TV Q&A with Rob Owen
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This week's TV Q&A responds to questions about the writer's strike, "Life" and Steelers fluff. As always, thanks for reading, and keep those questions coming.
-- Rob Owen, Post-Gazette TV editor
• Q: If the television writers are on strike, and no shows are being made, does this mean the rest of the production staff are not getting paid during this "break"? If that is the case, I am sure the well-paid people like the actors, directors and so on can go a while without pay, but not the grips, make-up and so on. Does the writer's union look out for the others in anyway like a supplemental paycheck to the non-writers?
-- Mike, Williamsburg, Va.
Rob: In a word, no.
But everyone is aware the toll a long strike will take. Pittsburgh native David Conrad ("Ghost Whisperer") dropped by the Post-Gazette newsroom this week and noted that a month-long strike won't hurt him or other actors because of how ridiculously well they are compensated. But he said that the crews of TV shows were being impacted as soon as the strike began.
There was a report early this week that "Daily Show" host Jon Stewart was paying his writers and staff even though they're not working, but a Stewart rep said that was not true.
• Q: Have any of the new fall shows been given a "reprieve" from being cancelled because of the writers strike? I thought maybe networks would rather run shows that have been completed rather than cancelling a show.
-- Nancy, Pittsburgh
Rob: To a degree, this is what we're seeing happen. If not for the strike, I think several surviving shows would already be toast.
But it's also likely that underperforming but critically loved shows that would normally be given more time to prove themselves will simply be canceled once the strike ends so that networks can start with a clean slate.
• Q: I know that when a show is bad it gets canceled, but they could let you know what happened to a character. I watched CBS's "Viva Laughlin." I didn't particularly care for the show but I would like to know who the killer was. Maybe they didn't get that far into the writing to know themselves. I liked "Pirate Master" but had to watch who won online. That was very annoying.
-- Mary, Irwin
Rob: CBS won't release that information because they're not sure if the filmed but unaired "Viva Laughlin" episodes will be re-purposed, airing online or being released on DVD (I doubt either will happen). I can tell you that in the episodes that were written before the show's cancellation, the killer was not revealed. Odds are that would have been dragged out through the first season of the show if it had lasted that long.
I will say this in defense of TV networks: Viewers get a lot more information about canceled shows now than they ever did in the past. Unaired episodes for some series turn up online or on DVD. Or writers talk about what would have happened. That almost never happened back in the '70s, '80s or '90s when a TV show was canceled.
• Q: I know you've stated you don't watch the new show "Chuck" on NBC. I've grown to like this show, and realize it has yet to find an audience in its current timeslot. NBC has yet to pick it up for a full season and with the current strike, I don't foresee that happening soon, but if it wouldn't find an audience on NBC, could they move it to the USA Network.
The more I watch the show, the more I feel it is cut from the same cloth as the dramedies on USA. Would NBC be quicker to cancel or move "Chuck" to USA?
-- Alex, Glenshaw
Rob: I did watch "Chuck" this week and liked it a little better, but I still feel myself losing interest and reaching for a magazine more than I should.
While some shows have shifted from broadcast network to cable ("Law & Order: Criminal Intent," for instance), it doesn't happen often because the economic model for broadcast shows and cable shows is very different. I'm sure the "L&O:CI" budget had to be scaled back to accomodate the move to USA. If "Chuck" were to make that move, I imagine several cast members would have to be jettisoned and the number of days devoted to on-location (re: outdoor) filming would be slashed.
• Q: Is there a regulation that governs how many times the actors' names must be mentioned when describing the plot of a movie in a television programming guide? Whether in print or on the Comcast Digital Cable Guide, the actors' names are mentioned over and over until there's no room left to describe the plot of the movie. Consider an epic like "Gone With the Wind." The description says something along the lines of: "Gone With the Wind" (Clark Gable; Vivian Leigh). Can Scarlett O'Hara (Vivian Leigh) find true love with Rhett Butler (Clark Gable) in the old South? Starring Vivian Leigh and Clark Gable.
