‘iZombie’ lurking in shadows
Q: Is “iZombie” returning?
A: It will begin its fifth and final season on The CW on May 2. If you need to catch up, possibilities include the first three seasons on disc (I don’t know when the fourth will be) and the four seasons so far on Netflix.
Q: When I was watching a show for one hour recently, it was interrupted two times with a banner across the bottom of the screen advertising future shows. Is there anyone I can complain to about this? It’ll be in the middle of a serious scene when the banner comes and is very distracting.
A: What you encountered is called a snipe, an onscreen promotion for an upcoming show, and we’re long past the point of complaining them away.
As the New York Times reported in 2007, they are a way “to cram promotions onto television screens in the age of channel surfing, ad skipping and screen-based multitasking.” In other words, you can’t get away from these when you might fast-forward through a promotional spot during an ad break (and the snipes mean valuable ad time isn’t wasted on promos during the breaks). The Times said snipes are also different from bugs, “those network logos that pop up in screen corners during shows,” and are successors to the decades-old, nonstop information crawls on the bottom of the screen during sports and news programs.
Even in 2007, snipes and such were being shrugged off by the TV industry as “the way of the world.” And as annoying as they are, executives told the Times that “the trend toward busy screens is an attempt to cater to the tastes and habits of younger viewers, who reflexively toggle among screens, online and on cellphones.”
Q: A while ago there was a program about a family that owned a bar. The father was Caucasian. The mother was Asian and bitingly funny. I can’t remember the name of the show. Any possibility it will be shown in reruns or remade?
A: The show was called “Sullivan & Son.” It originally aired on TBS from 2012 to 2014. Dan Lauria was the dad, Jodi Long the mom and Steve Byrne their son. I do not know of plans for a reboot, or an authorized release on disc, and a check of the usual suspects did not find broadcasts of reruns. You can find old episodes on YouTube, Vudu and Google Play.
Q: Back in the late ’80s or early ’90s, there was a cop show on TV for a short time. The premise was a Northern detective, possibly from Detroit or Chicago, who was disciplined for something and sent south, I believe to Texas, and partnered with a detective from the new city. The interest to me is that this detective drove a 427 Shelby Cobra. I also have one but have not been able to find the name of this series or if it is available on DVD.
A: The series you remember was called “Houston Knights,” which premiered on CBS in the spring of 1987. Michael Pare played Joey La Fiamma, a Chicago officer transferred to Houston to evade mobsters trying to kill him. He also drove a Cobra (although at least one source says his was a replica). La Fiamma was teamed with the lower-key Levon Lundy, a local officer played by Michael Beck. The result was what “The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows” called a youth-oriented action show “in the ‘Starsky & Hutch’ mold.” It ended about 15 months after its debut. I do not know of an authorized DVD; there are some clips from the show on YouTube.
(Do you have a question or comment about entertainment past, present and future? Write to Rich Heldenfels, P.O. Box 417, Mogadore, OH 44260, or brenfels@gmail.com. Letters may be edited. Individual replies are not guaranteed.)