TV Q&A: Why don’t HGTV designers include TVs in their home makeovers?

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 wonder why most designers on HGTV shows refuse to put the homeowners’ TVs back after they redesign the home. They usually put a painting where the TV should be. It doesn’t make sense. They all have TV shows. Most people watch TV.

— Howard, Natrona Heights

Rob: I sent this question to Pittsburgh interior designer Leanne Ford, who’s had two shows on HGTV (“Restored by the Fords” and “Home Again with the Fords”).

“Good eye, Howard — and you are certainly not the first person to catch this!” Ford wrote. “The reality is a television reads like a big black box on camera while also acting like a mirror and reflecting the camera crew.

“On a personal note, I actually don’t love a TV in a room anyway and I always do my best to hide it within the space,” she continued. “I think staring at a piece of art is much lovelier than a big black box.

“Though we all love a good TV show, your television doesn’t always have to be the focal point of the room,” Ford wrote. “Look for other spots in your living space that aren’t over your mantle.”

There’s been no update on whether Ford and her brother, Steve Ford, are done with HGTV. Leanne’s representative did not respond to inquiries about her current status with HGTV and a HGTV rep declined to provide an update.

Q: Regarding the actors’ and writers’ strikes, does that impact Canadian series like “Murdoch Mysteries?” Will it continue to air on the cable channel Ovation?

— Jeff, Tarentum

Rob: There are American-made shows that film in Canada. Those shows are usually produced by an American company that is now struck, so those programs are not in production.

But Canadian-produced shows from a Canadian, non-struck company will continue in production. I confirmed with Ovation that “Murdoch Mysteries” is not impacted by the current strikes.

Q: What ever happened to Robin Meade from HLN? I really enjoyed that newscast.

— Mike, Beaver

Rob: Meade has not announced her next move since cleaning out her office at CNN in January.

Q: Who are the two singing actors in the current T-Mobile ad? Have either of them ever appeared on Broadway, and, if so, in what roles?

— Dave, Whitehall

Rob: I think Dave is referring to the TV commercials that feature Zach Braff and Donald Faison, who starred on the NBC comedy “Scrubs,” alongside John Travolta. The spots first aired during the Super Bowl this year.

According to the Internet Broadway Database, Braff had a brief run in the 2014 staging of the musical “Bullets Over Broadway.”

Faison does not appear to have any Broadway credits.