TV questions and answers
You have questions. I have some answers. Q: I was wondering if “Criminal Minds: Beyond Borders” with Gary Sinise is coming back. I really liked that show.
A: It will. CBS picked up a second season of the series, but has not yet announced a return date.
Q: Back during or right before the era of “Grace Under Fire” there was a TV show, I do not recall for sure, but it might have been one of the popular single mother theme shows. The question: there was a young lady, probably in her early teens with a very distinctive (unusual) voice who would do a monologue during or at the end of the show while sitting on roof outside her bedroom window. What was the TV show and who was this young lady?
A: The series was “The Torkelsons,” which aired on NBC on 19911992 and again in 1993 with a changed premise and name, “Almost Home.” Olivia Burnette was Dorothy Jane Torkelson, teen daughter of Millicent (Connie Ray). “Grace Under Fire,” by the way, aired from 1993 to 1998.
Q: Back in the 1970s there was a network series called “Beacon Hill” that ran for a few years. It was kind of an “Upstairs, Downstairs” but taking place in Boston. Do you know if it could be found on DVD?
A: The 1975 drama “Beacon Hill” was indeed hoping to capitalize on the success of “Upstairs, Downstairs.” It accordingly features tales of a Boston family and their household staff in the 1920s. Despite a cast that included Edward Herrmann and Nancy Marchand, it failed to hold an audience and lasted only 13 episodes. I do not know of an authorized release on DVD.
Q: Can you explain why so many network television commercials are for prescription drugs? For some evening news programs ALL the commercials are this type. Very strange.
A: Well, a lot of the time, the news makes us sick. More seriously, there are a lot of drug ads on all of TV — 80 per hour by one estimate — and in 2015, the American Medical Association called for a ban on such commercials because “growing proliferation of ads is driving demand for expensive treatments despite the clinical effectiveness of less costly alternatives.”
On the other hand, health economist Austin Frakt wrote in the New York Times that ads not only help sell the promoted product but have side benefits. They can boost sales of other drugs dealing with the same condition, and encourage visits to doctors to discuss medication.