Movies/TV category, Page 56
Tentative deal reached to end the Hollywood writers strike. No deal yet for actors
LOS ANGELES — Union leaders and Hollywood studios reached a tentative agreement Sunday to end a historic screenwriters strike after nearly five months, though no deal is yet in the works for striking actors. The Writers Guild of America announced the deal in a statement. The three-year contract agreement —...
‘Expend4bles’ opens with epic flop while ‘Nun 2’ claims top spot again at the box office
LOS ANGELES — Sylvester Stallone and Jason Statham weren’t enough to save ” Expend4bles ” from a debut box office flop. The fourth installment suffered the action-packed franchise’s worst opening weekend while ” The Nun 2 ” took home the top spot for a third straight week, Comscore reported on...
Usher to headline 2024 Super Bowl halftime show in Las Vegas
LOS ANGELES — Usher has a new confession: The Grammy winner will headline the Apple Music Super Bowl Halftime Show in Las Vegas. The NFL, Apple Music and Roc Nation announced Sunday that Usher would lead the halftime festivities from Allegiant Stadium on Feb. 11. The music megastar, who has...
‘Silence of the Lambs’ actress meets fans, returns to the well at restored film location in Fayette County
The first time actress Brooke Smith’s character Catherine Martin spent time inside the ominous “Buffalo Bill” house in the 1991 thriller “The Silence of the Lambs,” she was trapped in a dingy basement well at the mercy of a deranged serial killer. This weekend, Smith ventured back into the basement...
TV Talk: ‘Krapopolis’ a smart bet on Fox’s part
Trib Total Media TV writer Rob Owen offers a viewing tip for the coming week. There are times when a TV show feels like an odd duck for its network (e.g. Fox’s 2007 Pittsburgh-set sitcom “Back to You,” which might have lasted longer than a single season if it had...
Rupert Murdoch, whose creation of Fox News made him a force in American politics, is stepping down
NEW YORK — Rupert Murdoch, the 92-year-old Australian media magnate whose creation of Fox News made him a force in American politics, is stepping down as leader of both Fox’s parent company and his News Corp. media holdings. Fox said Thursday that Murdoch would become chairman emeritus of both companies,...
Bob Ross’ 1st TV painting, done in a half hour, goes on sale for nearly $10M
MINNEAPOLIS — What would Bob Ross think? The artist who brought painting to the people, with works completed for PBS viewers in less than a half-hour with little more than a large bristle brush, putty knife and plenty of encouragement, certainly wouldn’t have envisioned one of his works going up...
TV Talk: Pittsburgh chef enters ‘Hell’s Kitchen’ with Gordon RamsayVideo
Mattias Butts of Ross had to keep quiet for almost two years about his role as a contestant on the upcoming American Dream-themed, 22nd season of Fox’s “Hell’s Kitchen” (8 p.m. Sept. 28). “When I finally got to tell somebody, it was very strange because I felt like a kid...
TV Q&A: What happened to WQED-TV’s signal?
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 Channel 13 having trouble with its signal? I’m 20 miles from Pittsburgh and sometimes I turn on Channel 13 and it’ll say “no picture”...
TV Talk: Kurt Angle documentary streams on Peacock
For documentary filmmaker Alex Perry, there wasn’t much question that he was interested in making a film about Dormont native, Olympic gold medalist, one-time TV sports anchor and pro wrestler Kurt Angle. “Kurt was my favorite pro wrestler growing up,” Perry said in a phone interview last week. “When I...
ABC will air an additional 10 ‘Monday Night Football’ games because of writers and actors strikes
LOS ANGELES — ABC will be airing more “Monday Night Football” games than originally planned. An additional 10 games originally set to appear only on ESPN will be simulcast on ABC. The additional games will be on network television because of the ongoing strikes by the Writers Guild of America...
Steve Mears, Josh Getzoff switch radio, TV roles as Penguins play-by-play broadcasters
Josh Getzoff still has the hourglass Mike Lange gifted him. When Getzoff replaced the Pittsburgh Penguins iconic play-by-play radio voice in 2021, Lange gave him an hourglass — an egg timer in all reality — that served as a reminder to read out the score and time of the game...
Michael Keaton takes in Steelers, Pirates games in Pittsburgh
A day after watching the Pittsburgh Pirates game, actor Michael Keaton took in the Steelers on “Monday Night Football.” Keaton, a Robinson native, watched some of the warmups Monday night from the sideline wearing a Pirates hat. He watched as the Steelers defeated the Browns, 26-22. On Sunday, with the...
