News and Quick Comments

News and Quick Comments

Super-streamers go to the Max

Let’s consider this the ultimate name-dropping.
HBO has just sent a reminder that it’s super-streamer, HBO Max (shown here with “Game of Thromes,” will arrive May 27. That brought my knee-jerk reaction:
What terrible timing, I figured. Disney+ has grabbed more than 50 million subscribers during this stay-at-home phase. Max will arrive just as we’re finally leaving home and strolling into the sunshine.
Will yet another super-streamer succeed? As the HBO name-droppers put it: “Ross, Rachel, Penny, Sheldon, Rick, Morty, Princess Bubblegum, Big Pussy, Mr. Big, Chandler Bing, Elmer Fudd, Diana Prince, Jon Snow, Dorothy … Bruce Wayne and (more) certainly think so.” Read more…

By Mike Hughes / April 23, 2020
News and Quick Comments

Virus specials: Abby & Alicia & more

For the cable news people, coronavirus specials have become the new normal.
CNN keeps having a “Coronavirus: Fact or Fiction” town halls, with Anderson Cooper and Dr. Sanjay Gupta – two terrific fact guys – in charge. Now it has variations with Alicia Keys and (really) Big Bird.
Fox News has also jumped in. Here are the latest examples; for each, the times are three hours earlier PT: Read more…

By Mike Hughes / April 23, 2020
News and Quick Comments

More at-home music: Disney on Thursday, everyone Saturday

(This story, written last week, is now a tad dated. A newer commentary is at the top of the page.)
Two new TV specials are joining the music-from-home trend.
It will be a light hour of Disney tunes (complete with singalong) on Thursday … and then a marathon of global pop stars on Saturday. Details are:
– Thursday: “Disney Family Singalong” will be 8-9 p.m. on ABC, with stars performing from home, while animated characters show the lyrics. There will be songs from recent movies, including “Moana” and “Frozen” and (Auli’i Cravalho, shown here, and Josh Gad will perform) and older films. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / April 15, 2020
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Bad/good news: Seasons ending early; some finales are first-rate

The coronavirus shutdown is starting to have another TV impact – shorter seasons and quicker finales.
It’s a subtle change — two or three fewer episodes, before the reruns begin – with a redeeming factor: This week, two of NBC’s season-finales – “New Amsterdam,” at 9 p.m. Tuesday and “Chicago P.D” (shown here with Jason Beghe) at 10 p.m. Wednesday (April 14-15) – are terrific. Two others – “Chicago Med” and “Chicago Fire,” 8 and 9 p.m. Wednesday – are so-so, but we’ll settle for two out of four. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / April 13, 2020
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Elmo wants to brighten the crisis

Even in the darkest times, Elmo (shown here) remains eager and upbeat. So now, of course, he’ll have a special during the coronavirus shutdown.
“Sesame Street: Elmo’s Playdate” will be 7 p.m. Tuesday (April 14) on HBO, many of its sister channels, and PBS Kids. Guests include Lin-Manuel Miranda, Anne Hathaway and Tracee Ellis Ross. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / April 8, 2020
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Filling the void: CBS tries Sunday movies

As the coronavirus shutdown lingers, TV networks have empty spots at the end of their season.
Now CBS has a temporary solution: It will wipe aside its Sunday line-up – “God Friended Me,” “NCIS: Los Angeles,” “NCIS: New Orleans” – and replace it with movies.
During May, all five Sundays will be movie nights – two Indiana Jones films (shown here), plus “Titanic,” “Forrest Gump” and “Mission: Impossible.” Read more…

By Mike Hughes / April 7, 2020
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All rise for a social-distance drama

While many TV shows have stopped filming, “All Rise” will take an alternate approach:
On May 4, it will have an episode about the shutdown … filmed shutdown-style.
One of the show’s producers is Gil Garcetti, the former Los Angeles County district attorney. He’s been talking to the others, CBS said, about how the legal system works amid social-distancing.
That led to a story in which Judge Lola Carmichael (Simone Missick) presides over a trial from her home. Other characters will be shown in their homes, using FaceTime, WebEx, Zoom and more. Director Michael Robin will use some special effects and will have a lone camera person, inside a vehicle, getting shots of a now-desolate Los Angeles Read more…

By Mike Hughes / April 6, 2020
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It was the season’s best sitcom episode

As TV shows race through our stay-at-home lives, we sometimes have to stop and marvel:
Wait, that one – the most recent “Mom” episode (shown here) – was really good. It was probably the best situation-comedy episode I’ve seen since “The Big Bang Theory” departed.
I shouldn’t be surprised, of course. “Mom” is from Chuck Lorre, the producer of “Big Bang” and the master of big-laugh sitcoms taped in front of a studio audience. It’s become TV’s best sitcom. And this episode renewed its best pairing. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / April 4, 2020