TV Talk with Rob Owen category, Page 8
TV Talk: Gibbs gets prequel treatment in ‘NCIS: Origins’
Trib Total Media TV writer Rob Owen offers a viewing tip for the coming week. HOLLYWOOD, Calif. Set in 1991 when the precursor to NCIS (Naval Criminal Investigative Service) takes up offices in repurposed World War II barracks at Camp Pendleton, the first thing one notices on the set of...
TV Talk: Mister Rogers helps inspire Hulu horror film; ‘Caddo Lake’ debuts on Max
The Pittsburgh-filmed “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood” has seen its share of parodies, most notably Eddie Murphy as Mister Robinson on “Saturday Night Live.” PBS’s classic children’s show also served as one of the inspirations for a new horror film, “Mr. Crocket,” streaming Oct. 11 on Hulu. In 1993, when parents play...
TV Q&A: Did KDKA-TV debut a new set?
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: When Jon Delano interviewed Kamala Harris on Oct. 1, it looked like he was on a different set. I do not remember seeing that screen...
TV Talk: When is a reboot not a reboot? When it’s CBS’s ‘Matlock’
Trib Total Media TV writer Rob Owen offers a viewing tip for the coming week. Note: This column contains spoilers for the premiere episode of CBS’s “Matlock” that aired last month. HOLLYWOOD, Calif. — Despite perpetual mocking, with Grandpa Simpson wailing “Matlock!” in “The Simpsons” episodes from the late 1980s/early...
TV Talk: Ming-Na Wen has more ‘Gremlins’ adventures; WTAE reporter exits
Before we talked about the second season of Max’s animated “Gremlins” series, there was a local matter to discuss with actress Ming-Na Wen: Her family’s business, Chinatown Inn (owned by her brother, Jonathan Yee), is the latest model added to Carnegie Science Center’s Miniature Railroad & Village. “It is so...
TV Q&A: Will WTAE hire a new weekend morning anchor?
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: Is WTAE-TV still looking for a weekend morning news anchor? — William, via email Rob: Following the July departure of weekend morning anchor Tom Garris,...
TV Talk: Fred Rogers Productions’ ‘Odd Squad’ relocates to UK
Trib Total Media TV writer Rob Owen offers a viewing tip for the coming week. Pittsburgh-based Fred Rogers Productions’ “Odd Squad” celebrates its 10th anniversary this month with the release of its fourth season, its first to film outside North America as a co-production between Toronto-based Sinking Ship Entertainment and...
TV Talk: Need a feel-good show? ‘Colin from Accounts’ fits the bill
HOLLYWOOD, Calif. — Every now and then a feel-good series comes along and becomes part of the cultural conversation. That’s more difficult to achieve than ever in this post-monoculture era with hundreds of scripted shows vying for viewers’ attention. But Paramount+’s “Colin from Accounts” deserves the same accolades once heaped...
TV Q&A: Did CBS cancel ‘Blue Bloods’ because the family prays before dinner?
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 they taking “Blue Bloods” off the air? I don’t believe their ratings suddenly fell. I think it’s because they prayed on every episode!...
TV Talk: Pittsburgh native Zachary Quinto returns to primetime in ‘Brilliant Minds’
Trib Total Media TV writer Rob Owen offers a viewing tip for the coming week. PASADENA, Calif. – Pittsburgh native Zachary Quinto first hit it big in primetime on NBC when he played the villain on “Heroes.” This week he’s back on NBC, starring in new medical drama “Brilliant Minds”...
TV Talk: Pittsburgh-set Hallmark movie depicts local Alzheimer’s walk, namechecks local landmarks
Natalie (Ashley Williams) relocates to Pittsburgh in Hallmark Channel’s Pittsburgh-set “Falling Together” (8 p.m. Saturday, World Alzheimer’s Day), which features Natalie falling for her apartment building’s standoffish superintendent (Paul Campbell, “Battlestar Galactica”) and volunteering with the annual Walk to End Alzheimer’s. One of the film’s executive producers, Neal Dodson, pushed...
TV Talk: ‘Sopranos’ meets ‘Batman’ in ‘The Penguin’; Agatha back on Disney+
As a sufferer of superhero fatigue, I skipped the 2022 Robert Pattinson-starring “The Batman” and had no real interest in HBO’s “The Penguin” (9 p.m. today, HBO and Max). But once I started watching “The Penguin,” it was hard to stop. Events of “The Batman” get a recap at the...
