Submit your question to Rob Owen

This week's TV Q&A responds to questions about "Life is Wild," "Lipstick Jungle" and WPCW in digital. As always, thanks for reading, and keep those questions coming.

-- Rob Owen, Post-Gazette TV editor

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Q: I was wondering when the new season of "Battlestar Galactica" will be airing. My husband and I thought it was in March, then a friend of mine said it was starting in October. Just wondering which one is correct.

-- Allyson, Moon Township

Rob: Maybe neither of you? Entertainment Weekly reported April 4 as the season premiere date, but a Sci Fi Channel publicist said that date has not been confirmed.

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Q: Can you tell me what has happened to the TV program titled "Life Is Wild" on WPCW? It is a wonderful family show and I can't seem to find it anymore. Also, what happened to "Women's Murder Club" on WTAE? They seem to be showing repeats of "Desperate Housewives." I sure would appreciate any help you can give on this puzzle.

-- Sue, Murrysville

Rob: The CW's super-low-rated "Life is Wild" is not currently on the schedule. It has not been canceled yet, but it will be. Whether The CW burns off the remaining episode remains to be seen.

Like most other prime-time series that started in the fall, "Women's Murder Club" ran out of fresh episodes due to the writers' strike. "Desperate Housewives" reruns are airing in its place.

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Q: How does the buzz for "Lipstick Jungle" (yes, I'm a Brooke Shields fan) compare to what you heard about "Cashmere Mafia" before it premiered? Have you seen the first episode yet?

-- Doug, Squirrel Hill

Rob: Alas, I can't say I heard much buzz, positive or negative, for either show. I screened the first two episodes of "Lipstick Jungle" last week for a TV Week review to run Feb. 3 and it was OK, better than "Cashmere Mafia" (from what I've seen so far, that's becoming the conventional wisdom), but still not a show I would make a point of watching.

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Q: This question may well win a prize for the most insignificant ever submitted, but it is driving me crazy. I frequently come across reruns of "The George Lopez Show" in my idle channel-flipping and find it to be mildly entertaining. However, I've noticed that in almost every episode of this show, much of the action (such as it is) takes place in the Lopez family's kitchen/dining room. Along the top of the back walls of this room, as a kind of top border, there are what appears to be letters. I always find myself trying to figure out what those letters spell, if anything. They either show them too briefly to be able to make out what they say, or, since they're in the background, they're too difficult to make out. (Or, my aging eyes are failing me, my least favorite explanation). In any case, would you, or another reader, happen to know what these "floating letters" say? I often miss what's going on on the show in my effort to read them, but I've been unsuccessful so far.

-- Sheryl, Pittsburgh

Rob: Readers, have at it, and let me know if you've been able to decipher the floating letters on this show that is no longer in production.

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Q: Why is there a shot of what appears to be the old Nick's Fat City on the South Side as a movie theater in "Hanna Montana." Is there someone that has to do with Pittsburgh or is it just a fluke? Thanks

-- Caitlin, Penn Township

Rob: While I wouldn't doubt that someone with local ties has something to do with "Hannah Montana" -- Pittsburghers seem to have their hands in everything in Hollywood -- the old Nick's Fat City establishing shot has turned up in other TV shows in the past. It's stock footage.

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Q: How is Drew Carey doing in the ratings for "The Price Is Right"? I personally do not like him as the host.

-- Mike, Pittsburgh

Rob: I haven't seen anything written up on the national ratings -- positive or negative -- so I suspect the show is doing fine. Yesterday CBS announced it will air Carey-hosted "Price is Right" episodes in prime time for six weeks beginning Feb. 22 on Fridays at 8 p.m.

Locally, "Price" was down on KDKA from November '06 (5.3/17) to November '07 (5.1/16). That's probably not a surprise. The combination of Carey's Cleveland connection and the fact that he's not senior citizens' favorite Bob Barker might have driven away some of the local, elderly viewers who comprise the majority of the daytime audience.

UPDATE: Looks like the ratings are down nationally and not just in Pittsburgh.

