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TV Talk with Rob Owen | TribLIVE.com

TV Talk with Rob Owen

Pope Francis, first Latin American pontiff, dies at 88
TV Q&A: Alby Oxenreiter looks back while looking ahead
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: Does Alby Oxenreiter have any plans of returning to Channel 11? We have not seen him in almost two years. — Jon, via email Rob:...
TV Talk: What’s next on ‘Watson;’ Pittsburgher back on ‘Jeopardy! Masters;’ ‘Kingstown’ back this fall
Note: Spoilers for the May 11 season finale of “Watson” follow. In Sunday’s season finale of CBS’s Pittsburgh-set medical mystery drama “Watson,” Dr. John Watson (Morris Chestnut) killed his rival, Moriarty (Randall Park), who spent the show’s first season blackmailing Watson’s staff into harming Watson and their colleagues. Watson’s ex-wife,...
TV Talk: Moriarty, Watson face off in ‘Watson’ season finale
When CBS’s Pittsburgh-set medical mystery drama “Watson” (9 p.m. Sunday, KDKA-TV) premiered in January, the first episode featured scenes shot in Pittsburgh over a few days in June 2024, including a confrontation filmed on the Duquesne Incline between Moriarty (Randall Park) and Shinwell Johnson (Ritchie Coster), Dr. Watson’s aide-de-camp. But...
WQED lays off staff, suspends Creator Academy
This week, WQED Multimedia laid off four full-time staff and one part-time employee and announced the suspension of its Creator Academy, formerly known as WQED Film Academy and before that, Steeltown Entertainment Project. In an online post at wqed.org/thecreatoracademy, WQED cited the “unprecedented threats to federal funding for the arts,...
TV Q&A: Why are different job titles used on local newscasts?
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: I have noticed on at least three occasions that when a story on which Chandi Chapman is reporting she is introduced as “WTAE reporter Chandi...
TV Talk: ‘Poker Face’ returns, references infamous Pirates no-hitter 
Trib Total Media TV writer Rob Owen offers a viewing tip for the coming week. Peacock streaming series “Poker Face” returns May 8 with the first three episodes of its second season. (After that, one new episode releases weekly on Thursdays through July 10.) In this week’s season premiere, Charlie...
TV Talk: Natalie Bencivenga explores local neighborhoods in WQED’s ‘Destination’
WQED-TV’s “Destination with Natalie Bencivenga,” created by independent journalist Bencivenga, profiles local immigrant communities and neighborhoods, beginning with Bloomfield. The show’s first 15-minute episode starts streaming May 6 at WQED.org/Destination (or youtube.com/@WQED) and airs on linear Channel 13 at 7:30 p.m. May 12, where it will be paired with another,...
TV Q&A: What’s up with daytime TV's 'GMA' news anchor shifts?
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: OK, I have to ask, as it’s bothering me and I’m nebby: “GMA3: What You Need to Know” (1 p.m. weekdays, WTAE) is now saying...
TV Talk: ‘Andor’ begins end run; Mister Rogers fan guests on ‘Alma’s Way’
Similar to how season one of “Andor” began slowly but developed into a propulsive adventure and the best streaming “Star Wars” series to date, season two also takes its time to get going, particularly an early Cassian Andor (Diego Luna) storyline, one of at least four main character plots that...
TV Talk: Recent books go behind the scenes of TV biz, one reveals Pittsburgh tie to ‘High School Musical’
The need for media literacy — understanding the media we consume and how it gets made — remains acute, and three recent books explore different aspects of the TV business from the perspectives of a writer, director and young stars. ‘They Went Another Way’ $29, Holt TV writer/cartoonist Bruce Eric...
TV Q&A: Why did a ‘Law & Order’ star leave?
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: What happened to Camryn Manheim on “Law & Order”? She was on the show last season and now she’s gone. — Julia, Irwin Rob: Manheim...
TV Talk: What to watch for in the season finale of ‘The Pitt’
Max’s Pittsburgh-set ER drama “The Pitt” reaches its first-season finale tonight at 9 as the series wraps the extended shift of Dr. Robby (Noah Wyle) and his colleagues who work in the Pittsburgh Trauma Medical Center emergency department. Set during the 10-11 p.m. hour, the episode will have to address:...
TV Talk: ‘Hacks’ returns; ‘North of North,’ ‘Friends & Neighbors’ debut 
If it’s April, it’s the season when streaming services rush to release what they see as their Emmy-worthy shows in time to qualify for this year’s awards (eligibility ends May 31). Steel yourself for an onslaught of premieres over the next seven weeks. ‘Hacks’ Max’s “Hacks” remains a comedy gem...
