LYNDA HIRSCH ON TELEVISION -- GOSSIP

Lynda Hirsch
Fri, 10 Feb 2023 21:00:00 -0800
Lifestyle

Primetime television and steaming services have announced their coming season. The list of what is staying and going is interesting. Interesting does not always mean good. First, one of my favorites is ending after this year. I love "New Amsterdam." OK, part of the reason is I have a crush on the star, Ryan Eggold. Not just because I am shallow. The show is about dealing with the bad stuff life hands you and doing the best you can. All actors are sublime. The show's message is so needed in this not-so-great times. "How can I help?" What a great concept.

There will be no more "Danger, Will Robinson," as the three-year reboot of "Lost in Space" is adrift like the Chinese balloon. The cult favorite "The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel," an homage to standup comedy in New York and Joan Rivers, is ending after this year. On the good news front, "Stranger Things" is getting a fourth season. Ditto for Dick Wolfe's "Chicago" trilogy. Just as he did with his New York-based "Law and Order," his stories "ripped from the headlines" are compelling. I am not a fan of "SVU," but the star, Mariska Hargitay, is wonderful. On and off camera. As is her real-life husband, Peter Hermann. The towering actor came to the states from Germany when he was 12. Driving in from the airport, he saw rows of headstones. He asked his parents if everyone in this country's dead.

"Grey's Anatomy" keeps operating. I find it too formulistic, but the audiences love it. Patrick Dempsey, the star, quit the show to race cars. Marcia Wallace from "The Bob Newhart Show" fame used to say, "Never quit your day job if you do not have a night job." Speaking of "Newhart," star Bob Newhart never got an Emmy for that show but picked up one for "Young Sheldon," on which he plays Sheldon's idol Professor Proton. "Young Sheldon," the prequel for "The Big Bang Theory," is a delight. The performers, the stories — just wow. It used to be that show's aim to run for at least six seasons. That number of years is what syndication needs. That is why "Happy Days "goes on and on.
Updated: Sat Feb 11, 2023

Primetime television and steaming services have announced their coming season. The list of what is staying and going is interesting. Interesting does not always mean good. First, one of my favorites is ending after this year. I love "New Amsterdam." OK, part of the reason is I have a crush on the star, Ryan Eggold. Not just because I am shallow. The show is about dealing with the bad stuff life hands you and doing the best you can. All actors are sublime. The show's message is so needed in this not-so-great times. "How can I help?" What a great concept.

There will be no more "Danger, Will Robinson," as the three-year reboot of "Lost in Space" is adrift like the Chinese balloon. The cult favorite "The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel," an homage to standup comedy in New York and Joan Rivers, is ending after this year. On the good news front, "Stranger Things" is getting a fourth season. Ditto for Dick Wolfe's "Chicago" trilogy. Just as he did with his New York-based "Law and Order," his stories "ripped from the headlines" are compelling. I am not a fan of "SVU," but the star, Mariska Hargitay, is wonderful. On and off camera. As is her real-life husband, Peter Hermann. The towering actor came to the states from Germany when he was 12. Driving in from the airport, he saw rows of headstones. He asked his parents if everyone in this country's dead.

"Grey's Anatomy" keeps operating. I find it too formulistic, but the audiences love it. Patrick Dempsey, the star, quit the show to race cars. Marcia Wallace from "The Bob Newhart Show" fame used to say, "Never quit your day job if you do not have a night job." Speaking of "Newhart," star Bob Newhart never got an Emmy for that show but picked up one for "Young Sheldon," on which he plays Sheldon's idol Professor Proton. "Young Sheldon," the prequel for "The Big Bang Theory," is a delight. The performers, the stories — just wow. It used to be that show's aim to run for at least six seasons. That number of years is what syndication needs. That is why "Happy Days "goes on and on.

Shows are canceled for lots of reasons. Sometimes low ratings, sometimes because the talent is unbearable. Roseanne Barr was impossible. That show was cancelled with great ratings. It lives on in the spinoff "The Connors." Roseanne the character died of an overdose. The actress keeps trying to rekindle her career — with a talk show, and a sitcom with no luck. At the end of her first run, the show's producers took out an ad. "We are leaving Roseanne, taking a vacation in Beirut." The late, great Louie Anderson opened for Roseanne when she was on the road. Asked what she was like, the ever kind Anderson just said, "You know, Roseanne is Roseanne. Barr once had a public hissy fit when she was called Roseanne Barr instead of Roseanne Arnold. Ex-hubby comic Tom Arnold is glad for the oversight.