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: Who's the audience for “2 Broke Girls”? Why is it still on? It appears to be written by a group of 10-year-old boys. — JERRY, PENN HILLS
Rob: “2 Broke Girls” was intended to be a modern “Laverne & Shirley” designed to draw more young viewers to CBS, which worked pretty well in the show’s earliest years and then stopped working once those young viewers realized it was a waste of their time. Ratings declined and it’s now on CBS’s backburner awaiting failure of one of CBS’s new fall shows — that’s not likely to be a long wait — before it returns to the schedule.
Q: I’m a huge fan of the PBS show “A Chef's Life,” which is a well-done documentary of sorts that follows the life of chef Vivian Howard, who runs a small farm-to-table restaurant in North Carolina. Unfortunately I can't seem to find when new episodes air locally.
Using PBS’s online schedule finder only shows previous seasons episodes on the Create Channel but nothing regarding the current season, which just started. A Google search gives me info that makes it seem new episodes should air each Tuesday, but PBS’s website doesn’t agree, at least locally here. Even though the new episodes are online, I’d like to set my DVR instead. Any insight? — DENNIS, CASTLE SHANNON
Rob: So this was a confusing one, but I think I got it sorted out. New episodes from the third season of “A Chef’s Life” are being fed to PBS stations that want it this fall. WQED-TV does not air the show. But those episodes will eventually be seen on the Create channel, WQED’s digital subchannel (Channel 13.2), but not until early 2016.
A search of WQED’s online schedule shows older episodes currently air on Create at assorted times.
Q: When showing highlights from Steelers games why do the three local newscasts use their own ridiculous footage, seemingly shot from a jittery camera phone while standing behind the team on the sidelines, instead of using the footage from the broadcast? Surely they don’t think their footage is superior. Is it a cost-savings method to avoid NFL fees? — JOHN, NORTH STRABANE
Rob: Sports on TV is not my area of expertise, so I sent John’s question to all three local news directors and all three local general managers.
WPXI general manager Ray Carter responded: “The NFL allows a limited amount of video from games in local newscasts, whether that video comes from our sideline photographer or the network broadcasts. Outside of newscasts, stations pay the NFL to use video of games, even video they shoot themselves. The sideline video is not an attempt to avoid NFL fees. It’s an attempt to get the viewer closer to the action and to get a sense of the speed at which the game moves. While the high-angle network view is comfortable, it’s not the only way to view big plays.”
Q: Another new set is in the making, this time it's KDKA’s turn! — RYAN, MCKEES ROCKS
Rob: I don’t recall two stations ever working on a new set at the same time, but it looks like that’s what’s happening after we reported that WPXI is at work on a new set, too. “We moved out of Studio A, our main studio, to a set in Studio B, our smaller studio,” explained KDKA-TV general manager Chris Pike. “We will do all of our newscasts from Studio B for the next few weeks as that set is installed. When Studio A is completed we will move all shows back to the larger studio.”
Ask TV questions by e-mailing rowen@post-gazette.com, including your first name and location, or submitting the form at post-gazette.com/tv.
First Published: October 4, 2015, 4:00 a.m.
