TV Talk: Pittsburghers on Hallmark cruise show; locally shot indie on Prime

For its annual “Christmas in July” programming event, Hallmark Channel created “Christmas at Sea,” a docuseries about last November’s four-night Hallmark Christmas Cruise that features two Pittsburgh grandmothers and their Hallmark Christmas movie-loving 16-year-old grandson.

Airing its second episode tonight at 8 (streaming tomorrow on Hallmark+), this week’s installment spends the most time of the season’s four episodes with Nate Malock, a rising junior at Baldwin High School, his maternal “nunny,” Cathy Zora of Whitehall, and his paternal “grammy,” Carol Malock of North Baldwin.

The trio has watched Hallmark Christmas movies together since Nate was 11.

“I remember when the kids were little, they’d come over to the house and the first thing I’d put on was Hallmark to keep them quiet and settled,” Malock said. “With everything going on in the world n’at, it gives you a warm and happy feeling.”

A family friend told Nate about the Hallmark Christmas Cruise and he quickly got on a waitlist, eventually snagging a cabin when a second cruise was offered.

“I called Carol and we talked,” Zora said. “It beat buying a car, which is what [Nate] was asking both of us for for his 16th birthday. … We got away a little bit easier with the cruise and it was much better.”

“I agree,” Nate said. “This has been the best vacation of my life.”

Nate said he was active on a Facebook group devoted to the cruise, where the cruise director posted a Hallmark questionnaire. Nate filled it out, which is what led producers to reach out and interview the trio by Zoom before the cruise.

“The fact he was going on a cruise with his grandmothers — not many 16-year-olds do that,” Zora said. “They found it to be charming, I guess I would say.”

Nate, who is president of his junior class and the school’s student council, said being filmed was intimidating at first. For the grandmothers, who have been close friends for years, the cameras quickly melted away.

In one scene in tonight’s episode, Nate is trying to find his grandmothers. They got lost in the hotel they stayed at pre-cruise, so Nate put Apple AirTags in their purses to keep track of them on the ship. But he found that the technology proved little help at sea (“Everything says, ‘Atlantic Ocean,’ so we narrowed it down to at least one ocean,” he quipped). Turns out the grandmas were relaxing on lounge chairs on deck.

“All we do is laugh,” Malock said. “We were sitting here cracking up. We did get used to [the cameras].”

The trio was excited to meet Hallmark Channel stars on the cruise — Jonathan Bennett, Andrew Walker and more. They have a memorable exchange with Erin Cahill on camera in tonight’s episode.

The threesome won’t go on this year’s Hallmark Christmas Cruise — it’s sold out anyway — because they said last year’s adventure was so special, there would be no way to recreate it.

“Cathy and I had the best time of our lives with our grandson,” Malock said. “For Christmas, he made a book of our trip, an album of the whole cruise from the beginning to the end, and he wrote us an individual card. I cried so much. For him to do that for both of us … that’s just who he is. We’re so proud of him.”

‘Plight’

One of the more professionally shot indie films with local ties of late, the 81-minute thriller “Plight” arrived on streaming June 13 via Amazon’s Prime Video ($3 to rent, $12 to buy).

Writer/director MJ Alhabeeb Jr. set the movie in Braddock and filmed establishing shots, including with drones, locally for three days in early 2021. Most of the film, including all the scenes with actors, was shot over 16 days in St. Francis, Kansas, in 2020.

“Plight,” which won best feature at the 2024 Pittsburgh Independent Film Festival, follows a grieving father as he bonds with a Ukrainian immigrant after a hit-and-run unravels their lives. It screened over the weekend at Parkway Theater in McKees Rocks.

“Telling this story in a place like Beverly Hills or La Jolla, it doesn’t have the same effect as the hardened living and reality of much of the mindset in much of the northeast,” said Alhabeeb, who grew up in Western Massachusetts and had previously visited Western Pennsylvania before filming “Plight.” “There’s a background of economic downturn and mills and steel industry being shipped overseas. The big thing with Pittsburgh to me is it was always a town or city that is full of hardworking individuals, people who go to work to provide for their families.”

Local hosts ‘Binge Queens’

Pittsburgh drag queen Lydia B Kollins (Nicholas Fry), who’s appeared in two editions of “RuPaul’s Drag Race” already this year, will star alongside Kori King (Rashawn King, Fry’s boyfriend) in streaming service WOW Presents Plus series “Binge Queens” (July 14), where the pair will react to season one episodes of BBC cult hit “Absolutely Fabulous.”

The pair will also star in an unnamed second WOW Presents Plus series to debut later this year.

‘The Pitt’ updates

Pittsburgh-set HBO Max ER drama “The Pitt” received a Humanitas Awards nomination last week for drama teleplay. The short-lived Pittsburgh-set Amazon Prime Video comedy “The Pradeeps of Pittsburgh” received a nomination for comedy teleplay.

Tracy Ifeachor’s Dr. Collins, a fourth-year resident in season one of “The Pitt,” won’t scrub in for season two, which is set during the July 4 holiday.

‘Watson’ back this fall

When CBS announced its 2025-26 prime-time schedule in May, the network held “Watson” for midseason. But Friday, CBS announced its fall premiere dates and “Watson” is now on the fall schedule, airing at 10 p.m. Monday beginning Oct. 13. “FBI” spinoff “CIA,” previously announced for fall, will be held for midseason.

Kept/canceled/ordered

Apple TV+ renewed “Murderbot” for a second season.

Netflix reality competition “Squid Game: The Challenge” will be back for a second season Nov. 4 and has been renewed for a third season.

Netflix’s “Virgin River” got renewed for an eighth season ahead of its seventh season, which is expected to stream later this year.

HBO Max canceled “Duster” after a single season.

Netflix’s “Queer Eye” will end with its 10th season, now filming in Washington, D.C.

ABC gave a straight-to-series order to a “Scrubs” sequel series, with original stars Zach Braff, Donald Faison and Sarah Chalke returning.