Daily Best Bets
Best-bets for Feb. 7: First full day of Olympics Best-bets for Feb. 7: First full day of Olympics Best-bets for Feb. 6: The games begin Best-bets for Feb. 6: The games begin Best-bets for Feb. 5: fun chefs, serious sports Best-bets for Feb. 5: fun chefs, serious sports
Stories

Olympic overload? Here’s a guide to the figure skating schedule and more

By Mike Hughes / February 4, 2026
Stories

O’Hara: three (or more) gifted actresses in one

By Mike Hughes / February 1, 2026
Stories

“Gates” surprises doubters … including its creator

By Mike Hughes / January 31, 2026
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Stories

“Brady Bunch”: silly fun, simmering anger

Bright and bouncy, “The Brady Bunch” just wanted to have fun.
It had cute kids, pretty parents and lots of sight gags. So what was it like making the show?
Rough, Lloyd Schwartz says in “TV We Love,” at 8 p.m. Monday (Oct. 20) on CW. Robert Reed (shown here, alongside his TV wife Florence Henderson and two of their daughters) “fought constantly” about scripts.
Reed — who died of cancer in 1992, at 59 — was outspoken about his anger, especially toward the “Brady” creator.
“It was a well-known fact in Hollywood that Sherwood Schwartz was absolutely the worst writer working in television,” he once said. “But that all changed one day (with) one writer who was even worse. It was Lloyd, Sherwood’s son.” Read more…

By Mike Hughes / October 17, 2025
Daily Best Bets

Best-bets for Oct. 19: Scary “Simpsons,” rowdy “Road”

1) “The Simpsons,” 8 p.m., Fox. The 36th Halloween special arrives, a tad early. It’s sometimes funny, sometimes way too violent, but always with sharp satire. One portion points to the quality kids’ shows that have ended. Others view our obsession with greasy food and with plastic (shown here). Homer fighting lard or turning into plastic? It’s both ominous and entertaining. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / October 17, 2025
News and Quick Comments

CBS plans a modest-but-cheery Christmas

CBS has announced a modest-but-cheerful batch of Christmas shows.
Barring late additions, the line-up has no holiday movies, no holiday music specials and two animated specials — one new, one not. Filling in will be some other weekend specials (Kennedy Center Honors, family film awards, Latin music), plus some festive game shows. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / October 16, 2025
News and Quick Comments

An early Halloween: Bart vs. Satan and grease

Ah, the sweet memories of state fairs — bright lights, loud music, fast rides … and grease. Lots and lots of grease.
That’s what we see on “The Simpsons” (shown here), at 8 p.m. Sunday (Oct. 19) on Fox.
There are deep-fried pickles and deep-fried cheese steaks. There’s mac-n-cheese on a stick and fried butter sticks on a stick. There’s more.
What could go wrong? Plenty, since this is the annual “Treehouse of Horror.” Read more…

By Mike Hughes / October 16, 2025
Daily Best Bets

Best-bets for Oct. 18: double Sabrina, lots of King

1) “Saturday Night Live,” 11:29 p.m., NBC. At 26, Sabrina Carpenter (shown here) takes on a challenge most people avoid — doubling up as “SNL” host and music guest. Last season, only three people — Charlie XCX, Timothee Chalamet and Lady Gaga — did both; even Ariana Grande had someone else do the music… as did Bad Bunny this season. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / October 16, 2025
Stories

Ah yes, the joy of being an opening act

Being an opening act can be a matter of extremes.
You get a small space on a big stage, a brief set in a long day. You see lots of people, few of them interested in seeing you.
“We’ve all been in that position of (facing people who) not only don’t know who we are, but don’t care,” Keith Urban recalled in a Zoom press conference. “We’ve got to try and grab them in that minimal amount of time.”
Now he’s at the other end, in “The Road.”
The 90-minute opener (9 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 19) ends with a song by Urban — whom the crowd came to see. Before that, a dozen contestants do one song each, while Blake Shelton (shown here) and Keith Urban watch. Both of them know the turf. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / October 15, 2025
Daily Best Bets

Best-bets for Oct. 17: new cop shows and Scorsese

1) “Boston Blue” debut, 10 p.m., CBS. After 14 years of “Blue Bloods,” CBS isn’t ready to lose a good thing. So Danny (Donnie Wahlberg, shown here) heads to Boston (Wahlberg’s home town), where his son is a cop. He soon meets a large and tangled police/courts family like his own. This opener is too busy, but it’s also well-crafted by gifted director Anthony Hemingway, offering a rich blend of warmth and intensity. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / October 15, 2025
Stories

Her simple life is Earthbound and zombie-free

Even when she’s chasing killers and saving lives, Sonequa Martin-Green can almost relax.
It’s refreshing, she said, “not having to save the actual universe all the time.”
For five seasons of “The Walking Dead,” she fought zombies; for all five seasons of “Star Trek: Discovery,” she was the main character, facing crises in new worlds. Now her new duty — as a “Boston Blue” police detective (shown here)– might feel like a breeze.
The show — debuting at 10 p.m. Friday (Oct. 17) on CBS — is a spin-off of “Blue Bloods.” For 14 seasons, Danny Reagan (Donnie Wahlberg, left) played a tough New York cop. As that show was ending, producers hatched the new plan: He goes to Boston, where his son is a rookie cop; at times, they link. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / October 14, 2025
Daily Best Bets

Best-bets for Feb. 7: First full day of Olympics

By Mike Hughes / February 5, 2026
Weekly Previews

Week’s top-10 for Feb. 8: Olympics, love and Homer

By Mike Hughes / February 5, 2026
Daily Best Bets

Best-bets for Feb. 6: The games begin

By Mike Hughes / February 4, 2026
Stories

Olympic overload? Here’s a guide to the figure skating schedule and more

By Mike Hughes / February 4, 2026
Daily Best Bets

Best-bets for Feb. 5: fun chefs, serious sports

By Mike Hughes / February 3, 2026