TV Talk: ‘The ‘Burbs’ reimagined as ‘Desperate Housewives’ redux
Trib Total Media TV writer Rob Owen offers a viewing tip for the coming week. Anyone watching the Super Bowl on NBC this weekend is bound to see ads for Peacock’s new streaming series “The ‘Burbs,” inspired by the 1989 Tom Hanks film. NBCUniversal, parent company of NBC and streamer...
TV Q&A: How can Verizon customers watch Super Bowl LX with WPXI MIA?
Q: It has been six weeks since WPXI went off the air for Verizon FiOS TV customers in Western Pa. I am beginning to think it will never come back. What about people who just moved into the area? They wont want to get Verizon because of no NBC. Why...
TV Q&A: Will ‘The Pitt’ get released on DVD?
Trib Total Media TV writer Rob Owen answers reader questions every Wednesday at TribLive.com in a column that also appears in the Saturday Tribune-Review. Q: Will “The Pitt” season one be available on DVD anytime soon?? -Jack via email Rob: Warner Bros. Home Entertainment, the entity that would release “The...
TV Talk: ‘Downward Dog’ creator tries AI animals; 4 Western Pa. shelter dogs in Puppy Bowl
From the talking Taco Bell chihuahua in ‘90s commercials to ABC’s winning 2017 talking dog comedy series “Downward Dog,” Michael Killen of Pittsburgh’s Animal Studios has used CGI to create talking animals for TV for decades. In December he decided to try something new and potentially heretical to people in...
TV Talk: Super Bowl LX ads highlighted by celebs, animals, nostalgia; ‘Kingstown’ seeks extras
In this post-monoculture era when few people watch the same TV shows, the Super Bowl remains one of the few unifying TV broadcasts each year, drawing millions for the game but also some viewers who are more interested in the TV commercials. Northwestern University’s Medill Spiegel Research Center found in...
TV Talk: ABC, Disney+ revive classic ‘The Muppet Show’
Trib Total Media TV writer Rob Owen offers a viewing tip for the coming week. Ever since The Walt Disney Co. bought The Muppets in 2004, Disney’s efforts to keep the characters alive for new generations have met with limited success. From a TV movie (2005’s “The Muppets’ Wizard of...
TV Q&A: Has CBS’s ‘Tracker’ gotten darker this season?
Q: Does “Tracker” on Sunday evenings on CBS seem to have “darker” stories this year? Colter Shaw is having help from another official or his brother. And Reenie had a male escort in the Nov. 30 episode. That seems out of character. And Reenie lied to Colter that she was...
TV Talk: Lady Gaga channels Mister Rogers in Super Bowl adVideo
Pop music star Lady Gaga covers the “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood” theme song, “Won’t You Be My Neighbor?”, in a commercial for Redfin / Rocket that will air during Super Bowl LX on Feb. 8. It will be first Super Bowl ad for Redfin, an online real estate brokerage recently purchased...
TV Talk: Marvel’s ‘Wonder Man’ trades action for character drama on Disney+Video
After the usual Marvel logo at the start of Disney+’s “Wonder Man,” there’s also a logo for Marvel Spotlight, which is basically the indie version of Marvel — stories that are more grounded and character-driven and that don’t require knowledge of Marvel Cinematic Universe story arcs. The banner first showed...
TV Talk: Patrick Dempsey murders his way through Alzheimer’s in ‘Memory of a Killer’Video
Trib Total Media TV writer Rob Owen offers a viewing tip for the coming week. Back in the early 2000s, antiheroes on TV were all the rage thanks to “The Shield,” “The Sopranos,” “Damages” and a slew of other series that centered on characters who would have been each show’s...
TV Talk: Supermodels combust in bloody, provocative ‘The Beauty’
There was a time when TV writer/producer Ryan Murphy’s name attached to a series meant it would be edgy but also thought-provoking, out-there but still considered quality TV. Alas, those days are mostly gone. Murphy’s shows now tend to be schlockfests — see Hulu’s “All’s Fair” — that viewers may...
TV Q&A: Are TV journalists paid by appearance?
Q: Are TV journalists paid a flat salary or is it based on each appearance? When Tony Dokoupil took on duties of a third hour of “CBS Mornings,” was he paid more, or does the basic contract cover anything the network asks them to do? What about now that he’s...
TV Talk: ‘CBS Evening News’ to broadcast from Pittsburgh
This evening, Pittsburgh will be the backdrop for what’s become perhaps the most controversial network newscast in America, as CBS brings its retooled “Evening News” to KDKA-TV. The broadcast, airing at 7 p.m., is part of a market-by-market tour for newly installed anchor Tony Dokoupil and editor-in-chief Bari Weiss, a...
