TV Talk: Joe Arena to depart WPXI-TV; train to be a grip in local TV and film production

After almost a decade as an anchor/reporter at Channel 11, Joe Arena is leaving WPXI after his June 26 newscast for a job at News 12 Long Island, a 24-hour local cable news channel, where he’ll be a lead weekday afternoon/evening news anchor.

Arena, a New York City native, called his decision to leave the Pittsburgh market “bittersweet,” but he’s heartened to move to a place where his children, ages 7 and 9, will be able to see his extended family with more regularity.

“Staying in Pittsburgh would have been great, but it’s always been a dream of mine to report the news in my hometown,” Arena said. “So anytime I noticed an opportunity that might have come up, it was always something I looked at. But when you plant roots in a town like Pittsburgh and you’re here for 10 years, you don’t really think you’re gonna be going anywhere.”

Arena was hired at Channel 11 as a weekday morning anchor but got shifted to weekend morning anchor in 2019. Arena said the shift to anchoring and reporting offered “a nice balance,” but he was hoping that a larger role would come about.

“Things happen in this business and there are things you can’t control,” Arena said. “That’s the business.”

In addition to weekends, Arena co-anchored Channel 11’s 4 p.m. weekday newscast with Susan Koeppen during November and May sweeps this past year.

“Nothing just ever became permanent,” he said, “so then it became a decision on what’s best for me and my family.”

Arena praised his Channel 11 co-workers, saying, “All the people I’ve worked with, they’ve been such a shoulder for me to lean on the last handful of years, and they’re great people and they deserve to know how great they are every day.”

Arena arrived in Pittsburgh in October 2012 after four years as an anchor at WIVB-TV in Buffalo, N.Y., a market not entirely dissimilar to Pittsburgh.

“I actually compare the two a lot to people I’m talking to,” Arena said. “A town like Buffalo and a town like Pittsburgh, they’re wonderful places to be a reporter or anchorperson in because the people of those cities really, really watch their local news. They’re real people, blue-collar people and they hold your feet to the fire and you better know what you’re talking about. That’s a refreshing thing to be a part of.

“When I interviewed with the general manager at Channel 12 [on Long Island], the first thing he said to me was, ‘What’s it like to be working in the most competitive news market in the country for the past 10 years?’ referring to Pittsburgh.”

Arena said one of the things he likes about his new station is that even though it’s in a much larger media market than Pittsburgh (No. 1 vs. No. 26), it plays more local.

“I grew up watching them and they are hyper-local,” Arena said. “Everybody on Long Island knows Channel 12 and everybody watches Channel 12 for their news. It’s a heavily relied-on station.”

Arena grew up in midtown Manhattan, where his mother was in advertising (Arena said she came up with Excedrin’s “I have a headache this big” ad) and his father was a Marlboro Man model-turned-construction-business owner. His brother recently retired from advertising (Arena said he did the Betty White Snickers commercial).

“I’m the least-talented one of my whole family,” Arena joked.

In recent years, both Arena’s mom and brother have relocated to Long Island near where Arena will soon make his home.

“Having this opportunity for my kids to see their cousins and for me to be back in New York and really close to family after what’s been a 23-year journey for me around this country, that’s the silver lining about leaving Pittsburgh,” Arena said. “As much as we are heartbroken to do it, it helps that we’re not going somewhere we don’t know anybody.”

WPXI news director Scott Trabandt did not respond to questions about who will fill in for Arena in the short-term or what the longer-term plans are for the weekend morning anchor position but Trabandt offered a statement: “We wish Joe continued success in his career and thank him for all the good work and great moments throughout his time at WPXI.”

Grip training

IATSE Local 489 is recruiting Western Pennsylvanians through the end of June to its Studio Mechanics Grip Training program in partnership with the Pittsburgh Film Office and Brooklyn, N.Y.,-based workforce development organization Reel Works.

The program is designed to prepare early-career professionals for union careers in the grip department of film and TV productions. Grips work with the camera department to move and secure the camera for filming, help shape the light used for filming and assist carpenters and the art department. Taught by union members, participants, who will be paid a stipend for the program, will qualify for placement on the permit list for Pennsylvania union productions upon graduation.

