TV Talk with Rob Owen category
TV Talk: Steve Carell in ‘Rooster’ gives HBO comedy to crow aboutVideo
This is the second week in a row we’ve seen the premiere of a show that feels like a duplicate. Last week, MGM+ debuted “American Classic,” the story of a full-of-himself actor (Kevin Kline) who, after a meltdown, returns home to the theater he grew up in, the same premise...
TV Talk: WPXI names Harner sports director, will air Pirates game
Following last year’s news that Alby Oxenreiter was leaving his role as Channel 11 sports director after a 2023 surgery to replace two heart valves, WPXI announced his replacement. As expected, the station promoted from within, naming sports anchor/reporter Jenna Harner as sports director. Channel 11 also hired Shelby Cassesse...
TV Talk: With ‘The Pitt,’ AGH is in a Hollywood success loopVideo
The success of “The Pitt” already influenced HBO Max’s programming strategy going forward — more on that below — but we’re now also seeing reports of renewed interest in a reality show that, like “The Pitt,” also filmed at Allegheny General Hospital. Back in the late ‘90s as basic cable...
TV Q&A: What happened to ‘The Rossen Report’ on WTAE?
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: What happened to “The Rossen Report” on WTAE? It was off for a while last year, came back for a few months and now it...
TV Talk: Michelle Wright anchors her final WTAE broadcastVideo
And then she was done. After 30 years at WTAE, most of that time as a morning news anchor, Michelle Wright said farewell to viewers Friday just before 7 a.m., capping a sweeps month of on-air walks down memory lane, including a live visit with “Good Morning America” host Robin...
TV Talk: ‘Watson’ returns; ‘Yellowstone’ spinoff, ‘American Classic’ debutVideo
Trib Total Media TV writer Rob Owen offers a viewing tip for the coming week. Sherlock Holmes’ partner, John Watson (Morris Chestnut), is in a precarious situation, facing a mystery even Holmes would have trouble solving: “The Case of the Shrinking Audience.” After a strong ratings start in January 2025...
TV Talk: Soapy Civil War drama on Amazon; KDKA-TV anchor goes full-timeVideo
It’s been a minute since we’ve had a Civil War-set miniseries, a genre that proved popular in the 1980s thanks to ABC’s “North and South” (and its soaring Bill Conti score) and CBS’s “The Blue and the Gray.” PBS took a crack at a Civil War story with the 2016-17...
TV Q&A: Will season 1 of ‘The Pitt’ come out on DVD?
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: Will “The Pitt” season one be available on DVD anytime soon? — Jack, via email Rob: Warner Bros. Home Entertainment, the entity that would release...
TV Talk: ‘Scrubs’ back in top form; Tracy Morgan stars as ‘Reggie Dinkins’
It’s a rare, banner week for broadcast TV comedy when two genuinely funny new shows premiere. ‘Scrubs’ Whenever a TV series returns 16 years after it first ends, there’s always good reason to worry that a revival will sully memories of the original, that the new episodes won’t live up...
TV Talk: East Liberty entrepreneur competes on ’60 Day Hustle;’ ‘Expedition X’ visits Laurel Highlands
East Liberty native and resident Jordyn Ford went on a “60 Day Hustle” last year, competing in season two of the competition series that’s now streaming all six episodes on Amazon. “60 Day Hustle” is different from many reality competitions because it was not commissioned by Prime and is not...
TV Talk: WTAE promotes from within, names new morning co-anchor
Following Michelle Wright’s Feb. 27 final broadcast before retirement, morning traffic reporter Elena LaQuatra will succeed Wright at the anchor desk as WTAE returns to a two-anchor morning format. Janelle Hall will remain at the morning anchor desk alongside LaQuatra and meteorologist Ashley Dougherty but Ryan Recker will move to...
TV Q&A: How do news anchors get to TV stations during snowstorms?
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: I’ve often wondered how local TV news anchors manage to get to the studio during major snow events, such as the one we experienced recently....
TV Talk: Catchy loves ‘Lucy;’ HBO documents crazy ‘Neighbors’Video
Digital subchannel Catchy Comedy, available locally over the air on Channel 2.5, debuts a new programming block featuring all five TV series starring Lucille Ball, presented together for the first time. From her 1951-60 classic sitcom “I Love Lucy” to her final, misbegotten ABC sitcom “Life with Lucy” (1986), Catchy...
