TV Talk: WQED boss talks impact of $1.8 million fed funds lossVideo
After Congress voted last week to defund the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, PBS and NPR, Pittsburgh’s WQED Multimedia announced an open-to-the-public “State of the Station” webinar to address the resulting $1.8 million federal funding cut, about 11% of WQED’s annual funding for each fiscal year that begins Oct. 1, 2025, and...
TV Talk: Western Pa. dentist’s murder conviction gets true crime treatment in Hulu’s ‘Trophy Wife’Video
The story of a former Pittsburgh-area dentist convicted of murder gets the true crime docuseries treatment in ABC News Studios’ “Trophy Wife: Murder on Safari,” now streaming on Hulu. The three-episode program (about 40 minutes each) chronicles the story of Larry Rudolph, who was convicted of killing his wife, Bianca,...
TV Talk: Netflix pulls back curtain on end game of ‘Stranger Things’Video
This week, Netflix dropped the first trailer for the final season of “Stranger Things,” which lives up to its title with some of the new hairstyles on the ever-aging lead characters. (“Terminator” alum Linda Hamilton joins the cast with a ’do that resembles ’80s-era Lucille Ball.) Set in fall 1987,...
TV Talk: ‘Strange New Worlds’ treks to mostly familiar terrainVideo
Trib Total Media TV writer Rob Owen offers a viewing tip for the coming week. Is the “Star Trek” franchise running out of steam on Paramount+? “Star Trek: Discovery” got unceremoniously canceled after five seasons without an opportunity to wrap its story in a satisfactory fashion. Animated comedy “Lower Decks”...
TV Q&A: Do NWS cuts impact TV meteorologists?
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 know this might be difficult — or downright impossible considering potential political implications — to get an answer to: Have our three local weather...
Emmy nominations: ‘The Pitt’ lands 13, ‘Severance’ leads all with 27
Given the critical acclaim and buzz, the question going into the 2025 Emmy nominations wasn’t if the ER drama “The Pitt” would get nominated, it was how many noms would the HBO Max series take home. Turns out the answer is 13, including best drama, lead actor in a drama...
TV Talk: Pittsburghers on Hallmark cruise show; locally shot indie on PrimeVideo
For its annual “Christmas in July” programming event, Hallmark Channel created “Christmas at Sea,” a docuseries about last November’s four-night Hallmark Christmas Cruise that features two Pittsburgh grandmothers and their Hallmark Christmas movie-loving 16-year-old grandson. Airing its second episode tonight at 8 (streaming tomorrow on Hallmark+), this week’s installment spends...
TV Talk: Dexter lives in ‘Resurrection,’ but should he?Video
Trib Total Media TV writer Rob Owen offers a viewing tip for the coming week. Maybe Dexter shoulda stayed dead. Alas, you can’t keep popular IP down. Despite serial killer Dexter Morgan (Michael C. Hall) dying at the end of 2021’s “Dexter: New Blood,” Showtime reanimates him in “Dexter: Resurrection,”...
TV Talk: WQED settles lawsuit; ‘Too Much’ on Netflix is just rightVideo
In January, veteran Emmy-winning design director Paula Zetter filed an age discrimination lawsuit against WQED after the public broadcaster eliminated her position in 2024. The case settled late last month. Sam Cordes, Zetter’s attorney, declined to comment, but the court docket shows the case was dismissed with prejudice, meaning it...
TV Q&A: Will ‘Deadliest Catch’ air new episodes this year?
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: Do you have any info on whether “Deadliest Catch” will be on this year? — Deb via Facebook Rob: I hadn’t realized “Deadliest Catch” did...
TV Talk: 25 years after PBS’s living history series, Magnolia goes ‘Back to the Frontier’Video
Trib Total Media TV writer Rob Owen offers a viewing tip for the coming week. It’s been more than two decades since the advent of PBS’s living history series that began with 1999’s “The 1900 House” and 2002’s “Frontier House.” These quasi-social experiment series took a diverse array of everyday...
TV Talk: Pittsburgh native celebrates ‘Jaws @ 50;’ Apple TV+ show seeks extrasVideo
This 50th anniversary summer since the release of Steven Spielberg’s “Jaws,” which ushered in the box office blockbuster era, got the attention of local theatergoers last month with Barebones Productions’ “The Shark Is Broken,” a stage play set behind the scenes during the making of “Jaws.” And “Jaws” content remains...
TV Q&A: Did KDKA’s Lauren Linder leave?
