TV Talk: ‘Pluribus,’ ‘The Pitt,’ ‘Andor’ among 2025 TV’s best scripted shows
As broadcast channels move into reruns for the holidays, it’s an ideal time to catch up on the best scripted series of the year: 1. “Pluribus” (Apple TV): Writer Vince Gilligan (“Breaking Bad”) re-teams with “Better Call Saul” star Rhea Seehorn for this unique, often darkly comic story of an...
TV Q&A: Where did KDKA’s Erica Mokay go?
Q: What’s up with Erica Mokay on KDKA-TV, who’s been missing from KDKA+ morning news with John Shumway? She has been off, then came back for a few days, and now she’s off again. Has she been sick? — Nancy, via Facebook Rob: It’s December, a time when TV news...
NBC’s Tom Llamas talks broadcasting from Pittsburgh
Tonight at 6:30 on WPXI, Tom Llamas will anchor “NBC Nightly News” from a familiar – but undisclosed for security reasons – Pittsburgh location as part of NBC News’ “Reporting for America” campaign, an effort to report from communities nationwide, not just from the media centers on the coasts. Llamas...
TV Talk: New ‘The Pitt’ trailer released; Hamlin on HallmarkVideo
Although a teaser for season two of “The Pitt” released in August, a new trailer offers more hints about what’s to come in season two — perhaps even some spoilers; watch at your own peril. This preview of the Pittsburgh-set ER drama, which debuts its second season at 9 p.m....
WPXI taken off Verizon’s FiOS TV in retransmission spat
Following weeks of negotiations and threats of a looming impasse, Verizon failed to reach agreement on a new retransmission deal with WPXI parent company Cox Media Group and Pittsburgh’s Channel 11 is no longer available to subscribers to Verizon’s FiOS TV. “The telecom giant is blocking viewers’ access to breaking...
TV Talk: ‘The Pitt’ season 2 opening scene debuts, featuring music by The ClarksVideo
“The Pitt” won’t debut its second season on HBO Max until 9 p.m. Jan. 8, but this week HBO Max put the new season’s opening scene online, featuring star Noah Wyle as Dr. Robby riding his motorcycle over Pittsburgh bridges and roadways en route to work at Pittsburgh Trauma Medical...
TV Talk: Michelle Wright to retire from WTAE
Michelle Wright, the longest-tenured morning news anchor in the Pittsburgh TV market, will retire from WTAE following the Feb. 27 broadcast. “I’ve been thinking about it for a while,” said Wright, who is leaving by her choice well before the expiration of her current contract. “I approached [Channel 4 news...
TV Talk: PBS profiles Dick Van Dyke, debuts charming musical-comedy ‘Happiness’Video
On the cusp of turning 100 Saturday, TV legend Dick Van Dyke gets the “American Masters” treatment in the new PBS film “Starring Dick Van Dyke” (9 p.m. Friday, WQED-TV). The two-hour documentary offers an entertaining career retrospective that’s full of surprises, including: • CBS initially canceled “The Dick Van...
TV Talk: ‘The Pitt’ returns Jan. 8 as characters grapple with events of season oneVideo
This week, Entertainment Weekly named the cast of “The Pitt” the “entertainers of 2025” in advance of the show’s Jan. 8 return for its second season on HBO Max. In its exclusive interview with the show’s stars from the set while filming the show’s second season — other interviews with...
TV Q&A: Why more than one forecaster in a newscast?
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’ve noticed Jill Szwed has been on the morning news Monday-Wednesday. Is it really necessary to have two meteorologists? — Catherine, via email Rob: It...
TV Talk: Western Pa.’s Walker Scobell returns for 2nd season starring in ‘Percy Jackson’Video
Trib Total Media TV writer Rob Owen offers a viewing tip for the coming week. Growing up in Erie, “Percy Jackson and the Olympians” star Walker Scobell had three choices for big city cultural experiences. “You go two hours one way, it’s Pittsburgh. The other way, it’s Cleveland. And another...
TV Talk: ‘The Pitt’ picks up Golden Globe noms; Manganiello moves home
Best drama Emmy winner “The Pitt” is up for more accolades. Following last week’s four nominations in the Critics’ Choice Awards, HBO Max’s “The Pitt” received two nominations in the Golden Globes, including best drama series and best lead actor (Noah Wyle). Comedy series “Abbott Elementary,” ABC “The Bear,” FX...
