TV Q&A with Rob Owen

Friday, March 14, 2008

This week's TV Q&A responds to questions about "MI-5," "Notes from the Underbelly" and Discovery Times Channel. As always, thanks for reading, and keep those questions coming.

-- Rob Owen, Post-Gazette TV editor

Q: Just wondering if you had any insight as to why a new episode of "Rock of Love 2" didn't air on March 9. I know they skipped a week because of the Super Bowl last month, but I can't see any logical reason why they did it again. It's so frustrating, when last season there weren't any pre-emptions!

-- M.G., Sharpsburg

Rob: According to a network spokeswoman, VH1 chose to air several "Celebrity Rehab" episodes on Sunday in advance of last night's "Rehab" reunion show instead of "Rock of Love 2."

Q: Now that The CW has done away with "Girlfriends," will The CW continue with their African-American sitcom block?

Do they have anything in the works?

-- Parm, Seattle

Rob: We don't know. But given the recent news that The CW has eliminated its comedy development department, it seems less likely that there will be any comedies on the channel in the near future, let alone African-American comedies.

Q: With the sudden death of "Las Vegas" from NBC, which left us with cliffhangers once again, can you give me an honest critic's opinion as to why the networks bother to start great series only to pull them before they are finished? "Book of Daniel," "Farscape" et al. for example??

-- Marge, Weirton, W. Va.

Rob: Every case is different. "Las Vegas" was on the air for years, and producers could have predicted that cancellation was a possibility and scripted a more conclusive ending, but the writers' strike got in the way, so they didn't even have the opportunity to do that.

"Book of Daniel" debuted amid manufactured controversy and got horrible ratings, so NBC made a business decision and canceled it rather than risk having to compensate advertisers for the show's sub-par performance.

Simply put, ratings rule. For network executives, the quality of a show is sometimes immaterial. But sometimes it is material -- look at NBC's decision to give "Friday Night Lights" a second season or Fox's willingness to stick with "Arrested Development" for three low-rated years. In the end, the only rule of thumb is that there are no hard and fast rules for these decisions.

Q: The Discovery Times Channel has recently morphed into Investigate Discovery. I enjoyed Discovery Times, but ID is so dark and depressing.

Is Discovery Times going to return?

-- Sue, East Liberty

Rob: No. Discovery Times was a joint venture between Discovery Channel and The New York Times. A couple of years ago the Times sold its interest in the channel to Discovery, and Discovery opted to go in a different direction, which led to Investigate Discovery.

Q: Explain this one to me: I can't get season five of "NYPD Blue," which was the 1997-1998 season, but I can get season three of "Grey's Anatomy," which was 2006-07. Huh?

-- Tara, Churchill

Rob: I suspect it's a simple matter of economics: The "NYPD Blue" box sets probably haven't sold all that well, while "Grey's Anatomy" has.

Q: On the show "The Big Bang," the tall thin fellow reminds me of the fellow on "Frasier" who played Niles. Are they related? And I think I read in one of your columns (probably last year) that one of the fellows on "The Big Bang" is the young man who played Roseanne Barr's son on her show years ago. Can you tell me which one?

-- Peggy, Bridgeville

Rob: Jim Parsons, who plays the tall, thin Sheldon, is not related to David Hyde Pierce (Niles on "Frasier"). Johnny Galecki, who plays Leonard, was Darlene's boyfriend on "Roseanne," not Roseanne's son.

Q: I guess this is more of a rant than a question, but here goes -- What has happened to HBO? The only time I get to see it nowadays is when I travel, but last week I was ticked. From Friday to Sunday night, HBO was almost exclusively showing the crap shows that they make. No movies during prime time at all. Just garbage shows in reruns. It's bad enough MTV stopped showing videos years ago, but movies built HBO up, and now they rarely show anything worth watching. I'm just glad its free in the motels I stay at and I'm not paying a fee to watch it.

-- Mike, Weirton, W.Va.

Rob: I think most fans of "The Sopranos" or "Big Love" or "Entourage" would dispute your garbage assertion. Flipping through TV Week, it's clear that HBO relies more on its series in prime-time, but movies still play in other parts of the day. It may be a function of the advent of on demand: Subscribers can watch movies carried by HBO on demand anytime they want.

Q: One of my wife's favorite shows is "Notes From the Underbelly." Has it been picked up for another season?

