You have questions. I have some answers.
Has NBC or PBS made DVD copies of “I’ll Fly Away” which aired on NBC and was picked up and rerun (without commercials but with actor interviews) with a PBS-produced concluding episode later?
I’ll Fly Away was a much-honored though not so much-watched series starring Sam Waterston as a small-town prosecutor in the ’50s South and Regina Taylor as his housekeeper; both became involved in the racial conflicts of the time. It originally aired for 38 episodes on NBC in 1991-1993 before the network dropped it because of low ratings.
Still considered a prestigious program, a series finale wrapping up the characters’ stories was made for PBS and first shown in October 1993. (One footnote to the series: when Jeremy London, who played one of Waterston’s sons on the NBC series, was unavailable for the PBS finale, his twin brother Jason took over the role.)
From what I can determine, neither PBS nor NBC own the home-video rights to the series; those would belong to a studio, and it’s not even clear which one now owns the show. So there may be a rights issue stalling its release. There are unauthorized versions of the show available for sale on disc, but I do not recommend such bootlegs; I have seen online customers discuss the iffy technical quality of such releases, or paying for copies that were never received.
Can you tell me why CBS canceled “Golden Boy,” starring Theo James, after only one season? The cast and the premise of “then and now” was wonderful!
Not wonderful enough for most viewers. CBS gave the series a good try and cushy time slot, but viewers did not flock to it, so it was canceled in the spring of 2013. The stars have done all right, though, Theo James is getting plenty of big-screen time in the Divergent movies, the second of which is due in March, and Chi McBride has settled in at Hawaii Five-O.
There can’t be a set of more intriguing detective partners than Holder and Linden on “The Killing.” Any chance this series will be renewed?
Not at this point. After three seasons on AMC, it made a six-episode fourth season for the online service Netflix. That was designed to wrap things up.
Are there any actors still living from the “Perry Mason” series of the ’50s and ’60s?
At this writing, Barbara Hale, who played Mason’s loyal secretary Della Street, is still with us at the age of 92. She is the last surviving major player in the cast of the series starring Raymond Burr, which originally aired from 1957 to 1966. (There were also later TV movies.)
Burr died in 1993. William Hopper, who played Paul Drake, died in 1970. (William Katt, Hale’s real-life son, played Drake’s son in some of the TV movies.) Ray Collins, who played Lt. Tragg, died in 1965. William Talman, as prosecutor Hamilton Burger, died in 1968.
I am wondering if the latest woman in the Viagra commercial is the same actor who guest stars on “Person of Interest” as a character names Zoe?
Paige Turco has played Zoe Morgan on Person of Interest, but she is not the actress in the Viagra commercial. As for the name of the actress in the ad, a Viagra spokesman declined to give it.
Will FX have a second season of “Tyrant” or do I have to imagine what happens to Barry and his family? It really was compelling and horrifying all at the same time.
The network has ordered a second season of the drama, which should return this summer.
