Rob Owen stories, Page 39

Rob Owen
Rob Owen
Pope Francis, first Latin American pontiff, dies at 88
TV Talk: Daytime changes for fall include Jay Leno-hosted game show, Nick Cannon talk show 
Trib Total Media TV writer Rob Owen offers a viewing tip for the coming week. Already “Dr. Oz” has moved over from WTAE-TV to 10 a.m. weekdays on WPGH-TV, but perhaps the most noteworthy syndicated debut of the Fall 2021 season is “You Bet Your Life” (6 and 6:30 p.m....
TV Talk: KDKA-TV reporter Nicole Ford jumps to WPXI-TV
It’s not the norm in TV news for a reporter to file her last report for one station on a Friday and then turn up reporting on a rival station a few days later. But when a reporter is part-time and not under contract with the first station, such circumstances...
TV Talk: Is filmed-in-Western Pa. ‘American Rust’ worth watching? 
Showtime’s Western Pennsylvania-set series “American Rust” (10 p.m. Sunday) gets off to an exceedingly slow start as it introduces its characters and their situations. In Sunday’s premiere, Del Harris (Jeff Daniels), the police chief of Buell, Fayette County, covers up a possible crime for the benefit of the woman he...
TV Talk: Jeff Daniels accomplishes his quest to bring filmed-in-Western Pa. ‘American Rust’ to fruition 
For actor Jeff Daniels, Showtime’s filmed-in-Western-Pennsylvania “American Rust” (10 p.m. Sunday) is more than another role. It’s the fulfillment of an idea he had more than a decade ago to adapt the 2009 Philipp Meyer novel of the same name into a filmed project after Daniels’ agent (now his manager)...
TV Talk: WPXI ends its annual holiday parade tradition
WPXI-TV announced it will no longer stage and broadcast its annual holiday parade in Downtown Pittsburgh, a 40-year tradition. A post to the WPXI Holiday Parade Facebook page says while the station was proud to broadcast the seasonal special, “At this time we cannot continue to produce and broadcast the...
TV Q&A: What’s happening to Benny on ‘Bull’?
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: When is CBS’s “Bull” starting a new season? And why is Benny really leaving? — Millie via email Rob: Many returning series will start rolling...
TV Talk: Pitt, CMU grad reboots ‘Doogie Howser, M.D.’ for Disney+ 
Trib Total Media TV writer Rob Owen offers a viewing tip for the coming week. Veteran TV writer and University of Pittsburgh and Carnegie Mellon University grad Kourtney Kang knows the bad rap reboots get among critics and some viewers. She purposefully took a different, more personal approach to writing...
TV Talk: Martha Plimpton replaces Illeana Douglas on filming-in-Pittsburgh comedy ‘Sprung’
Only a week into filming streaming comedy “Sprung” in Pittsburgh and there’s been a change on the call sheet of the IMDb TV series: The role played in scenes shot last week by actress Illeana Douglas will be played going forward (and in re-shoots) by Emmy-winner Martha Plimpton. Recasting is...
TV Talk: Joe Manganiello visits ‘A.P. Bio;’ Billy Porter’s ‘Cinderella’ and Michael Keaton’s ‘Worth’ debut 
Streaming services offer a trifecta of Pittsburgh natives in new entertainment offerings this weekend. Porter in ‘Cinderella’ Does the world really need another Cinderella movie? Writer/director Kay Cannon, with an assist from Pittsburgh native Billy Porter as the Fab G, delivers a spirited, modern, musical “Cinderella” that proves it has...
TV Q&A: What happened to Marisa Tomei’s role in ‘Sweet Girl’?
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: Word is that Marisa Tomei was fired from the movie “Sweet Girl” as she was a difficult diva. Truth to that is the fact that...
TV Talk: Netflix’s ‘Rustin’ seeks 2,000 extras during filming in Pittsburgh
When the Netflix bio-pic “Rustin,” about the late civil rights activist Bayard Rustin, comes to film in Pittsburgh beginning Sept. 27, casting director Rose Locke has a big task on her hands: Hiring 370 extras for the film’s re-creation of Martin Luther King Jr.’s historic 1963 March on Washington, a...
TV Talk: Pittsburgh’s success featured in PBS’s ‘Future of Work’ 
Trib Total Media TV writer Rob Owen offers a viewing tip for the coming week. Pittsburgh’s revitalization is featured in the first episode of the three-part PBS series “Future of Work” (10-11 p.m. Wednesday, WQED-TV), which explores changes in the workplace and its potential for long-term impact on workers, employers,...
