Pittsburgh Pop: Talking Mr. McFeely’s costume at the Smithsonian, ‘Stranger Things’ prequel, new KDKA reporter
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 that the costume worn by Pittsburgh actor David Newell when he played Mr. McFeely on “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood” is now on display at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History in Washington, D.C. The Speedy Delivery uniform takes the place of one of Mister Rogers’ sweaters that has been rotated out for some rest time, but Mister Rogers’ sneakers will be on display next to the Speedy Delivery costume.
Owen reports KDKA-TV hired a new multimedia journalist, Mamie Bah, who will be on the air in about three weeks, reporting weekdays during the day. Bah, a native of the Bronx, is a 2018 graduate of the State University of New York at Plattsburgh where she majored in broadcast journalism and political science and minored in legal studies. Bah earned a master’s degree in public administration from the University of Albany in 2021 and while in Albany, N.Y., worked as a news producer at WGRZ-TV. She most recently worked as a reporter/weekend anchor in Dayton, Ohio, for WKEF-TV/WRGT-TV.
Benz and Owen also discuss Pittsburgh’s long-gestating National Museum of Broadcasting, which now has a proposed site at 701 Braddock Ave. in East Pittsburgh in a former Mellon Bank building near Keystone Commons, yards from the site of the first radio broadcast on what would become KDKA-AM in November 1920. Bill Hillgrove, president of the nonprofit museum’s board of directors, said the museum will showcase the origins and evolution of broadcasting.
Owen says Pittsburgh-based Fred Rogers Productions received multiple Children’s & Family Emmy Award nominations last week, including for writing for a preschool animated program (“Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood”), puppetry performance (Frankie Cordero and Haley Jenkins for “Donkey Hodie”), puppet design and styling (“Donkey Hodie”) and hairstyling and makeup (“Odd Squad”)
After last week’s latest WQED-TV automated control center blunders, Owen shares better news on the public broadcasting front as WQED-FM announced the installation of a new transmitter, funded by the Allegheny Regional Asset District, that WQED officials say will reduce outages, improve spotty coverage in outlying areas and amplify sound.
And Owen and Benz discuss the latest in the SAG-AFTRA-AMPTP negotiations, Netflix’s “Stranger Things” prequel stage show and how HBO CEO Casey Bloys instructed his staff to create Twitter accounts to go after several TV critics whose reviews Bloys did not like. Bloys has since apologized.
Listen to Pittsburgh Pop on the TRIBLive Podcast Network or on iTunes.
You can reach TV writer Rob Owen at rowen@triblive.com or 412-380-8559. Follow @RobOwenTV on Threads, X, Bluesky and Facebook. Ask TV questions by email or phone. Please include your first name and location.
Remove the ads from your TribLIVE reading experience but still support the journalists who create the content with TribLIVE Ad-Free.