Rob Owen stories, Page 10
TV Talk: Classic Christmas commercials cater to viewers’ nostalgiaVideo
Whether or not they continue to air in 2024, Christmas-themed commercials that aired year after year are easily conjured in the minds of TV viewers. Whether it’s Santa Claus riding a Norelco razor through the snow, Peter coming home for a cup of Folgers or Hershey’s Kisses as bells, plenty...
TV Talk: PBS’s ‘NOVA’ recounts Notre Dame discoveriesVideo
Trib Total Media TV writer Rob Owen offers a viewing tip for the coming week. It’s easy to take TV for granted. Its ubiquity, especially now with dozens of channels and streaming platforms, makes the medium so omnipresent and at times overwhelming with the number of choices that it’s easy...
TV Talk: David Johnson signs off; Heather Abraham going on medical leave
After a 40-year run, including more than 30 years as one of the nation’s longest duration anchor teams alongside Peggy Finnegan who retired in 2020, Channel 11 weekday evening news anchor David Johnson called it a career Friday during WPXI’s 6 p.m. newscast. Finnegan returned for Johnson’s farewell, appearing in...
TV Talk: ’High School Musical’ actor back in town for Christmas cabaret; ‘No Good Deed’ on NetflixVideo
Joe Serafini, a 2016 graduate of Bethel Park High School who starred in several seasons of the Disney+ series “High School Musical: The Musical: The Series,” returns home this weekend to headline a performance at the Pittsburgh Playhouse at Point Park University. “Christmas Live! With Joe Serafini and Friends” (7...
TV Q&A: When will a KDKA-TV news anchor return to the 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: Any word if Megan Shinn is returning from maternity leave as weekend morning anchor on KDKA-TV? — Paul, via email Rob: Shinn, who joined Channel...
TV Talk: ‘Mayor of Kingstown’ seeks season 4 extras
Paramount+ still hasn’t made an official announcement that “Mayor of Kingstown” has been renewed for a fourth season, but it’s clear the show will be back and a decision was made in the affirmative behind the scenes, given that a production office opened for the filmed-in-Pittsburgh series last month. Now...
TV Talk: Amazon’s ‘The Sticky’ has its moments, doesn’t entirely stick the landingVideo
Trib Total Media TV writer Rob Owen offers a viewing tip for the coming week. There’s a welcome efficiency to “The Sticky,” Amazon Prime Video’s story of a Canadian maple syrup heist that tells its story in six tightly constructed 30-minute episodes, yet its reach exceeds its grasp as it...
TV Q&A: Who will replace David Johnson on WPXI?
Trib Total Media TV writer Rob Owen answers reader questions weekly at TribLive.com in a column that also appears in the Sunday Tribune-Review. Q: Who replaces David Johnson as the main anchor at WPXI? — Mike, Beaver Rob: I noted in the story about Johnson’s retirement last month that Channel...
TV Talk: ‘Skeleton Crew’ charts younger ‘Star Wars’ courseVideo
Disney+ has churned out “Star Wars” series for five years now, sometimes winning with audiences (“The Mandalorian”), surprising critics (“Andor”) and occasionally polarizing fans (“The Acolyte”). “Skeleton Crew” probably leans more toward “The Acolyte” because it’s wholly disconnected from the long-established elements of the “Star Wars” saga, unlike “Obi Wan...
TV Talk: Steelers get ‘Hard Knocks’ treatment on HBOVideo
Keith Cossrow, a 1993 Mt. Lebanon High School grad who’s vice president and head of content at NFL Films, said getting the Steelers on HBO’s long-running NFL docuseries “Hard Knocks” (9 tonight, HBO and Max) was a matter of finding the right format. In the past, “Hard Knocks” has done...
TV Talk: From ‘Blue Bloods’ to ‘Bluey’ to ‘Seinfeld,’ there are plenty of gift ideas for TV fans
Trib Total Media TV writer Rob Owen offers gift-giving ideas for the TV fan in your life. Seeking a Christmas or holiday present for the TV fan in your life? This guide to new TV-themed gifts offers ideas by series titles: “Blue Bloods” will end Dec. 13, but fans can...
TV Talk: Hallmark courts NFL fans, Swifties with ‘Touchdown;’ ‘The Agency’ stunsVideo
PASADENA, Calif. — The road to Hallmark Channel’s Taylor Swift/Travis Kelce romance-inspired “Holiday Touchdown: A Chiefs Love Story” (8 p.m. Saturday) began in January when the Kansas City Chiefs posted a Hallmark movie parody trailer that starred Tyler Hynes, who’s now also the star of “Holiday Touchdown” with Hunter King...