-- Nick, Wake Forest, N.C.

Rob: Not yet, and I don't expect that it will be.

Q: Do you know if "October Road" will be back in the fall? The last two episodes were great. I am still confused as to who Sam's father actually is and whether or not that was resolved.

-- Robin, Pittsburgh

Rob: "October Road" has not fared well in the ratings, so I expect it is likely to be canceled.

Q: I am a fan of "Jericho." I was happy when it was renewed after last year's write-in protest.

Will it be back next year? I was a fan last year, and from what I have seen this year it was better. But last night, after starting the season in February, the announcer said, "Don't miss the last three shows." I know there was writers' strike, but how will they be able to make a judgment after seven shows? I hope they will have it back next season. It was the only show that I watched on network on TV.

-- Mike, Bridgeville

Rob: "Jericho" was not affected by the writers' strike. When CBS renewed the show (after first canceling it), the order was for only seven episodes. Basically, they were hedging their bets.

Creatively, I think "Jericho" has been working on all cylinders this season, although I think producers made a potentially fatal error with the season premiere. It jumped right back into the action and offered no easy opening for new fans to get into the series. The ratings have not been good, so I suspect it will not be renewed.

Q: As you suggested here, and in answer to my question back when you were a guest on that excellent, albeit canceled afternoon talk radio show with "Uncle" Doug Hoerth, "MI-5" is indeed now running on BBC America. From the schedule, it appears to be the end of season three and the beginning of four.

So has it been running for a while and I missed it, since I'm relatively new to expanded digital? I checked periodically on the BBC America site, and don't think I saw it listed previously. Most importantly, will they continue to run the episodes through the most current sixth season?

-- Bill, Pittsburgh

Rob: "MI-5" reruns have been airing on BBC America since last fall, I believe, but they have yet to air any episodes that did not air already on A&E. As I noted , the fifth season is now on DVD.

The third season begins airing on BBCA on March 12. A network spokesman said BBCA will "show seasons three and four back-to-back. Stay tuned for updates on the fifth and sixth seasons."

Q: A few questions about BBC America I hope you can answer:

Does BBC America plan to continue to run repeats of "Dancing With the Stars"? It seems to be such a waste to run this show when they could be showing something actually from the BBC.

And, is Gordon Ramsay such a ratings winner that his shows are repeated so much, or is their programming department just that uncreative? (Can you tell I'm bitter they haven't shown the second season of "Green Wing"?)

-- Jennifer, Shaler

Rob: According to a BBC America spokesman, the last episode of "Dancing With the Stars" aired March 5. And, yes, Gordon Ramsay is a hit for the channel.

"BBC America was the first to bring 'Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares,' 'Gordon Ramsay's F Word' and 'Ramsay's Boiling Point' to an American audience," the spokesman said. "We love him and so does the audience."

Q: I know this is a long shot, but is the voice on the Duquesne University commercials actor John Billingsley?

-- Julie, Pittsburgh

Rob: It is.

Q: I noticed that this year marks the 50th year for WTAE. Are there any plans for a celebration like WPXI had?

-- Corey, McKeesport

Rob: I'm sure there will be some recognition of the anniversary as there was in the station's 40th year , but a station spokeswoman said "all is still in the planning stages."

Q: Do you know if KDKA will be providing multiple feeds for the first 2 rounds of the NCAA tournament? Many CBS cities multicast (offer all 4 matchups on digital sub channels). I couldn't find an answer on their Web site about it. If they are going to multicast, will they offer the feeds over the air only or pass them to Comcast?

-- Anthony, Brookline

Rob: According to KDKA general manager Chris Pike, "In the past when our primary game was not available in HD we have provided different games on our analog and digital channels. When the primary game was broadcast in HD then we had the same game on both channels.

"We have not yet received telecast information from the network so our plans for this year are not yet clear. In any case, we will not be multicasting. If all of our primary games are available in HD we will have the same game on our analog and digital channels."

PHONE CALL OF THE WEEK

Caller: Mr. Owen, do you have any idea what's wrong with Alex Trebek's hand?

Me: Uh, no, I don't.

The caller goes on to explain that Trebek wore a cast at one point but now she suspects something else is wrong.

Caller: Oh well, I guess I can't expect you to know about the medical conditions of everyone on TV.

Me (laughing): No, you cannot.

First published on March 14, 2008 at 12:00 am