Details at https://www.mediamkrs.org/studio-mechanics-pittsburgh.

TCA Award nominations

The Television Critics Association (full disclosure: I’m a member and past president) announced its 2022 TCA Award nominations, including a nod for Pittsburgh native Michael Keaton for his role in Hulu’s “Dopesick” and for Fred Rogers’ Productions’ “Odd Squad.”

Among programs, ABC’s “Abbott Elementary” leads with five nominations. “Better Call Saul” (AMC), “Severance” (Apple TV+) and “Yellowjackets” (Showtime) have four nominations each.

Among platforms, Netflix received 13 nominations, HBO had 12, Apple TV+ had 10 and HBO Max had nine. The awards will be handed out in a ceremony Aug. 6 at the Langham Huntington Hotel in Pasadena, Calif.

Here’s the full list of nominations:

INDIVIDUAL ACHIEVEMENT IN DRAMA

Lee Jung-jae, “Squid Game” – Netflix

Michael Keaton, “Dopesick” – Hulu

Melanie Lynskey, “Yellowjackets” – Showtime

Mandy Moore, “This Is Us” – NBC

Bob Odenkirk, “Better Call Saul” – AMC

Margaret Qualley, “Maid” – Netflix

Adam Scott, “Severance” – Apple TV+

Rhea Seehorn, “Better Call Saul” – AMC

Amanda Seyfried, “The Dropout” – Hulu

Jeremy Strong, “Succession” – HBO

INDIVIDUAL ACHIEVEMENT IN COMEDY

Pamela Adlon, “Better Things” – FX

Quinta Brunson, “Abbott Elementary” – ABC

Bridget Everett, “Somebody Somewhere” – HBO

Bill Hader, “Barry” – HBO

Janelle James, “Abbott Elementary” – ABC

Steve Martin, “Only Murders in the Building” – Hulu

Jean Smart, “Hacks” – HBO Max (2021 Winner in Category)

Jason Sudeikis – “Ted Lasso” – Apple TV+

OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN NEWS AND INFORMATION

“The Beatles: Get Back” – Disney+

“Benjamin Franklin” – PBS

“Frontline” – PBS (Eight-time Winner in Category)

“George Carlins American Dream” – HBO

“How To with John Wilson” – HBO

“Prehistoric Planet” – Apple TV+

“60 Minutes” – CBS (2012 Winner in Category)

“The Tinder Swindler” – Netflix

“We Need To Talk About Cosby” – Showtime

OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN REALITY

“The Amazing Race” – CBS (2011 Winner in Category)

“Cheer” – Netflix (2020 Winner in Category)

“Finding Magic Mike” – HBO Max

“Legendary” – HBO Max

“Real Housewives of Salt Lake City” – Bravo

“Real World Homecoming: New Orleans” – Paramount+

“Take Out with Lisa Ling” – HBO Max

“Top Chef: Houston” – Bravo

OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN YOUTH PROGRAMMING

“Ada Twist, Scientist” – Netflix

“The Baby-Sitters Club” – Netflix (2021 Winner in Category)

“El Deafo” – Apple TV+

“Mira, Royal Detective” – Disney Junior

“Octonauts: Above Beyond” – Netflix

“Odd Squad” – PBS Kids

“Ridley Jones” – Netflix

“Sesame Street” – HBO Max

OUTSTANDING NEW PROGRAM

“Abbott Elementary” – ABC

“Ghosts” – CBS

“Only Murders in the Building” – Hulu

“Pachinko” – Apple TV+

“Reservation Dogs” – FX

“Severance” – Apple TV+

“The White Lotus” – HBO

“Yellowjackets” – Showtime

OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN MOVIES, MINISERIES OR SPECIALS

“Dopesick” – Hulu

“The Dropout” – Hulu

“The Girl From Plainville” – Hulu

“Maid” – Netflix

“Midnight Mass” – Netflix

“The Staircase” – HBO Max

“Station Eleven” – HBO Max

“Under the Banner of Heaven” – FX

OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN DRAMA

“Better Call Saul” – AMC (2019 Winner in Category)

