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TV Talk with Rob Owen category, Page 33

Pope Francis, first Latin American pontiff, dies at 88
TV Talk: Will Smith’s ego steals the spotlight from award winners
When the Academy has to say that it does not condone violence at its ceremony, you know something has gone terribly wrong. Chris Rock joked about Jada Pinkett Smith’s bald head at the Oscars Sunday night, saying he looked forward to seeing her in “G.I. Jane 2” (“G.I. Jane” starred...
TV Talk: Oscars rebound from 2021 disaster, then derailed by a slap 
Back in its traditional home with legitimately funny monologues from the hosts, ABC’s telecast of the 2022 Academy Awards proved a vast improvement in entertainment value from the pared-down-for-covid 2021 show. “CODA,” directed by 1999 Carnegie Mellon University School of Drama grad Sian Heder, was the big winner, taking home...
TV Talk: Pam Surano exits KDKA-TV for job with Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh
KDKA-TV freelance reporter Pam Surano has left the station and joined the Roman Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh where she’s now working as producer/assignment editor for another former KDKA mainstay: Jennifer Antkowiak, who is the diocese’s executive director of communications and community relations. Surano said Antkowiak, who Surano had met previously...
TV Talk: Marvel’s ‘Moon Knight’ rises on Disney+ 
Trib Total Media TV writer Rob Owen offers a viewing tip for the coming week. For its latest Marvel series, Disney+ introduces a new character from the comic books rather than spinning off someone from the Marvel Cinematic Universe as it has done previously (“Wanda Vision,” “The Falcon and the Winter...
Netflix cancels filmed-in-Pittsburgh ‘Archive 81’
This article contains spoilers for the first-season finale of Netflix’s “Archive 81,” released on Jan. 14. A Netflix publicist confirmed a Deadline.com report that the streaming service canceled filmed-in-Pittsburgh supernatural thriller “Archive 81” after just one season. No reason for the cancellation was given by Netflix which often considers the...
TV Talk: ‘Halo’ premieres, ‘Bridgerton’ returns 
When adapting an existing media property, there’s an inherent conflict for a series’ writer: How much do you stick to what already exists versus going your own way? That tension is apparent in the first episode of the new Paramount+ series “Halo,” adapted from the popular video game, which in...
TV Q&A: Did a Pittsburgher have a hand in a recent ‘NCIS’ episode?
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: While watching “NCIS” a few weeks ago, I heard one character say to another … ‘he’s a jagoff.’ Then later in the show, another character...
TV Talk: Western Pa. teen advances on ‘American Idol;’ Joe Serafini will be back on ‘High School Musical’ 
Morgan Gruber of Franklin Township, Beaver County, made it through her first audition for the “American Idol” judges in the episode on Monday, getting three “yes” votes to continue on the singing competition series. The 17-year-old Riverside High School senior from Fombell already had judge Luke Bryan in her corner...
Pittsburgh Pop podcast: Talking ‘Welcome to Flatch,’ ‘Monday Night Football’ changes and Mister Rogers in Florida
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 Latrobe native Fred Rogers’ Florida stomping grounds at Rollins College. Benz and Owen talk about the changes in the broadcast booth at “Monday Night...
TV Talk: Donald Glover on the return of ‘Atlanta’ and ending the series 
Trib Total Media TV writer Rob Owen offers a viewing tip for the coming week. It’s been more than a minute since viewers got a new episode of FX’s “Atlanta” (10 p.m. Thursday). Actually, it’s been almost four years. Viewers can blame at least two of those years on the...
Spend a beautiful day in Mister Rogers’ Florida neighborhood 
WINTER PARK, Fla. — Drive into this community northeast of Orlando’s theme park mecca and it quickly becomes clear you’re in a Mister Rogers neighborhood: A mural of Latrobe native and long-time PBS children’s show host Fred Rogers adorns the exterior wall of Floyd’s 99 Barbershop, a few blocks from...
TV Talk: Mt. Lebanon native Gillian Jacobs directs ‘More Than Robots;’ Fombell singer on ‘American Idol’ 
Mt. Lebanon native Gillian Jacobs is best known for her acting roles — on NBC’s “Community,” in last summer’s Netflix horror series “Fear Street” — but she’s steadily building a reputation as a documentary filmmaker with her latest endeavor, the robotics competition doc “More than Robots,” premiering Friday on Disney+....
TV Q&A: Does a local newscast really need 3 anchors? 
