News and Quick Comments

News and Quick Comments

Virus specials pack together

As coronavirus dominates TV news, that reaches a new peak: Two virus specials – one on CNN, the other on PBS – will air at the same time (in some time zones), 8 p.m. Thursday (March 19).
In addition, Fox News Channel will have a special at 10 p.m. Sunday. The details are:
– “Coronavirus: Fact and Fears” will be 8-10 p.m. ET Thursday. That’s the second CNN special, hosted by Anderson Cooper and Dr. Sanjay Gupta (shown here), to use a “town hall” approach on the subject. It will include Dr. Anthony Fauci, Dr. Celine Grounder and an interview with a patient in the vaccine clinical trial. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / March 19, 2020
News and Quick Comments

More virus news: Streamers extend, Showtime delays

For TV viewers, the coronavirus impact brings some good news, plus more bad.
The good: Two screening services – Acorn (including a flashy new “Miss Fisher” mystery, shown here) and Sundance Now – have extended their free trial period from seven days to 30.
And the bad: Some shows are being delayed. FX is pushing back “Fargo”; Showtime has some shows going ahead and others not.
There have beenother virus-related TVnews lately, which you can find by hitting “news and quick comments.” The new ones are : Read more…

By Mike Hughes / March 18, 2020
News and Quick Comments

A great show (“Fargo”) bumped by the virus

For the first time, perhaps, a major TV series has been set aside because of the coronavirus:
The next “Fargo” mini-series (shown here) won’t be this spring, after all. It was originally set to begin April 19; now the FX network will only say that it hopes the show will air some time in 2020.
Until now, the TV impact has mainly been confined to live or almost-live events: Basketball games were canceled … the Academy of Country Music awards moved to September … Jimmy Kimmel went to two weeks of reruns, with some other latenight shows skipping a studio audience. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / March 17, 2020
News and Quick Comments

More virus-related changes: “Baseball” is back, country is gone, news specials are added

TV networks are making changes at blitz speed, to keep up with the coronavirus situation.
Now ABC has added a primetime special and a latenight emphasis … CBS’ country-music awards have been delayed until September … and PBS has said there will be “Baseball” (the Ken Burns series, shown here) when there’s no actual baseball being played.
The changes, in chronological order of impact: Read more…

By Mike Hughes / March 15, 2020
News and Quick Comments

Virus spurs network schedule changes

As the coronavirus impact grows, TV is making quick adjustments.
CBS and ABC are filling the voids left by canceled basketball games. That means more reruns, plus spreading the two-hour “Hawaii Five-0” (shown here) finale over two weeks.
And PBS has a helpful reminder: We’ve been through much worse. Changes include: Read more…

By Mike Hughes / March 13, 2020
News and Quick Comments

Virus brings quick TV changes

As reaction to the coronavirus spreads, here are a few quick TV notes:
– First, a quick one for tonight (Thursday, March 12): At 10 p.m. ET, CNN has a town hall: Coronavirus: Fact and Fiction,” with Dr. Sanjay Gupta and Anderson Cooper. From the start of the crisis, Gupta has done a superb job of bringing clarity and sanity to the coverage.
– Now a later one, after the current rush: At 8 p.m. next Thursday (March 19), PBS has “Confronting Coronavirus.” Judy Woodruff anchors, with Amna Nawa, William Brangham and a panel of experts. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / March 12, 2020
News and Quick Comments

“Dragon” is slain (temporarily) by virus

This may be good and bad news, all rolled into one:
“Slay the Dragon” (shown here) – the praised documentary about Michigan’s anti-gerrymandering drive – was expected in a few theaters this weekend. Now, instead, it will have one release date, April 3, for theaters, video-on-demand and digital platforms.
“We saw what was happening with the spread of coronavirus and sat down with (the distributor) to discuss a last-minute change in our release plan,” the directors (Barak Goodman and Chris Durrance) said in a statement. The new plan, they said, means “nearly every home in America will have access.” Read more…

By Mike Hughes / March 9, 2020
News and Quick Comments

Quick specials: James Lipton, Kirk Douglas, virus

Reacting to death and disease, television has a string of specials – some of them scheduled quickly – in the next few days.
A James Lipton special is today (Wednesday, March 4) on Ovaton, but then will be available online for the next week. A Kirk Douglas marathon is Thursday on Turner Classic Movies and a coronavirus special is Friday on ABC.
Lipton (shown here) died Monday at 93; Douglas died Feb. 5 at 103, but TCM tends to schedule things a month in advance. The specials are: Read more…

By Mike Hughes / March 4, 2020