TV Talk: ‘Dance Moms’ reunite; Riverhounds return, Cavs games added to KDKA+
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Lifetime scheduled its two-hour “Dance Moms: The Reunion” special for 8 p.m. May 1. Early seasons of the reality show filmed at Abby Lee Miller’s now-shuttered dance studio in Penn Hills.
Miller is not expected to be part of the reunion that will feature JoJo Siwa, Chloe Lukasiak, Brooke Hyland, Paige Hyland, Kendall Vertes and Kalani Hilliker along with their moms, Jessalynn Siwa, Christi Lukasiak, Kelly Hyland, Jill Vertes and Kira Hilliker.
In addition, Lukasiak hosts “Dance Moms: Epic Showdowns” (10 p.m. May 1), a half-hour clip show of dance battles and behind-the-scenes meltdowns culled from the show’s 2011-19, eight-season run.
Riverhounds, Cavs on KDKA+
For the second year, Pittsburgh’s WPKD-TV, Channel 19 (AKA KDKA+), will air Pittsburgh Riverhounds soccer games. In addition, the station will carry five NBA Cleveland Cavaliers games with the first airing at 7 p.m. Friday.
Adding Cavs games is perhaps unexpected but it seems to be part of the reordering of local pro sports TV rights following the implosion of the regional sports network model that’s being done in by cord-cutting. Last week, Gray Television announced deals for five Cavs games to air on Ohio TV stations owned by Nexstar Media Group, Cox Media Group and Tegna. The addition of games on WPKD seems like a further extension of that deal.
The 22 Riverhounds regular season USLC soccer games will begin airing with a game against New Mexico at 4 p.m. Saturday.
Other Riverhounds games will air at 7 p.m. March 16, 7 p.m. April 6, 7:30 p.m. April 13, 7 p.m. April 27, 7 p.m. May 4, 7 p.m. May 18, 7 p.m. June 1, 7:30 p.m. June 22, 7 p.m. July 6, 7 p.m. July 13, 7 p.m. July 27, 7 p.m. Aug. 10, 7 p.m. Aug. 17, 7 p.m. Aug. 24, 7 p.m. Aug. 31, likely at 7 p.m. Sept. 7, 7:30 p.m. Sept. 14, 7 p.m. Sept. 28, 7 p.m. Oct. 12, 7 p.m. Oct. 19 and 7 p.m. Oct. 26.
Additional Cavs games will air on Channel 19 at 7 p.m. March 20, 7:30 p.m. March 29, 3:30 p.m. April 6 and 3:30 p.m. April 7. Weekday games will pre-empt the local 8 p.m. news on WPKD.
‘Neighbor’ day
WQED’s annual “Be My Neighbor,” inspired by Fred Rogers Productions’ PBS Kids show “Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood,” will take place with a free event in Canonsburg March 23 with a walking tour that visits Frank Sarris Public Library (11 a.m.-2 p.m.), Arc Human Services (noon-2 p.m. with presentations at 12:15 and 1:15 p.m.), Canonsburg United Presbyterian Church (cookie table at 11:30 a.m. and noon; Sarris Chocolate presentations at 12:30 and 1 p.m.) and visits with Daniel Tiger at The Canonsburg Senior Center (11:15-11:45 a.m.; 12:15-12:45 p.m.; 1:15-1:45 p.m.).
Details at wqed.org/bemyneighborday.
Channel surfing
The premiere of FX-produced miniseries “Shōgun” drew 9 million views on Hulu and Disney+ to become FX’s biggest debut on the streaming platforms. … Amazon’s Prime Video renewed “Upload” for a fourth and final season. … Morgan Neville, the filmmaker behind the Mister Rogers feature film documentary “Won’t You Be My Neighbor?,” turns his camera on comic actor Steve Martin in “STEVE! (martin) a documentary in 2 pieces,” premiering March 29 on Apple TV+. … Retired WQED-TV vice president of production and programming David Solomon is now a member of the National Academy of Television Arts Sciences (NATAS) board of directors, interesting timing given that WQED’s new general manager Jason Jedlinski said the station will no longer enter the regional Emmys competition administered by the Mid-Atlantic chapter of NATAS. Pittsburgh Community Broadcasting (WESA-FM, WYEP-FM) CEO Terry O’Reilly is now chair of the NATAS executive committee.