TV Talk: WTAE’s Sheldon Ingram exits TV news to pursue acting
Back in 2022 when Channel 4 reporter Sheldon Ingram guest starred as the deputy mayor of New York on NBC’s “Law Order: SVU,” we should have guessed this day would come. Ingram will put down his microphone and reporter’s notebook and retire from WTAE after his May 29 broadcast to...
TV Talk: FCC targets ABC after another Kimmel joke
Here we go again. Seven months after Disney-owned ABC pulled “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” off the air because of a joke about right-wing reactions to the murder of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, the Federal Communications Commission is now targeting ABC on the heels of another Kimmel joke. The FCC directed Disney...
Trumps call for ABC to fire Jimmy Kimmel — again — after morbid joke about first lady
President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump both called for ABC to fire Jimmy Kimmel on Monday after a joke last week in which the late-night comic described the first lady as having “the glow of an expectant widow.” The remark about the president’s wife was part of a...
It’s National Superhero Day — let’s not take them seriously at allVideo
It’s National Superhero Day, just in case you’re not yet tired of the constant avalanche of comic-book properties cascading down the mountain of American entertainment. Even as many superhero movies — looking at you, Marvel — have begun to get a bit formulaic in their approach, it’s important to remember...
TV Talk: Summer streaming/cable TV options aboundVideo
Trib Total Media TV writer Rob Owen offers a viewing tip for the coming week. It’s not officially summer in TV land until the end of the 2025-26 TV season arrives later this month, but that won’t stop streaming services and cable outlets from beginning their rollout of new scripted...
HBO drops teaser trailer for 3rd season of ‘House of the Dragon’Video
The trailer for the upcoming third season of HBO’s “House of the Dragon” ends with a sound very similar to one in trailers for the most recent round of Hollywood “Godzilla” movies. This is only...
TV Q&A: When will KDKA-TV’s Jessica Guay return?
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: Whatever happened to Jessica Guay? She went out on maternity leave some time ago and has not returned. Any news? — Dominic, via email Rob:...
Summer movie preview: Nolan, Spider-Man and ‘Toy Story’ light up the cinemas
The movies always feel bigger in the summer. The budgets. The ambition. The names. The stakes. This summer, Hollywood has many of the regulars on the lineup: “Spider-Man,” “Minions,” “Star Wars” and “Toy Story.” But the most eagerly anticipated is not a superhero, toy, or franchise: It’s a 3,000-year-old epic...
TV Talk: NFL Draft TV coverage focuses on players over host city
While Pittsburgh may have gotten itself wound up in knots about reddin’ up for the NFL Draft, TV coverage was less about Pittsburgh and more about the players vying to land their initial NFL gigs. That’s to be expected. To the NFL and most of the NFL Draft audience, the...
‘Michael’ moonwalks to $97 million opening, shattering record for music biopics
NEW YORK — “Michael,” the big-budget Michael Jackson spectacle, shrugged off bad reviews and a troubled production to launch with $97 million in U.S. and Canada theaters, according to studio estimates Sunday, shattering a record debut for music biopics. A highly authorized portrayal of the King of Pop, co-produced by...
Philadelphia museum brings Rocky statue inside after decades of tension
PHILADELPHIA — Every day, visitors from around the world make their way to the steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art — not necessarily for the galleries inside, but for a statue of a fictional boxer from South Philadelphia. The bronze figure of Rocky Balboa — arms raised in victory,...
Warner Bros. shareholders approve Paramount’s $81 billion takeover of the Hollywood giant
NEW YORK — An $81 billion Warner-Paramount mega merger has received shareholders’ stamp of approval, propelling a deal that could vastly reshape Hollywood and the wider media landscape closer to the finish line. Per a preliminary vote count on Thursday, the overwhelming majority of Warner Bros. Discovery shareholders voted in...
TV Talk: Locations trail debuts, locally filmed thriller streams; ‘The Pitt’ ratesVideo
Just in time for all the visitors coming to town for this week’s NFL Draft, the Pittsburgh Film Office launched a film locations way finder on an app and a Pittsburgh filmmaking timeline display in Downtown Pittsburgh. The Pittsburgh Film Trails App offers a digital guide to where various movies...