Pittsburgh Pop podcast: Talking Royce Jones’ departure, Mister Rogers tribute song, Disney characters meet the NFLVideo
In this episode of the “Pittsburgh Pop” podcast, host Tim Benz and TV Talk columnist Rob Owen discuss Pittsburgh pop culture news of the moment, including a new Mister Rogers tribute song and video released last week by actress/singer Kate Micucci. The video features illustrations of Rogers and Mr. McFeely...
TV Talk: PBS dramas return, including ‘Annika,’ WWII-set ‘World on Fire’Video
On Pittsburgh’s WQED-TV, PBS dramas remain unimpacted by the strikes and will see the return of “Masterpiece” series “World on Fire” (9 p.m. Oct. 15) and “Annika” (10 p.m. Oct. 15) for their second seasons. Additional PBS dramas include season two of “Hotel Portofino” (8 p.m. Oct. 15) and the...
TV Talk: Prepare for an onslaught of unscripted series on broadcast channels’ fall lineupsVideo
Trib Total Media TV writer Rob Owen offers viewing tips for the coming season. With just two exceptions — NBC’s “Quantum Leap” and “Magnum P.I.” reboots, which filmed enough episodes to debut new episodes this fall — viewers’ scripted live-action favorites won’t have any new episodes this fall because of...
Hollywood strikes enter a new phase as daytime shows like Drew Barrymore’s return despite pickets
NEW YORK — “The Drew Barrymore Show” will begin airing fresh episodes on Monday but a lot of off-air controversy will be clinging to its typically bubbly host. Barrymore — a daughter of a proud acting dynasty — is making new batches of her syndicated talk show despite picketers outside...
TV Talk: Royce Jones exits KDKA-TV, Penguins on Channel 19
KDKA-TV reporter/anchor Royce Jones, who anchored the 10 p.m. news on KDKA-TV sister-station WPKD-TV, Channel 19, is no longer employed by the stations. In a two-sentence email sent to staff this week, KDKA/WPKD news director Shawn Hoder wrote, “FYI Royce Jones is no longer employed with CBS News Pittsburgh, KDKA/WPKD....
TV Talk: Cable and streaming won’t run out of scripted originals this fall
While broadcast channels mostly are lacking in scripted originals this fall, cable and streaming services tend to work further ahead, so there will still be a bounty of scripted series premiering over the next three months. On Monday, Amazon Freevee revives the daily Australian soap “Neighbours,” which aired from 1985...
TV Talk: Celina Pompeani Mathison gives birth; KDKA-TV hires reporter Alexandra Todd
Alexandra Todd, a 2009 graduate of Seneca Valley High School in Harmony who most recently worked for two years as a morning anchor in Sioux Falls, S.D., will join KDKA-TV next week as a reporter. Technically she’ll be a MMJ (multimedia journalist), meaning she’ll be a one-woman band who reports...
TV Talk: Julie Grant anchors new Court TV show; ‘The Gold’ takes silverVideo
Former KDKA-TV legal reporter Julie Grant, who joined Court TV as an anchor in 2018, has a new show on the network. “Opening Statements with Julie Grant” (8-9 a.m. weekdays) debuted Monday. Grant previously anchored “Court TV Live” noon-3 p.m. weekdays. Now she’s on the air 8-11 a.m. with the...
‘Silence of the Lambs’ actress will return to Buffalo Bill’s House
Brooke Smith hasn’t been back to the unassuming house on Circle Street in Perryopolis since her “rescue” there by the FBI in the early ’90s. OK, technically it was the fictional Catherine Martin rescued from a well in the horrifying basement of serial killer Buffalo Bill, during the seminal 1991...
TV Q&A: Could a TV news dream team happen?
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: Your recent updates on Erica Mokay and Jim Lokay make me wish KDKA would lure Lokay back to Pittsburgh. Then the two could be teamed...
Pittsburgh Pop podcast: Talking ‘Chiller Theater,’ daytime TV changes, sports on Max
In this episode of the “Pittsburgh Pop” podcast, host Tim Benz and TV Talk columnist Rob Owen discuss Pittsburgh pop culture news of the moment, including the revival of WPXI-TV’s “Chiller Theater”, WTAE-TV going off DISH Network, the possibility of the Pirates ending up on SportsNet Pittsburgh after all and...
‘Oppenheimer’ hype brings lesser-known aspects of atomic age in Pittsburgh to fore
J. Robert Oppenheimer’s brilliant mind belonged to the atom, his loyalty to the United States, his passion to the New Mexico desert. But the beating heart of the American Prometheus belonged to a woman who grew up in Aspinwall. Yes, Aspinwall, childhood home of the great physicist’s wife, Katherine “Kitty”...
