Submit your question to Rob Owen
This week's TV Q&A responds to questions about "Flashpoint," "Life on Mars" and DTV, DTV, DTV. As always, thanks for reading, and keep those questions coming.
-- Rob Owen, Post-Gazette TV editor
Q: I was wondering what CBS's plans are for "Flashpoint." It is a great show. Are they going to continue the series?
-- Jon, 26, Weirton, WV
Rob: CBS has not officially renewed "Flashpoint," but it has decent ratings and wins its time slot so I expect it will continue.
Q: It seems so silly that BBC America is replaying shows that originally aired on Fox ("Kitchen Nightmares") and Lifetime ("How Clean is your House?") when there is a wealth of BBC-produced dramas and sitcoms. Is it a budgetary or ratings decision to show all these "lifestyle" shows?
Are there any glimmers of hope on the horizon? I'm hoping that they might play "Being Human" since "Torchwood" will have a short season.
But, I'd be happy to know if there are any original programs that do not involve Gordon Ramsay coming to BBC America this spring. (This is a bit of long-winded question, but at least I didn't ask about Wendy Bell.)
-- Jennifer, 34, Allison Park
Rob: These are good questions all around. Regarding new shows, you might want to try "Mistresses," which I reviewed today in Tuned In Journal.
"Being Human" is a BBC America co-production, so it will air on the channel later this year.
As for the lifestyle shows, here's the response from a BBC America publicist: "Gordon Ramsay and 'How Clean is You House' have both proved immensely popular on BBC America. With a limited number of episodes available from the UK, we have acquired additional U.S. versions, featuring the original UK stars. These versions are proving equally popular with the BBC America audience. In addition we continue to bring the best of British drama and comedy to the U.S. Look out for 'Mistresses,' 'Ashes to Ashes,' and new series of 'Skins,' 'Torchwood' and 'The Graham Norton Show' in the near future."
Q: When will new episodes of "Robin Hood" air on BBC America or has it been canceled?
-- Jim, 55, Latrobe
Rob: A new season of "Robin Hood" has been filmed and BBC America will air it later this year.
Q: I counted during the credits on "NCIS" at least 12 producers, associate producers, assistant producers, executive producers, etc. Do most television shows have this many?
-- Jim, 63, Plum
Rob: Many times the show's writers are given producer credits, so odds are many of the producers on a show are actually writers. There are also some vanity producer credits and non-writing producers, so 12 is not an unusual number.
Most recently I've been struck by the number of producers on "24," many of whom have in the past run their own series. I guess that's the toll the economy has taken on Hollywood: Former showrunners working on someone else's show.
Q: I know it seems like I spend my life looking for nonsensical things to complain about, but it's what I do. My latest gripe ??? TV credits. It's bad enough they tell us who stars in the crappy show, but who cares who the executive-co-vice-senior-producer is? Another thing they are doing is dragging the dang things out. Last Monday during "Two and a Half Men," the credits were still running at almost 15 minutes after the hour. What up?
-- Mike, 46, Weirton, W.Va.
Rob: President Obama held a prime-time press conference that pushed the starting time of some shows back by a few minutes, which may be why there were still opening credits that late into a sitcom. But it can also depend on when the credits start. "Ugly Betty" doesn't start its credits until after the opening "blink-blink"-themed puzzle of Betty's face and sometimes that doesn't arrive until 10 or 15 minutes into the show.
As for the reason there are credits, it's both contractual and an acknowledgement of someone's hard work. If it bothers you that much, don't watch TV and find something else to hate on.
Q: I love "Life on Mars." Last week's episode (2/11/09) about the rock star and Rocket Girl -- did Rocket Girl die? I saw the lead character holding her, seemingly in a swamp-type setting. Did aliens get to her? Accident? Perhaps I missed a few critical minutes.
-- Carol, 55, mckeesport, pa
Rob: I think you did miss the explanation: Wind from a helicopter's whirring blades pushed Rocket Girl down into swamp muck and she never escaped. She died in the muck and Sam (Jason O'Mara) found her body later.
Q: Why are there so few episodes this season of "Family Guy"? I checked and they have only aired seven new episodes! "The Simpsons" have already aired 12 at least.
-- Parm, 18, Seattle
Rob: Blame the writers' strike. Because animation takes so long to complete, you're seeing the lingering effects of the strike on animated shows. Original episodes will air throughout March.
Q: I posed this a few months ago and was told I was wrong.
I can't take no for an answer.
With the onset of digital TV, I feel this is the end of FREE over the air TV as we know it.
You need to pay for cable. Now you need to pay for a converter box to convert from an antenna to get digital service.
Am I still wrong?
-- Mike, 66, West Mifflin
Rob: In my opinion, yes, you are.
Broadcast television remains free. Is there a one-time equipment charge if you have an older TV? Yes, a whopping $20 (after the $40 coupon) for a converter box. But that's nothing new. Viewers have always had to pay for the hardware necessary to receive TV signals, namely, a TV set.
Q: I've heard references to HD subchannels. Are these available through cable companies or are they just available over-the-air?
