Jun 30 2008
PBS's "History Detectives" (9 tonight, WQED) kicks off its sixth season with an investigation that leads to a Pittsburgh woman.
It's the story of a World War II bomber pilot whose journal made it into the possession of another pilot. That pilot's son, Jim Chapman, discovered the diary among his father's mementos 20 years after his father's death. Chapman brought the diary to "History Detectives" and investigator Wes Cowan, who did the research to track down surviving relatives of the pilot, William Moran of Pittsburgh.
In the diary, Moran writes matter-of-factly about his wartime flights and includes news that his wife is pregnant with their first child. Eventually the story leads to that child, Mary Jane Layman, 63, of Bethel Park.
"They first phone my Aunt Adelaide," Layman said last week. "She loved my dad so much. He was her older brother and she idolized him."
Layman, who was born after her father's death in WWII, said she only knew of her father through letters her aunts had saved. She appreciated getting one more belated glimpse at her father through the diary that Chapman turned over to her.
Chapman had tried to find Moran's relatives 10 years ago when he placed a classified add in the Post-Gazette, Layman said. But no one from her family saw it.
"It's been an emotional journey," Layman said. "It's rather difficult at times. I've gotten to the end of that journal and the last entry is on the last page made to have an entry. There aren't anymore pages after that. His last entry is Oct. 30, 1944, and Oct. 31 is when he went missing. Had he come home that night, he probably would have had to start a new journal."
Layman said friends will sometimes ask if she's sad about her father not coming home, but she takes a pragmatic view.
"You just have to accept the things that come to you in life," she said.
Jun 29 2008
It's that time of year again when TV stations annoy viewers with severe weather warnings that disrupt programming. Among the gripes I received today:
"Seriously, when are you going to do something in depth and full tilt about the idiocy, aggravation and foolishness of continuously scrolling weather alerts by the local stations? It's getting worse: the Emergency Broadcast people are now breaking into all programming, even when you're watching something OnDemand, to tell you that there's a flood watch in Green County, even though most of us don;t actually live there. I also realize you've addressed this before, but it is now reaching absurd levels. Example: I had a great deal of difficulty watching the Euro-Cup on WTAE today, since the entire first half had a weather alert crawling across the bottom, obscuring the lower fifth of the screen, where incidently, a great deal of action was taking place."
Of course, I've written about the subject consistently for the past 10 years, including here and here and here and last week in the TV Q&A, where we included a link to FCC regulations. I've explained that TV stations serve more than a dozen counties so that even if there isn't severe weather at your house that doesn't mean there's not severe weather elsewhere in the viewing area. We've written about cable company interruptions and their attempts to rachet down the break-ins for only the most severe weather.
We've acknowledged that stations can go overboard, but frankly, running crawls doesn't seem that outrageous to me. So this particular complaint doesn't really sway me since it was a low-level interruption, not a complete obliteration of the regular programming by a trip to the Prepare To Die Weather Center.
That said, feel free to post your own complaints below. (To post you must log in or register here.)
Jun 28 2008
I generally reserve judgment on TV shows until I see them, but in the case of a new History Channel special, the title alone assures it will be pretty crappy: "All About Dung" (9 p.m. Monday).
Sophomoric humor aside -- and, yes, the show has fun with this too, referring to one scientist as "a star in the field of international poop science" -- the program really does look at the history and science of human and animal excrement and what they reveal about the past.
Host Monty Hall calls it "an incredible journey to discover how an everyday substance plays an extraordinary role in our history," including a 14,000-year-old piece of human dung that reveals through DNA testing that humans may have colonized North America 1,300 years earlier than previously thought.
If nothing else, it's a way to educate kids while entertaining them with conversations about "mammoth dung."
Does this sound interesting or just disgusting? Comment below (to comment, you must register here).
Jun 27 2008
Now that "The Singing Bee" on NBC is toast, host Joey Fatone isn't giving up on average Americans singing. Now he's intent on not only getting people to sing but to ruin office productivity at the same time with "The Singing Office" (9 p.m. Sunday, TLC), a humongous waste of time that premieres this weekend.
Fatone and Spice Girl Mel B. search for singers in two different workplaces each week, pitting teams from each office against the other. The teams go through boot camp and then engage in a choreographed singing competition finale, vying for the $50,000 grand prize.
Yes, it is as dreadful as it sounds. But will you watch anyway? If so, why? Post your comments below. (To comment, you must register.)
Jun 26 2008
Local TV news demos for May are out and much remained unchanged from a year ago, particularly at 5 a.m. and 4 p.m. Other changes to key demos - women and persons (aka "everyone" in plain English) ages 25-54 - were slight. (See demo ratings box attached to this week's Tuned In column.)
KDKA was up a point in persons and women at 5 and 6 p.m. and down a point in persons and women at 11 p.m. Channel 2 was also down a point in women at 6 a.m.
WPXI was up a point in persons at noon and 10 p.m. and up a point in women at 6 a.m. Channel 11 was up a point in women at 6 p.m. and up a point in persons and women at 11 p.m.
WTAE showed inprovement in persons and women at 6 a.m. Channel 4 was down a point in persons at 6 p.m. and down a point in women at 11 p.m.
Jun 26 2008
For this week's Tuned In Podcast, I chatted by phone with former WTAE meteorologist Don Schwenneker, who now works at WBBM in Chicago. He talks about his first six months in the Windy City and the differences in forecasting between Pittsburgh and Chicago.
Subscribe to the podcast or listen at the Post-Gazette podcast page.
Are there are other local TV personalities you'd like to see interviewed for the podcast? If so, post your suggestions in the comments below. (To comment, you must register.)
Jun 24 2008
Woo-hoo, Tuned In Journal is finally a real blog thanks to the addition of a commenting feature. You'll have to register to comment, and hopefully you will. TV is more fun to discuss with a group than just to blather on about myself.
For instance, are you even watching TV this summer? Or has the abundance of reality shows driven you away?
The summer of reality shows continues tonight with NBC's premiere of "The Baby Borrowers" (8 tonight, WPXI). This one is actually more interesting than most reality series as five teenage couples agree to parent someone else's baby for three days. 
Setting aside the question of who in their right mind would lend out their baby for use in a reality show, "Baby Borrowers" may actually be a revelation for teens who don't take time to consider the consequences of their actions.
In tonight's premiere, emotional, immature Kelly locks herself in the bathroom after boyfriend Austin laughs when she puts on a pregnancy belly. Surfer Daton shows more aptitude for child care than his girlfriend, Morgan. And Sean hopes the whole experience will teach his girlfriend, Kelsey, that they're not ready to have children.
A nanny watches the teens and the babies but won't interfere unless the child is in danger. The babies' parents monitor what's happening from a nearby home and sometimes pop in to lecture them on what they're doing wrong.
In upcoming weeks the teens will have to care for toddlers, pre-teens, teens and even the elderly. Will you be tuning in or is this just more of the same? Register and post a response below.
Jun 24 2008
"Rescue Me" returns, albeit in short form. Read More...
Read the complete post at http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/08176/892013-352.stm?cmpid=tunedin.xml
Jun 22 2008
VH1 says, "I Love the New Millennium." Read More...
Read the complete post at http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/08174/891444-352.stm?cmpid=tunedin.xml
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