Stories

Variety shows hit a peak … then vanished

(This is the fourth chapter of a book-in-progress, “Television, and How It Got That Way.” For the previous chapters, scroll down in “stories.”)
Variety shows seemed to fit cozily into the new TV world.
They were simple and straight-forward. People looked at a camera and sang or told jokes; occasionally, they danced. Little could go wrong.
And still …
Some of the biggest stars had variety shows that sputtered. Frank Sinatra went two seasons and 62 episodes; Eddie Fisher went two and 27. There was only one season for Judy Garland (26 episodes), Sammy Davis Jr. (14), Jerry Lewis (11) and Mary Tyler Moore (also 11). All of those topped “The Paula Poundstone Show,” which lasted two episodes. As it turns out, variety shows are easy to do, but hard to do right.
Ironically, TV was finally getting the hang of it — peaking with “The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour” (shown here) when it quit making them. More on that in a bit. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / February 8, 2025

Stories

The boy-band boom: big, bright, exhausting

From time to time, the world falls in love and/or hate with boy bands.
Record sales soar; the Backstreet Boys alone have sold 130 million. Some girls scream their approval, some guys disagree. Noel Gallagher, of the British group Oasis, called boy bands “the spawn of Satan.”
And then, after a slight pause, it starts all over again.
Now a documentary views a key phase: “The Boy Band Boom of the ‘90s” airs from 8-10 p.m. Saturday (Feb. 8) on CW. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / February 6, 2025

Stories

Early-early TV: Felix, Franklin and Farnsworth

(This is the third chapter in a book-in-progress, “Television, and How It Got That Way.” For the previous chapters, scroll down in “Stories.”)
When it comes to naming the first TV star, choices vary.
Some people might choose the American president (Franklin Roosevelt) or the British postmaster general. Some could say Elma Farnsworth or Betty White or Adele Dixon or Gertrude Lawrence or (shown here) folks at the 1939 World’s Fair. They could also say David Sarnoff; he would.
But for now, we’ll say Felix the Cat.
Back in 1928, General Electric engineers were scrambling to develop a TV system. For two years, Marc Robinson wrote, “a small Felix the Cat figurine was used as the subject. The lighting was too hot for a human to tolerate.” Read more…

By Mike Hughes / February 2, 2025

Stories

Super Bowl Sunday? Here’s a TV overview

In the first 58 years of the Super Bowl, a pattern was set.
There would be lots of repeat champions, but no team would even get a shot at a three-peat … until now.
At 6:30 p.m. ET Sunday (Feb. 9), the Kansas City Chiefs try for their third straight championship. Standing in their way are the Philadelphia Eagles, plus history.
The Super Bowl began (shown here) with the Packers winning comfortably against the Chiefs and then the Oakland Raiders; the third year, however, they didn’t make it to the game. Later, there were back-to-back wins by the Dolphins, Steelers (twice), 49ers, Cowboys, Broncos and Patriots. In each case, the team failed to reach the game in the third year. Now the Chiefs arrive, with Patrick Mahomes (of TV-commercials fame) at quarterback, Travis Kelce (of Taylor Swift fame) at tight end and a 17-2 record this season.
It should be fun. Here’s our casual fan’s guide to the day on TV: Read more…

By Mike Hughes / January 31, 2025

Stories

Remember when TV was our “shining center”?

(This is the second chapter of a book-in-progress, “Television, and How It Got That Way.” For the first chapter, scroll down in “stories.”)

In his busy life, Pat Weaver was involved in many fine creations. They included “Today,” “Tonight,” the Sid Caesar (shown here) comedies and Sigourney Weaver, his daughter.
(There’s a bit more on her at the end of this chapter.)
But he also fell far short of one goal. Television, he once said, could be “the shining center of the home.” Read more…

By Mike Hughes / January 29, 2025

Stories

It will be Oscar night every night

Think of this as Super Bowl season for movie buffs.
It’s when Turner Classic Movies dips into its bottomless library for “31 Days of Oscar.” That starts Feb. 1 and continues through Academy Award night (March 2), with films ranging from 1928 to 2017.
This is the 30th year for the marathon, with the set-up changing – some years are alphabetical or chronological or whatever.
This year, daytime (anything before 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT) will bunch the films by nominee categories. During the weekend that daytime category is always best-picture. Viewers can catch such gems as “In the Heat of the Night” (shown here) at 6 p.m. ET Feb. 1 and “Tom Jones” at 3 p.m. Feb. 2. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / January 27, 2025

Stories

TV (some of it) gears up for Black history

When Black History Month arrives, television will be 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 (starting Saturday, Feb. 1), some don’t. Here’s a sampling: Read more…

By Mike Hughes / January 24, 2025

Stories

Let’s visit TV’s good(?) old days

(This is the start of a book, “TV, and How It Got That Way.” It will emerge here, one chapter at a time.)
To see how far TV has come, let’s step back a bit.
We’ll go to 1952 in Clintonville, a Wisconsin town of 4,600, known for big, tough trucks and (back then) big, tough football players.
I’m in the living room with my sister, our parents, a grandmother and a grandfather. Stationed a reasonable distance from the TV set, we are watching … well, a man playing records.
The man says what record he’s playing and starts it. Sometimes, the camera shows the record going around; sometimes it shows the man watching the record go around. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / January 22, 2025

Stories

Pittsburgh: Warhol and “Watson”; art and steel

When someone mentions Pittsburgh, we might think of Steelers or steel mills or steely resolve.
We might not think of world-class museums or medical centers. So the actors in “Watson” (shown here) — which CBS debuts Sunday, Jan. 26) were in for surprises.
Eve Harlow did know she wanted to see the mega-museum devoted to Pittsburgh native Andy Warhol. “I remember someone saying, ‘Oh, you should go to The Mattress Factory.’ My response was, ‘Oh, I didn’t know mattresses were such a big thing in Pittsburgh.’”
She soon found that this is a converted warehouse, filled with modern-art installations. “It’s amazing; I really love it.” Read more…

By Mike Hughes / January 20, 2025

Stories

UFO’s: Lots of answers … and some enigmas

The sky seems to be full of blips and blobs and blinking objects.
Any one of those might be little Billy’s new drone, or maybe Venus. It might be benign or a spy balloon or …
Our minds often leap to UFO’s, the sort (shown here) depicted in old movies. That’s “pretty harmless,” Mick West told the Television Critics Association. “People seeing things in the sky and thinking they’re UFO’s or aliens or whatever, there’s no real harm in that.”
He’s a lifelong science-fiction fan, but in a new “Nova” documentary (9 p.m. Jan. 22, PBS), he creates practical explanations for events that seem exotic. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / January 13, 2025