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This week's TV Q&A responds to questions about "Scrubs," "Alias" on TNT and still more "Daily Buzz" cancellation outrage.

As always, thanks for reading, and keep those questions coming.

Rob Owen
Post-Gazette TV editor

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Q: Why did TNT start running "Alias" with last season's episodes? I came to the show late and was hoping to see it from the beginning.

Greg Czzowitz, Butler

Rob Owen: Here's the TNT company line: "TNT has chosen to begin its telecasts of the hit series Alias with last year's episodes because the storyline directly ties into the new episodes that will be airing later this year on ABC. When TNT has finished running the episodes from season four, we will start back at the beginning of the series with season one."

But don't give up, Greg! The episodes airing weekly in syndication started with season one. Locally, "Alias" reruns are on WTAE at 11:35 p.m. Saturday and midnight Sunday.

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Q:I'd like to comment about two of the new Monday night shows on CBS, namely "How I Met Your Mother" and "Out of Practice."

Several people, you included, wrote how funny "Mother" was going to be, but how dumb "Practice" was. Well, after watching both shows, I couldn't disagree more. Two weeks in a row, I have fallen asleep during "Mother," as it is one of the most boring shows I have seen. If there is humor here, it is not rearing it's head. Yet, I have enjoyed "Practice" in both episodes aired so far. I even stayed awake all the way through.

I guess my opinion of good comedy is different from yours.

Don, East McKeesport

Everybody's a critic. No, really, everybody is a critic. We all have our opinions and we may not agree. And that's fine. I did watch the second episodes of "Mother" and "Practice." I still prefer "Mother." Most of America does, too, judging by the ratings. I don't think "Mother" is performing as well as CBS had hoped it would, but it's still doing much better than "Practice," which could soon be on cancellation watch.

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Q:Any idea when "Scrubs" will return to the air? If the "My Name is Earl" show takes off, does that mean the end of "Scrubs" as we know it?

Michael, Mt. Lebanon

No. NBC has enough clunkers that there will be space soon enough for "Scrubs" to return. NBC has said "Scrubs," currently in production, will be back for midseason, but odds are something will fail and it will be brought back to plug a hole by November. If "Earl" holds up and "The Office" does not, "Scurbs" could fill in at 9:30 p.m. Tuesday.

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Q:"Joey" was a let-down from the beginning for "Friends" fans, but I tuned in to the second season premiere to see if any improvements had been made. Obviously not!

But what's up with the "gay" thing? On not one but two occasions, this word was used in reference to undesirable behavior. I can't possibly be the only one who takes offense. Is this what NBC has learned from the success of "Will & Grace;" that throwing around prejudicial barbs equals humor no matter who says it?

I hear Dave Chappelle and rap artists use the "N" word regularly, but would it fly coming out of the mouth of Joey's trashy sister or nerdy nephew? What do you think? I think I'll change the channel.

And on another note, may I say I find it inconceivable that any producers, execs or advertisers actually thought "Inconceivable" was worth the money. Angie Harmon ought to be ashamed of herself. If this was the only work her agent could find her, then she would have been better off throwing in the towel and doing life insurance ads.

Barry Solarczyk, Pittsburgh (South Side)

Get it all out, Barry!

I agree with you on "Inconceivable," which was DOA in the ratings last week (hallelujah!), so it won't be around for long.

As for "Joey," I didn't hate it last season as much as many critics did. I still think it's an OK sitcom, but I agree the second season premiere was disappointing. The gay jokes did not catch my attention, but I know in youth culture the word "gay" has taken on the meaning of "lame" in recent years as opposed to any sexual connotation.

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Q:Any truth to the rumor that Teri Hatcher refused to pose with her "Desperate Housewives" castmates after Felicity Huffman's Emmy win? Please say it ain't so.

Rebecca Adams, Little Rock, Ark.

I don't believe there was any jealousy there. I saw Hatcher on one of the entertainment shows explaining she couldn't get through a throng of people to be with the other women for the photo. After all the bad press they got last year following the Vanity Fair cover shoot fiasco, I think they're all on their best behavior these days.

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Q:Some friends and I were talking about the last season of "Sex and the City" especially the episodes after Samantha discovered she had breast cancer. We thought she really looked sick and wondered if she actually had the disease and it was then written into the show.

Betty Arscott, Cranberry

You can credit the makeup artists at "Sex and the City" for making you believe in her illness. Actress Kim Cattrall was not ill in real life.

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Q:I have been watching Channel 11 news for a long time now, but I noticed that it seems that there are less reporters then the other news channels. Do they have more part-time reporters, sometimes you see certain reporters every once in awhile.

Ray Bennett, Munhall

Interesting question, but doing a count on the three station's Web sites of their on-air staff members who regularly report (including anchors who report some days each week), I have to reject the premise of the question. KDKA has the most reporters, WPXI is No. 2 and WTAE comes in at No. 3.

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Q:So, in this article I read that you wrote, you said you knew who was at the door in the premiere of "Veronica Mars" ...care to share? I know it's along shot to be asking you this but season two won't premiere in the Philippines until probably next year ... so I'm kinda desperate!!!

Ethel, Manila, Philippines

Actually, I was misled about who was at the door. I was told it was Duncan, but it turned out to be Logan. But Veronica still ended up with Duncan in Wednesday's season premiere.

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Q:Where is Rudi Baktihar? Is she gone from CNN?

Jim, Strongsville, OH

Looks like she is. Here's what the cable news channel had to say: "Rudi is no longer with CNN. She has recently gone through the protracted illness and ultimate loss of her father. She is taking this time to be with her family."