Q: I just watched the new three-announcer format on WTAE morning news and must say I am not a fan. It is like watching the Three Stooges give a report that Moe begins, Larry continues and Curly completes. Why does it take three to report the morning news? — Jack,...
Pittsburgh Pop podcast: Talking ‘Tinder Swindler,’ ‘The Adam Project,’ ‘Obi-Wan Kenobi’ and Pittsburgh native Margot Bingham on ‘The Walking Dead’
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 Pittsburgh native Margot Bingham’s role on “The Walking Dead” and Pittsburgh native Joseph Cannon on “Law Order.” Benz and Owen talk about the end...
TV Talk: Pittsburgh native Margot Bingham’s character revealed on ‘Walking Dead;’ ‘Welcome to Flatch’ premieres 
This column includes spoilers for the March 13 episode of “The Walking Dead.” While other actors on “The Walking Dead” came into this zombie apocalypse series without any sense of what that might be like, Pittsburgh native Margot Bingham had the covid-19 pandemic as a bit of a guide. She...
A trip inside the new ‘Star Wars’-themed immersive hotel at Walt Disney World 
ORLANDO, Fla. — We knew this would be a different kind of Walt Disney World vacation when we bit the bullet and packed an extra suitcase … for costumes. While Universal Orlando once used the tagline “ride the movies,” Walt Disney World’s new Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser experience (otherwise known...
TV Talk: Shaler native worked on Pixar’s ‘Turning Red;’ ‘Adam Project’ premieres
For 1992 Shaler High School grad Christian Hoffman, it wasn’t an interest in drawing that led him to a career at Pixar, whose latest film, “Turning Red,” debuts on Disney+ Friday. It was a love of animation that intersected with studying computer science in college. “I had grown up seeing...
TV Q&A: Who voices that new UPMC commercial?
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: There is a UPMC commercial that’s been airing during the Olympics with narration by someone that sounds like Sterling K. Brown. That seems … unlikely...
Pittsburgh Pop podcast: Talking ‘Winning Time,’ ‘Joe vs. Carole,’ ‘Remember WENN’ and an MIA sports segment on WPXI-TV
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 newfound ability to see episodes of Pittsburgh-set “Remember WENN” after 24 years and WPXI-TV’s decision to curtail sports segments in its 6 p.m....
TV Talk: Pittsburgh-set ‘Remember WENN’ escapes AMC’s memory hole 
Trib Total Media TV writer Rob Owen offers a viewing tip for the coming week. A funny thing happened on the way to the streaming era: a TV program a network once tried to pretend never existed has become a useable asset again. “Remember WENN,” one of the earliest (and...
TV Talk: HBO’s winning ‘Winning Time’ is a sports show about business 
Trib Total Media TV writer Rob Owen offers a viewing tip for the coming week. More a business-of-sports show than a sports show, “Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty” (9 p.m. Sunday on HBO and HBO Max) giddily explores the personalities involved in the Los Angeles Lakers’ 1980s...
TV Talk: Pittsburgh natives Billy Porter, Andy Warhol get streaming biographies 
It’s a banner week for Pittsburgh natives in the arts with new streaming biographies of artist Andy Warhol and actor/singer/director Billy Porter on tap. Warhol is featured in Netflix’s six-hour “The Andy Warhol Diaries” documentary series, streaming next Wednesday, and Porter is profiled in a season-two episode of Apple TV+’s...
TV Q&A: Why no sports report on WPXI’s 6 p.m. newscast 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: Has Channel 11 officially dropped its sportscast from the 6 p.m. newscast? It’s been absent post-Olympics. Previously, there were times when their sports anchor had...
TV Talk: WPGH to add evening newscast produced by WPXI
Pittsburgh viewers will soon have another half-hour weekday evening newscast option: WPXI-TV will begin producing a 6:30 p.m. newscast for WPGH-TV beginning March 14. WPXI’s David Johnson and Liz Kilmer will anchor the additional half-hour news broadcast that displaces a second run of the syndicated, Jay Leno-hosted game show “You...
Pittsburgh Pop podcast: Talking ‘Obi-Wan Kenobi’ series, Michael Keaton on ‘SAG Awards,’ ‘Law & Order’ revival, Jon Delano’s attic
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 what Pittsburgh native Michael Keaton had to say when accepting his SAG Award for “Dopesick” Sunday night and how it relates to his family...


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