Rob Owen stories, Page 21

PBS’s “Independent Lens” debuts an engrossing, emotional 90-minute documentary “Sam Now” (10 p.m. Monday, WQED-TV) about a family where the mother, Jois, abandons her kids — doesn’t tell them where she’s gone, if she’s safe; doesn’t make any effort to see how the kids are doing without her — and...

“Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood,” PBS’s animated “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood” spin-off produced by SouthSide Works-based Fred Rogers Productions, debuts three new episodes next week, including one that visits Hosanna House in Wilkinsburg during a live-action, mid-episode interstitial. The May 9 episode (9 a.m. Tuesday, WQED-TV) focuses on the skill of children learning...

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 past weekend’s show at Acrisure Stadium with a “Yellowstone” twist, the upcoming return of Aerosmith for their final (?) tour and a new...

Trib Total Media TV writer Rob Owen offers a viewing tip for the coming week. Pittsburgh native Frank Nicotero has experience hosting a man-on-the-street quiz show: He was the host of the early 2000s game show “Street Smarts” for several years. Now, Nicotero is back on the streets for Hearst’s...

In the next few weeks, networks and platforms will continue to debut the last of their Emmy-bait series to have the required six episodes on air/streaming before the May 31 cut-off date for 2023 Emmy submissions. It’s the reason for the deluge of new scripted programming in recent weeks that...

The two-hour special “Carol Burnett: 90 Years of Laughter + Love” (8 p.m. Wednesday, WPXI-TV) is not a birthday party or a roast but a stroll down memory lane that features a 90-piece orchestra and clips from Burnett’s greatest hits over her decades in entertainment. “I had my dear chum,...

PASADENA, Calif. — Chef Christopher Galarza, founder of Verona-based Forward Dining Solutions, is quick to point out one of the key benefits of a fully electric kitchen in PBS’s latest “NOVA” episode, “Chasing Carbon Zero” (9 p.m. April 26, WQED-TV): These kitchens are much cooler than a gas-powered kitchen with...

Actress Jennifer Garner came to fame on TV — notably in ABC’s “Alias” (2001-06) — and 2023 marks her return to the medium, first on Starz’s “Party Down” revival and now taking the lead in Apple TV+’s “The Last Thing He Told Me,” now streaming. Based on the 2021 novel...

Production will wrap next week on season two of Amazon Freevee’s “American Rust,” which was filming Tuesday at South Second Street and Grant Avenue in Duquesne. The familiar sounds of Hollywood on the Mon echoed up the grassy slope of Grant Avenue Park: “Last looks,” “Rolling! Quiet please!,” “Cut!,” “Going...

Amazon Freevee’s “Jury Duty,” streaming Friday, is “The Joe Schmo Show” by another name. Pittsburghers played the Schmoes in several seasons of “Joe Schmo,” but the “Jury Duty” schmo, Ronald Gladden, is a solar contractor from San Diego. Gladden thinks he’s been picked for jury duty but it turns out...