TV Q&A with Rob Owen

Friday, August 29, 2008

This week's TV Q&A responds to questions about Stephen Colbert, "The Big Bang Theory" and Sonni Abatta. As always, thanks for reading, and keep those questions coming.

-- Rob Owen, Post-Gazette TV editor

Q: How does Stephen Colbert do the Formidable Opponent segment on his show? I Googled for an answer, but only found suggestions of editing and prerecording. It really doesn't seem like that's the case when watching it.

-- Amy, 37, Beechview

Rob: Comedy Central representatives said of the segment, in which Colbert debates himself: "I think they just shoot him from two different angles wearing a "green screen" tie that can be color-changed depending on which Stephen is talking."

Q: A while back, in your press tour blog, you mentioned interviewing Jim Parsons from "The Big Bang Theory." I love the show and actually look forward to Monday nights because of it. (Well, when it's not repeat season, that is.)

My question is this: Do you plan do write anything about Parsons? Of course, I don't want you to give away any secrets of future stories, but I'd like to know if it's on the horizon so I can look for it. I love his character and am constantly impressed with his acting abilities. I went to college with many, many Sheldons, and Parsons has repeatedly nails his character's nerdy idiosyncrasies without ever cracking a smile. And he does it all without making us hate him, even though he's arrogant, has no social skills, and says whatever he's thinking without contemplating the consequences. I love this guy and I'd love to know more about what Parsons does to prep for and "become" Sheldon.

-- Susie, 30, Forest Hills

Rob: I did have a nice chat with Parsons and I do hope to find time to blog that interview in Tuned In Journal closer to when "Big Bang Theory" has its second season premiere on Sept. 22. And I'm with you on the show: It's one of my favorites and I'm shocked how nasty they've made Sheldon and yet you still like the character.

As for real-life Sheldons, I happened to be standing in line at the Squirrel Hill Giant Eagle one evening last week and there were some college kids from Carnegie Mellon in front of me. Overhearing their conversation, all I could think was if anyone doubts the realism in "Big Bang Theory" (as sitcoms go), they need only hang out near local college campuses to see just how true-to-life the brainiac nerds on that show are.

Q: Will new shows of "Mystery Woman," "Jane Doe," "McBride" and "Murder 101" be coming in the fall season on Hallmark Channel or have they all been canceled?

-- Darlene, 71, Breckenridge Texas

Rob: Because these are TV movies, albeit a series of movies with the same characters, and not weekly series, the renewal/cancellation equation doesn't work the way it does for series.

A Hallmark spokeswoman said development on new installments of some of the movie franchises slowed due to the writers' strike and then some of the stars got work on other projects (e.g. John Larroquette of "McBride" began work on "Boston Legal"; Kellie Martin of "Mystery Woman" had a baby).

New installments of Dick Van Dyke's "Murder 101" are expected but there's no air date yet. And the recent "Dear Prudence" with Jane Seymour will also return.

Q: With all the talk of converting to digital TV, one concern of mine has never been addressed. Currently, if we have a storm and our power goes out, I get out my battery-operated, 5" B&W TV and tune in to find out what's going on. Now, with the conversion to digital broadcasting, that TV will no longer work. Digital converter boxes (whether cable or over-the-air) will not work without electricity, either. So, it seems to me that for all the "benefits" of converting to digital, there is this area of crisis management that has been severely overlooked.

All the advertising for digital TVs seems to focus mostly on buying the biggest, best HDTVs. So my question is this, are there small, battery-operated digital TVs available on the market? If so, are they affordable? My old analog 5" TV ran about $20-$25.

The government may annoy us with the monthly emergency broadcasting tests they require the cable companies and TV stations to do, but what good is it in an emergency if you have no power and/or cable on which to view actual emergency alerts?

-- John, 49, Green Tree

Rob: Digital portable TVs are available but few (if any) are battery-operated and nobody plans to make a battery-operated digital-to-analog converter box.

There's a whole thread on this AV forum relating to this issue and this article gets to the heart of the matter, including suggestions of portable digital TVs (about $200), although I've yet to find one that's battery-operated. If anyone else has better luck, e-mail me.

The articles suggest that once the digital transition occurs, manufacturers are likely to start making more portable DTV products. I suspect more battery-operated models may hit that market at that time.

Q: Why does Jeff Verszyla at KDKA report from the sidelines at a Steelers game? He is a weatherman, not a sports reporter. Also, why does Sally Wiggin sometimes report from the Steelers game? She is certainly not a sports reporter.

-- Joan, 61, Baden, Pa.

Rob: I've never understood why viewers get so incensed when people who work in TV step outside their regular roles. Have you never had a job where you'd like to branch out a little?

Wiggin said she initially got into broadcasting expecting to be a sports anchor, and she did cover some hockey in Birmingham, Ala., before moving to Pittsburgh. She was once married to a former pro baseball player, she was a competitive swimmer for eight years and coached for two summers and played club softball and volleyball. Her broadcasting dream was to cover the Olympics.