TV Talk: From ‘The Pitt’ to Mister Rogers, gifts for TV fans abound
Trib Total Media TV writer Rob Owen offers gift-giving tips for the TV fan in your life. As the holidays draw near, there’s still time to pick out gifts for the TV fans in your life, including for devotees of “The Pitt.” Whether it’s a Pittsburgh Trauma Medical Center T-shirt...
TV Talk: What does Netflix buying Warner Bros. mean for consumers?
Friday morning’s news that Netflix will buy the Warner Bros. film studio, HBO and HBO Max for $83 billion marks a huge earthquake in the entertainment industry, but what it means for consumers remains unclear. Warner Bros. began its life in Western Pennsylvania when brothers Harry, Albert, Sam and Jack...
TV Talk: Gillian Anderson, Lena Headey make ‘Abandons’ worth watching
Netflix’s matriarchal Western “The Abandons” offers a terrific showcase for stars Gillian Anderson and Lena Headey, and creator Kurt Sutter (“Sons of Anarchy”) knows how to build a season-long story that’s propulsive and entertaining, even if this is no “Deadwood.” But there’s also reason to be wary that “The Abandons”...
TV Q&A: Why doesn’t a Christmas classic air on TV anymore?
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: Can you explain why “Emmet Otter’s Jug Band Christmas” is not on TV? I’ve searched the Christmas listings for the past several years and it’s...
TV Talk: ‘Farscape’ star Claudia Black is the Lady MacBeth of new ‘Spartacus’Video
Trib Total Media TV writer Rob Owen offers a viewing tip for the coming week. You can have “Outlander,” “Power” and all their spinoffs: There’s never been a better Starz series than “Spartacus,” the graphic swords, sandals and sex drama that spilled gallons of CGI blood and prosthetic genitalia across...
TV Talk: ‘Stranger Things’ begins its end run; ‘Rivalry’ heats up; KDKA-TV reunionVideo
The first thing viewers will notice about the new season of “Stranger Things” is that the show’s kid characters are no longer teens and try as they might, producers cannot hide this fact, especially when it comes to Will (Noah Schnapp), Lucas (Caleb MacLaughlin) and Dustin (Gaten Matarazzo). Because of...
TV Talk: How Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade evolved through the decades (and how it stayed the same)Video
“Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade” (8:30 a.m. Thursday, WPXI) has always been an inherent promotional opportunity for its namesake department store, an effort to jump-start the holiday shopping season. But as TV evolved over the decades, so has NBC’s parade telecast. A static camera trained on a parade may have been...
‘Stranger Things’ season 5 debuts tonight; here’s a recap of what has happenedVideo
It’s been more than three years since viewers had the opportunity to see a new episode of Netflix’s “Stranger Things.” The last new episode streamed in July 2022. That all changes tonight at 5 p.m. when the first batch of episodes in the final season drops. Since it’s been a...
TV Q&A: Where did a KDKA-TV forecaster go?
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 noticed KDKA hired a new weatherman, Rob Wilson, in place of the retired Kristin Emery. I saw him once and haven’t seen him since....
TV Talk: WTAE’s ‘Project Bundle-Up’ holiday tradition turns 40Video
Trib Total Media TV writer Rob Owen offers local viewing tips for the coming holiday season. Since it began in 1986, Channel 4’s “Project Bundle-Up Telethon” (7-8 p.m. Dec. 5, WTAE) and the Salvation Army of Western Pa. have raised a cumulative $17.5 million over 40 years and served 310,000...
TV Talk: CMU grad Ted Danson talks ‘Man on the Inside’Video
From CBS’s “Becker” and “CSI” to NBC’s “The Good Place” to “A Man on the Inside,” which is now streaming its eight-episode second season on Netflix, 1972 Carnegie Mellon grad Ted Danson continues to be a reliable presence on American TV screens 32 years after his first hit, NBC’s “Cheers,”...
TV Q&A: How did ‘Watson’ get a Pittsburgh bridge fact wrong?
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 am watching “Watson” on CBS, which is set at a leading research hospital in Pittsburgh. In the Nov. 10 episode, they talked about the...
TV Talk: ‘This Is Us’ star films Apple series locally, uses Pittsburgh dialect
Starring in the hit NBC drama “This Is Us,” actress Chrissy Metz got to know Pittsburgh vicariously through her character, Pittsburgh native Kate Pearson. But it doesn’t take long talking to Metz before you realize she picked up more than just her character’s backstory. “If the Stillers are playing, I’m...
