Rob Owen stories, Page 44
TV Q&A: Which Pittsburgh TV newscasters have worked for 3 stations?
Q: Now that Susan Koeppen anchors WPXI-TV’s 4 p.m. broadcast, it completes her local news station hat trick (working for all three local news broadcasts.) Wondering if there are others, but the only other person I came up with is Alby Oxenreiter, who did stints on WTAE-TV and WPGH-TV before...
TV Talk: ‘A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving,’ other ‘Peanuts’ specials back on PBS this yearVideo
Fans of Charlie Brown and “Peanuts,” rejoice: The three most popular “Peanuts” TV specials will be available on PBS and PBS Kids as well as at their new home on Apple TV+. Last year the “Great Pumpkin” didn’t air on broadcast TV but after an uproar, Apple shared the Thanksgiving...
TV Talk: Christian Bale, director Scott Cooper return to Pittsburgh for Netflix movie that’s seeking extras
Actor Christian Bale will make his third movie in Pittsburgh (after “Dark Knight Rises” and “Out of the Furnace”) and director Scott Cooper returns for his second (after directing “Out of the Furnace” in Western Pennsylvania) with Netflix’s “The Pale Blue Eye.” Pittsburgh Film Office director Dawn Keezer confirmed production...
TV Talk: Michael Keaton talks Steelers and Hulu’s ‘Dopesick’
Trib Total Media TV writer Rob Owen offers a viewing tip for the coming week. It’s not just producers and casting directors who have been stuck in their thinking on what roles an actor can and should play. Audiences sometimes have the same blinders. Remember when Pittsburgh native Michael Keaton,...
TV Talk: George A. Romero-inspired ‘Day of the Dead’ series, animated ‘Night of the Living Dead’ movie on tap this monthVideo
This month, Syfy debuts the 10-episode first season of a “Day of the Dead” TV series (10 p.m. Oct. 15), developed by Jed Elinoff and Scott Thomas (“The Banana Splits Movie”) and inspired by the 1985 George A. Romero film. “The series differs quite a bit from the movie because...
TV Q&A: Will AT&T SportsNet ever return to DISH Network?
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: AT&T SportsNet Pittsburgh is no longer available on DISH Network. Is this a temporary situation or permanent? I rely on this channel to watch local...
TV Talk: IATSE local votes to authorize a strike; ‘Muppets Haunted Mansion’ entertains on Disney+
On Monday, IATSE, the International Association of Theatrical Stage Employees that represents behind-the-scenes workers in the entertainment industry, announced its membership overwhelmingly voted to approve a strike authorization. Per Variety, the vote passed nationally with 98.7% support and 90 percent turnout. In Pittsburgh, studio mechanics Local 489, which has 500...
TV Talk: Western Pa. native scares up comedy ‘Ghosts’ for CBSVideo
Trib Total Media TV writer Rob Owen offers a viewing tip for the coming week. The fall’s funniest new comedy, CBS’s “Ghosts,” premieres Thursday at 9 p.m. with back-to-back episodes. Based on a BBC comedy of the same title that’s available in the U.S. on HBO Max, CBS’s “Ghosts” follows...
TV Talk: WTAE-TV adds Kasey Reigner as 5th meteorologist
Kasey Reigner will join WTAE-TV this month as the ABC affiliate’s fifth meteorologist, giving the station bragging rights in a market where four weathercasters is the norm. (Currently WPXI-TV is down to three meteorologists since the May departure of Danielle Dozier, a position that has yet to be filled.) Reigner,...
TV Talk: It’s going, going, gone: DISH Network drops AT&T SportsNet Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh Pirates fans watching today’s game against the Chicago Cubs on DISH Network got a disappointing outcome even before the Pirates trailed by 7 at the top of the fourth inning: DISH Network dropped AT&T SportsNet mid-game. A statement posted to AT&T SportsNet’s website said the satellite company dropped its...
TV Talk: Homewood native Antoine Fuqua directs Netflix’s taut thriller ‘The Guilty’Video
Homewood native Antoine Fuqua reteams with his filmed-in-Pittsburgh “Southpaw” star Jake Gyllenhaal for Netflix’s “The Guilty,” a taut, claustrophobic thriller that at root is about the danger of making assumptions. Streaming Friday, the R-rated (for language) film is basically a one-man show as it covers an overnight shift at a...
TV Q&A: Where’s WPXI’s Mike Holden been? Who’s the new WTAE-TV weekend morning anchor?
Trib Total Media TV writer Rob Owen answers reader questions at TribLive.com in a column that also appears in the Sunday Tribune-Review. Q: Have you heard any updates on WPXI’s Mike Holden’s health? He hasn’t updated his Instagram in a while. — Krissy via Facebook Rob: In early September Holden,...