TV Talk: Amazon announces ‘Pradeeps of Pittsburgh’ premiere date
Originally ordered as an Amazon Freevee series, when Pittsburgh-set “The Pradeeps of Pittsburgh” debuts all eight episodes Oct. 17 the show will stream on both Freevee and Amazon’s Prime Video. Filmed last summer in Toronto, the half-hour comedy series was created by Vijal Patel (“Schooled,” “Black-ish”) and inspired by his...
TV Q&A: Does KDKA-TV have another new sportscaster?
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: Does Suzie Cool now work for KDKA-TV? She reports on their high school and college football broadcasts, Nightly Sports Call and she is a co-host...
TV Talk: Streaming/cable spigot gushes with return of ‘Yellowstone,’ ‘Waverly Place’
“Yellowstone,” TV’s most-watched scripted series, returns in November but without star Kevin Costner (presumably his character will die off-screen). After a lackluster summer of premieres due to last year’s dual actors’ and writers’ strikes, production has caught up and there will be no dearth of scripted originals on cable and...
TV Talk: ‘Hacks,’ ‘Shogun,’ ‘Baby Reindeer’ dominate Emmys; Jonasi advances to ‘AGT’ finals
January’s strike-delayed Emmys telecast succeeded by giving viewers what they want: A celebration of the medium and its most successful shows, including cast reunions of “Ally McBeal,” “Cheers” and “Martin” among others. Sunday’s telecast of the “76th Emmy Awards,” honoring programs that aired/streamed between June 1, 2023, and May 31,...
TV Talk: ‘Elevated procedurals’ redeem an unscripted-heavy fall season
Trib Total Media TV writer Rob Owen offers viewing tips for the 2024-25 TV season. The fall broadcast TV season isn’t what it used to be as budgets shrink, forcing networks to add more unscripted (re: cheaper) fare in place of the scripted shows they were once known for. With...
TV Talk: Ken Burns’ latest, ‘Leonardo da Vinci,’ highlights PBS’s fall; WQED-TV stitches together shorts
Ken Burns tackles his first non-American subject in the four-hour PBS documentary “Leonardo da Vinci” (8-10 p.m. Nov. 18-19, WQED-TV), exploring how the artist’s work inspired future generations. PBS will air several election-themed programs, including its staple “Frontline” episode “The Choice 2024” profiling Kamala Harris and Donald Trump as they...
TV Talk: ‘American Sports Story’ recounts Hernandez case; Cam Heyward on ‘Hot Ones’
PASADENA, Calif. – Producer Ryan Murphy understands one of the few truisms in current pop culture: Crime pays. Or at least true crime stories do because American viewers lap them up. Next week Murphy embarks on a true crime story spree with his latest Netflix series, “Monsters: The Lyle and...
TV Q&A: Do political ads bump regular advertisers?
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: We are starting to see more and more political advertising on television as we approach the 2024 election. Are there rules in place to allow...
TV Talk: ABC moderators push back during presidential debate
June’s presidential debate was the most consequential in modern political history — it led President Joe Biden to drop out of the race. So the debate on Tuesday between newly minted Democratic nominee Kamala Harris and Republican nominee Donald Trump seemed unlikely to have such dramatic consequences. But ABC hyped...
TV Talk: When viewers’ broadcast favorites return
Want to know when your favorite broadcast network shows will be back? Find out below: “Abbott Elementary” (9:30 p.m. Oct. 9, ABC). “Accused” (8 p.m. Oct. 8, Fox). “Alert: Missing Persons Unit” (midseason, Fox). “All American” (midseason, The CW). “The Amazing Race” (midseason, CBS). “American Idol” (midseason, ABC). “America’s Funniest...
TV Talk: Max’s ‘The Pitt’ to film locally this week; WPXI reporter exits
Max’s upcoming 15-episode, Pittsburgh-set medical drama “The Pitt,” executive produced by Carnegie Mellon University grads John Wells and Michael Hissrich and starring Noah Wyle (“ER”), is filming the bulk of its scenes on soundstages at Warner Bros. in Burbank, Calif. However, Wyle, producers and likely a few additional cast members...
TV Talk: ‘The Old Man’ returns, ‘Universal Basic Guys’ premieres
Trib Total Media TV writer Rob Owen offers viewing tips for the coming week. PASADENA, Calif. — It’s been more than two years since the end of season one of “The Old Man” but the FX series returns at 10 p.m. Sept. 12 (next day on Hulu) with back-to-back episodes...
TV Talk: Judge Judy returns to WPXI, more daytime changes
There will be a minimum number of changes in syndicated daytime TV this fall on local stations — KDKA and WTAE will stand pat with no significant changes to their schedules — but perhaps the most consequential change, if past is precedent, will be the arrival of “Judy Justice” on...
