News and Quick Comments

News and Quick Comments

Luna launches Kimmel’s guest-host summer

A TV tradition — guest hosts of late-night shows — returns this summer.
Jimmy Kimmel has announced a full line-up of people to take his spot, at 11:35 p.m. weekdays on ABC.That starts the week of June 23 with Diego Luna (shown here), then includes such varied souls as Fortune Feimster and Jelly Roll.
Johnny Carson used to have a busy roster of guest hosts, including Jay Leno, Joan Rivers, David Brenner and more. That idea fell out of favor until 2020, when Kimmel — after working year-round for 18 years — decided to spend summers with his family. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / June 20, 2025
News and Quick Comments

ABC plans a country cascade

For one long, busy evening, TV will break out of its summer slumber.
That’s when ABC has its annual “CMA Fest” concert. Over three hours (8-11 p.m. June 26), it will have 30 songs from country stars, from Adkins and Aldean to Zach Top and Zimmerman.
There will be serious moments (Scotty McCreery singing “Five More Minutes,” for instance), but there will also be Trace Adkins (shown here) singing “Honky Tonk Badonkadonk.” Country music is like that. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / June 17, 2025
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It’s easy (sort of) to steal from a lion

It’s really not that hard to steal food from a lion during its meal. Simply:
1) Ask a friend to bite the lion’s tail; and
2) While the lion is distracted, take the food.
One other thought: Suggest to the friend that he run very, very fast.
“As far as I know, the lions never get wise to it,” said Dan Rees, one of the producers of “The Underdogs” (shown here), which debuts June 15 on the National Geographic Channel and ABC. “It’s a fairly well-documented behavior.” Read more…

By Mike Hughes / May 31, 2025
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No Cruising here: It’s perpetual overdrive

Les Moonves, a very wise (and sometimes foolish) man, once told me, “There’s no such thing as trying too hard.”
He was wrong, of course. (Wise people sometimes are.) And the latest proof is “Mission: Impossible — The Final Reckoning” (shown here).
Granted, there are many good things about the film. Its action scenes are sensational; a marathon biplane chase through canyon country is about as good visually as a movie can be. Tom Cruise is intense (as usual) and perfect; his cast is full of top people in small roles. (We only see Oscar-winner Angela Bassett briefly. She does, however, save the world.)
The script, by director Christopher McQuarry and Erik Jendresen is smart … to an excess. There’s a lot of excess here. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / May 27, 2025
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Transplanted actress find summer stardom

Let’s officially designate this as “The Summer of Laurence Leboeuf.”
For most of her 39 years, Leboeuf (shown here) has been in obscurity and/or Montreal. But now that can’t continue: Her subtly perfect performance in “Transplant” (8 p.m. Thursdays on NBC) demands attention.
Granted, Leboeuf is already fairly well-known in quieter (and, perhaps, saner) parts of the world. For two decades, she’s been busy in Canadian films and TV shows, working in French or English. She’s drawn nominations for roles ranging from a cop (“19-2”) to a teen tennis star (“15/Love”), a bike-racer caught in a cheating scandal (“The Little Queen”) and a free-spirited, post-apocalyptic hero (“Turbo Kid”).
But most of those never got here; her U.S. roles have been rare. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / May 24, 2025
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“Family Law” returns this summer

The Wednesday-night Canadian connection will continue this summer.
The CW network will air the fourth season of “Family Law” (shown here) at 8 p.m. Wednesdays, starting July 23. That comes a week after the season-finale of “Sullivan’s Crossing” … which took the timeslot after “Wild Cards.”
All three are from Canadian networks, a steady source of middle-of-the-road shows on CW. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / May 21, 2025
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Summer TV: sun and games, music and more

There was a time when TV networks seemed to take long summer snoozes.
Viewers could just watch reruns. After all, there weren’t many alternatives.
Not any more. With streamers and pay-cable channels pouring out new shows year-around, the broadcast networks struggle to remain relevant. This summer, they’ll have scripted dramas (a few), sports (A LOT), specials and the usual collection of reality and game shows, including “Bachelor in Paradise” (shown here in a previous year). Read more…

By Mike Hughes / May 18, 2025
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FX visits Tulsa, Chicago and Earth

While some networks plan a summer snooze, the FX people will offer some counterpoint.
They’ll have major shows in June (“The Bear”), August (“Alien: Earth,” shown here) and September (Ethan Hawke in “The Lowdown”).
All three are produced by FX; two will be on FX and Hulu, with “The Bear” only on Hulu. Details are: Read more…

By Mike Hughes / May 13, 2025
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NBC: Now TV skids into reverse

After decades of expansion, the TV world is throwing itself into reverse.
NBC is now the second network to announce a September schedule with no new scripted shows. Fox had done the same.
For NBC, at least, there are some redeeming steps:
— Two spots remain vacant. In November, they’ll apparently go to new comedies, nestled behind “St. Denis Medical” and “Happy’s Place” (shown here), on Mondays and Fridays.
— Seven scripted shows will return Fox only has two, except for cartoons. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / May 13, 2025