-- Bill, 46, Wexford
Q: With the digital transition under way, is there any hope that Comcast will carry the additional broadcast digital subchannels such as RTN on basic cable?
-- Andrew, 20, Portage
Rob: RTN has been carried by Comcast on Channel 207 or Channel 110 since September 2007. Comcast also carries WQED's Neighborhood Channel (Channel 201 or Channel 701) and Create Channel (Channel 200 or Channel 700) and WTAE's weather/traffic channel (Channel 204 or Channel 100). All are on Comcast's basic tier but they do require rental of a Comcast cable box in order to be received.
Q: For those customers who are converting their TV sets from analog to digital, will they be receiving "extra" channels they haven't received before "free," while us customers who previously have cable have to "pay" for their "extra" channels which are considered the "basic" package or will they be viewing only the channels they received before? Will they only have to pay a one-time price of $40 for the converter and get the digital channels that us cable customer have to pay for monthly?
-- Debbie, Shaler
Rob: Despite our best efforts to explain the differences between digital TV and digital cable, viewers are clearly still confused (or not paying attention).
Without cable, viewers can receive the digital signal from local stations (KDKA, WPXI, WTAE, etc.) and, if they are available, digital subchannels, like RTN. These are also carried on cable.
Without digital cable, viewers will not receive cable channels such as BBC America and Sci Fi Channel, which are carried on Comcast's digital tier.
Q: WQED recently replaced the very funny Britcom, "Waiting for God," with the boring "Yes, Minister" on their Saturday night lineup. A call to the station indicated that "people" asked for "Yes, Minister." How could local Pittsburgh people ask for it since it has never been on before here?
-- Maya, 36, Slippery Rock
Rob: Because it has aired locally on Channel 16 back in the 1990s, according to WQED program director Chris Fennimore.
WQED re-evaluates its Britcom lineup every two years, so start begging the station for "Waiting," and maybe in two years it will be back.
Q: I am wondering how much longer the daily repeats of "Family Feud" will continue? Seems they have all been repeats since Christmas. Since I am at home with a recent injury, I would love to see some new episodes!
-- Jean, 71, Cranberry Township
Q: When will "Family Feud" start having new shows again? I have been watching reruns since November, I believe. Some shows I swear I've seen 3 times now!
-- Georgia, 61, Pittsburgh
Rob: The ladies are wanting some fresh "Feud" and they'll get them beginning March 2, according to WPXI program director Mark Barash. He said about 34-40 weeks' worth of new episodes are produced each year and mixed with reruns by the show's distributor.
Q: I watch KDKA news faithfully every morning. I've noticed lately the absence of Jim Lokay. Can you tell me where he might be? Is he still with the station?
-- Jeannine, 70, Baldwin
Rob: We reported earlier this month that Lokay has been off-the-air while recovering from surgery for a torn ACL.
Q: We were without electricity for four days last week and when I tuned into Channel 4, Jake, the news man, was gone. Where did he go? I really liked Jake.
-- Betty, 69, Finleyville
Rob: I agree, Ploeger did a good job both as a reporter and anchor. But as we reported last month, he quit for a new, non-TV job.
Q: Is Patrice King Brown ill or does she have extensive vacation time? It appears she is off more than she is on air.
-- Terri, 59, Pittsburgh
Rob: People who work for the same employer for 30 years often built up a lot of vacation time. But in this case, Brown will be away for a few weeks on medical leave. No details on what the leave is for, although I understand she's doing well. Calls/e-mails to Brown were not returned as of deadline.
Q: I would like to know why the regular, daily news anchors and weather people are off for a day or two during sweeps this month? Usually, nobody is off on the news during sweeps. But this month, I have seen a lot of them off. To me, this is a bit unusual. I know this isn't an earth shattering question, but I am curious. I guess I have too much time on my hands that I even notice this.
-- Ann, 25, West Mifflin
Rob: May I suggest using that time to read the Post-Gazette, which mentioned earlier this month that February sweeps was moved to March due to the expected transition to digital TV. This year, no one will get to take vacation in March, so I imagine some TV folks are trying to get a few vaca days in during February.
Q: When FiOS TV was initially rolled out, in the South Hills the areas to get it were supposed to be Mt. Lebanon, Bethel Park, Peters, and Upper St. Clair. This was over a year ago, and no signs of it in USC. Do you know why this is, and if not, who should I contact regarding this?
-- Mary Catherine, 46, Upper St. Clair
Rob: According to Verizon, "FiOS TV service has been available to parts of Upper St. Clair for more than a year. To date, the service is available to more than 5,400 of the township's 7,000+ households.
"Verizon's fiber-optic network build is a work in progress and will continue over the next few years to expand the availability of FiOS services to more customers, so it's possible this customer lives in a part of the township not yet upgraded."
"If the gentleman in the recording would speak clearly and annunciate things properly so one can understand, I want to know why they called [my phone number]. I want someone to call me. I'd like to know why the Post-Gazette is calling me."
-- Message from a man who called me first. I returned his call and left a message and then he forgot he called me in the first place and called me back, demanding an explanation for the contact that he initiated.
First Published: February 20, 2009, 5:00 a.m.