Movies/TV category, Page 84
TV Talk: ‘Star Wars’ series ‘Andor’ begins slow, improves as it goesVideo
“Star Wars” finds itself in a precarious position: It can either continue to replay its greatest hits by going back to the well of past, major characters as leads in series for a short-term boost (e.g. “The Book of Boba Fett,” “Obi-Wan Kenobi”) or tread new ground to sustain the...
TV Talk: ‘Abbott Elementary,’ ‘Ghosts’ return for sophomore seasonsVideo
Trib Total Media TV writer Rob Owen offers viewing tips for the coming week. Broadcast television may be down, but don’t count it out just yet. After all, there were two broadcast hits to come out of the 2021-22 TV season: ABC’s “Abbott Elementary” and CBS’s “Ghosts,” both returning this...
Q&A: James Cameron on the return of ‘Avatar’Video
NEW YORK — Thirteen years after James Cameron plunged moviegoers into the cosmic world of “Avatar,” the lush, distant moon of Pandora is finally orbiting back into view. Cameron’s “Avatar” industrial complex has been whirling in high gear for some time; production on the upcoming sequel, “Avatar: The Way of...
The kettle boils over and all the tea gets spilled on ‘House of the Dragon’
It sure is tough to get through a wedding in Westeros. Veterans of this universe are well aware of the body count that nuptials can produce. I’m not sure if anyone other than Tommen “Baratheon”...
Pittsburgh Pop podcast: Talking KDKA-TV’s new weekend anchor, DirecTV’s Sunday Ticket fumble
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 KDKA-TV’s newly-appointed weekend evening and late news anchor, Erika Stanish. Paul Martino had anchored those newscasts for years before he was pulled from the...
TV Talk: CMU grad plays an exec on a TV comedy in Hulu’s ‘Reboot’
Trib Total Media TV writer Rob Owen offers a viewing tip for the coming week. With all the sequel series and reboots on TV and streaming services in recent years (see NBC’s “Quantum Leap,” premiering at 10 p.m. Monday), it’s unsurprising that some TV writer/producer would want to critique...
‘NFL Sunday Ticket’ outages anger fans for 2nd straight week
DirecTV’s “NFL Sunday Ticket” package malfunctioned for the second straight week, causing fans trying to watch through the app or online to miss entire games. DirecTV said via social media that customers trying to stream the 1 p.m. EDT games were unable to through the app. Shortly after 4 p.m.,...
Review: Viola Davis adds another jewel to her crown in a rousing ‘Woman King’Video
With her rousing new action-drama, “The Woman King,” director Gina Prince-Bythewood suggests that, in at least one crucial respect, the West African kingdom of Dahomey was more ahead of its time than that starry imperialist empire called Hollywood. An early 19th-century epic awash in militaristic might and colonial oppression, the...
Ken Burns’ new documentary reveals painful truths about ‘The U.S. and the Holocaust’Video
DALLAS — Eva Schloss is no stranger to Dallas. As a Holocaust survivor willing to share her harrowing life story, she appeared in Richardson as recently as three years ago. In 2002, she flew in from London to see a play about her life, “And Then They Came for Me,”...
Jimmy Kimmel apologizes to Quinta Brunson for viral Emmys moment and its backlash
LOS ANGELES — Days after winning her first Emmy Award — and having her big moment seemingly spoiled by Jimmy Kimmel — Quinta Brunson showed restraint when she sat down on his show Tuesday night. She did not, in fact, punch him in the face, as she told reporters she...
‘Confess, Fletch’ review: Jon Hamm does not rise to the occasion as the jokily intrepid reporter unraveling a mysteryVideo
The crime novels of Gregory Mcdonald emerged in the ’70s as a self-amused antithesis to more typically hard-boiled detective stories. The series began with “Fletch” in 1974 and continued a 20-year run, ending with “Fletch Reflected” in 1994. Irwin Maurice Fletcher (Fletch to everyone who knows him) is a shaggy...
TV Talk: Aaron Donald on ‘Secret Celebrity Renovation;’ ‘Quantum Leap’ is back on NBCVideo
Although he’s made his NFL career as a Super Bowl winner with the Los Angeles Rams, Pittsburgh native Aaron Donald says he still feels “a lot of love, a lot of support in Pittsburgh” in this week’s episode of CBS’s “Secret Celebrity Renovation” (8 p.m. Friday, KDKA-TV). It’s the show’s...
