News and Quick Comments

PASADENA, Cal. – As North America gets ready for its close-up, it has bad and good news. Both involve the BBC unit that makes lush nature films:
– The bad news: The continent will no longer provide the opening of “Seven Worlds, One Planet” (shown here), which debuts Saturday (Jan. 18) on four cable channels. It series had planned to open with North America, but now switched to Australia, due to its current wildfire crisis
.– And the good: In 2024 – yes, four years from now – it will be part of an epic series. Paul Telegdy, chairman of NBC (which will share it with BBC) promised “an amazing piece of entertainment.” Read more…

For two seasons, this has been an intriguing duo – two teens who have everything in common and somehow, nothing in common.
They are friends on “Ackley Bridge,” a series that – as its third season starts streaming Monday (Jan. 13) – is about to change profoundly.
Missy Booth and Nasreen Paracha (shown here) were born on the same day, in the same hospital. They’ve grown up together, in a town where jobs are scarce and expectations are low. We often see them on an abandoned couch, surveying a world they (and others) don’t really understand. Read more…

As the Golden Globes were wrapping up … as viewers were pondering why they’d never heard of the winners before, there was one redeeming thought.
In a way, we were all winners. This one was fun.
The Globes ceremony has always been looser than the others; hey, it serves alcohol.But there’s something more: It has stuck to the notion of having a host.
Lately, we’ve had hostless Oscars (twice) and Emmys. But the Globes had Rickey Gervais (shown here) for the fifth time. He didn’t eat up that much time, but he crackled some good lines that poked at Hollywood. Read more…

So I was watching the Rose Parade — please don’t judge — and kept confronting something odd: Commercials.
Real ones, telling me where to bank, which cell phone to use and, especially. which drugs to take. “How can they have commercials?” someone asked. “Isn’t the whole parade a commercial?”
It is, but there used to be an escape route: When I watched this every year — remember, I asked you not to judge — it was on HGTV, which did it commercial-free; as a bonus, it had announcers who were less likely to gush.
This was a pleasant tradition. Each year, the parade was followed by a full day of specials and season premieres. But this year (shown here), that quietly ended. Read more…