TV Q&A: What’s the deal with the vSeeBox?Video
Q: Several people I know have purchased a vSeeBox. While the box seems to be a good purchase, I am curious to learn how the box can air programs that are from pay channels without paying or stations outside of the Pittsburgh viewing market. The people made a one-time payment...
TV Talk: Duchovny revisits government secrets – real ones, this time – in ‘Secrets Declassified’Video
Trib Total Media TV writer Rob Owen offers a viewing tip for the coming week. Now airing its second season on the History Channel, “Secrets Declassified with David Duchovny” (10 p.m. Tuesdays through May 12; then 9 p.m. Thursdays starting June 11) almost wasn’t a show Duchovny wanted to be...
TV Talk: Where and how to watch Draft coverage this week
The long-awaited NFL Draft arrives in Pittsburgh this week with ESPN, ABC and NFL Network planning robust coverage from Wednesday through Saturday. In addition, Disney+ and Hulu will stream coverage from the linear networks. With 14 hours of coverage dedicated to all 257 picks, established series covering the draft include...
Christina Applegate reportedly hospitalized since late March
Christina Applegate has reportedly been hospitalized in Los Angeles since late March, amid the Emmy winner’s enduring battle with multiple sclerosis. The 54-year-old “Dead to Me” star’s representative would not confirm the information given to TMZ by sources with direct knowledge, who claimed her lengthy hospitalization but could not detail...
‘The Pitt’ finale brings relief — and karaoke — but not resolution
Editor’s note: This article contains spoilers for the second season finale of “The Pitt.” It never seemed likely the second season of “The Pitt” would end with the day shift knocking back beers together in Allegheny Commons Park. But as the credits to “9:00 P.M.” roll (and even after them,...
TV Talk: ‘The Pitt’ to film in Pittsburgh again in November
After Thursday’s season finale, fans of “The Pitt” aren’t wrong to wonder: Did Dr. Robby (Noah Wyle) make any emotional progress in Season 2? “The Pitt” showrunner R. Scott Gemmill doesn’t think he did. “That’s part of his problem: He’s very good at giving advice, not very good at taking...
TV Talk: Netflix’s ‘Beef’ back with more intimate conflict
Trib Total Media TV writer Rob Owen offers a viewing tip for the coming week. In its first season, Netflix’s “Beef” dealt with the everyday conflict of one driver who cuts off another, although in the series, the antagonism that follows escalates precipitously. Season two, now streaming on Netflix, explores...
Lights, camera, takeoff: Former Pittsburgh airport terminal rebranded as film set
The Pittsburgh Film Office is rebranding Pittsburgh International Airport’s former landside terminal as a filming location for television and movies. A website promoting the “Terminal P” initiative on Wednesday included video statements from local officials supporting the move, including Gov. Josh Shapiro. “With 440,000 square feet of space, three stories...
Movie review: ‘Mother Mary’ uses pop stardom to explore creative process
In 2024, Brady Corbet’s Oscar-winning “The Brutalist” used architecture as a metaphor for Hollywood filmmaking — the grinding hustle required to craft something epic in scope, infused with a personal story, but ultimately dependent on patrons who might exploit artists rather than support them. One could argue that “Mother Mary”...
TV Q&A: Why are weather readings for Pittsburgh taken at the airport?
Q:Why are all weather measurements reported as the official Pittsburgh temperature on local newscasts taken at Pittsburgh International Airport rather than at the confluence of Pittsburgh’s three rivers? — Joseph, via email Rob: Just about anywhere you go in the United States, you’ll find the city’s official temperature highs and...
TV Talk: Stations WPGH/WPNT get new GMVideo
Pittsburgh’s Sinclair Broadcast Group-owned duopoly, WPGH and WPNT, has a new general manager, Tim McCoy, currently GM at Sinclair’s WTOV in Steubenville, Ohio. He’ll now oversee both Pittsburgh stations and Sinclair’s Steubenville outlet. Longtime WPGH/WPNT general manager Rich Cook is out, as his position was eliminated in favor of the...
Harvey Weinstein is going on trial again in a New York rape case
NEW YORK — After years of #MeToo infamy, legal peril and prison, Harvey Weinstein is again going on trial on a rape charge in New York City. Jury selection is set to start as early as Tuesday in the onetime movie mogul’s latest retrial, where jurors will weigh — for...
