TV Q&A: Does CBS’s ‘S.W.A.T.’ have a Pittsburgh connection?

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: I was watching the fifth episode of the third season of CBS’s “S.W.A.T.” on Hulu recently. In one scene, actress Lina Esco wears a Beaver County Times T-shirt. In another scene, actor Alex Russell is in a bar with an Iron City Beer sign on the wall. Since the series is set in Los Angeles, there’s obviously a Western Pennsylvania connection on the production staff. Do you know what it is?

— Joe, Greensburg

Rob: Turns out the two specific references in Episode 305 are random. The T-shirt was acquired through a vintage shirt company. The sign in the bar was part of a random sampling of eclectic things from all around.

However, one of the directors/executive producers of “S.W.A.T.” is Billy Gierhart, a Mt. Lebanon native and a die-hard Steelers fan who still has family in Pennsylvania. Gierhart says there might be other Pittsburgh-y things that have been folded into the show here or there that only die-hard Pittsburgh people would recognize as such.

Q: I find PBS”s “All Creatures Great and Small” delightful. Was the series filmed in Yorkshire, England?

— Elaine, Mt. Lebanon

Rob: Yes, “All Creatures” did film in Yorkshire.

Q: I have a question about “Undercover Billionaire Comeback City” set in Erie that airs on Discovery Channel. I watched the first two episodes and then it just disappeared. Have they moved the next episodes to discovery+? I do not have this and refuse to pay an additional fee to get it.

— Nancy, Greensburg

Rob: Both a new season of “Undercover Billionaire” and spin-off “Undercover Billionaire Comeback City” got slammed by current events: They debuted on Jan. 6, the day of the attempted insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. Consequently both series were pulled from the linear lineup as Discovery executives evaluate a time to relaunch both shows on cable.

All episodes of “Comeback City are now streaming on discovery+ and new episodes of “Undercover Billionaire” debut each Wednesday on discovery+.

Q: A while back, Buzzr advertised an upcoming tribute to Alex Trebek, but I have never seen a date for it. Also, are there plans for any celebrity “Jeopardy!” competitions?

— Sherry, Murrysville

Rob: Buzzr aired its Trebek tribute on Nov. 14 and has no plans to re-air it.

There have been no announcements about a primetime celebrity “Jeopardy!” The show’s producers are busy trying to line up a new host.

Q: Will “God Friended Me” be back on CBS?

— Nancy via voicemail

Rob: It will not be back. CBS canceled the show in early 2020 ahead of its second-season finale.

Q: Is Sam Hall still employed with WTAE-TV doing the SKYCAM traffic? I have not seen him in a while.

— Cheryl, Greensburg

Rob: Hall says all remains the same as in the past.

“I’m sure with the covid restrictions and people working from home and a lack of traffic to report in general the station thinks it best to just leave me at the airport for now,” Hall said. “Hopefully with a return to normalcy at some point I will be the fill-in traffic reporter again. Ive been given no reason to believe anything is different.”