TV Talk with Rob Owen category, Page 13
TV Q&A: Why did ‘9-1-1’ move from Fox to ABC?
Trib Total Media TV writer Rob Owen answers reader questions every Wednesday at TribLive.com in a column that also appears in the Sunday Tribune-Review. Q: Why did 9-1-1 move from Fox to ABC? Did Fox simply not want the show any longer, or was there more to it? — Xavier,...
TV Talk: CMU grad John Wells sets Noah Wyle medical drama in Pittsburgh; former WTAE forecaster exits TV
John Wells, a 1979 Carnegie Mellon University School of Drama grad, will executive produce “THE PITT,” a Pittsburgh-set medical drama to star his “ER” alum Noah Wyle that received a straight-to-series order from streaming service Max. R. Scott Gemmill, another “ER” grad, will serve as showrunner of the series that...
TV Talk: Pittsburgher ‘The Chase’ star back on ‘Jeopardy!’ 20 years later; ‘PTL’ turns 20
Victoria Groce of Point Breeze first competed on the daytime game show “Jeopardy!” in 2005, winning $23,801 over two episodes just before she moved to Pittsburgh, where her husband works at Carnegie Mellon as a software engineer. She previously worked at the University of Pittsburgh in various roles, including as...
TV Talk: ‘Game of Thrones’ showrunners launch ‘3 Body Problem;’ KDKA-TV adds reporter
For their first series after showrunning HBO’s mammoth hit “Game of Thrones,” writers David Benioff and D.B. Weiss (with Alexander Woo, “The Terror,” “True Blood”) adapt Chinese sci-fi author Liu Cixin’s “3 Body Problem” for Netflix and the result is a show that begins semi-intriguing and by its fourth episode...
TV Talk: ‘American Rust’ season 2 set largely in Pittsburgh
For its second season, the filmed-in-Pittsburgh drama “American Rust” moves from Showtime to Amazon’s Prime Video. The show’s setting also shifts. In its first season “American Rust” was set almost entirely in fictional Buell, Fayette County, but for the second season, the show splits its time between Buell and Pittsburgh,...
TV Q&A: Why are some stations’ digital subchannels on cable but not others?
Trib Total Media TV writer Rob Owen answers reader questions every Wednesday at TribLive.com in a column that also appears in the Sunday Tribune-Review. Q: Why are some of the local stations’ subchannels carried on cable (Comcast) but others are not? I can’t see any rhyme or reason and I...
TV Talk: WQED-TV profiles Pittsburgh’s broadcasting pioneer women
As part of its lineup of Women’s History Month programming, WQED-TV will broadcast the half-hour “mini doc” “Broadcast Pioneers” at 8 p.m. March 21. The program is a packaged compilation of previously released short feature stories on four women who made significant contributions to broadcasting in Western Pennsylvania, including kids...
TV Talk: Producers explain why ‘Young Sheldon’ is ending
Trib Total Media TV writer Rob Owen offers a weekly viewing tip. BURBANK, Calif. – “The Big Bang Theory” prequel series “Young Sheldon” (8 p.m. Thursdays, KDKA-TV) will end its seven-season run on CBS in May. Why now, aside from the economic realities that after a TV series hits its...
TV Talk: Greensburg native writes Hallmark Mystery’s ‘Crimes of Fashion;’ ‘9-1-1’ relocates to ABC
Greensburg native Stephanie Meyer Sourapas wrote Hallmark Mystery’s “Crimes of Fashion: Killer Clutch” (9 p.m. Friday) with writing partner Tom McCurrie and, unlike many Hallmark movies that are set in small-town America, “Crimes of Fashion” moves the action to Paris, though large chunks of the film shot in Budapest doubling...
TV Q&A: Are 2 WTAE broadcasters sisters?
Trib Total Media TV writer Rob Owen answers reader questions every Wednesday at TribLive.com in a column that also appears in the Sunday Tribune-Review. Q: Are Elena LaQuatra and Kelly Sasso sisters? — Anne, via email Rob: I was 99.999999% sure the WTAE broadcasters are not related but to eliminate...
TV Talk: John Larroquette talks about his bittersweet return to ‘Night Court’
Trib Total Media TV writer Rob Owen offers a viewing tip for the coming week. BURBANK, Calif. — Actor John Larroquette had a succinct response three years ago when actress Melissa Rauch approached him with the idea of a “Night Court” sequel series: “ ‘That’s a great idea. You don’t...
TV Talk: Energetic, joyful Oscars telecast crowns ‘Oppenheimer’ best picture
The outcome of the 96th Oscars telecast was never really in doubt – “Oppenheimer” won best picture, director and lead actor among its seven awards – but thanks to host Jimmy Kimmel, who’s cemented his status as a new generation’s Billy Crystal or Bob Hope, and some strong, funny writing...
TV Talk: Local artist competes on Netflix’s ‘Blown Away;’ sweeps ratings
The fourth season of “Blown Away,” like the third season in 2022, features a Pittsburgher who works at the Pittsburgh Glass Center. Sharpsburg’s Leana Quade, who works at PGC as an instructor and in production, is one of 10 competitors in a season that filmed last May and June in...
