TV Q&A: On which Pittsburgh channel will Steelers' Thursday night games air?

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: Will Thursday night football games be broadcast on local channels or will it be subscription streaming TV only?

— Mark, via email

Rob: Just like last year, WPXI will air the “Thursday Night Football” games with the Pittsburgh Steelers locally on Nov. 2 and Dec. 7 when the games stream nationally on Amazon’s Prime Video.

Q: With the writers’ strike over, how long will it take new fall prime-time television series to hit the screen? One week? One month? Three months? I don’t know anything about how long the spin-up time is.

— Tom, Moon Township

Rob: If scripts were written pre-strike, some prime-time broadcast network shows, especially multi-cam, studio-based sitcoms, could deliver episodes in two months.

But in most cases no scripts have been written, so it’s likely to be at least a three-month lag. I imagine it will be January at the earliest — maybe even February for comedies and March for dramas – before returning shows will be back on the air with fresh episodes, assuming the still-striking actors come to terms on a new contract quickly.

Q: Why were “Alaska Daily” and “The Company You Keep” canceled? Both are so wonderful. Can we get in touch with anybody and say how disappointed we are?

— Donna, Leechburg

Rob: Alas, no one at the networks cares about viewers’ disappointments. If shows are not successful enough, they will not be continued. It’s been that way since the dawn of the medium.

Nowadays, lower ratings are more tolerated than they ever have been, but there are limits to how low networks will allow a show’s ratings to go.

Interest in these two titles was so low they were even removed from streaming service Hulu in July.

Q: Do you know if “Big Little Lies” is ever coming back?

— Beverly, via email

Rob: Never say never, but there are no current plans for a third season.

Q: When “Moonlighting” streams on Hulu beginning Oct. 10, will all the music be intact? It’s been years since I’ve seen this show and it sure would be great to see them with minimal editing.

— Jim, via Facebook

Rob: It appears they’ve preserved a lot of the major music cues but swapped out some of the minor background music.

Q: I have been watching “You Bet Your Life” on Channel 53 at 12:30 a.m. But now they’re airing “The Simpsons.” Did they change the channel or is the new season going to start soon?

— Deb, via Facebook

Rob: When the writers’ strike began, Jay Leno halted production on “You Bet Your Life.” With no new episodes available, WPGH opted for alternative programming for the time being at least. When I asked a publicist for the show’s production company about when filming may resume, I did not receive a response.

Q: What’s going on with “Dr. Phil?” There are only reruns.

— Debbie, Trafford

Rob: “Dr. Phil” ended its run after 21 seasons in May. No new episodes are being produced. WPKD, Channel 19, is airing “Dr. Phil” reruns at 2 p.m. weekdays.