Entertainment category, Page 267
Pittsburgh DJ Sean McDowell ranks Eddie Van Halen among greatest guitarists
Longtime WDVE disc jockey Sean McDowell has no doubts about guitar virtuoso Eddie Van Halen’s place in rock history. “I’ve always had him at number five on my list of the greatest rock guitarists ever,” said McDowell. “I’ve always had him there, at least since 1978, along with (Jimi) Hendrix,...
TV Q&A: Will Pittsburgh-based ‘Restored by the Fords’ return to HGTV?
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: A few years back there was a home improvement TV show that featured a Pittsburgh woman. Unfortunately, I don’t remember the show name, her...
Guitar rock legend Eddie Van Halen dies at 65Video
NEW YORK — Eddie Van Halen, the guitar virtuoso whose blinding speed, control and innovation propelled his band Van Halen into one of hard rock’s biggest groups, fueled the unmistakable fiery solo in Michael Jackson’s hit “Beat It” and became elevated to the status of rock god, has died. He...
‘Dune’ ditches 2020, while AMC commits to staying open
The 2020 theatrical release calendar is getting even slimmer in the wake of the announcement that Regal cinemas are temporarily closing, although AMC, North America’s largest theater chain, says it will remain open. Warner Bros. said late Monday that its sci-fi pic “Dune” will now open in October 2021, instead...
8 times Pittsburgh played a role on ‘Saturday Night Live’Video
After Pittsburgh was the setting for a skit on the season premiere of “Saturday Night Live,” we wanted to find the other times the city or its sports teams have been featured on the long-running NBC comedy show. Here’s a partial list of the times Pittsburgh was featured in skits....
Bruce Springsteen will offer a documentary with new album
Bruce Springsteen isn’t just releasing a new rock album later this month — he’ll also offer a documentary on the making of the music. “Bruce Springsteen’s Letter to You” will offer performances from The E Street Band, in-studio footage and never-before-seen archival material, featuring “a behind-the-scenes look at the iconic...
TV Talk: Verizon’s FiOS TV drops AT&T SportsNet Pittsburgh
In the latest retransmission dispute impacting local viewers, Verzion’s FiOS TV dropped AT&T SportsNet Pittsburgh. A Verizon spokesman said its agreement to carry AT&T SportsNet Pittsburgh expired Sept. 30. Verizon released a statement saying, “AT&T SportsNet Pittsburgh has demanded a significant increase to an already high rate so fans can...
Loyalhanna Watershed Association plans 2-day Oktoberfest
Area craft breweries and distilleries will join a mix of food offerings and live music Friday and Saturday for the Loyalhanna Watershed Association’s first Oktoberfest. Based at the Watershed Farm, on the western outskirts of Ligonier, the event is taking the place of the organization’s Brewfest, introduced last summer but...
PSO virtual concert series opens with celebration of Pittsburgh
The Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra will bring a new type of front row experience to music lovers via an online concert series premiering Oct. 19. ”Front Row: The PSO Virtual Experience” will include five episodes that will traverse the region and offer classical and popular music, along with Holiday Pops and...
Reba McEntire, Darius Rucker take over as CMA Awards hosts
Country stars Reba McEntire and Darius Rucker are promising laughs and good music when they co-host this year’s CMA Awards in November. McEntire, a Country Music Hall of Famer and veteran host of country music awards shows, returns after hosting last year with Carrie Underwood and Dolly Parton. It will...
Former Homestead church, now an agility course, is still a place to reach a higher powerVideo
When you’re 17 feet in the air about to take a step onto a tight rope, you might need some inner strength. That fortitude is something that can be brought out of you at the Dragon’s Den. Housed in the former historic St. Mary Magdalene Church in Homestead, this ropes...
Pittsburgh featured in ‘Saturday Night Live’ skitVideo
Pittsburgh TV news was featured on the season premiere of “Saturday Night Live.” A local TV news report on a potential super-spreading event at the legal change of name office in the Pittsburgh federal building was the setting for a skit on “SNL” with a lot of sexual innuendo. The...
‘Saturday Night Live’ recreates debate in 46th season openerVideo
LOS ANGELES — “Saturday Night Live” went political with a parody of this week’s presidential debate, Chris Rock’s jab at President Donald Trump and Megan Thee Stallion’s message supporting Black people during her performance. The NBC late-night sketch series on Saturday night jumped into the reenactment of the recent debate...