How to watch ‘Thursday Night Football’ on Amazon Prime Video
A new era in TV sports begins this week when Amazon Prime Video becomes the exclusive home of the NFL’s “Thursday Night Football.” Based on the ratings potency of NFL contests, they will likely be the most streamed live events ever. But even as streaming video has become ingrained in...
Can Al Michaels make streaming the NFL on Amazon Prime Video a Thursday night ritual?
LOS ANGELES — Veteran sports broadcaster Al Michaels has a 20-year-old answering machine in his Brentwood home, and it will likely never be thrown out. The device contains several messages from the late Dodgers announcer Vin Scully who died Aug. 2. Michaels, 77, spent his early years in Brooklyn, where...
TV Q&A: Why do local TV news anchors sometimes read the sports report?
Q: Why do Channels 4 and 11 have their news anchors deliver the full sports reports from time to time? I was a sportscaster for WBRZ-TV, the ABC affiliate in Baton Rouge, from 1981-93. Back in our day, sportscasters never did news, and news anchors and reporters never did sports....
Emmys reach record-low audience of 5.9 million viewers
NEW YORK — The Emmy Awards hit a new low in viewership on Monday night, with its estimated audience of 5.9 million people even smaller than the covid-19-disrupted ceremony two years ago. The Nielsen company said the ceremony honoring television’s best work, where “Ted Lasso” was named best comedy and...
‘Thursday Night Football’: Where to find Prime Video games
The game on Thursday night between the Los Angeles Chargers and Kansas City Chiefs kicks off Amazon Prime Video’s 11-year agreement with the NFL to carry “Thursday Night Football”. Here’s what we know about the easiest way to find the games each week as well as why the NFL is...
Peele and Key on reuniting, as demons, in ‘Wendell & Wild’
TORONTO — It’s seven years almost to day since the last episode of “Key & Peele” aired, but Jordan Peele and Keegan-Michael Key are once again riffing together. They’re sitting in a Toronto hotel the day before the premiere of Henry Selick’s stop-motion-animation marvel “Wendell & Wild” at the Toronto...
Why Tyler Perry’s passion project ‘A Jazzman’s Blues’ will mark his major film festival debutVideo
Tyler Perry is nothing if not prolific. And busy. Already a wildly successful writer, producer, director and performer in film, television and theater, he added studio head to his resume with the 2019 opening of the massive Tyler Perry Studios production complex in Atlanta. In 2021 he received an honorary...
Iconic French New Wave director Jean-Luc Godard dead at 91Video
GENEVA — Jean-Luc Godard, the ingenious “enfant terrible” of the French New Wave who revolutionized popular cinema in 1960 with his first big endeavor, “Breathless,” and stood for years as one of the world’s most vital and provocative directors, has died. He was 91. Swiss news agency ATS quoted Godard’s...
TV Talk: Premiere dates for returning broadcast series
Premiere dates for returning prime-time broadcast network shows are below. Please note: For their premiere week only, NBC’s Thursday night “Law & Order” shows will air on WPXI’s Channel 11.2, MeTV, while Channel 11.1 broadcasts the Steelers- Browns game. The “Law & Order” shows will return to Channel 11.1 on Sept....
List of Emmy winners include Michael Keaton, Lizzo and ‘SNL’
LOS ANGELES — Here are the winners of the 2022 prime-time Emmy Awards. Best Comedy: “Ted Lasso” Best Drama: “Succession” Best Limited Series: “The White Lotus” Best Actress, Comedy: Jean Smart, “Hacks” Best Actor, Comedy: Jason Sudeikis, “Ted Lasso” Best Actress, Drama: Zendaya, “Euphoria” Best Actor, Drama: Lee Jung-jae, “Squid...
Michael Keaton wins 1st Emmy on funny, entertaining night
Michael Keaton picked up his first Emmy Award for his role in Hulu’s opioid crisis drama “Dopesick” at Monday night’s 74th annual Emmy Awards. That was only after a cringeworthy song-and-dance opening number — set to TV theme songs that only got worse as it went on. Fortunately after that,...
Pittsburgh Pop podcast: Talking fall TV – ‘Monarch,’ ‘Andor,’ ‘Serpent Queen’ – and changes at KDKAVideo
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 change to the anchor lineup on KDKA-TV’s morning newscast. Benz and Owen talk what’s new in fall TV, including Fox’s “Monarch,” the upcoming...
Targaryens gonna Targaryen on this week’s ‘House of the Dragon’
Allow me to take a deep sigh before attempting to settle comfortably into a review of this frequently uncomfortable episode of television. This week, well, quite frankly, Targaryens gonna Targaryen. This family may...
