Rob Owen stories, Page 20
TV Talk: Best scripted TV of 2023
With the hangover of the writers’ and actors’ strikes impacting broadcast networks through at least mid-January, it’s a good time to take stock of 2023 TV and an opportunity to catch up on some great series you might have missed. One caveat: These shows represent my favorites, the shows that...
TV Q&A: Did KDKA-TV’s Mary Ours change shifts?
Q:I haven’t seen Mary Ours in a while. Is she still working at KDKA-TV? — Jim, Derry Q: Why is Mary Ours on “Talk Pittsburgh” with Heather Abraham now? — Lyle via email Q: Who at KDKA thinks we want to watch Mary Ours shoot hoops, Irish dance and golf?...
TV Talk: Gift ideas for fans of ‘Bluey,’ ‘Call the Midwife,’ ‘Donkey Hodie,’ ‘Stranger Things,’ ‘Yellowstone’
Trib Total Media TV writer Rob Owen offers gifting tips for TV fans this holiday season. For the TV fan on your gift-giving list, consider one of these options (prices listed are rounded to the nearest dollar, standard retail prices but many items sell for less, particularly when purchased online):...
Pittsburgh Pop podcast: Golden Globe nominations, gifts for TV fans, ‘Monk’ returns, holiday films
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 the Golden Globe Award nominations with local ties. Partially Pittsburgh-set “Daisy Jones & the Six” (Prime Video) received a best limited series nomination and...
TV Talk: Carnegie Mellon grad Matt Bomer talks ‘Fellow Travelers’
Matt Bomer (“White Collar”), a 2001 Carnegie Mellon University graduate, is winning accolades for his role in the often risqué, queer love story “Fellow Travelers” (9 p.m. Sunday, Showtime; streams on Paramount+ with Showtime). The series is written by Southwestern Pennsylvania native Ron Nyswaner, who grew up in Clarksville, Greene...
TV Talk: ‘Monk’ back on the case; ‘Archies’ vs. ‘Archie’Video
TV reboots get built on ricketier foundations than “Mr. Monk’s Last Case: A ‘Monk’ Movie,” streaming Friday on Peacock. On the 2002-09 USA cable series, Adrian Monk (Tony Shalhoub) was known as the germ-phobic, “obsessive-compulsive detective.” So it wasn’t that deep into the covid-19 pandemic before Shalhoub, who got covid...
TV Q&A: Did Chris Hoffman leave KDKA-TV? Where’s WPXI’s Alby Oxenreiter?
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: Just wondering why we haven’t seen Chris Hoffman on KDKA-TV for quite a while. — Linda, via Facebook Rob: Hoffman posted to social media that...
Pittsburgh Pop podcast: Hulu cancels series that was to film in Pittsburgh; new WTAE reporter; Verizon’s new streaming bundle
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 this weekend’s news that Hulu has dropped Lee Daniels’ Sammy Davis Jr. biographical series that had planned to film in Pittsburgh in 2024. Producers...
TV Talk: Recently published books go behind the scenes of TV biz
TribLive TV writer Rob Owen offers reading tips for recent books about TV. One of the pitfalls of writing about TV in the #peakTV era is that if you don’t make a point to take a break from watching screeners of TV shows, you’ll never find time to pick up...
TV Talk: KDKA+ announces 8 p.m. anchor; local ratings; Pa.-set ‘Great Photo’ uncovers family’s story
WPKD-TV, known in branding as KDKA+ on Channel 19, will begin broadcasting a one-hour 8 p.m. newscast Jan. 8 with Jessica Guay as anchor, relocating from her current weekend morning anchor position on KDKA-TV. Ray Petelin will provide weather forecasts on “Primetime News on KDKA+.” Recent hire Megan Shinn will...
TV Q&A: Why isn’t Chris DeRose on KDKA-TV in the mornings?
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 Chris DeRose still at KDKA-TV? He’s been on sporadically in the morning. — Dave, via email Rob: He’s still there, just no longer working...
TV Talk: Ashley Zilka exits WTAE; Cuban to leave ‘Shark Tank’; RMU grad on ‘Squid Game’
Channel 4 general assignment reporter Ashley Zilka, who joined the station just two years ago, posted to Facebook this week that she’s leaving the station Thursday and leaving TV news altogether to join her family’s baking supply business, Zilka & Company. Zilka grew up in Rostraver Township and graduated from...