TV Talk: Michael Keaton talks Steelers with Seth Meyers on ‘Late Night’ 
Seth Meyers, host of NBC’s “Late Night,” didn’t grow up in Pittsburgh, but his father is from East Liberty and the late-night host has made no secret of his love for the Steelers, even going so far as working references into an episode of IFC’s “Documentary Now” that he wrote....
TV Talk: More on ‘The Chair,’ including that celeb cameo; 9/11 remembered 
Now that the six-episode, easily bingeable, filmed-in-Pittsburgh “The Chair” has been out for a week on Netflix, it’s time to share more from my interviews with series co-creator Amanda Peet and star Sandra Oh, spoilers included (if you don’t want to be spoiled, skip to the next subhead). “The Chair”...
TV Q&A: What’s up with the ‘Jeopardy!’ host debacle and who could host now?
Q: If you had been choosing the next host of “Jeopardy” who would it be? What do you think of Mike Richards? — Barb via email Rob: This query arrived a week before briefly tenured Mike Richards exited the “Jeopardy!” host role. I started writing a response during the day...
TV Talk: ‘The Other Two’ remains one of TV’s best comedies as it relocates to HBO Max
Sometimes when a series has been MIA as long as “The Other Two” — its last new episode premiered in March 2019 — it can be difficult to remember exactly why you loved it. There’s also this concern: Will the show be as good as I vaguely remember it was?...
TV Talk: Are Netflix’s filmed-in-Pittsburgh ‘Sweet Girl’ and ‘The Chair’ worth watching? 
Here’s an inside-entertainment tip: When networks/studios/platforms put an embargo date (that is, when stories can be published) on reviews of a new movie or TV show that is well in advance of the release date that the project becomes available to the public, it’s because those in charge of publicity...
TV Talk: Sandra Oh praises local actors in Netflix’s ‘The Chair’ 
Perhaps it should be no surprise that, in a town full of colleges with acting programs, it wouldn’t be too hard for a big-budget series to swoop in and hire a passel of actors/acting professors to play college faculty members in “The Chair,” streaming Friday on Netflix after filming in...
TV Talk: Former Pittsburgher gets ‘Naked;’ ‘Destination Fear’ visits Waynesburg 
It’s a ridiculously busy week for Pittsburgh on TV and TV shows with local ties. Not only is Netflix releasing filmed-in-Pittsburgh “Sweet Girl” and “The Chair” on Friday, but two reality shows — “Destination Fear” and “Naked and Afraid of Love” — also have ties to Western Pennsylvania. ‘Destination Fear’...
TV Talk: Obama-produced ‘Rustin’ will film in Pittsburgh
The latest Netflix project to come to Pittsburgh marks a return to town for the film’s director and the first Pittsburgh production from the production company created by former President Barack Obama and Michelle Obama. “Rustin,” directed by George C. Wolfe, who directed “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom” in Pittsburgh for...
TV Q&A: Will new episodes of ‘Doc Martin’ ever air on WQED-TV?
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: Will PBS run new episodes of “Doc Martin” soon? I assume the pandemic has held up production. — Kathy, Allegheny Township Rob: Technically, “Doc Martin”...
Jason Momoa appears to dive off PNC Park in new Netflix movie ‘Sweet Girl’ 
Trib Total Media TV writer Rob Owen offers a viewing tip for the coming week. Perhaps it would have been better not to ask Jason Momoa about the special effects work in a scene early in filmed-in-Pittsburgh Netflix movie “Sweet Girl” where his character, Ray Cooper, dives off the roof...
TV Talk: Son of Mr. McFeely follows in his ‘speedy delivery’ footsteps on ‘Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood’ 
A second-generation Newell will make a “Speedy Delivery” on PBS’s “Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood,” the animated spin-off of “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood.” Alex Newell, the 39-year-old son of Pittsburgh actor David Newell, who played Mr. McFeely on “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood” and continues to make occasional public appearances as the character, makes a...
TV Talk: Former Steelers linebacker James Harrison wrestles in ‘Heels’ 
For Steelers linebacker-turned-actor James Harrison there’s a commonality to playing for the NFL and acting in a TV series. “It’s bonding, it’s team building,” he said of making “Heels,” a Starz eight-episode, first-season drama he co-stars in as a wrestler. “You can’t just go out there and think you’re gonna...
TV Q&A: What happened to ‘Tamron Hall’ and ‘Dr. Oz’ on WTAE-TV?
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: What happened to Tamron Hall’s show on WTAE? It’s not on in the afternoon anymore. — Jean via voicemail Rob: When WTAE started a 4...


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