TV Talk: ‘Game of Thrones’ spinoff starts comic, grows darkVideo
Trib Total Media TV writer Rob Owen offers a viewing tip for the coming week. “A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms” wants to signal to viewers that it won’t be the same-old, same-old “Game of Thrones” spinoff. Viewers meet lead character Ser Duncan “Dunk” the Tall (Peter Claffey) as he’s...
TV Talk: CMU grad Holly Hunter leads ‘Starfleet Academy’Video
Even back to the 1980s, there’s been chatter about a “Star Trek” movie or series set at Starfleet Academy, the training center for the crews of the starships Enterprise, Voyager and Discovery. Many “Trek” fans hated the idea of a Starfleet Academy-set story, fearing it would be more “90210” and...
TV Q&A: When will the WPXI vs. Verizon dispute end?
Q: Is there any known timeframe for the WPXI vs. Verizon Fios dispute to be resolved? Lack of “Saturday Night Live,” “Sunday Night Football” and 11 p.m. news, to name a few, is beyond frustrating. I pay for a cable package that includes WPXI and I feel like I am...
TV Talk: ‘The Pitt,’ Noah Wyle make it a hat trick with Golden Globes wins
“The Pitt” completed a hat trick, winning the Golden Globes Award for best drama series following its Emmy and Critics Choice wins in the same category. Star Noah Wyle also notched his third awards season win, taking home the Globes trophy for best lead TV drama actor. Before Wyle’s win...
TV Talk: ‘The Pitt’ stars preview their characters in season 2Video
Trib Total Media TV writer Rob Owen offers a viewing tip for the coming week. As season two of “The Pitt” begins – new episodes stream at 9 p.m. Thursday on HBO Max Jan. 8 through April 16. It’s been 10 months since the events of season one. It’s July...
TV Talk: Why an NFL playoff game on Monday?Video
A Monday night Steelers playoff game might seem like a novel concept, but it’s not new to the NFL. In 2021, ESPN signed a five-year agreement to broadcast Monday night games following the first weekend of the NFL playoffs. That’s how the Steelers wound up being scheduled to play the...
TV Talk: Renewed for season 3, ‘The Pitt’ returns for excellent 2nd season; Shaler native on ‘Traitors’
Watching season two of “The Pitt,” which HBO Max renewed for a third season late Wednesday, it’s so clear that this is a series made by TV veterans who understand that to keep a show going it needs to be both the same and different. “ER” veterans John Wells and...
TV Q&A: Why such a crowded desk during morning newscasts?
Trib Total Media TV writer Rob Owen answers reader questions every Wednesday at TribLive.com in a column that also appears in the Saturday Tribune-Review. Q: Can you explain why WTAE has three anchors during weekday broadcasts and can get away with one (like all other local channels) on weekends? Seems...
TV Talk: ‘Mayor of Kingstown’ to end with 5th season; new noon anchor
Paramount+’s “Mayor of Kingstown” will return to film its eight-episode fifth season in Pittsburgh this year, but it will also be the show’s final season. Paramount+ announced the renewal/ending on Monday, with plans for stars Jeremy Renner and Edie Falco to return. (Falco’s warden character survived the show’s fourth season,...
‘The Pitt’ team preps season 2, local references aboundVideo
“The Pitt” only films scenes in Pittsburgh a few days each season, but in season two, the Emmy-winning HBO Max ER drama continues to represent the region in large and small ways, from name-checking neighborhoods to Nurse Dana’s yinzer accent. “It’s very focused, what we use Pittsburgh for, because we...
TV Talk: Wiz Khalifa traces his ancestry on ‘Finding Your Roots’Video
Trib Total Media TV writer Rob Owen offers a viewing tip for the coming week. For the 12th season of PBS’s “Finding Your Roots” (8 p.m. Tuesday, WQED-TV), Pittsburgh-raised music star Wiz Khalifa is among the celebrities who learn about their ancestry. The series returns this week with an examination...
TV Talk: Annie Potts stars in Fox’s remake of British series ‘Doc Martin’Video
When pitching her plan to remake British import and American public TV staple “Doc Martin,” showrunner Liz Tuccillo (“Alaska Daily”) opted for a straightforward approach. “Basically, I didn’t reinvent the wheel,” Tuccillo said in a Zoom interview last month for Fox’s “Best Medicine” (8 p.m. Jan. 4, then re-airs in...
