TV Q&A: Is a WTAE anchor cutting back?
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 Michelle Wright at WTAE cutting back? I noticed she does behind-the-scenes stories like “4 Your Health” and “4 Your Money” earlier in the morning...
TV Talk: Classic sitcom rhythms, more profanity in ‘Mid-Century Modern;’ ‘Watson’ renewedVideo
A mix of “The Golden Girls,” “Hot in Cleveland” and “Will & Grace,” Hulu’s 10-episode multi-cam sitcom “Mid-Century Modern,” about three gay male friends living in Palm Springs, Calif., embraces old-fashioned sitcom rhythms while adding profanity and sexual innuendos that cannot be quoted in a family newspaper. Whether there’s an...
TV Talk: More antiheroes in ‘MobLand,’ but is a hero renaissance on the way?
Trib Total Media TV writer Rob Owen offers a viewing tip for the coming week. Helen Mirren trades a heroic husband played by Harrison Ford in “1923” for an antihero patriarch played by Pierce Brosnan in Paramount+’s “MobLand” (March 30), director Guy Ritchie’s story of a London organized crime family...
TV Q&A: When will season 2 of ‘The Pitt’ premiere?
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’m glad “The Pitt” got renewed for another season. Will it be next year until we see new episodes? — John, via Twitter Rob: “The...
TV Talk: Streaming, TV respond to shifting political winds
At any moment, entertainment programming may reflect the culture or it may lead the culture. Sometimes it does both simultaneously to advance the industry’s ultimate goal: making money. The 1998 premiere of NBC’s “Will & Grace,” a show with two lead gay characters, broke new ground in the broadcast prime-time...
TV Talk: Seth Rogen satirizes movie biz with bite in ‘The Studio’
Trib Total Media TV writer Rob Owen offers a viewing
tip for the coming week. Shows set behind the scenes in Hollywood have a decidedly mixed track record. For every creatively successful effort (“30 Rock,” “Hacks,” “Episodes,” “Beggars Choosers”), there are a string of duds (“Studio 60 on the Sunset...
TV Talk: No movement on WQED’s potential move; Kilmer to morning anchor on WPXI
At Thursday’s WQED board meeting, WQED president Jason Jedlinski addressed the “ongoing and changing situation in D.C.” regarding threats by the Trump administration to cut funding to PBS. Jedlinski noted the continuing resolution passed earlier this month provided level funding for fiscal year 2027 (the Corporation for Public Broadcasting is...
TV Talk: Great cast isn’t served by Netflix’s ‘Residence;’ local news race remains tightVideo
On paper, Netflix’s latest Shonda Rhimes executive-produced series “The Residence” sounds like a potential hoot. It’s a comedic murder mystery set in the White House with a stellar cast that includes Uzo Aduba (“Orange Is the New Black”), Giancarlo Esposito (“Breaking Bad”), Ken Marino (“Party Down”), Randall Park (“Fresh Off...
TV Q&A: Did a WTAE anchor announce his departure?
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 thought that I read that Andrew Stockey left WTAE after 30 years on the air. When I turned on my TV today, there was...
TV Talk: KDKA-TV GM retires, CBS names replacement
KDKA-TV general manager Chris Cotugno will retire next month and Tuesday, CBS appointed Western Pennsylvania native Julie Eisenman to take Cotugno’s place at the helm of KDKA and WPKD-TV (aka KDKA+). Eisenman, a 1997 graduate of what is now PennWest Clarion, comes to Pittsburgh’s CBS-owned station April 7 from WNEP,...
TV Talk: Emmys honor ‘Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood’ alum Hedda Sharapan
The National Academy of Television Arts Sciences will honor “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood” associate producer Hedda Sharapan, inducting the Pittsburgher into the Gold Circle at the third annual Children’s & Family Emmy Awards, streaming at 5 p.m. Saturday at Watch.TheEmmys.TV and via the Emmys app (available for Roku, iPhone, Android, Apple...
TV Q&A: Who’s the Channel 11 morning co-anchor?
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 saw a morning promo for Channel 11 news and Liz Kilmer is not in it. How come? — Robyn, via email Rob: It’s unclear...
TV Talk: ‘White Lotus’ trio steals show’s 3rd season
Trib Total Media TV writer Rob Owen offers a viewing tip for the coming week. About halfway through the third season of HBO’s “The White Lotus” (9 p.m. Sunday) and the race to steal the most scenes in the show is on among Parker Posey’s Victoria Ratliff and her specific...
