You have questions. I have some answers.
Q: Was the scene with Midge and Lenny Bruce in “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” really filmed at Carnegie Hall? I am so sorry there will only be one more season of the show. What a terrific cast.
A: The Amazon Prime Video show enjoyed a three-day shoot in the real Carnegie Hall, the New York Daily News reported last June. That was as the hall was coming out of its COVID-related shutdown, so “Maisel” did not have to work around concert performances. And the Daily News noted that Carnegie’s “fastidious upkeep and devotion to its history” meant that the show did not have to do much to make it look the way it did in the early '60s period of that “Maisel” episode, which was finale of the eight-episode fourth season. A fifth season will indeed be the show’s last. And while I understand your enthusiasm about the cast, I am among those who found Season 4 disappointing.
Q: I am wondering about “American Ninja Warrior.” It used to be on an NBC Sports channel and suddenly the channel and show disappeared.
A: NBCUniversal shut down its sport channel NBCSN at the end of last year and has moved its programming to other services including USA Network and to the companion streaming service Peacock. When the decision to drop NBCSN was announced a little over a year ago, the Wall Street Journal noted that the sports channel had struggled competitively against other sports operations. USA was also losing audience, so “by putting popular sports on the USA channel, NBCUniversal is hoping it can increase its value of USA Network to distributors. Having more sports on USA will also make it a more viable competitor to … TBS and TNT … which also carry a mix of entertainment and sports,” the paper said.
As for “American Ninja Warrior,” that was being shown in repeats on NBCSN with episodes airing first on the NBC broadcast network. A new season, the show’s 14th, is in the works. And there are repeats out there, including on Peacock and the Bally Sports channels.
Q: I am an avid William Petersen fan and watched every episode of the original “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation” in which he starred. Last season he returned in “CSI: Vegas” but now it seems to have disappeared. What happened, and will it return?
A: “CSi: Vegas,” which blended some veterans of the old series with a new cast, made 10 episodes of its first season and aired them all. (As I have said before, TV series’ seasons vary considerably in the number of episodes.) The show has been picked up for a second run to air sometime in the 2022-23 season. But Petersen, who reprised his role of Gil Grissom on the new series, reportedly signed on only for the first season as an actor and will not be on camera in the second season (he remains an executive producer). In addition, Jorja Fox – who played Grissom’s colleague and lover – will not be back for the second season either. As Grissom goes, she tweeted, so goes Sara.
Q: I remember watching a movie (a theatrical release but shown on TV) when I was a little girl (over 60 years ago) that was the story of a horse named Bess. It was somewhat like "War Horse," in that the horse was on the front line of a military conflict. The movie was in black and white. Since I was just a kid, I took no notice of the stars. Please help me identify the movie.
A: You are probably remembering “Gallant Bess,” from 1946. It involved a young man (played by Marshall Thompson) and a horse he finds in the jungle while serving in World War II. According to the Turner Classic Movies site, the movie was based on a real incident. It was also in color – although most of us watching TV 60 years ago thought just about everything was in black and white.
Q: I'm going to ask before you are bombarded with the same question: Why was Julian McMahon (Agent Jess LaCroix ) written out of "FBI: Most Wanted"?
A: Folks were surprised about the death of LaCroix, although it has been known for some time that McMahon was leaving the show, reportedly for "additional creative pursuits." As I mentioned here about a month ago, with McMahon gone, Dylan McDermott will be joining "Most Wanted." He has most recently been on "Law & Order: Organized Crime."
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