Stories

Hands-off decisions saved “Jaws” and “Titanic”

In Hollywood history, some big moments came when wise souls chose to do nothing.
Consider two blockbusters that almost weren’t:
–In 1974, “Jaws” (shown here) veered wildly over its budget and beyond its schedule. “I was terrified I was going to be fired,” Steven Spielberg recalled. Sid Sheinberg, the head of Universal Pictures, flew to Martha’s Vineyard, had a gentle chat with his young director … and decided to leave him be.
— Two decades later, “Titanic” was in the same sort of trouble. Bill Mechanic, head of Fox, drove to the film site to talk to James Cameron. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / July 4, 2025

Stories

Bottom-feeding babies stir our fears

Babies can be quirky sometimes. They make odd choices, bite strange things.
And if the baby is eight feet long, with sharp teeth, there’s a problem. We learn that on the first night (July 5) of the National Geographic Channel’s annual “SharkFest.”
“At eight or nine feet, a shark is pretty darn young,” Mike Heithaus said by Zoom. That shark is still learning. “When he sees a surfboard, he’ll think, ‘That might be something I should bite.'”
He soon learns otherwise. Surfboards offer no nourishment; surfers — too much muscle, too little fat — aren’t much better. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / June 29, 2025

Stories

Amid firecracker fun, singing of an unsung hero

For 70 years, the military life of Josh Turner’s grandfather was tucked away in a drawer, unseen.
For 10 more, it was in a songbook, unrecorded. “Everything happens for a reason,” Turner said, and there’s a right time for things.
Now is the time. At “A Capitol Fourth” (8 p.m. July 4 on PBS, rerunning at 9:30), he’ll sing “Unsung Hero,” a tribute to one guy — or to millions.
Turner (shown here) will also do “Firecracker,” which amuses him. “That song has nothing to do with fireworks,” he said, but people like to hear it on the holiday.
“A Capitol Fourth” is like that, mixing some serious moments with lots of festive ones. This year, it will have the Beach Boys and Temptations, plus gospel great Yolanda Adams, contemporary Christian singer Lauren Daigle, jazz’s Trombone Shorty, and two country acts, LoCash and Turner. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / June 27, 2025

Stories

“Gilded Age” flips the money and power

As “The Gilded Age” returns, we see two approaches to life. There’s the:
— American view: Money is really quite essential; and
— Old-world view: Even without money, there’s class and privilege and such.
“I’m always rather fascinated by people who pretend that the loss of money … doesn’t affect them at all,” said Julian Fellowes, the series creator.
As the third season begins (9 p.m. Sunday, June 22, on HBO and Max), that’s the situation for Agnes (Christine Baranski, second from left in this poster) Read more…

By Mike Hughes / June 20, 2025

Stories

Patience and Purvis: kindred spirits, and yet …

These two women seem to have everything in common. They’re young, autistic, heading into new worlds.
And yet, they’re also opposites.
Patience Evans (shown here) is fictional, the compelling central character in “Patience,” at 8 p.m. Sundays on PBS. Ella Maisy Purvis, 22, is the actress who plays her.
“I’m very different from her, but I’m also very similar,” she said, by Zoom. “There are no gray areas with us.”
They offer proof that autism really is a spectrum, and a huge one. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / June 16, 2025

Stories

“Grantchester” flings Nair into new old worlds

If your mom is a driving instructor and your dad is a driver, there’s a good chance your career will put you in a car.
It worked that way for Rishi Nair (shown here, right), but in a round-about way. As the star of “Grantchester” (9 p.m. Sundays on PBS), he gets to drive a zippy red Triumph convertible.
“I really like it,” he said. “I love the sound of it when I hit the accelerator.”
That vintage car is a part of his introduction to different worlds. Nair is a city guy from London, playing someone at the core of village life. He’s a Hindu, playing a Christian vicar. He’s someone who was born in 1991, stepping back into life in 1961. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / June 13, 2025

Stories

A REALLY bad parent? Try the animal world

Lots of folks might think they have (or are) bad parents. They might be right.
But anything they do pales compared to the animal world. “Underdogs” — a quirky delight Sundays on the National Geographic Channel (with one hour on ABC and everything on Disney+ and Hulu) — offers:
— A goose that hatches its four eggs on an 800-foot cliff, (shown here), then has no plan for how its offspring will get down.
— A koala whose idea of good baby food is … well, poop.
— Lemurs, who overdo the notion of “it takes a village.” A baby is passed through a dizzying succession of aunts, uncles and, maybe, strangers. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / June 9, 2025

Stories

It’s Wausau’s moment in TV (and zombie) history

There are many splendid things about Wausau, Wisconsin.
It’s had baseball teams, football stars (including the only Crazylegs and the only double-zero) and a 150-year-old insurance company. But it has not, to my knowledge, had zombies.
Until now.
“Revival” (shown here) — debuting at 10 p.m. Thursday (June 12) on Syfy and USA — offers a fresh take on the living dead. Other shows have great hordes of unpleasant ones, sweeping (well, shuffling) across the land. This one has a modest number of mostly benign ones, confined to the greater Wausau area. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / June 7, 2025

Stories

As “Jaws” nears 50, TV starts celebrating

“Jaws” — the film that changed beach-going (a little) and movie-going (a lot) is about to turn 50.
And yes, TV will celebrate. The movie (shown here) debuted on June 20, 1975; now:
— On June 7, the AMC network will show “Jaws” and its sequel (1978) at 1:30 and 4:30 p.m., repeating them at 7 and 10. The less-regarded “Jaws 3” (1983) will be at 12:30 a.m., with “Jaws the Revenge” (1987) at 2:45.
— At 9 p.m. July 10, the National Geographic Channel debuts “Jaws@50: The Definitive Insider Story.” It’s produced by Amblin, the company run by “Jaws” director Steven Spielberg. He’s in the film; so are actor-screenwriter Carl Gottlieb. composer John Williams and the family of novelist Peter Benchley. Also included are other filmmakers (George Lucas, James Cameron, J.J. Abrams, etc.), plus maritime experts Read more…

By Mike Hughes / May 31, 2025

Stories

Streamers surged in a Covid world

(This is the latest chapter of a book-iu-progress, “Television, and How It Got That Way.” For the full book, so far, click “The Book,” under “categories.”)

For a cozy time, streaming networks were just a bonus fringe.
They were kind of like an Imax theater in a multiplex or a luxury box in a stadium: They offered appealing alternatives (including “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel,” shown here), without affecting the masses.
Then Covid came and spun everything into overdrive.
In less than nine months, four major streamers were born — Apple TV+. Disney+, Max and Peacock. Others grew. Streaming seemed like a made-for-Covid phenomena. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / May 23, 2025