Q: Did Lauren Linder leave KDKA-TV news? — Dave, via Facebook Rob: She did not. Linder simply moved from mornings to the dayside shift. It happens often that viewers question if a reporter left a station when the reporter just moved to work a different shift, a news time the...
TV Talk: ‘The Bear’ back in better shape, more story for former Pittsburgher starVideo
Spoiler alert: This column addresses Season 4 of “The Bear,” now available in its entirety, with mild thematic spoilers. There was general consensus that Hulu’s restaurant dramedy “The Bear” declined in quality last summer during the show’s third season. But, good news: “The Bear” returns much improved, fresher and with...
TV Q&A: Did a WPXI reporter exit?
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 saw that WPXI has a new reporter, Rachel Pierce. Who did she replace? — Gary, via Facebook Rob: It’s unclear if Rachel Pierce is...
TV Talk: Family-friendly ‘Nautilus’ sails rough seas from Disney+ to AMC
Trib Total Media TV writer Rob Owen offers a viewing tip for the coming week. Like last summer’s final season of “Snowpiercer,” AMC’s two-episode debut of “Nautilus” (9-11 p.m. June 29, AMC, AMC+) represents another salvage operation. Just as TNT declined to air the fully produced “Snowpiercer” season as a...
TV Talk: Pittsburgh-filmed ‘Forked’ debuts at PIFF; local chef makes EatThis.tv pilot
With advances in digital technology and cameras, anyone can make a TV pilot these days. Getting it distributed is a greater challenge, but two indie projects with Western Pennsylvania ties are having a moment. ‘Forked’ Writer/actor Sarah Goeke first got inspired to make her web series “Forked” while performing in...
TV Q&A: How does a Pirates announcer handle a losing team?
Q: The Pittsburgh Pirates have had three winning seasons in the last 30 years. The one constant during this period is play-by-play announcer Greg Brown. I read a report that Greg has called well over 2,000 Pirates losses and Brown is the losingest play-by-play announcer among active announcers. Has Greg...
TV Talk: HBO’s ‘Gilded Age’ grows more dramatic in 3rd seasonVideo
Trib Total Media TV writer Rob Owen offers a viewing tip for the coming week. HBO’s “The Gilded Age” returns for its third season (9 p.m. June 22, HBO, Max) and the show remains the best (and only!) “Upstairs Downstairs”/“Downton Abbey”-esque series in production today. Sometimes it feels like not...
TV Talk: Reimagined ‘Walking with Dinosaurs’ stomps to PBSVideo
Trib Total Media TV writer Rob Owen offers a viewing tip for the coming week. When the original “Walking with Dinosaurs” debuted in 1999, Emily Bamforth was a teenager already intrigued by Mesozoic creatures. Her favorite film remains the original “Jurassic Park” (the sequels, reboot and the reboot’s sequels, not...
TV Talk: Magee doc talks filming ‘1000-lb Sisters’
For Dr. Peter Rubin, professor and chair of plastic surgery at UPMC, being filmed isn’t that unusual. He’s had cameras trained on him during surgery for a documentary, for medical teaching films and he’s been a guest on “Dr. Oz.” But appearing in a reality docu-series was new. Rubin appeared...
TV Talk: WTAE, WPXI sweep May ratings; ‘Revival’ debuts on SyfyVideo
In the May 2025 local weekday newscast ratings, WTAE newscasts ranked first most often in households, a measure of general popularity, and WPXI newscasts had the greatest number of newscasts ranking first in the key demographic of persons ages 25-54, often used to set advertising rates. In households, WTAE was...
TV Q&A: Why isn’t ‘Live’ live some days?
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 that “Live with Kelly and Mark” has now a small previously recorded message that pops up at the beginning of every episode. Has...
TV Talk: Stephen Moyer talks Pittsburgh, ‘Art Detectives,’ ‘Elsbeth’Video
Actor Stephen Moyer, best known for his role as vampire Bill Compton on HBO’s “True Blood” (2008-14), has a new British detective drama, “Art Detectives,” streaming on Acorn TV on June 9. But before we got into his new show, Moyer wanted to talk about Pittsburgh. “My daughter (Lilac Emery-Haynes)...
TV Talk: Golf gets pop culture moments with ‘Stick,’ ‘Happy Gilmore 2,’ ‘Steel Links’Video
With the 2025 U.S. Open at Oakmont Country Club coming up June 12-15, golf is in the zeitgeist locally — but there are also multiple national programs with golf themes coming this summer, beginning this week with Apple TV+’s “Stick” and continuing in July with Netflix’s “Happy Gilmore 2.” Invariably,...
