

As COVID decimates the TV networks, it occasionally gives them a break.
Now comes a big one: Tonight (Monday, Oct. 5), CBS gets some primetime football.
That’s 7:05 p.m., with the Patrick Mahomes (shown here) and the current Super Bowl champions (Kansas City Chiefs) hosting the previous champs (New England Patriots). It partly collides with ESPN’s regular “Monday Night Football” – now pushed back to 8:50 p.m. – with the Green Bay Packers hosting the Atlanta Falcons. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / October 5, 2020