TV Q&A: Why do the same sitcoms rerun most often?
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: Reruns like “The Big Bang Theory” and “Friends” are constantly on TV. Why are these on so often? I would love to watch reruns of...
CMU grads help Universal Orlando one-up Disney with Epic UniverseVideo
In an era when filmed entertainment is fragmented among thousands of choices — TV, streaming, cable, gaming, YouTube, TikTok — experiences offer a differentiator, a business where media companies don’t have to worry about ratings, ad sales, time-shifted viewing and the nonstop fight for eyeballs. Disney now leans more heavily...
TV Talk: Apple TV+ series, Amazon movie to film in Pittsburgh
In addition to “Mayor of Kingstown,” currently filming its fourth season locally, and the movie “Hershey,” also now in production, Pittsburgh will soon see the arrival of an Apple TV+ series and an Amazon MGM Studios film. Pete Davidson (“Saturday Night Live”), Zoe Kravitz (“The Studio”), Nicholas Hoult (“Nosferatu”), Anna...
TV Talk: ‘Succession’ writer depicts tech bros behaving badly in HBO’s ‘Mountainhead’
“Succession” writer/creator Jesse Armstrong returns well to the lifestyles of the rich and semi-famous with the new satirical HBO movie “Mountainhead” (8 p.m. Saturday, HBO and Max), the story of four awful billionaire tech bro friends on a weekend retreat. For “Succession” fans, it’s easiest to imagine “Mountainhead” as a...
TV Q&A: Why do full weather forecasts come late 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: In my opinion, the reason all TV stations put the complete weather forecast on so late in their broadcast is because they know people will...
TV Talk: Scripted summer originals debut on streaming, cable
Trib Total Media TV writer Rob Owen offers a viewing tip for the coming week. The summer’s most popular direct-to-streaming title is likely to be the Netflix movie “Happy Gilmore 2” (July 25), starring Adam Sandler. But beyond that one-shot, there are a slew of scripted shows coming to streaming...
TV Talk: ‘Destination X’ marks the spot in NBC competition; Gordon Ramsay seeks Pittsburgh restaurantsVideo
There aren’t many new series to look forward to this summer on the broadcast networks, but NBC’s “Destination X” (10 p.m. Tuesday, WPXI) has a decent hook, blending “The Amazing Race”-style travel with “Love Is Blind” blinders and the social game of “Survivor”/“Big Brother.” A “Destination X” preview aired earlier...
TV Q&A: Why are network TV series getting shorter?
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: Why do a lot of network television series run shorter seasons than they used to? For example, ABC’s “High Potential” only has a 13-episode first...
TV Talk: Pittsburgh team competes on ‘Lego Masters’ in a summer of unscripted network showsVideo
Aside from a few imported scripted shows on PBS and The CW, summer is where broadcast networks roll out more reality competitions and game shows, low-cost filler during the warmest weather months when fewer viewers turn on the TV. For its fifth season, Fox’s “Lego Masters” (8 p.m. May 19,...
TV Talk: ‘Overcompensating,’ ‘Duster,’ ‘Murderbot’ debut; ‘Prison Break’ seeks extrasVideo
It’s not often three worthwhile streaming series premiere in the same week, but here we are. ‘Overcompensating’ Perhaps the funniest streaming comedy since “Hacks,” Amazon Prime Video’s “Overcompansating” presents as a wild, profanity-filled “Animal House”-style bacchanal. But at its heart, the eight-episode series is an endearing coming-of-age story centered on...
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 Talk: Former Pittsburgher Chbosky directs, Joe Manganiello stars in Netflix’s ‘Nonnas’Video
For his latest film project, 1988 Upper St. Clair High School grad Stephen Chbosky, author of coming-of-age novel “The Perks of Being a Wallflower” and writer/director of its film adaptation, looked to an actor from a rival high school to cast in “Nonnas,” streaming May 9 on Netflix (just in...
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-hitterVideo
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 Talk: Tina Fey, Steve Carell remake ‘Four Seasons;’ SNP adds ‘Views’Video
The 1981 film “The Four Seasons,” written and directed by and starring Alan Alda, gets re-envisioned as a relatable, ultimately winning eight-episode Netflix comedy starring Tina Fey, Steve Carell, Colman Domingo and Will Forte. Two episodes cover each season, beginning with spring, as six college friends, most in their 50s,...
TV Q&A: ‘The Pitt’ gets a lot of attention but how is ‘Watson’ doing?Video
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: With Pittsburgh-set “The Pitt” getting a lot of local attention, how is Pittsburgh-set CBS medical drama “Watson” doing? Do they film here? — Mariko, via...
TV Talk: ‘Gilmore Girls’ creators back with French-accented ‘Étoile;’ ‘Carême’ cooks on Apple TV+
Trib Total Media TV writer Rob Owen offers a viewing tip for the coming week. French TV shows are having a moment this month with the premieres of two series that rely heavily on French-speaking characters subtitled in English: Amazon Prime Video’s ballet dramedy “Étoile” and Apple TV+’s “Carême,” a...
TV Talk: Netflix’s ‘You’ returns with new Pittsburgh connectionsVideo
Netflix’s “You,” now streaming its 10-episode fifth and final season, wraps up the story of serial killer Joe Goldberg (Penn Badgley). And this season, there’s a former Pittsburgher along for the ride. It’s not the first time. Actress Victoria Pedretti, a 2017 graduate of Carnegie Mellon University’s School of Drama,...
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...
