TV Talk: ‘Daniel Tiger’ visits Hosanna House; new Steelers player on ‘Hey Rookie;’ Pete Davidson’s ‘Bupkis’ premieres
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“Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood,” PBS’s animated “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood” spin-off produced by SouthSide Works-based Fred Rogers Productions, debuts three new episodes next week, including one that visits Hosanna House in Wilkinsburg during a live-action, mid-episode interstitial.
The May 9 episode (9 a.m. Tuesday, WQED-TV) focuses on the skill of children learning to amuse themselves when adults are too busy to play.
“We look for things that are thematic to the animated episode for these interstitials,” explained “Daniel Tiger” supervising producer Chris Loggins. “In the animated story, Daniel Tiger and Miss Elaina are playing airplane and we thought it would be interesting to do something having to do with aviation and flying.”
An online search for Pittsburgh aviation turned up the Center for Aviation Technology and Training at Hosanna House.
Filmed last summer, the interstitial features 10-year-old Lyric, a fifth grader from Verona, who gets a tour of CATT, including an exhibit devoted to the Tuskegee Airmen, from Hosanna House founding CEO Leon E. Haynes III.
Next week, “Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood” also borrows from the prime-time TV playbook with the May 8 episode, “The Neighborhood Wedding” (9 a.m. Monday, WQED-TV), which features the nuptials of regular characters of Dr. Anna and Baker Aker.
“Keen viewers will have picked up on that [relationship in previous episodes],” Loggins said. “For super-fans, it probably is a little bit of a payoff.”
Aimed at an audience of 2-to-4-year-olds, “Daniel Tiger” seeks to introduce children to the concept of a wedding, which might be an exciting and even stressful event, and explore how “There Are Many Ways to Say I Love You,” a classic Fred Rogers tune that’s included in the episode. (Yes, the wedding includes a Western Pa. “cookie table.”)
FRP will host a mini-golf fundraiser for its continued work in children’s media, 10 a.m.-2 p.m. May 21 at Cool Springs, 1530 Hamilton Road in Bethel Park. Reserve tickets by May 5 and get more details at fredrogers.org.
‘Hey, Rookie’
Newly-drafted Steelers cornerback Joey Porter Jr., a North Allegheny High School grad and the namesake son of a former Steelers linebacker, has been featured on the ESPN2 series “Hey Rookie, Welcome to the NFL.”
All four half-hour episodes of the show will repeat 8-10 a.m. Saturday on ESPN2, including the fourth episode (9:30 a.m.) that includes draft day. Episode four will also air on ESPN at 3:25 p.m. Saturday and 2:30 p.m. Sunday.
“Take it personal.”@joeyporterjr got a much-needed pep talk from dad after getting passed on in round one ???? @Steelers
????: Season Finale of #HeyRookie airs tonight 9pm ET on ESPN2 pic.twitter.com/kTvoxq8dvU
— NFL Films (@NFLFilms) May 2, 2023
‘Bupkis’
On “Saturday Night Live,” Pete Davidson always gave off a vibe that was equally vulgar and vulnerable. His “Weekend Update” appearances, often hilarious, also seemed like a clamor for validation. He presented as a likable but insecure goof, a jokester with sadness humming just below the surface.
Those elements of Davidson’s persona are on display in the first season of his half-hour Peacock series “Bupkis.” The first two episodes, now streaming, display Davidson’s duality in stark relief.
The first episode leans into the vulgar (you won’t believe what Davidson, playing a version of himself, does to poor Edie Falco, who plays his mom) while the second episode, a flashback to a family wedding weeks after Davidson lost his firefighter father on 9/11, is a moving exploration of what makes Davidson tick.
But largely “Bupkis” is an addiction story, a companion piece to John Mulaney’s latest Netflix special, “Baby J” (Mulaney guest stars as himself on “Bupkis”).
There are laughs in “Bupkis,” some outrageous moments and enough celebrity cameos to rival HBO Max’s “The Other Two,” which is now streaming the first two episodes of its third season.
On “Bupkis,” the deeper viewers dive into the eight-episode first season, the story becomes less “Entourage”-y and instead turns on Davidson’s demons and whether he can overcome them.
‘Class of ‘09’
Hulu’s FX-produced “Class of ’09” starts slowly but then ratchets up intrigue as the thriller tracks FBI Academy classmates in three time periods. It’s a limited series worth watching.
Streaming its first two episodes May 10, the drama is a cross between ABC’s 2015-18 drama “Quantico” and the 2002 movie “Minority Report.”
In the past (2009), a group of FBI trainees gets to know one another and the politics of the bureau.
In the present, FBI agent Poet (Kate Mara) gets tasked by her boss and former love interest Lennix (Brian J. Smith) with spying on fellow FBI agent Hour (Sepideh Moafi) who specializes in data-driven crime-solving.
In the future, Tayo (Brian Tyree Henry) uses Hour’s invention for predictive arrests of people who have yet to commit a crime, a bridge too far for Future Poet, who appears to have a bionic eye.
Created by Tom Rob Smith (“The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story”), “Class of ‘09” is on the pulpier side of FX-produced series, but the show grounds its sci-fi elements with commentary on bias in policing that feels contemporary.
The second episode delivers an intense action sequence that gives way to the dubious use of artificial intelligence in 2034.
Coronation day
Viewers can tune in all the places they’d expect to find news coverage of King Charles III’s coronation Saturday on linear TV and streaming, including CNN, which begins coverage at 1 a.m. Anderson Cooper will lead coverage beginning at 5 a.m. with King Charles III’s procession from Buckingham Palace to Westminster Abbey at 5:15 a.m. The ceremony is slated to start at 6 a.m.
Kept/revived
Fox renewed “911: Lone Star” for a fifth season. The original “9-1-1” will be back for a seventh season but will relocate from Fox to ABC. (ABC owner Disney owns the “9-1-1” franchise.)
Canceled HBO Max series “FBoy Island” will be revived by The CW alongside a spin-off, “FGirl Island.”
Channel surfing
After one season on Disney+, “Dancing with the Stars” will return to ABC for the 2023-24 TV season (it will also stream live on Disney+). … NBC’s “Saturday Night Live” will be in reruns until the end of the writers’ strike; CBS’s daytime show “The Talk” will go dark after banked episodes air next week. … Chicora native Susan Simpson, who now lives in Delaware, will compete on Roku Channel’s “Great American Baking Show,” streaming all episodes May 5.