"They came to me and said, 'Are you interested in doing this?' and that's how it happened," Wiggin recalled. "They wanted to have a female presence."

At KDKA, Verszyla has been reporting from the sidelines of preseason Steelers games for six years.

"He's a lifelong Steelers fan and is extremely knowledgeable about the team and the game itself," said KDKA news director John Verrilli. "There have been several occasions when weather -- mostly summer thunderstorms -- was an issue and we used Jeff's expertise in these situations."

Verszyla said Joan's question is not unusual.

"I had a conversation with Coach Tomlin when he got here and he said, 'You're my weatherman. What are you doing here?' " Verszyla recalled. "My first response was, I'm the slash of KDKA. Just like Kordell Stewart was a quarterback-slash-wide receiver. At the end of the day, he can play football no matter what position. If you're a broadcaster, you're a broadcaster. It doesn't matter what you're broadcasting. Coach Tomlin said, 'Well, OK, I'll buy that.' "

And they're not the only ones to switch between areas of coverage. As Wiggin pointed out, Bryant Gumbel began in sports broadcasting before moving to news. MSNBC's Keith Olbermann used to cover sports, too. Even WTAE's Andrew Stockey was a sports anchor before becoming a morning news anchor/reporter.

So let's try to be a little more open-minded. If they were screwing up facts or somehow inept -- since Bob Smizik covers sports on TV, I'll leave it to him to make those judgment calls -- there would be room for criticism. But just doing something outside the role viewers normally see them in? That shouldn't be a big deal.

Q: Why would you say Mike LaPoint would be the odd person out ? He does a good job.

-- Doug, 48, Lawrence

Rob: I never said he does a bad job. Personally, I like LaPoint. But he was the last one hired (before the rehiring of Julie Bologna), has the least tenure in the market and is assigned to newscasts that could use a ratings bump. The mornings are stronger in the ratings, so it wouldn't make sense to unseat Krista Villarreal.

I don't want to see anyone lose his or her job, so I hope I'll be proved wrong, but after watching how TV stations operate for the past 12 years, it just seems unlikely to me that WPXI will keep a roster of five forecasters.

Q: It looks like Sonni Abatta has recently had some cosmetic surgery. She looks a little different lately.

-- Ruth, 43, Brookline

Q: What's with Sonni Abatta's face? Did she get a nose job?

-- Mark, 37, Pleasant Hills

Q: What's up with Sonni Abatta? She looks -- different -- and I can't quite place it. I know she was off for a couple of weeks on, ummmm, "vacation" -- but something tells me, as the side by side pic shows -- that something is "different."

-- Rob, Jefferson Hills

Rob: I feel for Abatta and now know what it must have been like for women to live through the Salem Witch Trials. One person (in this case, Pittgirl) yells "Witch!" (in this case, intimations that led her minions to exclaim, "Nose job!") and suddenly everybody and his brother is seeing witches (a nose job).

TV news anchors are in the public eye, so even a slight change in appearance, as was the case in this instance, is going to get people chattering. But imagine for a moment if you were judged on your appearance even though you got into your line of work for something else entirely. Not a great feeling.

My understanding is there were just some changes to hair and makeup. That's also a far more logical explanation. Abatta isn't even 30. Why in the world would she need to get work done? A medical procedure perhaps, but my sense is that was not the case.

Abatta's response to viewers' nebby speculation: "My work is my priority. Thanks for watching KDKA!"

That's a disappointing response and one that will only ensure people continue to chatter and speculate.

While news anchors are entitled to a private life, they put their appearance forth every day as part of their job and that's bound to invite scrutiny. The best way to defuse rubbernecking is to respond directly -- don't dodge the question -- and have fun with the ridiculousness of the inqueries.

Q: Can you let us know what happened to our favorite TV personality, WTAE's Marilyn Brooks?

-- A. Reader, Pittsburgh

Rob: As we noted last month, Brooks had knee replacement surgery. She's expected to return to work Tuesday.

Q: In talking to a FiOS TV representative the other day, they told me that they will be adding the NHL Network in the next 30 days. I'm skeptical because I used to hear this song and dance from Comcast. Can you confirm or deny this?

-- Kara, 32, Bellevue

Rob: Neither.

"Sports and HD programming continue to be priorities for Verizon, but I can't be more specific about future content additions like the NHL Network," said Verizon spokesman Lee Gierczynski. "No specific information about the future availability of the NHL Network has been communicated to Verizon sales representatives, so there is no timetable that they should be sharing with customers.

"Verizon is continually working to make more sports, HD, multicultural and other diverse programming available to FiOS TV customers but cannot preannounce anything until agreements with content providers are finalized."

Q: Reading your TV Q&A last week, you have a link to a previous story about Verizon FiOS TV and FSN in HD. That story contains another link to get the UPDATED channel lineup online. Wouldn't that be nice? However, it is still the pre-realignment lineup ?? and according to a tech on the phone they mailed new ones on 8/8/08. Mine must have been sent by snail since I still haven't seen it.

