Stories

Stories

Bluegrass: A regional sound goes global

This was supposed to be regional music, rural music. Then bluegrass spread way beyond that.
“Big Family” — the new PBS film on Friday, Aug. 30 — starts by quoting Bill Monroe, a pioneer of the sound: “Bluegrass has brought more people together and made more friends than any other music in the world.”
Then it shows that impact. We hear Monroe’s “Blue Moon of Kentucky” on his own 1947 record .. and on the flip side of Elvis Presley’s first record in 1954 … and from a modern Japanese group.
Yes, Japan likes bluegrass. “They treated us like the Beatles,” says Jeff Hanna of the Nitty Gritty Dirty Band. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / August 28, 2019
Stories

Binge shows are ready to seize our holiday weekend

In the low-tech, no-tech days, people did odd things over the Labor Day weekend.
They swam or had picnics or talked to family and friends. It was a strange time
.And this coming weekend? They’re supposed to binge-watch something.
Four streaming services release big projects Friday, aimed at bingers Two are opposites – a feel-good, frontier story and an intense modern crime tale. The other two are fantasy tales; the four are: Read more…

By Mike Hughes / August 27, 2019
Stories

On becoming desperate in Orlando, Florida

Mel Rodriguez – or what’s left of him – was discussing two important subjects.
Both are key to the Kirsten Dunst series (“On Becoming a God in Central Florida,” shown here) he co-stars in. And both have places in his life. They are:
— Multi-level, from-home marketing schemes. “My mother was in Grand Rapids, Mich., where Amway started,” he said. “She almost got into it and regrets the day that she didn’t, because she would have been really wealthy now.”
— Florida. “I’m from Florida and there’s a real hopelessness in places like Ocala and Gainesville. These are people living from paycheck to paycheck, (hoping) they can maybe not get their lights turned off.” Read more…

By Mike Hughes / August 20, 2019
Stories

An “impatient” photographer finds Arctic warmth, beauty

Ronan Donovan has spend large chunks of his life waiting – for the perfect shot, the perfect moment.
He spent three months among white wolves in the Arctic, for an epic documentary (shown here) that debuts Sunday (Aug. 25).
He spent a year in Yellowstone, filming gray wolves.“People think that I’m like the most patient human,” he said. “I’m incredibly impatient. I’m very stubborn and very obsessive in my projects, and that’s what drives me.” Read more…

By Mike Hughes / August 19, 2019
Stories

Striking a fresh “Pose,” Porter soars

For many actors, 50 is somewhere near the end zone. It’s time to play dads and angry desk sergeants.
And for Billy Porter? “I’m having a fabulous time,” he said.
He already has a Tony and a Grammy; he could add an Emmy on Sept. 22 … the day after he turns 50.
That’s in “Pose,” which has given him fresh opportunities. On the season finale (Tuesday), he said, he’ll get a new love interest; two weeks earlier, he had his first nude scene. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / August 16, 2019
Stories

HBO’s show has size, scope and righteous dismay

Danny McBride has spent large chunks of the past decade as HBO’s counterpoint.
Other shows, from “Sopranos” to “Game of Thrones,” had epic scope. His focused on one angry guy.
McBride created and starred in “Eastbound & Down” and “Vice Principals,” played fuming hulks. “They believe they were owed something more than what they got in life,” he said.
Now “Righteous Gemstones” goes the opposite way. Eli Gemstone (John Goodman, shown here) and his kids (McBride, Edi Patterson and Adam Devine) have it all – jet, mansion, money, more. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / August 14, 2019
Stories

JoJo and Jordan find their home-rehab reality

LOS ANGELES — On “The Bachelorette,” they might have seemed like a TV cliche.
He was the quarterback; she could fit any prom-queen image. Both are telegenic and whip-smart; she’s descended from doctors, he’s related to sports royalty. Even the names, JoJo and Jordan, seemed right.
And after the show ended? “We got back to reality,” said Jordan Rodgers, 30. “(She’s) like, ‘Hey, here’s what I do. Come along with me.’ I’m like, ‘Whoa, OK. All right, boss.’”
She’s a tough boss and colleague, as TV’s “Cash Pad” shows. “I love to work,” said JoJo Fletcher, 28. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / August 11, 2019
Stories

For kids, life can be a shapeshifting swirl

LOS ANGELES — For many people, childhood means inhabiting multiple worlds.
That can be a good thing, molding an actor or author, a politician or salesman. Or it can be an ordeal.
The latest example is “David Makes Man,” the Oprah Winfrey Network series about a 14-year-old bouncing between a housing project and a magnet school. It’s fictional … except when it’s not. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / August 9, 2019
Stories

Florida? It’s cowboy country and more

LOS ANGELES — We all know what Florida is like. Or we think we do.
“Everybody thinks we’re white sand beaches and Mickey Mouse,” Clint Raulerson (shown here) said.
He’s one of the people in PBS’ “Family Pictures” and he’s definitely no Mousketeer. Talking to the Television Critics Association, he was wearing a 10-gallon hat.
Yes, he’s a cowboy; there are a lot of of them in Florida, he said. “We still have about a million head of cattle in the state.” Read more…

By Mike Hughes / August 8, 2019