The new “Penny Dreadful” season sprawls across huge emotional turf.
It ranges from scheming Nazis to a sweet-spirited evangelist. It has crooked politicians, troubled cops (shown here with Daniel Zovatto and Nathan Lane), displaced families and a deadly Latina demon.
Yes, a demon. “As a Mexican, I have lots of stories in my family about supernatural things … We have a lot of stories and we love these stories,” Adriana Barraza said. Read more…
TV’s music-from-home experiment is taking some big jumps: A virtual “American Idol” (see separate commentary here) began Sunday (April 26); a virtual “Voice” begins May 4.
That continues a trend that has included six primetime specials with music from home. Most recent was a Disney singalong and then a global marathon, with six hours streaming and then two more simulcast on three networks.
Some moments — including Jennifer Lopez doing “People” (shown here) — have been wonderful; some have been modest. To her credit, Billie Eilish has done three of these; in each, alas, she was barely audible. Read more…
“Will & Grace” – once a pioneering gem – is saying goodbye … again.
Its first series-finale was in 2006. People cheered and wept; Debra Messing took home a souvenir – the office door that had the name of her character, Grace Adler. (NBC later billed her for $220, she has said; she didn’t pay it.)
For the next decade, the actors were busy elsewhere. Messing and Eric McCormack each starred in a couple series, Sean Hayes became a producer (“Hollywood Game Night,” “History of Comedy,” more), Megan Mullally saw her husband, Nick Offerman, go from obscurity to fame.
Then they returned for three more years. The show has gone for so long that we might forget how revolutionary it was. Alphonso David, president of the Human Rights Campaign, put it in perspective: Read more…
(Okay, I’ll admit that Earth Day has now passed, but I’ll keep this story on top for a tad longer. Many of the shows mentioned are availa ble now on Disney+ and its National Geographic hub; also, ABC will be running the “Born Wild” special at 8 p.m. Saturday, April 25. It has some charming moments, especially with the caregiver who temporarily gets to take home a koala cub.)
Last month, Jane Goodall – who will be the star of TV’s Earth Day shows Wednesday (April 22) – received some jolting news: She would be relaxing at home for a while.
“At first, I was frustrated and angry,” she recalled in a videoconference Sunday.
Read more…
Let’s think of it as an Earth Day Film Festival.
On Wednesday, our TV’s will be filled with documentaries – some charming (like “Monkey Kingdom,” shown here) and some angry, – about the planet. That’s for the 50th anniversary of the first Earth Day, on April 22, 1970.
Here’s a round-up (including mini-reviews) of key documentaries on Wednesday Read more…
The 50th anniversary of Earth Day may be a more solitary, indoor affair this year.
If so, TV will try to fill the void with lots of Earthly films. They range from gorgeous Disney films (shown here) to urgent Earth-in-crisis films. Highlights include: Read more…
In the midst of a pandemic, with his plans tossed aside, Oliver Jeffers was talking about joy.
Yes, joy. That goes back to his Belfast boyhood, with a mother bed-ridden by multiple sclerosis.
“We’d ask how she was and every day she’d say, ‘Great,’” recalled Jeffers, whose sunny, animated film (shown here) reaches Apple TV+ on Friday (April 17). “She said, ‘Every day that the sun comes out and I see my four children, I’m happy.’” Read more…
Wayne Brady now has his comedy six-pack – one of the youngest comedy groups ever.
How young? All six together are 92 years old … still, for instance, five years younger than comedy producer Norman Lear.
Those teens were picked for “Wayne Brady’s Comedy IQ,” at 8 p.m. ET Mondays on BYU TV, a cable and streaming channel. In the opener, Brady worked with a dozen kids, before picking his six. Read more…
Back in 1972, the American society seemed to be transforming.
“You just had the Civil Rights Act and the Pay Equity Act,” said Cate Blanchett (shown here), who produced and stars in “Mrs. America,” an ambitious mini-series. “So there was already change afoot.”
The next step was the Equal Rights Amendment. It seemed easy, said director Ryan Fleck. “It had Republican support, it had Democratic support – which is sort of unheard of nowadays.
The ERA sailed through the House, 354-24 and through the Senate, 84-8. Hawaii ratified it that same day, Delaware and New Hampshire the next day, Iowa and Idaho the day after that. Then Phyllis Schlafly stepped in. That’s what “Mrs. America” is about. Read more…
The music world keeps juggling genres and descriptions. It has rock and rap and R-&-B, hip hop and pop and more.
But at their roots, some people say, is gospel music in general and the Clark Sisters in particular. “I may rap,” Queen Latifah said, “but I got Clark in my heart.”
Others agreed. “I sing R&B music,” Shelea Frazier said, “but gospel is a lifestyle. So I’m always going to sing in the name of Jesus.”
That makes their movie (shown here) logical for this weekend. Lifetime will debut “The Clark Sisters: First Ladies of Gospel” on Saturday, then repeat it twice on Easter Sunday. Read more…