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Q:Do you know whether there are plans to make a DVD collection of the TV show "St. Elsewhere"? I really enjoyed this show when it was in prime time and sure would have a great time seeing the episodes again.

Sally Pifer, Pittsburgh

Some "St. Elsewhere" episodes are available on VHS (try: www.amazon.com), but the show has not come out on DVD. Something sticks in the back of my head that this show may be one of those with complicated ownership issues, which could be what's keeping it off DVD.

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Q:Rob, do you know of any cast changes to "Saturday Night Live" this year? I wish Dana Carvey would come back. He does a great impression of George W. Thanks.

Melanie, E. Pittsburgh

I don't think Carvey will be back, but here's what I do know. Tina Fey is out on maternity leave, but she'll return. Featured player Rob Riggle is not returning. New featured players include Jason Sudeikis (a former staff writer), Bill Hader (from Second City in Los Angeles) and Andy Samberg.

Tomorrow's season premiere features guest host Steve Carrell ("The Office") and musical guest Kanye West. On Oct. 8, the host is Jon Heder ("Napoleon Dynamite"). On Oct. 22 Catherine Zeta-Jones hosts with musical guest Franz Ferdinand. Later, Lance Armstrong hosts with his beloved, Sheryl Crow, as musical guest.

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Q:Anyone else notice how the new "KDKA Morning News on WNPA" continues to use the Channel 2 CBS logo graphic? Should they not use the WNPA logo instead?

Tony Lalli, Murrysville

Shortly after launching the 10 p.m. news on WNPA, that newscast was rebranded as KDKA. KDKA news director John Verrilli said the UPN logo can currently be found in the crawl at the bottom of the screen. In the future, the bug in the lower right corner will include the UPN logo. It's taking a little while because KDKA is still recovering from the new graphics that were lost in the flood last month.

Speaking of graphics, KDKA's keep improving. The "Early Show" cut-ins that started out with an "anchor head in a box" look are now much sleeker thanks to a wider shot and background monitors.

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Q:Why would they pull "The Daily Buzz" news program? Just to make room for another stamped out local show, especially when KDKA already has a local morning news, and also did their local weather on the show. "The Buzz" was a very entertaining way to start the day. My TV is OFF in the morning now.

Mike, White Oak

More "Daily Buzz" outrage. Who knew?

A local show, even one that gets few viewers, will make more money than a syndicated show because a station can sell all the ads itself. In the case of WNPA, it also offers an opportunity to try to build a local station identity.

COMMENTS
I saw that you have answered a few questions about our TV show, "The Daily Buzz." We've been flooded with e-mails about why we are no longer on in Pittsburgh, and I'm sure the station that dropped us has, too.

You are right, the ratings there in Pittsburgh did not reflect that anybody was watching. But we did want you to know that ratings in other areas of the country do indeed reflect that we do [have viewers].

The Pittsburgh station we were on was one of a small handful of our affiliates that did not promote the show in any way. Viacom did a group deal with our show and placed it on a bunch of their stations. Some welcomed the show, others didn't "get it" and ignored it. Your station there in Pittsburgh was one that didn't get behind it.

The funny thing is, one of the stations that loved us was our UPN affiliate in Norfolk, Va. They are one of our stronger stations for "The Daily Buzz." Their programming/promotions director, who strongly supported "The Daily Buzz," is now the station manager of KDKA. But he came in after "The Daily Buzz" was already on the way out. So we'll never know how well "The Daily Buzz" would have done with proper promotion and exposure in your market ... until we pop up on another station.

But as you can see, we did have viewers in Pittsburgh, and I'm sure not every single one of our viewers wrote in to ask you where we went.

Hope you can see us again soon,

Chris Iller, marketing director, "The Daily Buzz"

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"Phone Call Of The Week" is a HIT!!!!! I, for one, am glad to see that at long last the Ranting-American community has an outlet for their unguided and non-specific rage, but I was shocked (yes, shocked!) to learn that you, personally, do not control what is on television. (Can I assume that, if not you, Tom Shales must therefore be the guy? Cuz I've got some opinions on the cancellation of "Star Trek" back in '67 and the retirement of that Brinkley fella.)

Keep up the good work, Rob.

Brian Bjolin, Pittsburgh

LOL, thanks, Brian!

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You mean that you are not the master of all time and space? The phone call of the week is a great item. The fantasyland of entertainment has become a reality for a few of us.

Jim Martin, Squirrel Hill

Alas, I'm pretty powerless.

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No new crazy calls worthy of PHONE CALL OF THE WEEK status came in since last week. Have no fear! I'm sure more will be forthcoming. To tide you over, here's a classic. It's not a verbatim transcript (times and channel numbers are invented), but the gist is accurate.

Woman caller: Why did they take off "Touched by An Angel"?

Me: Well, it was canceled by CBS a couple years ago. Do you mean the reruns on cable?

Woman: It was on every day at 11 a.m. on Channel 63.

Me: Ah, well those are the cable reruns. For me to look into this I need to know what network you're watching the reruns on.

Woman: I don't know. It's Channel 63.

Me: OK, well for me to know what network that channel is on your cable lineup, I need to know which cable system you're on.

Woman: I don't know.

At this point, I tried to figure out the cable system based on her location, but it was in a part of town where I was unclear which cable company would be the provider.

Me: Try looking on your cable bill. It should have the name of the cable company there.

Woman: I'll have to look.

10 minutes later she called back.

Woman: It's Magnavox.

Eventually I was able to figure out "Touched By an Angel" was airing in the same time slot on the same cable channel as it had been. The woman had tuned in at the wrong time.