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Q: When will Channel 19 go digital/HD? Also, will Channel 2 give more than just one digital, like Channels 11 and 13, which give us three digital channels over the air?

-- Melvyn, Pittsburgh

Rob: Channel 19 can't go over-the-air digital until closer to the February 2009 conversion date as we noted last year. But a HD feed of WPCW is expected to begin on Comcast and FiOS TV in the near future. I actually thought they'd be up and running by now but Comcast had to order a special piece of equipment to convert the signal to a protocol used by the cable company.

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Q: Was Mike Zappone of KDKA sports replaced at KDKA by the new kid on the block, Jory Rand? Where did Mike go?

-- James, Irwin

Rob: Zappone went nowhere. He was always a sports producer doing fill-in anchor and reporting work and he'll continue to be a sports producer who does fill-in anchor and reporting work.

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Q: Any chance that KDKA will keep Dennis Bowman full time? I think he is a refreshing change from the "young and hip" KDKA. I like KDKA in general, much better than scary and "breaking news" WPXI. We need some experience in our weather/newscasters. I like his "everyday joe" style.

-- Bryan, Bethel Park

Rob: Bowman has been and continues to be a freelancer who regularly fills in on KDKA-TV.

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Q: Back in early December, the West View area got Sci Fi Channel HD for a single day. That's it. It then disappeared from the guide. Any attempts to find out what happened to it have been met with a simple response, "It's not on your programming lineup."

However, if I log into tvplanner.comcast.net for my zip, it shows not only Sci Fi HD, but a whole host of other HD channels that I don't currently get.

Is it any wonder that people get frustrated when dealing with this company? They are incredibly tight lipped about any future plans and any information that does escape is inaccurate either by design or incompetence.

-- Adam, West View

Rob: A Comcast spokeswoman said USA HD and Sci Fi HD were on "a dual feed" and the company inadvertently put up Sci Fi instead of USA. Sci Fi HD is expected to arrive in your area on its own dedicated channel in the near future.

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Q: Regarding the question from last week's Q&A about Comcast dropping DIY and Fine Living, this was posted on PA Public Notices and in the Post-Gazette about a month ago. It has lots of people upset on several message boards, such as dslreports.com. Not sure what to make of it, but someone from Comcast needs to explain why they posted this public notice if they don't intend to pull the channels:

Appeared in: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette on Thursday, 12/20/2007

-- Jim, Ross

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Q: I'm not sure what Comcast's response was to you, or if you just did not have time or space to elaborate, but, yes, they had intended to eliminate these channels (See legal notice on page E-5 of 1/9/08 Post-Gazette), but they are not doing so now.

My point is that perhaps Comcast was not as forthcoming as they should have been, which would not be a surprise.

Just think, once Verizon is up and running in more communities, we can debate which company is more disingenuous with its customers. Personally, I do not expect much benefit, if any, from these two companies competing against each other.

-- Nate, Shadyside

Rob: How do you people have the time to comb through legal ads to find this stuff?

My understanding on DIY and Fine Living is that Comcast had planned to drop those channels but in the end did not.

"We simply reconsidered the changes and decided to keep that programming," a Comcast spokesman said.

Viewers should understand that few of these decision are made locally. Huge deals are done that put (or keep) channels on Comcast systems nationwide. My best guess: There were negotiations between Comcast and Scripps Networks, owner of DIY and Fine Living, to continue carrying the channels, the talks broke down, Comcast threatened to drop them, and a deal was struck to keep them.

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Q: Do you have any idea when Verizon FiOS TV is going to be readily available in our area? As soon as it is, I am dropping Comcast like a brick. Once again, it's time to show what a "fine" company Comcast is. Not only have they taken the opportunity to once again raise my cable bill, but they have also just blocked out one of my favorite channels in the process, namely Game Show Network. When I called to complain, it was explained that they moved GSN to the digital tier, and if I wanted this station, I'd have to upgrade to digital. So otherwise, if you want this station, pay even more for digital cable. Why in the world is Comcast allowed to treat us, it's (high) paying customers, like trash? Hey, I still have four shopping channels available, but no GSN. I can't play "Lingo," but I can still buy jewelry. By the time Comcast is done, we'll probably just have Channels 2, 4 and 11 and home shopping. Hurry up, Verizon, give me FiOS TV!

