Stories

It wasn’t easy to fail to save the universe

When “Stuart Fails to Save The Universe” (shown here) debuts Thursday (July 23), it will bring all sorts of TV milestones.
This is the third spin-off of “The Big Bang Theory” … and the second to skip using a studio audience … and the first to have an alternate-world, apocalyptic, science-fiction concept.
The show (on HBO Max) has Stuart find a portal in his comic-book store. It’s the sort of notion the “Big Bang” guys might savor. “This is the kind of show that they would watch and argue about,” said producer Bill Prady.
But there’s one thing more that makes “Stuart” unique: It’s accompanied by strong praise for David Zaslav. Really. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / July 15, 2026

Stories

Character actors save (almost) the TV universe

As “The Big Bang Theory” neared its finale, people gathered for a ceremony.
In the front were the main stars and producers; looking on were reporters. And near the back — mostly unnoticed, as usual — was Kevin Sussman.
He had done 84 episodes as Stuart Bloom, the oft-overlooked owner of a comic book store. Sussman chatted politely with a reporter, then excused himself. “I have to go,” he said. “I have an audition.”
Life is like that for a character actor. There are scattered auditions, random roles, maybe commercials, maybe day jobs. It’s an endless cycle — except Sussman (shown here) has had two exceptions: Read more…

By Mike Hughes / July 15, 2026

Stories

“Little House”: A wandering family is back on TV

Now that we’re finished with July 4 and all thise 250th-birthday stuff, it’s time to leap ahead almost a century.
Yes, the founding fathers were interesting … but so were the frontier folk. A new “Little House on the Prairie” reaches Netflix on Thursday (July 9).
That moves us to the late 1860s, with Americans recovering from the Civil War. Some were pushing to new land — especially the Ingalls family.
“They moved around a lot,” writer-producer Rebecca Sonnenshine told the Television Critics Association. “The Ingalls were always on the move.” Read more…

By Mike Hughes / July 5, 2026

Stories

This Skywalker is a prairie-dweller

Her name reflects a galaxy far away, but her passion involves the frontier long ago.
Meet Skywalker Hughes (shown here, right) — no relation to Luke or to Howard or to this writer. She’s 14 and plays the older sister in the “Little House on the Prairie” reboot, arriving Thursday (July 9) on Netflix.
First, that name:
Her grandfather, she told the Television Critics Association, had the surname Walker and wanted to have a son named Jay. “It’s apparently really funny to name your son after jaywalking.”
Instead, he had daughters and asked one of them to name her daughter Skywalker. “My mom was a little like, ‘OK, We’ll see what happens.’ But I really do love my name …. I am a very, very big ‘Star Wars’ fan.” Read more…

By Mike Hughes / July 5, 2026

Stories

Want new shows? They’re all on July 9

Amid all the summertime reruns and re-reruns, we might long for some fresh TV shows..
They’re coming … and all on the same day.
That’s Thursday, July 9. There will be a new drama series (a good one) and a continuing drama (a great one). There will be a new Jennifer Garner mini-series (shown here) and the season-openers of two game shows and two reality competitions.
All of them arrive together, mostly by coincidence. Logically, networks waited for various distractions (basketball, hockey, soccer, 4th-of-July) to end; weirdly, they then all chose July 9.
Here’s a round-up, starting with broadcast TV, then cable, then streaming: Read more…

By Mike Hughes / July 3, 2026

Stories

It will be a Kool party on (almost) the Fourth

Generations of Bells have made key contributions to music. That includes:
— Robert “Kool” Bell, leader of Kool & The Gang, which performs Friday (July 3) on the Capitol Lawn. That’s in a party (8 p.m. on most PBS stations) that has fireworks and music, from Alan Jackson to Chicago to Kool’s “Celebration” — an essential song for any 250th-birthday party.
— His dad, Robert “Bobby” Bell. His contribution was to not hit Miles Davis.
Really. “My father was a boxer,” Bell said,. “Miles Davis wanted to box with him, but he wouldn’t do it. He said, ‘I don’t want to ruin your career.'”
So Davis, his jaw and lips intact, continued to be a great jazz trumpeter. His music became one influence for Kool’s gang. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / July 1, 2026

Stories

Great comedies? Burrows molded most of them

James Burrows (shown here), who died Friday at 85, was the master of TV comedy.
His work sprawled from “The Mary Tyler Moore Show” to the”Big Bang Theory” pilot and beyond. He propelled the “must-see” age of “Friends” and “Frasier” and such. He did it all.
Well, almost all. “I passed on both ‘Seinfeld’ and ‘Designing Women,'” he wrote. “I didn’t see the potential of either at the time. It happens.”
But mostly, he saw potential and expanded it. He was “one of the great comedy directors in television,” wrote Brandon Tartikoff, the former NBC chief. He was “the most successful director in television comedy — ever,” wrote Warren Littlefield, Tartikoff’s successor. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / June 21, 2026

Stories

Music, masses and fireworks: TV’s set for the 4th

On the July 4 weekend, it seems, all Americans will simultaneously be:
— Partying outdoors, with music and fireworks and such; and
— Sitting at home, watching music and fireworks and such.
At least, that’s the plan, as networks set massive 250th-birthday plans.
Fireworks? NBC will be in New York, as usual … CBS and Fox News will be in Washington, D.C. … ABC and its cable and streaming chanels will be in Nashville and Disneyland …PBS will be in Colonial Williamsburg — a day after many of its stations are at Mount Vernon.
Music? You’ll find lots of country stars — Reba McEntire, Blake Shelton, Trace Adkins, Tim McGraw, Clint Black, etc. — plus others, including Post Malone, Bebe Rexha, Ne-Yo, Jon Batiste, Kelli O’Hara and Judy Collins.
Here are the plans, with details pending; all are for the 4th, except where noted. We’ll start with the networks that have been doing this every year: Read more…

By Mike Hughes / June 19, 2026

Stories

No build-up needed: “Dragon” is in battle mode

Amid all the “Games of Thrones” extremes, all the sex and spectacle and such, a pattern emerged.
Viewers got used to “a slow build and then there’s an explosion — maybe midway through and then certainly near the end” of a season, said Ryan Condal, writer-producer of “House of the Dragon” (shown here) a “Thrones” prequel.
That’s what makes the third “House” season such a surprise: It starts (9 p.m. Sunday, June 21, on HBO and HBO Max) in full battle mode.
“I think it’s going to put people back on their heels,” Condal said, in a Zoom press conference. “It just comes out so heavy and unexpectedly.” Read more…

By Mike Hughes / June 17, 2026

Stories

You think it’s bleak now? Just wait

After the first couple “Vampire Lestat” episodes, we’d be tempted to call the show bleak. Or grim or downbeat or such.
Lestat, after all, is a rock-and-roller (shown here) who doesn’t just rip up hotel rooms after the show. He also rips up bodies, barely survives an attack and reflects on his tortured childhood, 130 years ago.
But hey, that was just a warm-up. From here, said Sam Reid (who stars), “it gets pretty bleak.”
Rolin Jones — who created this show, which continues the two seasons of “Interview With The Vampire” — agreed. Starting with the third episode (9 p.m. June 21, on AMC), “it’s going to get about as dark as we’ve ever gone.” Read more…

By Mike Hughes / June 14, 2026