TV Q&A: Did Ricki Wertz host ‘Romper Room’?

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: Great piece about Ricki Wertz’s career in Pittsburgh television. I also believe she hosted our local production of “Romper Room,” also on WTAE, if I remember correctly. Is that something you could check out?

— Eric via email

Rob: Wertz, who died earlier this month at age 86, did not host “Romper Room.” “Miss Jan” Ballard Bohna hosted the show on WIIC (now WPXI) beginning in 1958. When the show moved to WTAE in 1959, “Miss Janey” Vance Braham hosted “Romper Room” until her death in 1970. Bohna, who had served as a substitute for Braham, returned to host the show until it ended its local run in 1976.

Q: What years did “Junior High Quiz” air?

— John via email

Rob: While preparing Wertz’s obituary earlier this month, no question vexed me more than what the actual air dates were for “Junior High Quiz.” All over the internet it says the show aired until 1982 but when John Poister started working at WTAE in 1979, “JHQ” was no longer in production there. Poister searched TV listings he found online and thought the show ended in 1969.

Reader John Gallaway said “JHQ” aired on WTAE from 1962-78 before relocating to Channel 11 for two more years. Poister said he did remember Wertz telling him the show moved to what is now WPXI at some point.

Gallaway said he remembers Wertz hosting TV coverage of Channel 11’s Community Day Parade in September 1978, which he said he found odd because he thought of Wertz as a Channel 4 personality. That coincided with the “JHQ” move to Channel 11.

Q: Why does WPXI have such an unpredictable weekend morning news schedule? Sometimes there’s local news on Saturday and Sunday and sometimes there’s not. Why do they do that?

— Kimerle via Twitter

Rob: This seems like a pretty straight-forward question with an easy, uncontroversial answer but for months news director Scott Trabandt and general manager Kevin Hayes have not responded to emails and phone calls seeking an answer. A past WPXI news director explained to me years ago it’s simply about sports broadcast obligations that sometimes cause a rejiggering that results in truncated or skipped weekend morning newscasts.

Q: Is John Dickerson returning to CBS’s “Face the Nation,” replacing Margaret Brennan?

— Judy via email

Rob: No, Brennan is out on maternity leave. Dickerson is filling in. Dickerson had been on “60 Minutes” but is now assigned to “CBS Sunday Morning” while readying a new series for ViacomCBS-owned streamer Paramount+.

Q: Is the Hallmark Channel’s “Good Witch” series ending? The Hallmark Channel has been stating the series finale, not season finale. The series was not as captivating this year. What are your thoughts?

— Elaine via email

Rob: I have not watched “Good Witch” this season and turns out the show will end with its July 25 episode. That decision was only revealed earlier this month.

When Hallmark Channel announced the show’s return, it was not labeled as the show’s final season. There’s a new regime running Hallmark Channel and doing what new regimes often do, tossing that which had the fingerprints of the old regime.

A few years ago star Catherine Bell told me she hoped when the series came to an end the story could continue in TV movies, which is how “Good Witch” started. No word yet if that might happen. Given the new regime, my guess is it will not.

Q: I programmed “American Detective with Joe Kenda” in my DVR and I still have not seen an episode. Can you tell me what station, time, day of the week it airs? I have always watched his other show.

— Trish, Lusby, Md.

Rob: “American Detective” was not yet airing on the linear Investigation Discovery channel on cable when this question arrived. It was only available via subscription streaming service discovery+.

But that changed earlier this month when episodes began airing on ID at 9 p.m. Wednesdays. Kenda is a Herminie native.