TV Talk: ‘Last of Us’ remains best of TV 
“The Last of Us” returns for its second season (9 p.m. April 13, HBO, Max) and throws a lot of story and character development at viewers over its seven episodes. That’s mostly positive for people who appreciate the show’s grounded emphasis on the pseudo-father-daughter relationship between Joel (Pedro Pascal) and...
TV Talk: ‘The Pitt’ wraps 1st season, producers look ahead to season 2
Trib Total Media TV writer Rob Owen offers a viewing tip for the coming week. “The Pitt” executive producers R. Scott Gemmill and John Wells, a 1979 Carnegie Mellon University grad, have already started work on Season 2 even as the show advances to its first-season finale at 9 p.m....
TV Talk: ‘Pulse’ is no ‘Pitt;’ WPXI reporter exits
Acclaimed Pittsburgh-set ER drama “The Pitt” would be a hard act for any medical show to follow, but Netflix’s “Pulse” fares extremely poorly by comparison. “Pulse” is pretty much “Grey’s Anatomy” set in the post-#MeToo era if Meredith complained to HR about McDreamy instead of dating him for years. As...
TV Q&A: Is a WTAE anchor cutting back?
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: Is Michelle Wright at WTAE cutting back? I noticed she does behind-the-scenes stories like “4 Your Health” and “4 Your Money” earlier in the morning...
TV Talk: Classic sitcom rhythms, more profanity in ‘Mid-Century Modern;’ ‘Watson’ renewed 
A mix of “The Golden Girls,” “Hot in Cleveland” and “Will & Grace,” Hulu’s 10-episode multi-cam sitcom “Mid-Century Modern,” about three gay male friends living in Palm Springs, Calif., embraces old-fashioned sitcom rhythms while adding profanity and sexual innuendos that cannot be quoted in a family newspaper. Whether there’s an...
TV Talk: More antiheroes in ‘MobLand,’ but is a hero renaissance on the way?
Trib Total Media TV writer Rob Owen offers a viewing tip for the coming week. Helen Mirren trades a heroic husband played by Harrison Ford in “1923” for an antihero patriarch played by Pierce Brosnan in Paramount+’s “MobLand” (March 30), director Guy Ritchie’s story of a London organized crime family...
TV Talk: Streaming, TV respond to shifting political winds
At any moment, entertainment programming may reflect the culture or it may lead the culture. Sometimes it does both simultaneously to advance the industry’s ultimate goal: making money. The 1998 premiere of NBC’s “Will & Grace,” a show with two lead gay characters, broke new ground in the broadcast prime-time...
TV Talk: Seth Rogen satirizes movie biz with bite in ‘The Studio’
Trib Total Media TV writer Rob Owen offers a viewing tip for the coming week. Shows set behind the scenes in Hollywood have a decidedly mixed track record. For every creatively successful effort (“30 Rock,” “Hacks,” “Episodes,” “Beggars Choosers”), there are a string of duds (“Studio 60 on the Sunset...
TV Talk: No movement on WQED’s potential move; Kilmer to morning anchor on WPXI
At Thursday’s WQED board meeting, WQED president Jason Jedlinski addressed the “ongoing and changing situation in D.C.” regarding threats by the Trump administration to cut funding to PBS. Jedlinski noted the continuing resolution passed earlier this month provided level funding for fiscal year 2027 (the Corporation for Public Broadcasting is...
TV Talk: Great cast isn’t served by Netflix’s ‘Residence;’ local news race remains tight 
On paper, Netflix’s latest Shonda Rhimes executive-produced series “The Residence” sounds like a potential hoot. It’s a comedic murder mystery set in the White House with a stellar cast that includes Uzo Aduba (“Orange Is the New Black”), Giancarlo Esposito (“Breaking Bad”), Ken Marino (“Party Down”), Randall Park (“Fresh Off...
TV Q&A: Did a WTAE anchor announce his departure?
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: I thought that I read that Andrew Stockey left WTAE after 30 years on the air. When I turned on my TV today, there was...
TV Talk: KDKA-TV GM retires, CBS names replacement
KDKA-TV general manager Chris Cotugno will retire next month and Tuesday, CBS appointed Western Pennsylvania native Julie Eisenman to take Cotugno’s place at the helm of KDKA and WPKD-TV (aka KDKA+). Eisenman, a 1997 graduate of what is now Penn­West Clarion, comes to Pittsburgh’s CBS-owned station April 7 from WNEP,...
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