Just not ‘Maid’ to last
Lifetime series ended after 4 seasons in 2016
Q. I enjoyed the campy show “Devious Maids” and knew another season was filmed and should have been on. What happened to it? It was much better than some of the awful shows currently on Lifetime.
A. The series, inspired by telenovelas, ended with its fourth-season finale in August 2016. While the ratings were OK, Deadline.com reported that the series was “left over from the old regime at Lifetime,” and the new team was changing direction toward shows such as “UNREAL,” the edgy drama set behind the scenes at a “Bachelor”-like show. (A third season of “UNREAL” is coming.)
Q. I love “Celebrity Name Game,” but it has been nothing but reruns for the last several months. Has it been canceled or are they just on a game show hiatus?
A. The makers of the syndicated series hosted by Daytime Emmy-winner Craig Ferguson announced in December that the show would not go past its current, third season. Low ratings reportedly were the reason. The show’s online auditions and studio ticket forms are already inactive. But, as with many TV formats, it could return in some fashion; one of the producing partners told the Hollywood Reporter that “while we are not renewing in syndication at this time, it is a format we believe in.”
Q. Could you tell me if there will be a fifth season of “Orange Is the New Black” and when the fourth season will be on DVD?
A. The fifth season arrives on Netflix on June 9, picking up from the big events in Season 4. I won’t spoil anything in case you can’t see the fourth season until it arrives on DVD and Bluray Tuesday.
Q. I need to track down DVDs of two television shows from the early ’60s. One is “Peter Gunn” and the other is “T.H.E. Cat.” I would appreciate it if you would tell me where to obtain them.
A. Created by Blake Edwards, “Peter Gunn” starred Craig Stevens as a super-cool private eye and boasted music by Henry Mancini. It originally aired from 1958 to 1961. Timeless Media Group released a complete-series box set on DVD (with a bonus CD of music from the series) in 2012. It is still available, including via Amazon.com. There was also a big-screen “Gunn” reuniting Edwards and Stevens in 1967, and a 1989 “Peter Gunn” TV movie, also with Edwards in charge, but with Peter Strauss as the private eye. The Strauss production is on DVD; the big-screen “Gunn” is hard to find.
As for “T.H.E. Cat,” one of the favorites of my youth, it starred Robert Loggia as a cool, uh, cat and crimefighter, and ran for a single season in 1966-’67. I do not know of an authorized DVD and do not recommend unauthorized ones. You can find some old episodes of so-so viewing quality on YouTube.
Write to Rich Heldenfels at P.O. Box 417, Mogadore, OH 44260, or brenfels@gmail.com. Letters may be edited. Individual replies are not guaranteed.