When will Janelle Hall be back on WTAE-TV?
Q: Any idea on when Janelle Hall is coming back to WTAE-TV from her injury?
— JEREMY VIA EMAIL
Rob: Hall has been recovering from leg injuries sustained in a March bike accident. She expects to return to work at Channel 4 on Monday.
“I’ve been so grateful for everyone’s care and concern since my bike injury at the end of March — as I’ve tried my best to stay connected to viewers on my social media pages,” Hall said. “I’m equally grateful for the compassion and understanding from my managers at WTAE who have been so supportive since my injury that required two surgeries on my three broken bones in my leg and the rehab that’s followed to try to help me walk again (as I had to have three plates and 15 screws in my right ankle/leg.) … I can’t wait to get back to work with all of my friends — especially my coanchor at 6 & 11 Mike Clark who has been an amazing friend to me and my family.”
Q: Now that we are in the green phase will local movie and television filming resume? Specifically, there was a TV show called “Rust” that never began production. Will that begin, or was it scrapped? I had signed up to be an extra.
— LYNNE, SCOTT
Rob: Per the Pittsburgh Film Office, once the counties hit green, filming was allowed to resume as long as all CDC and Pennsylvania Health Department guidelines are followed.
Showtime’s “Rust,” which was about to begin filming before the pandemic set in with Jeff Daniels in the lead role, has not yet announced when it will shoot, although I hear they are aiming for sometime in July.
But if you were hoping to be an extra on “Rust” or any other production, don’t hold your breath waiting for a call to report to set. Due to efforts to maintain physical distancing in the COVID-19 era, most productions are writing out large crowd scenes, which is expected to curb the use of extras on film and TV sets.
Q: Regarding the TV soap opera “The Bold and the Beautiful” resuming production, have you heard if “General Hospital” or “The Young and The Restless” will be following suit sooner rather than later?
— ZACH VIA EMAIL
Rob: An ABC publicist for “General Hospital” did not respond to Zach’s question, but “Y&R” is aiming for a July 6 production start per Deadline.com.
If the show makes that date — and they don’t have to shut down again due to the ongoing pandemic or testing issues — new episodes likely will be on the air by late this summer.
Q: I’ve been calling WQED-TV, but they never return my call. Why did they move on to a new “Masterpiece” show when they never finished “World on Fire”?
— LACRETIA VIA VOICEMAIL Rob:
We noted in April “World on Fire” is intended to be an ongoing series, and a second season has been ordered. PBS did air all the produced episodes of “World on Fire,” but the final episode of season one ended in a cliffhanger.
Q: Please tell me where Netflix’s “Anne With an E” and “Virgin River” are filmed. Such beautiful scenery! — ELAINE, MT. LEBANON
Rob: Oh, Canada!
“Anne” is shot on Prince Edward Island, in Toronto and in other Ontario locations. “Virgin River” films in Vancouver, British Columbia.
Q: Out of desperation one night we figured why not give “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” a try on Amazon’s Prime Video. Turned out that we really like it. But it contains two anachronisms.
The time period is 1958-60, but they use a whole bunch of songs from “Roar of the Greasepaint — Smell of the Crowd,” which was 1965. Which is not a biggie. But ... I grew up in an Italian household in an Italian neighborhood ... big families with mothers who lost it all ... the ... time. They would cuss. “Hell” and “dammit” were very large. But in all that time I never heard any of them use the s-word or f-word. But in “Maisel,” Midge and Susie use those words often. The show is period in the other respects, but that language is not late ’50s, especially from women. Has anybody involved with the show been asked about that?
— JIM VIA EMAIL
Rob: “People I know” is anecdotal. Other people may behave differently, especially, perhaps, people who live in New York.
I have not seen producers specifically address Jim’s question in reports on the show, but a rise in profanity makes some sense as the series has advanced to 1960 and the characters are now more frequently hanging out with mobsters and beatniks.