TV Q&A: Where do TV stations get their filler news stories?
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: In a previous article you explained that the reason KDKA (and to a slightly lesser extent WTAE) mix in 3½ hours of filler material with...
TV Talk: Netflix delivers Christmas Day Steelers game; new Tamburitzans special on WQED-TVVideo
Trib Total Media TV writer Rob Owen offers local viewing tips for the holiday season. As the number of locally produced holiday specials continues to dwindle, Netflix enters the fray to gift Steelers fans nationwide by streaming the Steelers game (against the Chiefs) from Acrisure Stadium at 1 p.m. on...
TV Talk: ‘The Pitt’ to premiere in January on Max
Max announced its Pittsburgh-set, Noah Wyle-starring medical drama “The Pitt” will premiere on the streaming service in January. That’s a little bit of a surprise given that the 15-episode first season won’t wrap production until February, suggesting, perhaps, that the first season will debut in two batches of episodes. Or,...
TV Talk: ‘Pradeeps’ stars visit Penguins game; more ‘Kingstown;’ ‘Man on the Inside,’ ‘Cruel Intentions’ debut
It’s been about a month since “The Pradeeps of Pittsburgh” premiered on Amazon’s Prime Video, and this weekend two of the show’s stars will be in town for an appearance at Saturday’s Penguins game against Utah Hockey Club (7 p.m. PPG Paints Arena). Ashwin Sakthivel, who plays Vinod, the garbage...
TV Talk: KDKA-TV’s Jon Delano retires
After 30 years as KDKA-TV’s political analyst and 23 years as the station’s full-time money and politics editor, Jon Delano will retire from the station Dec. 1, with his last day on-air next Monday. “I have always said that you should retire when you’re at the top of your game,...
TV Q&A: How did a reporter’s hairstyle change so quickly?
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 a while back that all of a sudden Trisha Pittman’s hair was longer than the day before. Has she been wearing a wig?...
TV Talk: Netflix’s ‘Spellbound’ seeks to cast a spell on viewersVideo
Trib Total Media TV writer Rob Owen offers a viewing tip for the coming week. Netflix’s new animated musical “Spellbound” introduces a soundtrack of songs by Alan Menken (“The Little Mermaid,” “Beauty and the Beast”) and Glenn Slater (“Tangled”) in a tale that emphasizes the need to accept change. Ellian...
TV Talk: ‘Landman’ marks Taylor Sheridan’s best series yetVideo
“Landman,” streaming Sunday on Paramount+, is Taylor Sheridan’s best series yet. It’s even more entertaining than “Yellowstone.” Partly that’s the perfect match of actor and material — Billy Bob Thornton was born to play oil company fixer Tommy Norris. But it’s also the subject matter — West Texas oil, but...
TV Talk: WTAE announces new weekend morning anchor
WTAE general assignment reporter Lily Coleman will become the station’s new weekend morning news anchor effective Nov. 23. Coleman, who reported weekday mornings before most recently filling in as morning traffic/noon anchor while Elena LaQuatra has been on maternity leave (LaQuatra will be back to work next week), has also...
TV Q&A: Why do stations cover high school football from the end zone?
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: One thing I’ve always wondered when watching highlights of high school football games — on really all the local news channels — is that they...
TV Talk: David Johnson retires from WPXI after 40 years
WPXI announced that veteran news anchor David Johnson, 67, will retire from Channel 11 effective Dec. 13. Johnson, who joined the station in January 1985, currently anchors the 5, 6 and 11 p.m. newscasts on WPXI and the 6:30 and 10 p.m. news on WPGH-TV, Pittsburgh’s Fox affiliate. “As I...
TV Talk: CMU grad, ‘Pretty Little Liars’ alum stars in Christmas programsVideo
Trib Total Media TV writer Rob Owen offers a viewing tip for the coming week. PASADENA, Calif. — Actor Ian Harding graduated from Carnegie Mellon University’s acting program in 2010 and didn’t have to pay his dues waiting tables, as many actors do. Instead, he was almost immediately cast in...
TV Talk: More smiles than laughs from ‘St. Denis;’ Pittsburgh’s Nielsen rank ticks upVideo
NBC’s “St. Denis Medical” (8 p.m. Nov. 12) has a great cast — Wendi McLendon-Covey, Allison Tolman, David Alan Grier — but this mockumentary set at a bland Oregon hospital is more “American Auto” than “The Office” or “Parks and Recreation.” “St. Denis” will conjure a smile but it doesn’t...