TV Talk: ‘Dance Moms’ reunite; Riverhounds return, Cavs games added to KDKA+
Lifetime scheduled its two-hour “Dance Moms: The Reunion” special for 8 p.m. May 1. Early seasons of the reality show filmed at Abby Lee Miller’s now-shuttered dance studio in Penn Hills. Miller is not expected to be part of the reunion that will feature JoJo Siwa, Chloe Lukasiak, Brooke Hyland,...
TV Q&A: Is a ‘Krapopolis’ writer from Pittsburgh?
Trib Total Media TV writer Rob Owen answers reader questions every Wednesday at TribLive.com in a column that also appears in the Sunday Tribune-Review. Q: On Oct. 8, I turned on the new Fox animated series, “Krapopolis.” On three different occasions a character used the term “jagoff,” so I surmise...
TV Talk: Filmed-in-Pittsburgh ‘American Rust’ gets binge release
Fans of filmed-in-Pittsburgh “American Rust,” better stock up on snacks and set aside many hours the last week of the month because Amazon’s Prime Video will binge-release all 10 episodes of the show’s second season, “American Rust: Broken Justice,” on March 28. For curious viewers who never watched the nine-episode...
TV Talk: Nat Geo’s ‘Queens’ fit for viewers of all stripes
Trib Total Media TV writer Rob Owen offers a viewing tip for the coming week. PASADENA, Calif. — There have been many impressive natural history series in the past two decades — “Planet Earth,” “The Blue Planet,” “Life” — but National Geographic Channel’s “Queens” (8 p.m. March 4, National Geographic...
TV Talk: ‘Dick Turpin,’ ‘Regime’ employ different styles of humor
British-accented humor comes in two distinct forms this weekend with the debuts of Apple TV+’s “The Completely Made-up Adventures of Dick Turpin” (streaming March 1) and HBO’s “The Regime” (9 p.m. Sunday, HBO; streams on Max). ‘Dick Turpin’ Fans of “Monty Python” or “Blackadder” are the ideal audience for “The...
TV Q&A: Will SportsNet Pittsburgh televise Pirates spring training games?
Trib Total Media TV writer Rob Owen answers reader questions every Wednesday at TribLive.com in a column that also appears in the Sunday Tribune-Review. Q: Why isn’t SportsNet Pittsburgh televising the Pirates spring training games? I was looking forward to watching the game on Feb. 24 and it wasn’t on....
TV Talk: ‘Elsbeth’ enchants, but show is more-of-the-same procedural
Trib Total Media TV writer Rob Owen offers a viewing tip for the coming week. On CBS’s “The Good Wife” and on Paramount+’s “The Good Fight,” an appearance from loveable oddball Elsbeth Tascioni was reason to celebrate. As playfully embodied by actress Carrie Preston, Elsbeth’s broad smile, perpetual wide-eyed amazement...
TV Talk: Meteorologist Falicia Woody exits KDKA-TV
And then there were four. KDKA-TV is now back to four meteorologists after the departure of the station’s fifth meteorologist, Falicia Woody. Woody posted to her social media pages, writing, “Dear yinz, I am writing this with great sadness. As of last week, I am no longer working for Paramount-CBS....
TV Talk: ‘Oppenheimer,’ ‘Succession,’ ‘The Bear’ win SAG Awards on Netflix
In its first streaming telecast on Netflix, the “30th Screen Actors Guild Awards” bestowed honors on the casts of 2023 movie hit “Oppenheimer” and TV’s critical darlings “Succession” and “The Bear” in an entertaining, compact 133-minute ceremony. The telecast began with the SAG Awards’ traditional “I’m an actor” vignettes as...
TV Talk: Joe Manganiello hosts ‘Deal or No Deal Island;’ Wexford native coaches ‘The Voice’
PASADENA, Calif. — It’s a big week on NBC for entertainers who grew up in Western Pennsylvania. Mt. Lebanon native Joe Manganiello hosts spin-off competition series “Deal or No Deal Island” (9:30-11 p.m. Feb. 26 and 27, WPXI-TV) and Wexford native Dan Smyers of Dan + Shay joins “The Voice” (8-9:30 p.m....
TV Talk: ‘Shōgun’ impresses; ‘Avatar: The Last Airbender” achieves altitude
PASADENA, Calif. – FX’s 10-episode remake of “Shōgun” (10 p.m. Feb. 27, FX; same day on Hulu) premieres with two episodes next week followed by one episode weekly through April 23. A two-episode premiere is smart because the show comes into its own in that second hour. The first episode...
TV Q&A: Who will SportsNet Pittsburgh have as Pirates announcers?
Trib Total Media TV writer Rob Owen answers reader questions every Wednesday at TribLive.com in a column that also appears in the Sunday Tribune-Review. Q: Who will the Pirates announcers be this season on SportsNet Pittsburgh? — Chris, via email Rob: This week, SportsNet Pittsburgh announced its Pirates broadcast team...
