Submit your question to Rob Owen
This week's TV Q&A responds to questions about "Men in Trees," Hallmark Channel mystery movies and local newscasts that start earlier than scheduled. As always, thanks for reading, and keep those questions coming.
-- Rob Owen, Post-Gazette TV editor
Q: On the show "Iron Chef," is the "secret ingredient" known to the competing chefs along with their sous chefs before the show? It seems like they are ready to jump in to prepare such outstanding food dishes from the strangest ingredients.
-- Gerry, Pleasant Hills
Rob: Interesting question and I was surprised by the answer. According to a Food Network publicist, the Iron Chefs and challengers are sent a list of five possible ingredients two weeks before they compete in Kitchen Stadium. They do not know the secret ingredient until it is unveiled by the chairman, but obviously they can prepare practice dishes in advance using each of the five possibilities.
Q: When will "Ice Road Truckers" be on with new episodes?
-- Nicki, Castle Shannon
Rob: No air date, but it will most likely be in spring or summer.
Q: Now that Paige is back on "Trading Spaces," do you know if Doug Wilson's show "Moving Up" will be back on?
-- Mary, Irwin
Rob: It will. New episodes begin airing March 15, according to a TLC publicist.
Q: Do you know when "Men in Trees" will return? I didn't think they were affected by the writers' strike since they had a lot of shows left over from the spring.
-- Renee, Pittsburgh
Rob: ABC was holding it for when we got deeper into the strike and they really started to run low on scripted shows. "Men in Trees" will air at 10 p.m. Wednesday starting Feb. 27.
Q: What happened to "Cane" starring Jimmy Smits? I got "hooked" on it as well as several of my friends. I look forward to its continuation.
-- Geraldine, Pittsburgh
Rob: Like most prime-time series that began in the fall, "Cane" ran out of episodes due to the writers' strike. Even when the strike ends, don't expect to get more episodes of "Cane." It was low-rated and seems unlikely to be renewed.
Q: Is Hallmark Channel planning to produce any more "Mystery Woman"/"Jane Doe"/"McBride" movies?
-- John, Green Tree
Rob: A new "Mystery Woman" airs at 9 p.m. March 1 and a new "Jane Doe" airs at 9 p.m. March 8. Beyond those, the network does not have scripts in development on "Mystery Woman," "McBride" and "Jane Doe," although there is a possibility that more "Jane Doe" movies will be made.
A publicist said there will be three "Murder 101" movies (starring Dick Van Dyke) in 2008. There is also current development on new mysteries for the franchise starring Bob Newhart in one and Carol Burnett in the other.
Q: Have you heard if FX or TNT is planning to rerun "Damages" and "Saving Grace"? I missed the last episode of each and was hoping they might use them during this down time.
-- Sherri, Ventura
Rob: TNT will rerun the "Saving Grace" finale at 11 p.m. March 5. "Damages" is now on DVD and FX has no current plan to re-air the first-season finale.
If you miss a telecast of an original cable series, your best bet is to find the in-week repeat. Most shows have them but they don't always repeat again after that week ends.
Q: Can you tell me why the 5 p.m. news actually starts at 4:58 p.m.? I was watching a show on another channel and switched over at 5 to watch the news a few weeks ago. To my surprise, I had already missed the breaking news of the evening. Since then, I've started to notice that this is a common trend.
-- Raina, Pittsburgh
Rob: This phenomenon began about a decade ago. It's an attempt by channels (and networks in prime time) to stem the tide of viewer defection to other channels by starting the next show immediately after the previous one ends without commercials in between.
Q: Why do we have to watch 3 or more hours of local news repeats on WPXI on Saturdays? I would much rather watch the Saturday (and Sunday) versions of the "Today" show. I would also prefer that WPXI limit itself to the five-minute "bumpers" at 25 and 55 past the hour like they do on weekdays. Is there an overriding reason why WPXI feels like it has to run so much local news on the weekends?
-- Jonathan, Squirrel Hill
Rob: This has been my complaint for years.
WPXI runs local news because they make more money on local news than a national newscast like "Today." My advice: Watch the weekend edition of "Good Morning America" on WTAE instead.
Q: I know it's been asked before, maybe even recently, but here goes: Why in the name of Vladimir Zworykin (showing my age) are PCNC viewers still being subjected to the title "Honsberger Live" when Chris Moore continues to be that program's primary host? When Fred, a man I know professionally and have great respect for, exited the program, the show's content and opinions, well, ceased to be his! If PCNC does not want to rename the program "PCNC Live With Chris Moore" (or a reasonable fascimile thereof), they can at least change the name period so that it doesn't air like a contradiction in terms. Anyone who listens to Chris Moore (on TV and radio) knows that his take on issues, and some of the issues he takes on, are often far from Fred's avenue of talk. Both Fred and Chris are great talkers, but c'mon PCNC! You're startin' to look as goofy with this as AMC does at The Waterfront, where they seem to be able to change everything inside to their name, but not the name on the building. That's an identity problem, folks; the kind freshman communications and PR majors are taught to avoid.