TV Q&A: What happened to ‘Fan N’Ation’?
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: What happened to “Fan N’Ation” on KDKA+? Has it been canceled, or will it eventually return? Their page on X/Twitter hasn’t been updated in a...
TV Talk: AMC’s ‘Dark Winds’ road trips to L.A. in 4th season
It was always going to be a challenge for AMC’s “Dark Winds” to top its third season, the series’ best so far. Although the new fourth season lacks a defining episode like season three’s sixth episode, “Abidooniidee (What We Had Been Told),” featuring lead character Joe Leaphorn on an emotional,...
TV Talk: Super Bowl ads embrace AI, nostalgia, warmth
Super Bowl LX commercials put an emphasis on artificial intelligence, 1980s and ’90s culture, feel-good situations, Pittsburgh celebrities and, uh, an out-there focus on rear ends. Pittsburgh native actor Jeff Goldblum (“Wicked: For Good”) turned up in ads for Comcast Xfinity’s Wi-Fi, revisiting his “Jurassic Park” role, and in another...
TV Talk: ‘The ‘Burbs’ reimagined as ‘Desperate Housewives’ redux
Trib Total Media TV writer Rob Owen offers a viewing tip for the coming week. Anyone watching the Super Bowl on NBC this weekend is bound to see ads for Peacock’s new streaming series “The ‘Burbs,” inspired by the 1989 Tom Hanks film. NBCUniversal, parent company of NBC and streamer...
TV Q&A: How can Verizon customers watch Super Bowl LX with WPXI MIA?
Q: It has been six weeks since WPXI went off the air for Verizon FiOS TV customers in Western Pa. I am beginning to think it will never come back. What about people who just moved into the area? They wont want to get Verizon because of no NBC. Why...
TV Talk: ‘Downward Dog’ creator tries AI animals; 4 Western Pa. shelter dogs in Puppy Bowl
From the talking Taco Bell chihuahua in ‘90s commercials to ABC’s winning 2017 talking dog comedy series “Downward Dog,” Michael Killen of Pittsburgh’s Animal Studios has used CGI to create talking animals for TV for decades. In December he decided to try something new and potentially heretical to people in...
TV Talk: Super Bowl LX ads highlighted by celebs, animals, nostalgia; ‘Kingstown’ seeks extras
In this post-monoculture era when few people watch the same TV shows, the Super Bowl remains one of the few unifying TV broadcasts each year, drawing millions for the game but also some viewers who are more interested in the TV commercials. Northwestern University’s Medill Spiegel Research Center found in...
TV Talk: ABC, Disney+ revive classic ‘The Muppet Show’
Trib Total Media TV writer Rob Owen offers a viewing tip for the coming week. Ever since The Walt Disney Co. bought The Muppets in 2004, Disney’s efforts to keep the characters alive for new generations have met with limited success. From a TV movie (2005’s “The Muppets’ Wizard of...
TV Q&A: Has CBS’s ‘Tracker’ gotten darker this season?
Q: Does “Tracker” on Sunday evenings on CBS seem to have “darker” stories this year? Colter Shaw is having help from another official or his brother. And Reenie had a male escort in the Nov. 30 episode. That seems out of character. And Reenie lied to Colter that she was...
TV Talk: Lady Gaga channels Mister Rogers in Super Bowl adVideo
Pop music star Lady Gaga covers the “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood” theme song, “Won’t You Be My Neighbor?”, in a commercial for Redfin / Rocket that will air during Super Bowl LX on Feb. 8. It will be first Super Bowl ad for Redfin, an online real estate brokerage recently purchased...
TV Talk: Marvel’s ‘Wonder Man’ trades action for character drama on Disney+Video
After the usual Marvel logo at the start of Disney+’s “Wonder Man,” there’s also a logo for Marvel Spotlight, which is basically the indie version of Marvel — stories that are more grounded and character-driven and that don’t require knowledge of Marvel Cinematic Universe story arcs. The banner first showed...
TV Talk: Patrick Dempsey murders his way through Alzheimer’s in ‘Memory of a Killer’Video
Trib Total Media TV writer Rob Owen offers a viewing tip for the coming week. Back in the early 2000s, antiheroes on TV were all the rage thanks to “The Shield,” “The Sopranos,” “Damages” and a slew of other series that centered on characters who would have been each show’s...
