Rob Owen stories, Page 32

Q: What is going on at WTAE? The station has lost what I believe to be exceptional, diverse on-air talent. Chris Lovingood and David Kaplan leaving was unexpected, but Kelly Frey, really? WTAE has to know this is not a good look for them and I’m sure they’ll take a...

In this week’s episode of Trib Live Extra’s “Pittsburgh Pop” podcast, host Tim Benz and TV Talk columnist Rob Owen discuss Pittsburgh pop culture news of the moment, including season two of “The World According to Jeff Goldblum,” now streaming on Disney+ and featuring the West Homestead native’s exploration of...

Trib Total Media TV writer Rob Owen offers a viewing tip for the coming week. Nonfiction streaming service Curiosity Stream goes “Beyond the Spotlight” for an episode dedicated to Beaver Falls native Joe Namath. Now streaming, “Beyond the Spotlight” debuted this fall with three episodes about celebrities who are trying...

Trib Total Media TV writer Rob Owen offers a viewing tip for the coming week. “Alive” meets “Lost” in “Yellowjackets” (10 p.m. Sunday, Showtime), an engrossing, character-driven thriller about a 1996 New Jersey high school girls’ soccer team whose chartered plane crashes in the wilderness leading to “Lord of the...

Q: Another person leaving WPXI-TV with the departure of Michele Newell. What’s going on at that station in recent times? — Gary via Facebook Rob: Newell left Channel 11 and her hometown of Pittsburgh for a reporter position in the larger Atlanta TV market at a station that’s part of...

In this week’s episode of TribLIVE Extra’s “Pittsburgh Pop” podcast, host Tim Benz and TV Talk columnist Rob Owen discuss Pittsburgh pop culture news of the moment, including the filmed-in-Pittsburgh first-season finale of “American Rust” (spoilers included!). More spoilers in the conversation about the first episode of “Dexter: New Blood”...

Spoiler warning: This article includes spoilers for the season-one finale of Showtime’s filmed-in-Pittsburgh “American Rust” that aired at 10 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 7. While the first season of “American Rust” began at a glacial pace, the show steadily improved through its nine-episode run, culminating in Sunday’s chickens-coming-home-to-roost first-season finale. If...

Former Pittsburgh Steelers running back Jerome “The Bus” Bettis guest stars on Monday’s episode of “The Neighborhood” (8 p.m., KDKA-TV) as himself. The storyline finds Calvin Butler (Cedric the Entertainer) running into Bettis at a restaurant and learning the Hall of Famer grew up knowing Calvin’s wife, Tina (Tichina Arnold),...

When Disney+ launched in November 2019, “The World According to Jeff Goldblum” was among the first original series to be available. The quirky “Jurrasic Park” star, who grew up in West Homestead, explored everyday items and occurrences in season one, from ice cream to sneakers, including an episode on tattoos...

Viewers had a hunch something was up. They’ve noticed the more frequent absence of anchor Kelly Frey on WTAE’s morning newscasts in recent weeks. This week, her absence was particularly notable given that it’s November sweeps, and usually that’s not a time news anchors take vacation. Wednesday morning, Channel 4...

Q: KDKA-TVs Bryant Reed has been reporting from, what I gather is his home, for what seems like a few months now, longer than quarantining for covid-19 exposure. Hopefully, he is okay and this is his choice. — John via email Rob: This is not a covid quarantine. Reed broke...

In this week’s episode of Trib Live Extra’s “Pittsburgh Pop” podcast, host Tim Benz and TV Talk columnist Rob Owen discuss Pittsburgh pop culture news of the moment, including the Pittsburgh players at work on “Star Wars: The Book of Boba Fett,” actress Ming-Na Wen and writer/executive producer Dave Filoni,...

Trib Total Media TV writer Rob Owen offers a viewing tip for the coming week. ^ This week, Lifetime delivers the first in what is intended to be a series of “Highway to Heaven” movies with Jill Scott taking over as the angel from the late Michael Landon, who starred...

Trib Total Media TV writer Rob Owen answers reader questions every Wednesday at TribLive.com in a column that also appears in the Sunday Tribune-Review. Q: Why doesn’t KDKA do morning-after pieces the day following Steelers games, whether they win or lose? They seem to ignore sports stories including the Steeler...

In this week’s episode of TribLive Extra’s “Pittsburgh Pop” podcast, host Tim Benz and TV Talk columnist Rob Owen discuss Pittsburgh pop culture news of the moment, including WPXI-TV reporter Mike Holden returning to the air after a medical leave. I’M BACK!! Medically cleared. No surgery! Can’t thank you guys...

Trib Total Media TV writer Rob Owen offers a viewing tip for the coming week. When CBS’s “B Positive” debuted in November 2020, it was a meh sitcom with a big question mark hanging over it: Once button-downed Drew (Thomas Middleditch) got a kidney from high school classmate wild child...

WPXI-TV reporter Mike Holden, who’s been out on medical leave since early September, says doctors have cleared him to return to work at Channel 11 next week. In September, Holden posted to social media that he was suffering from a potential case of popliteal artery entrapment syndrome that didn’t allow...

Mt. Lebanon native and actor Joe Manganiello’s reaction probably mirrored that of many inside and outside the entertainment industry when hearing the news that actor Alec Baldwin “discharged” a prop gun Thursday on the set of his Western “Rust” in New Mexico. It killed the film’s director of photography, Halyna...

Q: Do you know where the bar under the bridge in “American Rust” is? It looks familiar. — Rob via email Rob: The underside of the bridge may look familiar (it’s in Rankin) but the exterior of the bar may not: Per showrunner Dan Futterman, it’s part-flats, erected for filming...

In this week’s episode of TribLIVE Extra’s “Pittsburgh Pop” podcast, host Tim Benz and TV Talk columnist Rob Owen discuss Pittsburgh pop culture news of the moment, including whether filmed-in-Pittsburgh “American Rust” has improved. The pair also discuss the new season of “You,” starring Penn Badgley and Carnegie Mellon University...