TV Talk: WQED-TV remakes daytime schedule; Pittsburgher competes on MTV's ‘Are You the One?'

Pittsburgh’s PBS station WQED-TV will overhaul its daytime schedule Feb. 6, removing children’s programming from 2-6 p.m. weekdays and replacing it with reruns of programs normally seen in PBS’s prime time.

The station is calling it “Prime Time on Your Time” with each day of the week dedicated to a different genre.

Monday afternoons will be devoted to drama programming. “Antiques Roadshow” and similar programming will air on Tuesday with history shows on Wednesday, nature shows on Thursday and natural science shows on Friday.

The overhaul makes sense given trends in children’s TV viewing with much of that viewership happening via streaming. WQED representative Jody Doherty said 40% of PBS stations have already addressed that trend and adjusted their programming.

“This move helps WQED to better serve its core general audience and PBS KIDS audiences where and when they are viewing,” Doherty said.

Children’s programming will continue to be available 24/7 on the PBS Kids channel, which is on Channel 13.5 over the air as well as on DirecTV (288), Verizon (476), Comcast (1146), Armstrong (99) and Charter Spectrum (183). (Some channel positions may vary by location; check wqed.org/schedule for your specific location.)

In addition, the PBS Kids channel is live online at pbskids.org/video/livetv and also available via the PBS Kids video app at pbskids.org/apps/pbs-kids-video.html.

WQED’s daytime schedule change arrives the same day as a new PBS Kids series, “Work It Out Wombats!” (10:30 a.m. Feb. 6), which follows a trio of marsupial siblings who live with their grandmother in a treehouse apartment complex.

“The new series aims to introduce kids ages 3 to 6 to critical thinking and creative problem-solving using computational thinking, which is a precursor to computer science,” said Sara Dewitt, senior vice president and general manager of PBS Kids, during the PBS portion of this month’s Television Critics Association winter 2023 press tour in Pasadena, Calif.

“Wombats” executive producer Marcy Gunther said the way the show’s writers accomplish that is by finding a relatable-to-preschoolers task – say, a lost stuffed animal – and break it down into steps preschoolers can follow.

“The wombats must learn how to use sequencing, which is a process from computer science to step it out and figure out how to retrace their steps to find [the stuffed animal],” she explained.

And of all the animals to choose, why wombats?

“We looked at dogs and cats — they’ve certainly gotten lots of play in the animated world — and thought, you know, what animal really hasn’t had its due yet?” Gunther said. “We wanted the show to really embody an energetic and joyful spirit. … And we somehow stumbled upon wombats and learned that they are fast. They run 25 miles an hour. They roll into balls, which you’ll see our characters doing a lot. And we thought, aha, that is the character for the show. And what a fun word, wombats.”

Pittsburgher on ‘Are You The One?’

Taylor Kelly, who grew up in Ross Township and is a 2016 graduate of North Hills High School, is among the contestants on a new season of “Are You the One?” The reality dating show releases new episodes Wednesdays on streaming service Paramount+.

The show’s fourth episode debuts this week and in the preview Kelly is seen upset, saying, “I’m not a mean person. I am a lover!”

“Yes, that is me crying,” Kelly said in a phone interview Monday, chuckling. “Its really interesting to watch it all play out on my screen as well.”

Kelly, who now works as a real estate agent in Sarasota, Fla., had applied to be on season one of the American “Love Island” and was a finalist but didn’t get picked for the show. She was recruited to “Are You the One?” through her Instagram account.

“I really put a lot of my life out on social media,” Kelly said. “You can really see who I am as a person from my social media. I post a lot on Tik Tok as well, like, really funny, relatable content.”

For its ninth season, “Are You the One?” put 22 recently single men and women from around the globe in a house in Spain’s Canary Islands last summer, where they were pre-matched into pairs known only to the show’s producers. The contestants have to try to find their prescribed mate. If they can correctly identify all 11 perfect matches by the end of the season, they’ll split a $1 million prize. But each week they fail to make a match, the prize shrinks by $250,000.

“I really honestly was trying to find love,” Kelly said. “I’m looking for somebody who I can spend the rest of my life with and somebody I can grow with.”

But if it the show opens doors to more reality shows or acting, that’s OK, too.

“I definitely would love to see myself on MTV’s ‘The Challenge,’” she said. “I think I’d be a really good fit for that. I definitely have some spice to me. But you’ll see that in future episodes [of ‘Are You the One?’], I’m sure.”

Kelly said her family back in the North Hills, including mom Kimberly Kerrish, have been supportive.

“My mom is my biggest support system so she’s been just amazing through the whole thing,” Kelly said. “Obviously, sometimes the little moments are cringy. [There are] definitely sometimes some weird, hard moments to watch with your parents.”

PFO fundraiser

The Pittsburgh Film Office’s annual fundraising gala will be held March 11 as an in-person event at The Pennsylvanian’s historic Grand Hall in Downtown Pittsburgh. Ticket sales begin Wednesday at pghfilm.org/lights-glamour-action/.

Kept/canceled

Unsurprising given its strong ratings performance, HBO renewed “The Last of Us” for a second season.

Fox renewed “The Simpsons,” “Family Guy” and “Bob’s Burgers” for two more seasons each, keeping them on the air through at least the 2024-25 TV season.

Netflix renewed Noah Centineo’s “The Recruit” for a second season and “Somebody Feed Phil” for a seventh season.

CNBC canceled “Jay Leno’s Garage” after seven seasons.

Disney+ canceled “The Mysterious Benedict Society” after two seasons.

Channel surfing

HBO’s “Succession” returns for its fourth season at 9 p.m. March 26. … The Top 3 competitors from season three of Netflix’s “Blown Away” – MiNHi England, John Moran and John Sharvin — will host a free opening reception of their new work at Pittsburgh Glass Center, 6-9 p.m. Friday, created during a residency at PGC. … Pittsburgh native Billy Porter will be among the celebrities paying tribute to Carol Burnett on her 90th birthday in NBC’s “Carol Burnett: 90 Years of Laughter + Love” (8 p.m. April 26). … This weekend Pedro Pascal (“The Last of Us,” “The Mandalorian”) hosts NBC’s “Saturday Night Live” with musical guest Coldplay. … ABC News parted ways with “GMA3” anchors Amy Robach and T.J. Holmes after the pair were romantically linked and left their respective spouses. … HBO’s post-“Real Time with Mill Maher” segment, “Overtime,” will air at 11:30 p.m. Fridays on CNN beginning this week. … Just as the Duke of Hastings (Rege-Jean Page) disappeared from “Bridgerton” after season one, the actress who played the Duke’s wife, Daphne (Phoebe Dynevor), has exited the show ahead of season three, per Deadline.com.