-- Don, East McKeesport

Rob: The news about GSN is indeed troubling. It's a trend Comcast started several years ago when Sci Fi Channel got bumped to digital and continued last year when Comcast moved C-SPAN 2 to the digital tier. How many more channels will Comcast migrate to digital? A Comcast spokesman did not know.

On Tuesday, GSN moved to Channel 179 in the digital starter tier on traditional Comcast systems. On former Adelphia systems, GSN remains on Channel 108. In Monroeville, where GSN could be found on Channel 59 and Channel 108, it is now only on Channel 108.

While I'm not yet convinced Verizon will be our salvation, at some point Comcast will have to stop making moves that anger and chase its customers away.

"FiOS TV currently is available to about 650 households in East McKeesport," said Verizon spokesman Lee J. Gierczynski. "Verizon will be continuing its fiber-optic build in this community this year to expand the availability of FiOS TV to more households in the municipality."

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Q: It looks like Comcast Monroeville has now deleted the FX Channel 59 as well as C-SPAN 2 from the analog expanded lineup.

-- Lee, Wilkins

Rob: Comcast says it has not moved FX in Monroeville, that it is still on Channel 58 where it has always been. (Maybe you were thinking of GSN?) We reported on Comcast moving C-SPAN 2 here and here and here.

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Q: I have Comcast "standard" cable (non-digital, formerly known as "expanded basic"), and while I have an HDTV I don't have (or want) a set top cable box. Through trial and error, I've found that Comcast provides most local digital channels in HD, including WPXI (Channel 75.2201), KDKA (75.2203) KDKA (85.2101) and PBS (85.2103).

I've been told that there's a "must provide" requirement that cable companies must provide these channels they get for free as part of the standard package. However:

a) I haven't found anyplace where Comcast tells its customers about these channels.

b) These channels move around sometimes, effectively disappearing into the dozens of music channels Comcast loads us with, and

c) I haven't found Fox.

Can you shed any light on whether this "must provide" rule exists, and whether it includes reasonable requirements such as "must tell customers where the channels are?"

-- Tim, Penn Hills

Rob: I had no idea what Tim was talking about on those channel numbers. (Remember, I'm a TV critic, not a technology expert.) What I was able to learn is that Tim is likely watching on a TV with a QAM tuner

A QAM tuner can tune non-encrypted, digital cable channels without a cable box (if you have to ask if you have one, you probably don't). Few people probably go looking for these channel numbers, which is why he hasn't been able to find them on Comcast's Web site. (Plus, the notion of Comcast not providing its customers with useful information isn't exactly new.)

Fox affiliate WPGH can be found on Channel 76.2301.

As for "must-carry," there is no current rule for digital channels, though I suspect come February 2009 that will change.

"We are required to carry the primary signal (analog) of full powered broadcast television stations in our market (i.e. KDKA-TV, WTAE-TV, etc.) on the basic level of service," said Comcast spokeswoman Jody Doherty. "We are not obligated by law to carry the high-definition signals or the digital multi-plex signal associated with a full powered broadcast station. However, we have agreed to carry certain multi-plex signals. This is determined on a case by case basis with each broadcast station."

Uh, Rob, I was wondering: The young boy that's on the commercial from Verizon, is he related to the young boy on "Two and a Half Men"? I don't know why, but ever since that commercial was on in June and December, I keep thinking of the one from "Two and a Half Men." Just curious.

-- Female caller

My husband and I are fans of "Jeopardy!" and "Raymond," you have both of them, however, we need the closed captioning desperately. That was a good thing and you deny us that and make us very unhappy. We're hoping you can continue doing that. It's a current thing to do. All the good movies have closed captions on. You have programs that are so important to us. "Jeopardy!" lifts you up on a bad day. So please put closed captions back on for us. I'd appreciate it.

-- Female caller