TV Talk: T.J. ‘Doo Wop’ Lubinsky finally got to make his dream music showVideo
Trib Total Media TV writer Rob Owen offers a viewing tip for the coming week. Locally based TV producer T.J. Lubinsky hit on a winning formula for public TV pledge specials in 1999 with WQED-TV’s “Doo Wop 50,” Lubinsky’s first national pledge show. He’s been making PBS music-centric pledge specials...
Pittsburgh Pop podcast: Talking ‘Growing Up Yinzer’ book, ‘Fargo,’ ‘Squid Game: The Challenge’
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 an interview with Dick Roberts of the new book, “Growing Up Yinzer: Memories from Beloved Pittsburgh” ($25, The History Press), which includes reminiscences from...
TV Talk: Joe Wos reads his ‘Yinzer’s Night Before Christmas’ on WQED-TVVideo
Emmy-winning “Cartoon Academy” host Joe Wos brings his “Yinzer’s Night Before Christmas” to WQED-TV as a three-minute short that will air throughout December beginning after the 4 p.m. airing of “Lucy Worsley’s 12 Days of Tudor Christmas” on Dec. 11. The video also will post online at youtube.com/@WQED and at...
TV Talk: Western Pa. doctor competes on ‘Squid Game;’ Tamburitzans back on WQED-TVVideo
The success of 2021’s scripted South Korean drama series “Squid Game” naturally made Netflix pursue a reality show version, “Squid Game: The Challenge,” now streaming. The production values are huge and magnificent – the show, featuring 456 contestants at its outset, boasts a $4.56 million prize – and when “The...
TV Q&A: Is SportsNet Pittsburgh airing more local collegiate games?
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’m writing this email watching RIT vs. Mercyhurst on SportsNet Pittsburgh. I saw news about SNP airing Robert Morris University games, but is this part...
Pittsburgh Pop podcast: Talking Mr. McFeely, ‘Rustin,’ Charissa Thompson, the return of Urkel, ‘Wolf Hall’
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 filmed-in-Pittsburgh “Rustin,” now streaming on Netflix, and new Emmy honors for Pittsburgh actor David Newell, who played Mr. McFeely on “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood.” Benz...
TV Talk: David Newell, aka Mr. McFeely on ‘Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood,’ to receive Emmy honorVideo
Pittsburgh actor David Newell, who for more than three decades played Speedy Deliveryman Mr. McFeely on “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood,” will be inducted into the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Gold Circle at the second Children’s & Family Emmy Awards in Los Angeles Dec. 17. The Gold Circle is...
TV Talk: 5th ‘Fargo’ TV installment explores ‘Minnesota nice’ in uncivil societyVideo
Trib Total Media TV writer Rob Owen offers a viewing tip for the coming week. Sometimes you don’t realize just how good an actor can be at their craft until you see the actor in a completely different role. From her work as bubbly Keeley Jones on “Ted Lasso,” I...
TV Talk: Godzilla (and friends!) attack; ‘Cartoon Academy’ returnsVideo
Despite its presence on one of the smaller streaming services, WhipMedia’s anticipation report said Apple TV+’s new 10-episode live-action Godzilla series, “Monarch: Legacy of Monsters” is the most-anticipated new series in November. Turns out there’s a huge fandom for Godzilla – and not just in Japan – that I only...
TV Q&A: Why aren’t guests in the studio on ‘Nightly Sports Call’?
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: On KDKA+’s “Nightly Sports Call,” why aren’t the guests in the Fan Cave with the TV host? The Fan Cave was remodeled in the beginning...
Pittsburgh Pop podcast: Talking local baker on Food Network, ‘streamflation:’ the rising costs of streaming services
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 Pittsburgher Jasmine Cho, a past winner of Food Network’s “Christmas Cookie Challenge” who competes again on the show at 9 p.m. Thursday.Eight former “Christmas...
TV Talk: KDKA-TV hires weekend morning anchor; ABC cancels ‘The Rookie: Feds’
KDKA-TV has its new weekend morning anchor: Megan Shinn, currently an anchor at WRTV-TV, the ABC affiliate in Indianapolis, Ind., will take the position vacated by Briana Smith when Smith left for a reporter position in Philadelphia in May. Shinn will also report for morning KDKA/WPKD newscasts some weekdays. Shinn,...
TV Talk: It takes too long to get to ‘A Murder at the End of the World’Video
Trib Total Media TV writer Rob Owen offers a viewing tip for the coming week. Hulu’s FX-produced seven-episode limited series “A Murder at the End of the World” assembles all the pieces necessary for a modern-day take on Agatha Christie but excises any sense of fun. Instead, this morose mystery...