Actor Rick Moranis sucker punched while walking in NYC
Actor Rick Moranis was sucker punched by an unknown assailant while walking Thursday on a sidewalk near New York’s Central Park, a law enforcement official told the Associated Press. Surveillance video shows a man wearing a black “I (heart) NY” sweatshirt and a backpack hitting the 67-year-old “Ghostbusters” star and...
Mom, nurse, cancer survivor, singer: ‘Miss Freddye’ soothes in all aspects of her lifeVideo
When Freddye Stover learned she had breast cancer in 1998, the tears flowed.“Receiving the ‘C’ diagnosis is heartbreaking,” said Stover, known in the regional music scene as “Miss Freddye.” “I cried for 24 hours straight. I went to bed crying. I woke up crying. I cried in the shower. I...
TV Talk: Excellent ‘The Good Lord Bird’ premieres on Showtime
Trib Total Media TV writer Rob Owen offers a viewing tip for the coming week. ^ Based on the National Book Award-winning novel by James McBride, Showtime’s adaptation of “The Good Lord Bird” (9 p.m. Sunday) proves to be as entertaining as it is tonally messy. But it’s acceptably messy...
Review: Sofia Coppola’s ‘On the Rocks’ is a modest delight
Few filmmakers can bring a rut to life like Sofia Coppola. When her characters are in a funk, whether it’s a Hollywood actor in between jobs, a few lost souls in a foreign place or a Queen, it’s never the stuff of melodrama. She has an eye for the comedic...
Chrissy Teigen and John Legend grieve their miscarriage
LOS ANGELES — Chrissy Teigen said she and John Legend are in “deep pain” following her miscarriage, which she announced in a heart wrenching social media post. Teigen wrote that they were “driving home from the hospital with no baby. This is unreal.” “We are shocked and in the kind...
Pittsburgh Humanities Festival brings speakers to online audience
A reboot of the Pittsburgh Humanities Festival will offer online “smart talk about stuff that matters.” Interviews available for free explore health care and policy, incarceration, technology and creating opportunities for artists of color in Pittsburgh. The Pittsburgh Humanities Festival @ Home kicks off Friday with the first of four...
Row House Cinema hosting drive-in movies in Pittsburgh’s Strip District
Row House Cinema is teaming up with the Terminal in the Strip District for a month of drive-in movies. Row House Cinema will show a movie every Friday and Saturday in October — except for Oct. 30 — at the Terminal at 21st Street and Smallman Street. Doors will open...
TV Talk: 2 of ‘The Boys in the Band’ have Pittsburgh ties
It was a mini-Carnegie Mellon University School of Drama reunion for Matt Bomer (CMU class of 2000) and Green Tree native Zachary Quinto (CMU class of 1999) in the Netflix movie “The Boys in the Band,” directed by Joe Mantello and executive produced by Ryan Murphy (“Ratched”). A remake of...
Quantum Theatre charts 2-mile ‘odyssey’ through Schenley ParkVideo
Quantum Theatre is planning a 2-mile odyssey along the trails of Pittsburgh’s Schenley Park, through which visitors can access an interactive audio production of “OK Odysseus.” Five Greek columns will be placed throughout the park, at which Quantum Theatre artists and staff will act as guides. The journey will begin...
Country star and hit Elvis songwriter Mac Davis dies at 78Video
NASHVILLE — Country star Mac Davis, who crafted the Elvis hits “A Little Less Conversation” and “In the Ghetto” before launching his own successful artist career, has died. He was 78. His longtime manager Jim Morey said in a press release that Davis died in Nashville on Tuesday after heart...
‘I Am Woman’ singer Helen Reddy, ’70s hitmaker, dies at 78
Helen Reddy, who shot to stardom in the 1970s with her rousing feminist anthem “I Am Woman” and recorded a string of other hits, has died. She was 78. Reddy’s children Traci and Jordan announced that the actor-singer died Tuesday in Los Angeles. “She was a wonderful Mother, Grandmother and...
TV Q&A: Is Discovery’s ‘Alaskan Bush People’ real?
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: Can you please clear something up for me: On Discovery Channel is the “Alaskan Bush People” for real or are they just actors who are...
