‘Coming up’ again and again
Post-Gazette TV writer Rob Owen answers reader questions online every Friday in Tuned In Journal blog at post-gazette.com/tv. Here’s a selection of recent queries.
Q: Why does KDKATV News have to advertise a certain news story is “coming up” five times before it actually shows the story? No other station does it as frequently as KDKA, and this is really annoying to me.
— HARRY, ROSS Rob: “All stations, whether they’re over the air or on cable, promote what’s coming up within their shows,” notes KDKATV news director Anne Linaberger. “We’ll take another look at the frequency to see if it’s appropriate. Thanks for watching!”
Q: Sometimes the same celebrity will be on the “Today” show and “Good Morning America” promoting their new movie on the same day, almost simultaneously. Are the studios so close together they run from one to the other, or are those segments not live?
— KATIE, SCOTT Rob: I think it depends on the segment. The studios are located near one another in Manhattan (but, also, traffic!), so sometimes the celebs zip from place to place, but sometimes the interviews are prerecorded.
Q: A new series began on ITV in the UK (the originator of “Downton Abbey”) called “The Halcyon.” It’s a drama set in a London hotel during WWII. I am curious if any networks in the U.S. will pick it up? The credits at the end of the show don’t have any partner tags like Masterpiece or cable networks.
— LINDA, MONROEVILLE Rob: It doesn’t appear the show has been picked up by an American outlet. Q: On season one of FX’s comedy series “Baskets,” the carnival boss Eddie is played by Ernest Adams, who has been deceased since 1947. Can you explain? — LARRY, VALENCIA Rob: Yes, they are two different people with similar names.
Ernie Adams died in 1947. Ernest Adams is a different actor with the same name who must still be alive to be acting in “Baskets.”
Q: I had been enjoying episodes of “Columbo” by streaming from Netflix. Suddenly they were not to be found. After an exhaustive search of the Netflix array of available offerings I called Netflix. I was told that Netflix had lost the rights to “Columbo” but was working on getting them back. There was no target date.
Meanwhile, what is a poor “Columbo” fan to do? Is “Columbo” available anywhere else? — WALTER VIA EMAIL Rob: TV shows go on and come off streaming services with some frequency. You can always buy used DVDs on Amazon.
Q: Does WPNT plan to air “The Walking Dead” reruns again? — LORRAINE,
VIA EMAIL Rob: No. WPNT is a My Network TV affiliate, which announced a schedule last summer that did not include “The Walking Dead” reruns.