-- Toni, Ross Township
Rob: There's no such requirement. Just seems like lousy writing to me.
• Q: Regarding television shows available online, why are some of the players so terrible? ABC's works great. If I miss something, I know I can get it. But CBS's is awful. I've tried watching things both at home (where I have DSL) and at school (which has super-fast Internet) and the player still skips or runs the show and dialogue in slow motion at various points in the show.
I refuse to give Comcast more money for a DVR, so this was a way to get around that, but the CBS player is so frustrating, I'm beginning to rethink that decision.
-- Kristen, Pittsburgh
Rob: Don't think that the Comcast DVR is more reliable . I haven't tried using the CBS online player but another option is Joost, which also plays CBS content. Some CBS shows are also available via Comcast on demand.
Like you, I've mostly had a great experience with ABC's online player. NBC's tends to freeze up on me a little more. Yesterday, I tried to watch "Back to You" at Fox.com and got a fine audio stream but for video all I saw was a new still image every 30 seconds.
Often it depends on your connection and how solid it is. I've had the ABC player go wonky on me, too, but less often than the others.
• Q: How can fans of the show "Life" communicate to sponsors or network that we would like to keep it, well, alive? It's a great show with a wonderful cast.
-- Joan, Pittsburgh
Rob: I'm not aware of any save-the-show campaigns at this point, but your best bet is to scour fan sites such as those devoted to "Life" and its star, Damian Lewis.
I've boycotted WPXI news out of frustration since they introduced the new operating system. I don't feel like being an involuntary beta tester for their cost-saving moves. According to the local Nielsen ratings, how many others are doing the same? And is the boycott growing over time?
-- Ellen, Point Breeze
Rob: I love a discerning media consumer! Thank you for that, Ellen.
Some other viewers may be making the same viewing decision. Compared to October 2006, WPXI's ratings last month were down at noon, 5, 6 and 11 p.m. last month. One bright spot for the problem-plagued 'PXI: Ratings were up at 5 and 6 a.m.
But I'm not sure any of these ratings can be attributed to Channel 11's technical glitches. The number of homes using television did vary from year-to-year (down in the evenings, up in the mornings), which could well account for this variance more than anything on the air.
In the mornings, KDKA was up at 5 and 6 a.m., too. WTAE was up at 6 a.m. In the evenings, KDKA was down at 5 and 6 p.m. but up at 11 p.m. WTAE was down at 5 p.m. and up at 6 and 11 p.m.
• Q: How long does Channel 11 expect its viewers to put up with their circus act before they switch to an error-free newscast?
-- Eric, Pittsburgh
• Q: In light of all the junk coming out of the "NEW HD WPXI," why are some news stories and even the Pittsburgh mayoral debate stretched and look distorted? I still have analog TV with Comcast cable. The mayoral debates were in wide screen mode the other day. Looked horrible.
Are they still trying to be too fancy and not professional enough to know what they are putting out to the public? Granted, video may look good at the station on all of their "NOW IN HIGH DEFINITION" monitors, but to the general public, the wide-screen look is terrible. The major networks broadcast in HD, but don't force wide screen video on us. Maybe it is a sign of things to come when the FCC forces digital TVs on everyone in the coming years.
Come on WPXI "NOW IN HIGH DEFINITION," get with the program and put out watchable HIGH DEFINITION video. As my grandpap used to say, "Quit playing with all the buttons!"
-- Bryan, Bethel Park
• Q: I've noticed in the past couple of weeks that NBC shows such as "Life" and "The Office," which are supposed to be broadcast in wide screen, are not. We lose the left and right sides of the frame. But the commercials come over just fine in wide screen/ letterbox format. Is this NBC's doing or WPXI's and can it be fixed? I'm not watching in HD, but I don't know that it's analog either. I have a digital converter.
-- Jay, Mt. Lebanon
Rob: Chalk all of this -- including the starting, stopping and re-starting "Jeopardy!" and missing closed captions on a couple of syndicated shows -- up to Channel 11's move to its new home. After the news department moved last month, there were glitches in the news. Many of those have been worked out.
