News and Quick Comments

News and Quick Comments

The Oscars: No host, no fun (at times) … but great music

My Oscar Day adventures began in the morning, long before “Parasite” (shown here) was named best picture.
I was in a movie theater, watching the pre-previews. (Yes, it’s my fault for getting there early.) Some onscreen idiot said the Academy Award ratings were up last year,  “and most people think it was because” the show had no host.
One small correction: Approximately NO ONE — or no reasonable human being — thinks that. In truth: Read more…

By Mike Hughes / February 10, 2020
News and Quick Comments

Red-carpet: Is EVERYONE an A?

Imagine a grading scale that goes all the way from A to … well, A-plus.
Imagine a 1-to-10 scale being replaced by … maybe a 9.9-to-10 scale.
That’s roughly what watching E’s red-carpet Osvasr coverage was like. Somehow, even Billie Eilish (shown here) — who seemed to be wearing her grandfather’s sweatsuit pajamas — was praised for bringing “a new era of fashion.” Read more…

By Mike Hughes / February 10, 2020
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Super Bowl halftime: Craving in the closet

This is always a dilemma on Super Bowl Sunday: Should we stay and watch the game or go out to a “gentleman’s club” instead?
This time, fortunately, we could sort of do both.
At halftime of the Super Bowl, two nice ladies came out and performed. There was some pole dancing and some bellydancing; the cameras had a lot of well-planned booty shots. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / February 3, 2020
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Ronstadt film is back and fascinating

Please pardon a brief detour: This item is mostly for people in the Lansing, Mich., area.
Then again, it’s also for anyone who likes Linda Ronstadt (shown here) … which is a lot of people.
Last month, I had a story about the terrific Ronstadt documentary, when it aired on CNN. Now it’s showing at the Studio C in Okemos, as part of the indie film series. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / January 31, 2020
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Yes, Sunday has semi-Super alternatives

There are plenty of people, it seems, with no great stake in the Super Bowl
.For various reasons – sanity or sobriety or sheer orneriness – they don’t carer whether it’s a Chief or a 49er who dumps Gatorade on his coach
.They want to watch TV on Sunday … which isn’t easy. With the game on Fox, the other commercial broadcast networks (ABC, CBS, NBC, even CW) are all ducking into rerunsw. So are Showtime and Starz. Still, that leaves some solid alternatives that includes: Read more…

By Mike Hughes / January 30, 2020
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Grammys reflect the pain of losing Kobe, Whitney

It’s happened twice now in eight years.
The Grammy people were ready for the usual fun and flash and spectacle. Then, at the last moment, there was a stunning death.
In 2012 it was Whitney Houston, who had some of her greatest moments at the Grammys
This year it was Kobe Bryant (shown here), who had his greatest moments at the Staples Center, where the ceremony is held.Both times, the Grammy people responded beautifully. Both times, they had the right person hosting. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / January 27, 2020
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Retrieving a once-famous chemist

History tends to remember a few rebels and reformers
.They’re authors and politicians, mostly. But then there’s the guy – now semi-forgotten – who was once the world’s most famous chemist
.That’s Harvey Wiley (shown here with his young “poison squad”), subject of a fascinating PBS profile Tuesday. He was an early target in the war against science. He also was also a reason why we know (sometimes) what we’re eating. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / January 25, 2020
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Birth of the “Grammy moment”

Ken Ehrlich has his last Grammy telecast Sunday, after 40 splendid years.
Before that, let’s flash back to a key bit. It was “the big one,” Ehrlich wrote, “the one that is generally credited with starting the phrase ‘Grammy moment.'”
That phrase isn’t just hype, you know. It reflects decades of innovative mash-ups, from Elton and Eminem to this year (8-11 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 26), with epic numbers built around one song from Lil Nas X and another — ranging from singer Camila Cabell to rapper Common and dancer Misty Copeland (shown here) — built around a song from the “Fame” movie. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / January 24, 2020