TV Talk: Eddie Murphy’s back in 4th ‘Beverly Hills Cop;’ KDKA-TV hires meteorologist

Now streaming on Netflix, “Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F” is the type of tentpole film that would have been a holiday weekend theatrical release in the pre-streaming era.

Despite the rough reception to “Beverly Hills Cop III” in 1994 — 11% fresh among critics, 35% fresh among audiences on RottenTomatoes.com — it still seems like Netflix leaves money on the table by not giving this fourth “Beverly Hills Cop” a theatrical release before its streaming debut.

Regardless, here we are with a one-time feature film franchise revived as a Netflix original movie.

To its credit, “Axel F” is a generally entertaining, if overly long, crowd-pleaser. It also assembles the greatest number of original cast members since the first film, including supporting players Judge Reinhold, John Ashton, Paul Reiser and Bronson Pinchot. Each of them appeared in past sequels, but this is the first “Beverly Hills Cop” movie to feature all of them since the 1984 original. Their inclusion and the use of familiar franchise music (Harold Faltermeyer’s “Axel F,” The Pointer Sisters’ “Neutron Dance,” Bob Seger’s “Shakedown”) are welcome fan service.

Although 40 years have passed, this isn’t a sequel that leans heavily into the notion of characters aging. That theme exists around the edges with some of the supporting characters, including Detroit Deputy Police Chief Jeffrey Friedman (Paul Resier), but it’s not applied to Axel Foley (Eddie Murphy), perhaps because Murphy doesn’t look that much older.

Instead, the script by a trio of writers that includes Will Beall, who also wrote this summer’s “Bad Boys: Ride or Die,” plays with the notion of how Foley fits into modern mores.

“I think your days on the street may be over,” Friedman tells Foley early in the film. “They don’t want swashbucklers out there anymore. They want social workers.”

But the film’s biggest thematic focus is on the ruptured relationship between Axel and his now-adult daughter, Jane (Taylour Paige, “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom”).

(Murphy tried the father-child angle once before in a 2013 pilot for a “Beverly Hills Cop” TV series that would have focused on Axel’s son, but CBS passed on that proposed show after screening the pilot.)

“Axel F” begins in Detroit, where Foley continues to wreak havoc in the name of taking down bad guys. But a call from California friend Billy Rosewood (Reinhold), who warns that Jane is in danger, sends Foley back to the 90210. (Filmed-in-Pittsburgh “American Rust” star Mark Pellegrino has a small supporting role as a villain’s henchman.)

Jane is a lawyer who’s trying to exonerate a client who may have been framed for the murder of a dirty cop. Her ex, Bobby Abbott (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), is a police detective working for police Chief John Taggart (Ashton), who was retired — and absent from — “Beverly Hills Cop III,” but explains he unretired to escape his wife at home.

Abbott manages a meta-joke about “Beverly Hills Cop III” when he goes through Foley’s file and notes his visit in 1994 was “not your finest hour.”

Director Mark Molloy, whose previous work appears mainly to be video shorts/ads for Apple and other brands, stages decent chase scenes, but there are too many of them, adding to the film’s bloat. “Axel F” runs almost two hours and would have been better at a tighter 90 minutes.

The movie is at its best when it leans into comedy, including Foley’s reunion with Serge (Pinchot) and the introduction of a new character, a real estate agent played by “Saturday Night Live” alum Nasim Perdad (“Chad”), who steals her scenes from both Murphy and Pinchot.

The film’s plot proves predictable — the villain is obvious and might as well twirl a mustache in the climactic scene — but “Axel F” is a decent enough nostalgia play.

KDKA hires meteorologist

KDKA-TV will be back up to five meteorologists by August when new hire Trey Fulbright is on air working weekend mornings to take the spot of Falicia Woody, who exited in February.

Fulbright grew up in Memphis, Tenn., and Fort Worth, Texas, and comes to KDKA from KCCI-TV in Des Moines, Iowa. He’s a 2022 graduate of Iowa State University, where he majored in meteorology and minored in journalism.

He spends vacation time chasing storms on the Great Plains.

‘Downward Dog’

The original “Downward Dog” shorts, produced by Animal Studio in Pittsburgh, led to ABC buying a half-hour comedy series of the same name that filmed locally and aired in 2017. Last week those shorts got posted to Animal’s Instagram page and are drawing new attention.

Animal’s Instagram page went from 1,500 followers to 80,000, per Animal’s Michael Killen, an executive producer on the ABC series.

“We also have almost 8 million total views,” he added. “What does all this mean … I DON’T KNOW!!! Maybe it prompts us to make more shorts or bigger maybe. We’re talking about it.”

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Ion Plus OTA

Ion Plus, an established FAST streaming channel, is now also a linear, over-the-air channel. It launched this week in Pittsburgh on WINP-TV’s Channel 16.4.

Ion Plus carries reruns of “Midsomer Murders,” “Murdoch Mysteries,” “Leverage,” “Sue Thomas: F.B.Eye” and the “MacGyver” reboot. In addition, Ion Plus has started adding sports including WNBA and National Women’s Soccer League games.

PBS Short Film Fest

“VOICES – The Missing,” a documentary short produced by WQED-TV’s Amy Grove, Ash Warren and Lu Cooper that premiered in August 2023 and was entered in the PBS Short Film Festival in February 2024, will compete in this year’s festival July 15 to 26 online at PBS.org, YouTube and on the PBS app. The film tells the story of artist Tonee Turner, who went missing on New Year’s Eve 2019.

Kept/canceled

AMC renewed “Interview with the Vampire” for a third season.

Apple TV+ canceled “The Big Door Prize” after two seasons.

The CW’s “Spencer Sisters” was canceled after one season.