You have questions. I have some answers.
Could you please tell me if ANY of the cable stations might be putting on “Magnum, P.I.,” or “The Rockford Files”? It’s terrible that we have to watch reruns because stations such as A&E put on “Storage Wars” (ugh) or “Duck Dynasty” (ugh).
Me TV (www.metvnetwork.com) carries “The Rockford Files”; Me is one of several channels specializing in older shows. You may be able to find it as a digital channel with one of your broadcast stations or via cable. Online service Hulu lists 69 episodes of “Rockford,” while Netflix has even more. And the series is out on DVD.
“Magnum, P.I.” is on cable’s Encore Classic. Another digital channel, Cozi TV, includes it, and will be showing some episodes in prime time beginning Aug. 20. Again, you may find Cozi as a secondary service or on cable. And it, too, is on DVD.
I’ve been told another Sherlock Holmes series will air soon with a different actor for Sherlock. Do you have any info about this?
I do not know of any upcoming series about the famous fictional sleuth. Maybe you missed news around one of the three current renderings. “Mr. Holmes,” a theatrical film, stars Ian McKellen as Sherlock retired and in his 90s. “Elementary,” a CBS drama, stars Jonny Lee Miller as a modern-day version of Holmes and Lucy Liu as Watson; its fourth-season premiere is scheduled for Nov. 5.
Then there is “Sherlock,” the contemporary drama starring Benedict Cumberbatch as Holmes and Martin Freeman as Watson. Though the programs are few in number (they’re more like a set of movies than episodes), they have been much loved in U.S. telecasts on PBS’ “Masterpiece.” A fourth set of shows is expected.
But right now the excitement surrounds a “Sherlock” special that takes the characters back to Victorian times. When that special will appear is still being guessed, since telecasts here have to wait until after they are shown in England. PBS has referred to its arrival as “soon-ish.”
Can you please tell me whether one of my favorite shows, “Person of Interest,” will be returning and if so, when?
CBS has ordered a fifth season of the series for 2015-16, but as a backup show, not a fall premiere. And several reports say there will be just 13 episodes.
When was “Laramie” on? I know Robert Fuller turned 82 in July. What happened to John Smith? How long did Spring Byington live? What happened to Dennis Holmes?
The western “Laramie” originally aired on NBC from 1959 to 1963. Smith continued acting into the 1970s; he died in 1995 at the age of 63, reportedly of cirrhosis of the liver. Byington, also known for dozens of movie roles and for the TV series “December Bride,” died of cancer in 1971. She was 84. Dennis Holmes apparently stopped acting on TV in the mid-’60s. I don’t know what he did after that, except for attending some festivals celebrating screen Westerns.
