Stories

This park has lots of nature, few people

If your goal is to be outdoors and away from people, then Big Bend National Park (shown here) is your spot.
It has a lot of outdoors – almost 800,000 acres, in the bend of the Rio Grande River, in Texas. And it has few people. “It is one of the least-visited national parks in the U.S.,” said Skip Hobbie, who filmed a gorgeous hour for “Nature,” at 8 p.m. Wednesday (Feb. 10) on PBS.
That’s relative, of course. Overall visitation (400,000 a year) is topped ten-fold by Yellowstone and Yosemite – and 30-fold by the Grand Smokey Mountains National Park. But some get fewer people – 26,000 at Isle Royale in Michigan, 10,000 at Gate of the Arctic in Alaska Read more…

By Mike Hughes / February 8, 2021

Stories

It’s time for “Equalizer” to right wrongs

“The Equalizer” (shown here) is back, for its third incarnation.
The first was a 1985 CBS series that ran for four seasons; the second had a pair of movies. Now – boosted by a Super Bowl lead-in Feb. 7 – the idea is back on CBS.
In each version, the hero helps people who can’t turn to authorities. That may be why it’s eternal.
“The notion of the outsider who comes in and helps the little guy has been around for a long time,” said Andrew Marlowe, one of the showrunners. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / February 1, 2021

Stories

Looking at a maybe-super day

For most of us, Feb. 7 will merely be Super Sunday, a 12-hour blur (see schedule, under “news and quick comments”) of fuss and football, plus music, drama and catchy commercials.
But for Queen Latifah (whose “Equalizer” follows the game), it might be super-er or super-est or something.
“I am a huge, huge football fan …. I think it’s going to be one of the most exciting Super Bowls,” Latifah said of the 6:30 p.m. ET game between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Tampa Bay Bucs.
Some others seem to agree, especially because of the quarterback confrontation: Patrick Mahomes (shown here), 25, of the Chiefs, faces Tom Brady, 43, of the Bucs. “I think it’s going to be one of the great match-ups in history,” said Tony Romo, who will be in the CBS booth with Jim Nantz. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / February 1, 2021

Stories

No, Dr. Harry isn’t from around here

Like most small towns – well, most small towns in TV shows – Patience, Colo., has odd folks who feel like they don’t fit in.
But in “Resident Alien” (debuting at 10 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 27, on Syfy), one guy is far odder than the rest. That’s Dr. Harry Vanderspiegle … or, to be precise, the outer-space alien who killed the doctor and then assumed his human form.
“Everybody has the same experience,” Alice Wetterlund, who plays D’arcy, a friendly bartender, told the Television Critics Association. “We’re all trying to fit in, in our own way.”
It’s just that this Harry (shown here) has to try harder. He’s not from around here. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / January 25, 2021

Stories

King played a huge rule in CNN history

Even before there was a CNN, the world knew Larry King.
Eventually, they would entwine. For 25 years, King – who died Saturday at 87 – hosted a weeknight talk show (shown here) on CNN; at times, he was the most prominent piece of an obscure network.
“Larry King really made CNN,” anchorman Wolf Blitzer said during its coverage of King on Saturday. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / January 23, 2021

Stories

Before COVID, a town confronted deadly threat

In the news, this was strictly a spy story.
A man and his daughter were sitting on a park bench in England, when they collapsed. He was Russian, a double agent who had worked for the British; both were hit by a lethal poison developed in Russia.
There was an international furor … but behind that was the personal story that emerges in “The Salisbury Poisonings” (shown here), which starts at 10 p.m. Monday (Jan. 25) on AMC. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / January 23, 2021

Stories

She wrestles with superhero stardom

Javicia Leslie’s childhood prepared her for three careers – wrestler, martial artist or superhero,
She abandoned one after learning the World Wrestling Federation was fake. “I really thought (it) was real …. As I got older, I realized they were acting,” she told the Television Critics Association.
But now she’s merged the other two: She’s the new star (shown here) of “Batwoman” (8 p.m. Sundays on CW), flexing some martial-arts moves. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / January 21, 2021

Stories

“Walker”: An eternal TV show walks anew

From time to time, people have asked Paul Haggis about “Walker, Texas Ranger,” which he co-created.
“You can’t kill it with a stick,” he would say with a grin.
Not that he would want to; the show has been an eternal payday. It ran for nine years and 196 episodes … was a TV movie … reran on cable … reached more than 100 countries … and now is back as “Walker,” debuting at 8 p.m. Thursday (Jan. 21) on CW.
It has spanned generations. When the show debuted in 1983, Jared Padalecki (shown here), the new Cordell Walker, was 11; Lindsey Morgan, who plays his ranger partner Micki Rodriguez, was 3. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / January 18, 2021

Stories

CW is back (finally) with good, bad and Walker

If there’s a TV award for pandemic patience, it should go to the CW network.
Others scrambled to get many of their shows on the air by November; CW simply waited. Now – midway through the season – most of its shows are starting their seasons. The result, as usual, is mixed:
– One show is surprisingly good. The first season of “Batwoman” (8 p.m. Sundays), shown here, was beautifully crafted, in a grim and gloomy way. Then its star quit; the show found a way to keep the quality, while brightening a bit. “We wanted to add a little fun to the show,” said producer Caroline Dries, “because it is so bleak.” Read more…

By Mike Hughes / January 16, 2021

Stories

Black actresses found fame and frustration

This was the sort of break a young actress might covet:
Abbey Lincoln was given the same dress – red, tight, low-cut – that Marilyn Monroe had worn. She could become the new Black sex symbol.
Her reaction? She later told a friend she’d burned the dress. “I’m not wearing no white woman’s hand-me-down.”
That’s an example of the independent spirit shown by many Black women — including Lincoln, Lena Horne (shown here) and others — in Hollywood. Now we see that in “How It Feels to Be Free,” a fascinating “American Masters” film at 9 p.m. Monday (Jan. 18, Martin Luther King Day) on PBS (check local listings). Read more…

By Mike Hughes / January 15, 2021