I had hoped that competition would improve the cable arena, but sadly Verizon is so pathetically unprepared and unresponsive that I'm considering satellite.

-- Jean, 58, Ross

Rob: I'm told by a Verizon spokesman that if you enter your ZIP code on the FiOS TV lineup page you will get the most up-to-date channel lineup for your area.

"Also, customers can go to www.verizon.com/fiostv and select "Channel Lineup" from the selections on the left side of the screen," Verizon's Gierczynski said. "The site also includes a printable .pdf file of the channel lineup that is periodically updated. The one for Pittsburgh was last updated 8/6/2008 and includes all the latest channels that were recently added. This printable file has been available on that site for more than four weeks."

The interactive media guide that customers can access from their FiOS TV remotes on their TV screens still lists the previous channel positions and where the new channel positions are located, he said. That information will be shown for a limited time until customers have become accustomed to the new channel lineup positions.

Q: What is the problem with WPCW's HD channel on Comcast? I have seen two episodes of "Supernatural" and half an episode of "Reaper" on Comcast Channel 216 where apparently the dialogue track of the audio was muted. Background music and sound effects could be heard but none of the diaglogue could. I've checked a forum or two and other people have mentioned this happening to them so it doesn't appear to be an equipment problem. And during commercials the audio would be fine; the selective muting would only occur during the show.

-- Theodore, 36, Shadyside

Rob: According to Comcast, this was a broadcaster issue that has been resolved. WPCW/KDKA general manager Chris Pike did not respond to a request for comment.

Q: Without notice or explanation, Comcast eliminated the Record option. (The Record option was a timer function for unattended VCR recording, i.e.,changing the cable box to the desired channel for various scheduled VCR recordings. Previous to the availability of a Record option, there was a Timer option on the main menu, which was better than the Record option, in part because it provided a list of your settings.) When I called Comcast about the possibility of restoring the Record option, the first person I talked to transferred me to someone who she said would restore the option. That person, however, had no idea what I was talking about and said I needed to schedule an appointment with a service technician.

The technician came to my house and told me that Comcast eliminated the Record option, and there was no way to restore it. He did not know why I was not told this on the phone. He also indicated that the option was probably eliminated to encourage people to get the DVR box (and pay for an installation plus $12.50 and tax per month).

My question: Is there anyone with whom I can file a complaint about Comcast's anti-consumer action?

-- Tony, 35, Pittsburgh

Rob: Your locality controls the franchise agreement with Comcast, so that seems like the place to file a complaint. Although in this case, it seems like a complaint is not really warranted.

According to Comcast spokesman Bob Grove, the tune timer feature exists on all of the newer Motorola standard-definition converters. When we recently upgraded our channel guide, some converters with very limited memory lost this little-used feature so that we could ensure full channel guide functionality. The customer can exchange his converter for a newer one at no charge.

Q: Can you find out if Comcast will restore FSN-HD on channel 226 for those of us in Ross area that did not get our Aug. 19th update that included Channel 250. I sat down to watch a Pirates game tonight on HD and found out they took it off 226 because of the new channel 250, but the joke is on us in the Ross area, WE DON'T HAVE THE UPGRADE.

-- Jeff, 55, O'Hara Township

Q: I live in the Comcast Castle Shannon/Penn Hills area. I used to be able to watch all FSN Pittsburgh programs on HD on Channel 226. However, since all other traditional Comcast areas received a dedicated FSN Pittsburgh channel (250), I have not been able to view this programing in HD. I have contacted Comcast a few times trying to determine whether or not I will be able to view this channel again on Channel 226. They have not been able to provide answers. Do you know what their plans are for us left out customers? Thank you.

-- Paul, 32, Whitehall

Rob: This response from Comcast applies to both Ross and Castle Shannon customers: "Technical problems prevented FSN's HD broadcast of the Pirates' game in question on Channel 226 in the Ross area. We are working to correct those. Beginning today we will again air all available FSN Pittsburgh HD programming on MOJO (Channel 226 in traditional areas, Channel 774 in former Adelphia areas) and will launch Big Ten Network HD programming on Channel 250 in traditional areas and Channel 769 in former Adelphia areas. The Big Ten Network agreement was signed after our announced addition of channels 250/769 as the locations for FSN Pittsburgh HD programming."

Q: I'm sad you didn't include the bizarre phone call of the week in last week's column. Although I enjoy your entire column, the phone call at the end is the icing on the cake!

-- Laureen, Bellevue

Rob: Alas, I can't manufacture crazy calls, we just have to hope they come in. And you're in luck: This week we have a political partisan with a seeming inability to read!

VOICE MAIL OF THE WEEK

"I just want to ask you why of all the stations that you have at the time of the presidential coverage, the convention coverage, that Fox News wasn't included. Are you afraid that more people will watch Fox News? You know, there is such a thing as fairness even in politics and certainly the candidate for the Republican party has been getting the shaft. Obama is a weirdo. Thank you."

-- Paranoid woman responding to last week's Tuned In column, which did include two references to Fox News Channel's coverage plans.

First published on August 29, 2008 at 12:00 am