Brown: a Pittsburgher forever
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: Over the past couple of weeks or so I have seen former KDKA-TV news anchor Patrice King Brown on TV more. I always liked her, her reporting, her presence, her on-air demeanor, etc. Lately it’s been Allegheny Valley, UPMC, infomercials, etc., and followups/rebuttals of that ilk. My question is: What else has Ms Brown been doing lately and what are her plans moving forward?
— John, 57, Pittsburgh Rob: Once she left KDKA-TV and moved to California, her work has mostly been limited to just what John mentioned: infomercials and UPMC ads.
I chatted with Ms. Brown this week to see what else she has been doing, and she said her life is mostly family-focused.
“I am in the throes of planning my daughter’s wedding,” she said. “It’s the most exciting thing I’ve had in quite a long time. I can’t believe my baby girl is going to be getting married.”
Most of Ms. Brown’s family is now in Southern California near her, including her brother, David, a former QVC host who’s had a recent recurring role as a school principal on NBC’s “Parenthood.”
“My mom had some illness, but she’s doing very, very well now, and I’m spending a lot more time with family who are here in Southern California,” she said. “It’s not as exciting a retirement as people might think.”
But recently she did get together with old friend and fellow Pittsburgh native Dennis Miller in Las Vegas.
As far as work goes, Ms. Brown said she keeps up with “just a few of those kinds of projects that allow me to share a message — I continue to keep my hand in it a little bit — because 33 years on the air is a long time to completely walk away.”
As for some viewer complaints about those UPMC ads Ms. Brown has worked on in recent years, including letters to the editor, editorials, tweets and blog posts, Ms. Brown said she doesn’t think of the spots as advocacy.
“I think of it as a spokesperson job,” she said. The most recent ads focus on the changes looming, reported by the Post-Gazette, as UPMC, the region’s dominant health care provider, plans to end its contract with Highmark, the region’s dominant health insurer, on Dec. 31, 2014, now that Highmark has acquired the West Penn Allegheny Health System and is building its own integrated delivery network, Allegheny Health Network, to compete with UPMC. “I’m not advocating one or the other at all. It’s an opportunity for a job and gets me occasionally back to a place I love. The unfortunate thing is change is always hard, and I know that change is coming. If I can help people understand the change that is coming or help them deal with it, I’m happy to do that, but it’s not an advocacy role on any level.”
Ms. Brown has also done voiceover work for TV ads for Goodwill of Southern California.
“It’s a nice job and it’s not like I’m looking for full-time work on any level,” she said. “With so much of my family nearby, I’m catching up and spending time with them.” But she does miss Pittsburgh. “I really, truly do miss Pittsburgh,” Ms. Brown said. “My hometown will always be Pittsburgh. I’ll be a ’Burgh girl forever. I get so excited when people mention Pittsburgh. I miss it and get back at every opportunity.”
Q: When will “Bates Motel” return to TV, or has it been canceled?
— Rose, Shadyside
Rob: “Bates Motel” is back for its second season Monday at 9 p.m. on A&E.
Q: Being originally from the Midwest, I have enjoyed watching Chicago news (News at Nine) received here over WGN-TV through my Comcast provider; it also featured one of the greatest of weathermen, Tom Skillings. His forecast would be relevant to Pittsburgh 36 hours out. The last two weeks has found that this News at Nine is no longer received at the 10 p.m. hour over WGN-TV; could you research this omission?
— Charles, 76, Harmar Rob: WGN is in the process of making over its network with plans for “Salem,” a scripted onehour drama, to debut in April. As part of that local-to-national makeover, the 9 p.m. news is no longer airing on WGN’s national feed although it is still broadcast in Chicago where WGN is based and online at WGNTV.com.
Q: “The Young & the Restless” looks like it is using local outdoor photos — Allegheny General Hospital and the County Jail — as intros to some scenes. Is this a local affiliate option or is there some Pittsburgh connection?
— Tom, 67, South Hills Rob: Back in the late 1980s to mid-1990s, “Y&R” routinely came to Pittsburgh to film exterior scenes with the city playing the role of the show’s fictional Genoa City.
“For the next 10 years we mixed it up; some scenes with actors and some with just location shots,” explained Pittsburgher Jerry Hughes, who served as location production manager for the show. “At the time Pittsburgh’s skyline was great because it didn’t have all the signage it has now.
“We used Allegheny General Hospital, the prison on the Ohio, One Oxford Centre and the Duquesne Club. We shot in Hampton Township often. Phillip Chancellor died in a car accident at Hardies Lake. (No one informed the Richland chief of police, and he thought it was real.)”
When the executive producer who hired Mr. Hughes left in the late ’90s, the new folks didn’t want to spend money on location shoots. So “Y&R” hasn’t been back since. The footage viewers are seeing now is from back in the ’90s.