TV Talk: Carnegie Mellon graduate competes on ‘The Voice’
Carnegie Mellon University School of Drama grad Olivia Kuper Harris advanced to the Battle Rounds of NBC’s “The Voice” that begin airing at 8 tonight on WPXI. A 2013 CMU grad, Harris performed “Dream a Little Dream of Me” in the Feb. 23 blind audition rounds of “The Voice,” where...
TV Talk: Broadcast bounces back, ‘Doctor Odyssey’ returnsVideo
A funny thing happened on the way to the death of traditional broadcast TV in the streaming era: Broadcast rebounded while cable seems to be the patient who won’t make it. Look no further than the fall 2024 broadcast season that produced multiple success stories: ABC’s “High Potential,” CBS’s “Matlock”...
TV Q&A: Did KDKA-TV’s Alexandra Todd exit?
Q: Did Alexandra Todd leave KDKA-TV? — Sam, via email Rob: It appears she did. Todd’s last report was filed to KDKA.com in early January, and her bio is no longer on the KDKA staff page of the station’s website. She hasn’t posted to her professional social media accounts since...
TV Talk: ‘Dark Winds,’ TV’s best current crime drama, back on AMCVideo
Trib Total Media TV writer Rob Owen offers a viewing tip for the coming week. There are grittier, hipper, more popular crime dramas coursing through the TV/streaming ecosystem – “Tulsa King,” “Presumed Innocent,” “The Rookie” — but none of those shows can match the quality of AMC’s “Dark Winds,” returning...
TV Talk: Winning host Conan O’Brien presides over niche Oscars
It was tough for the 97th annual Academy Awards telecast to put its best foot forward when so many viewers saw so few of the niche movies nominated for best picture, an award that ultimately went to “Anora,” which won five Oscars total. The best Oscar telecast producers could do...
TV Talk: Pittsburgh doctors give ‘The Pitt’ a positive prognosis
For staff in the Allegheny General Hospital emergency room, Max’s Pittsburgh-set “The Pitt” isn’t just a TV show, but an education for friends and family about the work they do every day. “These aren’t things we actually talk about with our golf group or friends group or at the dinner...
TV Talk: Joseph Cannon, Pittsburgh broadcaster’s son, stars in Lifetime movie
Churchill native Joseph Cannon, son of local broadcaster and former PCNC host Ellis Cannon, gets his biggest acting break to date this weekend with a role in Lifetime’s “Abducted in the Everglades” (8 p.m. Sunday). Joseph Cannon stars in scenes with Tori Spelling (“Beverly Hills, 90210”), who plays a mom...
TV Q&A: What happened to a reporter seen on WTAE?Video
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 “Rossen Reports,” with reporter Jeff Rossen, still on WTAE news? I haven’t seen it in a few weeks and the station didn’t respond to...
TV Talk: Why so many national news anchor changes?
Although this wasn’t always true, in the modern era it’s safe to conclude anytime there is an upheaval in the general TV order, the reason almost always comes down to one thing: money. This week, Lester Holt announced his departure later this year from anchoring “NBC Nightly News,” a position...
TV Talk: ‘Born Again’ picks up Daredevil’s story, brings it to Disney+Video
Trib Total Media TV writer Rob Owen offers a viewing tip for the coming week. Before the arrival of Disney+ in 2019, Disney licensed some of its Marvel characters to Netflix for series that originally streamed 2015-18, including “Jessica Jones,” “Luke Cage,” “Iron Fist,” “Defenders,” “The Punisher” and “Daredevil,” probably...
TV Talk: Pittsburgh native Tamara Tunie leads CBS’s ‘Beyond the Gates’Video
Trib Total Media TV writer Rob Owen offers a viewing tip for the coming week. Nowadays actors cross from one medium to another all the time: Meryl Streep stars in movies, Hulu and HBO series and on Broadway; Harrison Ford returns to Paramount+ this week in the second season of...
Retired KDKA-TV personality Jon Burnett dies
Former KDKA-TV weathercaster and daytime talk show host Jon Burnett died of suspected CTE (chronic traumatic encephalopathy) following a 2022 diagnosis of the disease, according to KDKA. He was 71. Burnett shared his diagnosis with KDKA viewers in February 2024 reports by his longtime “Pittsburgh Today Live” co-host Kristine Sorensen,...
