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

Stories

A nomadic life leads to diverse horror

Many TV shows – and many people – are rooted in one place. Some rarely leave the living room.
Not Kimani Ray Smith … or “Two Sentence Horror Stories” (show here), the odd little show (8 and 8:30 p.m. Tuesdays on CW, then streaming the next day on www.cwtv.com) he directs for.
Smith had a childhood he describes as “from the desert to the Arctic tundra.” That may make him ideal for a show that covers a broad range. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / January 12, 2021

Stories

Apted made fine movies, led by “Up” films

In the mainstream, show-business world – scripted movies and TV shows and such – Michael Apted’s legacy is impressive.
Apted – who died Thursday at 79 – directed a wide range of movies, from James Bond to Loretta Lynn, from a John Belushi comedy to a William Hurt mystery. He directed cable dramas, including “Masters of Sex” (which he also helped produce) and “Rome.”
But for many people, he did something far more important: He gave us “7 Up” and all its sequels, pulling us into the lives of Tony Walker (shown here) and others..
Roger Ebert called this “the noblest project in cinema history.” The New Yok Times called it “the most profound documentary series in the history of cinema.” I call it masterful. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / January 11, 2021

Stories

Splendid Sundays resume on PBS

For a decade, TV viewers knew what to expect from PBS.
A lush “Masterpiece” series would settle into Sundays each January and beyond. There were six seasons of “Downton Abbey,” three of “Victoria,” one of “Sanditon”
And now? “All Creatures Great and Small” (shown here, 9 p.m., starting Jan. 10, check local listings) has much in common with “Downton,” including the same director. But it has a crucial difference:
“We have made a lot of excellent British television stories about people who are rich,” said Samuel West, who co-stars as Dr. Siegfried Farnon. This show, by comparison, “is ground-level stuff.” Read more…

By Mike Hughes / January 7, 2021