TV Q&A: When did ‘SNL’ start airing in 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: After watching the first two episodes of the “Saturday Night Live” documentary on Peacock, the memory came back: It was the fall of 1975. I was working in Johnstown. The cable TV there had the unique ability to show subscribers not only WJAC-TV (Johnstown), but WPXI-TV in Pittsburgh (then using the call letters WIIC-TV).

Late-night TV in Pittsburgh was ruled by the station-produced “Chiller Theater,” a campy frame for old horror movie reruns. EVERYONE watched it. In high school, we would have watch parties, the only way our parents would let us stay out late.

It was hosted by Bill “Chilly Billy” Cardille, a longtime fixture at the station. He would project a smug air while smoking a cigarette from his lair in the Pittsburgh subway (funny as there wasn’t a subway at the time). He was supported by a select list of not-so-scary characters such as Terminal Stare, a grim-looking blonde. Fake train sounds and announcements would play in the background.

NBC was debuting a new late-night show called “Saturday Night” that fall. Johnstown cable subscribers could choose the NBC feed of the new show on Channel 6 or tune in to Channel 11’s “Chiller Theater.” As I was over the Chilly Billy schtick, I tuned into “Saturday Night,” later renamed “Saturday Night Live” due to a similarly named Saturday night variety show hosted by Howard Cosell on ABC. I was hooked.

When did “SNL” start airing on WPXI?

— Bob, via email

Rob: With NBC airing “SNL50: The Anniversary Special” (live 8-11 p.m., Feb. 16), it seems like a good time to look back on the show’s history in Pittsburgh.

Bob is correct that “SNL” did not air on Channel 11 in its first season. It also didn’t air on Pittsburgh’s NBC affiliate in its second or third seasons. It took four or five years — I couldn’t find a reliable source that nailed it down more precisely — before pressure from NBC forced Channel 11 to push “Chiller Theater” back to 1 a.m. and reduced “Chiller Theater” from airing two films to just one. “Chiller Theater” continued airing until Jan. 1, 1984. (Some local viewers recall seeing “SNL” on Pittsburgh’s Channel 53 in the years before “SNL” started airing on Channel 11, then WIIC-TV.)

It turns out Pittsburgh’s delayed acceptance of “SNL” was not entirely unique. The NBC affiliate in Salt Lake City, owned by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, did not begin airing “SNL” until 2013.

For viewers interested in seeing how “SNL” began, NBC will re-air the first-ever 1975 “SNL” episode at 11:30 p.m. Saturday (Feb. 15) preceded at 8 p.m. by a rerun of the documentary “Ladies & Gentlemen … 50 Years of SNL Music.”

Q: Two years ago — and for several years prior — the predecessor to SportsNet Pittsburgh ran a Pirates show, “Pittsburgh Playback,” early in the year. They essentially replayed Pirates games from the previous season. All of the games ran a second time within 24 hours of the game, so they are in the can. Any plans to air “Pirates Playback” this year?

— Marlow, via Facebook

Rob: Per a SNP spokeswoman, “We are not airing that specific show. We do air ‘Pirates in 2,’ which are reruns of the most recent game all season long. And there will be instances where we will run games from the previous season on an ad-hoc basis. (e.g. we have plans to run Paul Skenes’ victories from his ROTY season last year in the next couple months and other ‘classic’ games in the coming months and throughout the year).”

Q: We are big fans of Lucy Worsley on PBS. She has a new season of “Lucy Worsley Investigates” on Tuesdays. Several episodes aired and suddenly it was gone, even though another new episode was previewed.

— Dave, Gibsonia

Rob: This was an odd PBS programming choice, not a WQED-TV decision.

The first three episodes of the latest Worsley series aired at 9 p.m. Tuesdays, Jan. 7-21.

For February’s Black History Month, “Great Migrations” came onto the schedule Jan. 28 and will air in the time slot through Feb. 18 followed by an “American Experience” special on Feb. 25.

After that, WQED and the other PBS member stations enter the March pledge period. The fourth and final episode in the second season of “Lucy Worsley Investigates” won’t air until 8 p.m. March 23 with a repeat at 3 p.m. March 25. Then it will also stream online at wqed.org/watch/lucy-worsley-investigates.