“The Good Fight” – Paramount+

“Pachinko” – Apple TV+

“Severance” – Apple TV+

“Squid Game” – Netflix

“Succession” – HBO (2020 Winner in Category)

“This Is Us” – NBC

“Yellowjackets” – Showtime

OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN COMEDY

“Abbott Elementary” – ABC

“Atlanta” – FX (2017 Winner in Category)

“Barry” – HBO

“Ghosts” – CBS

“Hacks” – HBO Max

“Only Murders In The Building” – Hulu

“Reservation Dogs” – FX

“Ted Lasso” – Apple TV+ (2021 Winner in Category)

OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN VARIETY, TALK OR SKETCH

“The Amber Ruffin Show” – Peacock

“A Black Lady Sketch Show” – HBO (2020 Winner in Category)

“I Think You Should Leave with Tim Robinson” – Netflix

“Last Week Tonight with John Oliver” – HBO (2021, 2019 2018 Winner in Category)

“Late Night with Seth Meyers” – NBC

“The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” – CBS

“Saturday Night Live” – NBC

“Ziwe” – Showtime

PROGRAM OF THE YEAR

“Abbott Elementary” – ABC

“Better Call Saul” – AMC

“Hacks” – HBO Max

“Severance” – Apple TV+

“Squid Game” – Netflix

“Succession” – HBO

“The White Lotus” – HBO

“Yellowjackets” – Showtime

‘Eureka!’ on Disney Junior

Fresh off season two of “Girls5eva” and an appearance on Sunday’s Tony Awards, Carnegie Mellon University grad Renee Elise Goldsberry voices a character in Disney Junior’s new series, “Eureka!” (7:30 p.m. June 22, Disney Junior, Disney+).

The show is about Eureka (voice of Ruth Righi), a young inventor in a fictional prehistoric world who creates contraptions. Goldsberry and Lil Rel Howery voice Eureka’s parents.

Hallmark news

Hallmark Channel’s “Christmas in July” programming stunt - June 24 to to June 30 on Hallmark Movies Mysteries and July 1-31 on Hallmark Channel, will include three new movies the evenings of July 9, 16 and 23.

Hallmark Channel ordered a new scripted series, “Ride,” for 2023. It’s a multigenerational family drama about ranchers.

Kept/canceled/spun off

Apple TV+ renewed the delightful musical comedy “Schmigadoon” for a second season that will be set in the ‘60s and ‘70s musical in Schmicago. Most of the season one cast returns along with writer Cinco Paul.

Apple TV+ will also bring back “Swagger” for a second season.

Unsurprisingly, Amazon Prime Video renewed “The Boys” for season four a week after the premiere of season three.

Netflix renewed “The Lincoln Lawyer” for a second season.

HBO Max renewed “Hacks” and “Starstruck” for third seasons and canceled “Made for Love” after two seasons.

Netflix ordered “Squid Game: The Challenge,” a reality competition (presumably no one will be actually killed as in “Squid Game”) where 456 players compete for a $4.56 million reward. Recruitment is open at SquidGameCasting.com.

Disney Channel’s live-action “Zombies” movies will spawn “Zombies: The Re-Animated Series,” an animated spin-off.

Channel surfing

2019’s “Tom Savini: Smoke and Mirrors,” which was on Shudder and became available on-demand digitally last year, will be released on Blu-ray Oct. 11. … Former Pittsburgher Kristieanne Reed, a graduate of Bishop Canevin High School and Carnegie Mellon University, has been promoted to CEO of Bruckheimer Television. … Season five of “The Handmaid’s Tale” premieres Sept. 14 on Hulu. … Mehcad Brooks will play a detective of NBC’s “Law Order” this fall following the departure of Anthony Anderson. … “Downton Abbey: A New Era” debuts on streaming service Peacock June 24 and will be released on DVD July 5. … Apple TV+ will become the exclusive home for Major League Soccer globally beginning in 2023. … Pittsburgh native Jeff Goldblum will be among the guests hosts who fill in during Jimmy Kimmel’s summer vacation from ABC’s “Jimmy Kimmel Live!”