TV Talk: Netflix’s ‘Maid’ impresses with authentic performancesVideo
Trib Total Media TV writer Rob Owen offers a viewing tip for the coming week. Watching Netflix’s “Maid,” a fictionalized limited series inspired by author Stephanie Land’s 2019 memoir “Maid: Hard Work, Low Pay and a Mother’s Will to Survive,” it’s striking how the series can all at once be...
TV Talk: PBS Kids’ ‘Alma’s Way’ brings ‘Sesame Street’ actress back to her start in PittsburghVideo
For former “Sesame Street” actress and writer Sonia Manzano, creating a new PBS Kids show, the animated “Alma’s Way” (8:30 a.m. and 4 p.m. weekdays beginning Oct. 4, WQED-TV), brings her full circle to where her career began. While a student at Carnegie Mellon University in the late 1960s, Manzano...
TV Q&A: Why are there fewer meteorologists at WPXI-TV?
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: Is WPXI-TV under some kind of budget crunch? They have only three full-time meteorologists when the other two Pittsburgh stations have four. — Joey via...
TV Talk: Another Pittsburgh TV reporter hopscotches to a rival station
Earlier this month Nicole Ford jumped from KDKA-TV to WPXI-TV, and now Shelley Bortz is doing the reverse. Bortz, who has been freelancing at Channel 11 since 2015, will join KDKA-TV as a full-time reporter in the near future. She’s expected to start at KDKA the first week of October....
Pittsburgh Pop: Benz, Owen break down Emmys, new fall series
In this week’s episode of TribLIVE Extra’s “Pittsburgh Pop” podcast, host Tim Benz and TV Talk columnist Rob Owen discuss Pittsburgh pop culture news of the moment, including Sunday’s Emmy Awards and new fall series. How well did the Emmys play? Has the “Ted Lasso” love gone overboard or is...
TV Talk: Hill District native Carter Redwood stars in CBS’s ‘FBI: International’Video
For Carter Redwood, his first series regular role starring in CBS’s “FBI: International” checks several boxes of what he hoped for in his acting career. “As a part of my visualization for what I wanted in my career, and what I wanted for myself, I really told myself that I...
TV Talk: Emmy telecast welcomes comedy newcomers ‘Ted Lasso,’ ‘Hacks;’ shows off Billy Porter’s latest fashion
Sunday night on CBS, the 73rd Emmy Awards began with an opening that was equal parts cringe and joyful fun as host Cedric the Entertainer was joined in rapping about his love of TV by Lil Dickey, Rita Wilson and LL Cool J and the celebrities in attendance who joined...
TV Talk: Previewing fall streaming, cable and PBS showsVideo
There’s no dearth of content in the months ahead on streaming, cable and PBS. Here are a few highlights of what’s coming soon: Streaming Returning series include “Dear White People” (premiering Wednesday, Netflix), “Doom Patrol” (Thursday, HBO Max), “Creepshow” (Thursday, Shudder and AMC+), the fourth and final season of Billy...
TV Talk: When your prime-time broadcast favorites return
Unlike a year ago when fall premiere dates for returning series were uncertain due to the pandemic, this year most shows are back right on time. One big exception: NBC holds back the final season of partially Pittsburgh-set “This is Us” until early 2022. Here’s when you can expect your...
TV Talk: Broadcasters introduce reboots, spin-offs and a few original seriesVideo
Viewers who savor the comfort of the familiar will be satisfied with the recognizable titles broadcast networks are trotting out as “new” series this fall. Anyone seeking a surplus of originality will be disappointed. That said, not all reboots are created equal and not all original shows are winners. The...
TV Talk: Former ‘Dance Moms’ star, Pittsburgh native stars in Lifetime movie; ‘The Morning Show’ returnsVideo
Viewers who couldn’t get enough of the train wreck that was Lifetime’s Pittsburgh-based “Dance Moms” likely remember Nia Sioux Frazier and her mom, Holly Hatcher-Frazier, as the most poised, sensible and seemingly stable of that show’s regulars. Nia, who now goes by Nia Sioux, was just 9 when “Dance Moms”...
TV Q&A: Could Jackie Cain return to a Pittsburgh TV station?
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: Former WTAE-TV news anchor Jackie Cain has left her Minneapolis station. Does she end up back in Pittsburgh? And at what station? — Jodi via...
TV Talk: Greenfield woman competes on ‘Jeopardy!’ during Mike Richards’ brief tenure as host
Gabbie Kim, a mother of two and birth doula from Greenfield, will compete on Monday’s 38th season premiere of “Jeopardy!” (7 p.m., WPXI-TV). And what a week to appear on the show. Not only is she up against Matt Amodio — who’s on an 18-episode winning streak that netted him...
