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A life lived out loud — and on camera

One day, we’re told, a Juilliard professor heard something upsetting.
Someone was performing an adjusted version of a classic. He stomped in, asking who dared to edit Rachmaninoff.
He found Hazel Scott, age 8, at the piano. She had made changes because her hands weren’t yet big enough for some of the moves.
Scott (shown here) would soon become Juilliard’s youngest student. And, in her teens, the youngest performer at the elegant Cafe Society. And, at 22, the spark for a brief movie strike. And, later, a star on TV and in Paris.
That’s told in a fascinating “American Masters,” at 9 p.m. Friday (Feb. 21) on PBS. Add an “American Experience” profile of Walter White (9-11 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 25) and you have a strong finish to Black History Month. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / February 19, 2025

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Good times (mostly) with “SNL 50” and “SNL #1

For a moment there, the 50-year celebration of “Saturday Night Live” seemed to be veering off-course. Then it kept getting better, funnier, more entertaining.
The night (Feb. 16) started with a great monolog by Steve Martin (shown here), but followed with several sketches that were long on commotion and short on wit. Such sketches are a part of the “SNL” tradition, but why front-load them?
Just in time, however, the special rebounded with a bit involving questions from the audience. Interestingly, a football guy (Peyton Manning) had some of the best lines. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / February 16, 2025

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“SNL” weekend stocks up on past stars

When “Saturday Night Live” has its 50-year celebration, most of its major stars – from Eddie Murphy to Will Ferrell to Kate McKinnon (shown here) – will be there.
That will be at 8 p.m. ET (5 p.m. PT) Sunday, Feb. 16, on NBC, with a red-carpet show at 7. It wraps up a three-day weekend of “SNL” events.
The show had already said many of its hosts and music guests – Steve Martin, Tom Hanks, Sabrina Carpenter, etc. — will be there. It also announced that its first episode (from Oct. 11, 1975) will rerun at 11:30 p.m. Saturday.
Now it says most of the stars from that long-ago opener will be at Sunday’s show — Chevy Chase, Jane Curtin, Garrett Morris and Laraine Newman. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / February 10, 2025

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A super night for music, emotion and (maybe) football

So if you saw the game, you might have sensed that the Kansas City Chiefs had a shot at being the first team to win three straight Super Bowls.
You would have realized it because various Fox people said it approximately 2.9 million times. Or maybe 3 million.
That was a fine storyline; I may have said it myself, once or twice. But some perspective would have helped. Like the fact that the previous wins were by 3 points … and the win to get here this year was by 3 points … and that the Philadelphia Eagles (shown here) had won their previous game by 32.
Anyway, I’ll quit grumbling about that; all the three-peat talk soon vanished. And overall, I liked the telecast (and the commercials) a lot. A few random thoughts:
Read more…

By Mike Hughes / February 10, 2025

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Suddenly, Sundays are the must-see night

For a frantic stretch, Sunday is becoming TV’s must-see night.
That sprawls across four weeks and three networks. It was conference-championship football (Jan. 26, CBS) and the Grammys (Feb. 2, CBS); now come the Super Bowl (Feb. 9, Fox, with the Eagles, shown here, and Chiefs) and the “Saturday Night Live” 50-year reunion (Feb. 16, NBC).
All of that is splendid for people who want big-deal events. It’s way less cheerful for ABC … or fans of “Tracker” and “Equalizer” … or for shows – from “The Simpsons” to “Masterpiece” — that compete with the giants. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / February 4, 2025

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The night soared with Grammy moments

People used to talk about “Grammy moments” – the bits that made Grammy-night special.
But this time? The entire night — concluding with album-of-the-year for Beyonce’s “Cowboy Carter” (shown here) felt like one mega-moment. Each song seemed like the curtain-closer for a Broadway show or an epic party.
It helped, of course, that the new generation of performers can do much more than sing. There was Benson Boone, doing two back-flips; there was Sabrina Carpenter somehow channeling Marilyn Monroe, Lucille Ball and a pop diva. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / February 3, 2025

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Black History Month begins; here’s a sampling

(This slightly updates a previous story)
Black History Month arrives today (Feb. 1) and TV is ready.
Well … some of TV, anyway. PBS will have lots of documentaries and a Wynton Marsalis (shown here) concert. CBS has a special that celebrates Blacks on TV (mostly, on CBS). Streamers load up.
In the four-and-a-half years since the death of George Floyd, separate Black departments have been created at ABC, Hulu, Hallmark and more. Still, it’s uneven. Some focus on Black History Month, some don’t. Here’s a sampling: Read more…

By Mike Hughes / February 1, 2025

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CW’s scripted shows: scarce, but kinda good

In the makeshift world of the CW network, there’s some good news:
Scripted shows are making a modest comeback. They include:
— An OK one at 8 p.m. Mondays. The seventh season of “All American” is almost a reboot – a workable mix of old and new characters.
— A good one at 8 p.m. Wednesdays. “Wild Cards” is a fun blend of a quiet cop and a zestful con woman.
— And an even better one, added to Wednesdays on Feb. 19. “Good Cop/Bad Cop” (shown here) has clever ways of plugging mismatched siblings into mysteries. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / February 1, 2025

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Oscars bring a cinema treasure hunt

Oscar season often feels like a weird-but-worthy treasure hunt.
Often enough, it brings surprising gems. I was reminded of that now, when I saw “Emilia Perez” and “Conclave” (shown here) almost back-to-back.
Both are up for best-picture Academy Awards, but they’re wildly different.
One is in Spanish, with some English; the other in English, with some Latin and Italian. One sprawls across Mexico and beyond; the other is confined to two buildings. One is mostly female, the other mostly male. But the difference goes much deeper. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / January 28, 2025

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At 50, “Nova” goes ancient and modern

At the age of 50, “Nova” seems to be doing fine.
It passed the half-century mark on March 26 and kept going. Coming up are two terrific hours and several fairly good ones, including a fresh view of Pompeii (shown here).
This is a PBS science – 9 p.m. Wednesdays –that ranges afar. Viewers are happy whenever it returns to UFO’s (as it did Jan. 22), dinosaurs, or ancient worlds; still, it also tackles fresh issues, as it did with the Flint water crisis. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / January 26, 2025