Last week, the last remaining technical departments moved from TV Hill to Summer Hill and there were more glitches, this time not so much in news but in other programs.
WPXI general manager Ray Carter said the "Jeopardy!" re-starts were a server issue: "The system didn't 'read' the next segment in the server and thought it needed to start the program over."
As for the NBC shows that got scrunched, Carter said NBC didn't have a standard definition feed into Channel 11's new facility that had been tested and approved for air. NBC finished testing its equipment late last week and the look returned to normal.
There was one more glitch Wednesday that would only have been noticed by people watching over-the-air, on satellite or via Armstrong cable. This one wasn't WPXI's fault. Contractors in the old facility accidentally pulled the analog feed cable, sending the station off-air from 5:36 to 6:03 p.m. for anyone watching anywhere but on Comcast (WPXI has a direct line to Comcast). Ratings dropped precipitously and general manager Ray Carter said Nielsen has been notified about the glitch that impacted the 5:30, 5:45 and 6 p.m. quarter-hour ratings.
• Q: Is it just me or are the Steelers fluff news stories getting a bit ridiculous? I swear all three news channels had stories on Halloween asking the Steelers what they were passing out to trick-or-treaters! Can't they fill three hours (which is a bit much) with real stories?
What is next? Turkey carving with Hines Ward?
I feel sorry for John Shumway, being reduced to novelty Steelers Fluff and giving out gas ...
-- Rick, East Pittsburgh
Rob: What, you weren't dying to know that Steelers coach Mike Tomlin likes re-watching old movies and is "a great family guy" (per WPXI's David Johnson) or that it takes quarterback Ben Roethlisberger up to three hours to shop for groceries because of all the fan adulation (per KDKA's Bob Pompeani)? (I think there may have been one on WTAE last week, too, but my DVR bombed out and I missed it.)
Here's the deal: I know these Steelers stories are pandering, many viewers know it, the reporters and anchors know it and the Steelers being interviewed know it. Why do stations do it? Because it works. Pittsburghers will lap up anything Steelers. Sometimes we get the television we deserve.
There's nothing wrong with giving people want they want as long as you also give them what they need. A little fluff never hurt anyone. But legitimate concerns such as Rick's arise due to the prominence and pervasiveness of these stories. It's akin to eating fast food: Doing it once a month probably won't kill you, but eating it daily? Not a good idea.
• Q: I have long been frustrated by the high cable prices charged by Comcast and the absence of competition to challenge those costs and what you get for them. The last straw for me was having to pay extra for NFL Network.
I called Verizon a few weeks ago and learned that I could get service to my house. I was ready to sign up until I learned that, while Verizon has substantially lower rates for their television programming packages, the monthly charge for the required cable boxes is such that there will be virtually no savings for me (I have three TVs, two of which are high-def). It is true that FiOS offers more channels for that price, but not enough to entice me to lock into a two-year commitment with them.
It seems to me that Verizon is missing a huge opportunity. Am I the only one complaining? Is it ethical to sell yourself has having better prices when other, unavoidable costs off-set those savings? And don't they realize that a two-year year contract is a turn off?
Finally, is there any update on the push for being able to pick just the channels you want instead of the tier system?
-- Nate, Upper St. Clair
Rob: Yours is the first complaint I've heard, Nate, but I'm sure it won't be the last. You were smart to shop around. That's what one has to do these days.
But your assertion that Verizon's claims are somehow unethical are off base. While it may be more expensive for you because of the number of TVs you have, two of them high-def, it may not necessarily be more expensive for another potential customer.
According to a FiOS TV spokesman, an HDTV set with a digital tuner built in doesn't require a box. No built-in tuner? You can opt for a digital adapter for $3.99 per month if you can live without some of the extras a box provides.
The FiOS TV spokesman says no contract is required, however a contract is necessary if you want to get certain bundled package deals that come with discounts.
NOTHING OF THE WEEK
Sorry, hate to disappoint, but there were no memorable crazy calls, voice mails or e-mails this week. I'm sure they'll resume soon.
First Published November 9, 2007 12:00 am
