Stories

Serious Schumer? Funny Schumer? It’s time for both

The two sides of Amy Schumer are filling our TV time.
There’s the standup-comedy side, big and blunt and brash. That may emerge when she co-hosts (with Wanda Sykes and Regina Hall) the Academy Awards, at 8 p.m. Sunday (March 27) on ABC.
And there’s the subtle side, in the richly layered humor of her “Life & Beth,” which has just arrived on Hulu. “I actually am an introvert,” Schumer told the Television Critics Association.
Say what? Surely, this “introvert” can’t be the person who stands onstage, telling intimate details to strangers. “I could probably use a little more self-control in real life …. I’m sure I’ve shared more than some people would have cared” to hear, she said. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / March 20, 2022

Stories

Documentaries thrive — at Oscar time and beyond

At Oscar time, our attention drifts to top names – Spielberg and Kidman and Denzel and such.
But maybe we’ll also notice Meera Devi and Suneeta Prajapati and others. They’re at the core of “Writing with Fire” (shown here) which is up for an Oscar (best documentary feature) on Sunday, March 27, then reaches PBS’ “Independent Lens” at 10 p.m. the next day.
“The extremely brave actions of these young women is amazing,” Lois Vossen, who started “Lens” 23 years ago, said by phone. “I don’t know whether I would have the guts to do what they do.”
They report for a print-and-online news agency in rural India. They are women from the Dalit caste (previously called “untouchables”), confronting people who distrust women and Dalit and maybe the news in general. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / March 19, 2022

Stories

“Flatch”: fun from Feig, Fox and flyover folks

They’ve been called “the flyover states,” the ones that helpfully keep New York and California apart.
They’ve given us the humor of Will Rogers and Garrison Keillor, the music of Motown and Garth Brooks, the heroics of Roy Rogers and George Clooney. And now there’s “Welcome to Flatch,” a droll comedy about small-town mid-America, at 9:30 p.m. Thursdays on Fox, starting March 17.
Sam Straley (from Cincinnati) and the mono-named Holmes (from Omaha) star as young adults (shown here), not sure what happens after the school years are over. Paul Feig, from small-town Michigan, is a writer-producer. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / March 15, 2022

Stories

“Sanditon” is back … and different; here’s a guide

By all logic, there wouldn’t be a second “Sanditon” season … or even a first one.
Its author (Jane Austen) had died after barely starting the novel. Two centuries later, the production company bailed out after one season; some key actors departed.
Yet here it is, starting its second PBS season (shown here) at 9 p.m. Sunday (March 20), two years after the first one ended. A lush and popular show is back … and renewed for a third season. Here’s a guide to some sweeping changes: Read more…

By Mike Hughes / March 13, 2022

Stories

A “silly” actor conquers a deep, disturbing role

By now, we know Samuel L. Jackosn as a fun guy.
He’s does all those commercials, alone and with Spike Lee and Charles Barkley. He’s Nick Fury in Marvel shows; he hosts award shows for movies, sports and videogames. He does the cartoon voices of a dog, a dinosaur a superhero and more.
So it’s a detour to see him in “The Last Days of Ptolemy Grey” (shown here), which arrives Friday (March 11) on Apple TV+. Here is Jackson, 73, as a 93-year-old man, clinging to tiny shards of his memory. Was he able to retain his fun side?
“Yeah, I’m not a method actor,” he said. Between scenes, colleagues saw “how silly I can be.” Read more…

By Mike Hughes / March 8, 2022

Stories

From podcast to ‘Pam’: a true-crime obsession

For Renee Zellweger, this began as a mercy mission for her dog. Then it led to a dream role.
Now she stars in NBC’s “The Thing About Pam” (shown here). It airs at 10:01 p.m. on six Tuesdays, starting March 8), eyeing murder cases that center on Pam Hupp.
“I binged the podcast, actually, when I was driving up and down the freeway, going to take my dog to get his hip replaced in San Francisco,” Zellweger told the Television Critics Association. “I couldn’t believe it …. It was like these escalating absurdities.”
Soon, she wanted to portray Hupp; producer Chris McCumber said that got his attention. “When a two-time Oscar-winner calls and says, ‘I’m obsessed with this story and I want to play Pam and I want to produce, ‘you say ‘Yes.’” Read more…

By Mike Hughes / March 5, 2022

Stories

Respect MSU and save your team and/or planet

Adam McKay’s work sprawls across vast turf, from the goofiness of Will Ferrell films to the rage and humor entwined in “Vice” or “The Big Short.”
Now a sub-theme has accidentally surfaced: Take people from Michigan State University seriously. It might save your basketball team and/or your planet.
“Michigan is a major state with great learning institutions,” McKay said with a grin. Key characters in his latest films don’t seem to realize that; consider:
–“Don’t Look Up,” which has Oscar nominations for best picture, McKay’s script and more. MSU people say a meteor is heading toward Earth; there’s a fatal pause, as officials wait for Ivy Leaguers to agree.
— “Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty,” debuting at 9 p.m. Sunday (March 6) on HBO. We see some people doubt that Earvin “Magic” Johnson, a wide-eyed teenager, can make the jump to Los Angeles from MSU and his Lansing hometown. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / March 2, 2022

Stories

Bourdain: a tasty life in motion

Anthony Bourdain was the guy who other guys wanted to be.
He was tall (6-foot-3) and handsome, in a craggy sort of way. He went everywhere and ate everything. He could talk easily to a master chef, a fish peddler or a rock star. Growing up, he once said, “all my heroes were musicians or writers.”
Bourdain (shown here) seemed wonderfully at ease with life, but that was an illusion; he committed suicide at 61.
This weekend (barring breaking news), CNN will look back at a remarkable life. At 9 p.m. Saturday (March 5), it has six episodes of “Parts Unknown,” Bourdain’s Peabody Award-winning series. At 9 p.m. Sunday (repeating at 11:30), it has the TV debut of “Roadrunner: A Film About Anthony Bourdain.” Read more…

By Mike Hughes / February 28, 2022

Stories

Music on TV? It thrives at pledge time

Music, once a prime part of television, has been nudged to the fringe.
Mostly, it shows up in award shows, in competitions, in the final minutes of latenight talk shows. And it fills PBS pledge drives.
That’s where we are now. Stations are stuffing this pledge period with the songs of Billy Joel, Kenny Rogers, the Rolling Stones and more, from a Pink Floyd cover band to, as usual, Celtic Woman.
And in a change-of-pace (shown here with Jenn Colella), they have Broadway’s Lerner-and-Loewe songs, given a fresh twist. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / February 27, 2022

Stories

True stories focus on uberwrought young geniuses

TV sems to savor two kinds of real-life stories – true crime and true tech. Now come the tales of:
–Uber and Travis Kalanick. “Super Pumped” (shown here), 10 p.m. Sundays on Showtime, starts Feb. 27.
— Theranos and Elizabeth Holmes. First was an HBO documentary movie; next is “The Dropout,” a Hulu mini-series Thursdays, starting March 3.
Each depicts a hard-charging person, creating a billion-dollar business; still, there’s a key difference. “Travis isn’t a con man, said “Super Pumped” producer Beth Schacter. His idea worked. “We all walk around with Uber in our pocket; we don’t walk around with Theranos.” Read more…

By Mike Hughes / February 24, 2022