-- Laurence, Wilkinsburg
Rob: The show is still called "Honsberger Live" because PCNC is holding the spot for Honsberger if/when he's able to resume hosting the program. As we've reported, he's had many medical issues that have largely confined him to his home.
In September, Honsberger said he told the station they could offer the show to someone else. PCNC station manager Mark Barash said this week, "We are currently evaluating the situation. More coming on it in the next few weeks."
But I have some concern about the tone of this letter that I just can't let pass. Perhaps it would be more expedient and to the liking of some impatient Pittsburgh viewers for these prolonged absences of local personalities -- Honsberger, Don Cannon -- to be dispatched with faster resolution. But then others would carp that the stations were mean for kicking a man when he's down by firing him. I'm not sure there's any winning with some viewers.
Q: Can you please tell me why Comcast has removed "Katie Morgan On Demand" from the listing of on-demand shows for HBO? I personally found her nude presentation of matters related to sexuality both stimulating and actually very informative, and her humor was very refreshing.
-- Maurice, Squirrel Hill
Rob: According to Comcast, On Demand shows are refreshed on a regular basis by the content providers, which is HBO in this case. They decide which shows are available On Demand and for how long, not Comcast.
Q: Will Comcast ever add an all-adult channel to their tier of channels that is not a premium channel or pay-per-view? I think it would be good to have something to watch late at night without having to pay extra for it.
-- Mike, Pittsburgh
Rob: I doubt it. The reason adult programming is only on demand or pay-per-view is to protect children from stumbling across it.
"Comcast's goal is to provide our customers with choice and control -- maximizing programming options available to all of our customers, while also providing easy-to-use technology to let customers decide what their families may see," a Comcast spokesman wrote. "The programming we offer for adult audiences is on a pay-per-view or On Demand basis. It can only be accessed by customers who specifically order such programming. At the same time, we offer parental controls to ensure that parents decide what their children watch on television."
Q: Comcast has taken the Game Show Network off of our cable. It use to be on Channel 63. Did they move it or discontinue GSN?
-- Dom, Steubenville, Ohio
Rob: As we reported last week, Comcast moved GSN to a digtal tier in an ongoing effort to force customers to upgrade to a more expensive level of service. GSN is now on Channel 179 on traditional Comcast systems and Channel 108 on former Adelphia systems.
Viewers frustrated by the shenanigans of cable TV providers -- whether it's Comcast or another company -- should read this astute commentary.
Q: I subscribe to comcast's non-digital programming so I am not required to rent a set-top box. Verizon FiOS is now available in my area and I anxiously checked out their offering, which, at first glance is attractive. However, I was told by a Verizon agent that a set-top box is required at any level of FiOS service at a recurring monthly charge of $4.95 per TV. The attractive introductory monthly fee is a sham.
Where is the value? Why can't these content providers send us a video signal that can be processed by our already paid for, built-in television tuners? Not that many years ago, people didn't have a choice and rented their telephones for a monthly fee that over time, was equivalent to buying the phone many times over. The video providers are going one step further by not only making a profit on the hardware but using it as a tool to sell extra content (PPV, etc.) to the subscribers.
-- Don, South Fayette
Rob: Verizon spokesman Lee Gierczynski said that because Verizon delivers all-digital programming, set-top boxes are required for each television where customers want FiOS TV.
"But if customers have a cable-ready TV with a digital tuner, they don't need one," Gierczynski explained. "In those cases, they can connect their cable directly to the TV. However, if customers connect a digital TV directly without a set-top box, they will only have access to their local FiOS TV channel lineup (typically around 30 channels), will not have access to video-on-demand or pay-per-view services or have access to the interactive media guide.
"Customers who have TV sets without digital tuners built in can access those local channels or other programming, video-on-demand, pay-per-view and the interactive programming guide if they lease a set-top box for $4.99 per month. Customers also can lease a small, basic digital adaptor for $3.99 per month to view standard-definition channels but not the advanced features."
Last week a viewer asked about the status of The CW's "Life Is Wild" and a network publicist told me the show was not currently scheduled to air. I was surprised to stumble upon a new episode Sunday night and asked if there had been a change in the schedule.
"I answered poorly," the publicist said. "They had run out of production on episodes with 12 in the can. No. 11 aired [Sunday] and No. 12 this coming Sunday. Tell your viewer fan I apologize and thanks for the interest in 'Life Is Wild'!"
First Published: February 1, 2008, 5:00 a.m.
