Trib Total Media TV writer Rob Owen answers reader questions every Wednesday at TribLive.com in a column that also appears in the Sunday Tribune-Review.
Q: Why does “Yellowstone” seem to have a different foul-language barrier than other TV shows?
— Steve, Titusville
Rob: I suspect if you compared “Yellowstone” episodes that air on Paramount Network to those that reran on CBS last year, you’d see a significant difference in the amount of profanity.
Better yet, you can watch the first new episode in almost two years when it airs at 8 p.m. Nov. 10 on Paramount Network and later that night at 10 on CBS. They will not be the same; the episode on CBS will be edited for content.
CBS is a broadcast network and there are government-legislated limits on profanity on broadcast because broadcast networks are available over the air and are beamed into homes. Per the FCC, “Broadcasting obscene content is prohibited by law at all times of the day. Indecent and profane content are prohibited on broadcast TV and radio between 6 a.m. and 10 p.m., when there is a reasonable risk that children may be in the audience.”
Paramount Network is a cable channel that consumers subscribe to and invite into their homes. As the FCC notes of cable, “Because obscenity is not protected by the First Amendment, it is prohibited on cable, satellite and broadcast TV and radio. However, the same rules for indecency and profanity do not apply to cable, satellite TV and satellite radio because they are subscription services.”
Q: What’s going on at KDKA with the musical meteorologist chairs? They all seem to be working many different shifts.
— Marian, via Facebook
Rob: People who work in TV get paid time off, too. When one is on vacation, another must fill in. Last month that happened and there was a domino effect. But now we’re in sweeps through Nov. 27 so all the meteorologists will likely remain in their usual newscasts.
Q: I was watching “Chicago Fire” and noticed that Darren (Daniel Kyri) has a postcard from Pittsburgh hanging in his locker. Do you know what his connection to Pittsburgh is?
— Sally, via Facebook
Rob: Per the “Chicago Fire” producers, “It is unclear why Ritter has that postcard. But look out for an upcoming episode that will address this mystery!”
Q: A few weeks ago in the Sunday edition of the Trib, you wrote a few segments on the new season TV offerings both network and cable. Not sure if I missed something but I don’t recall seeing anything regarding a new season of “The Curse of Oak Island.” Do you know if there is going to be a new season and if so, when will it begin?
— Ron, via email
Rob: Our September fall TV preview articles covered scripted broadcast and cable/streaming shows, not unscripted shows like “Oak Island.” Even if we’d had space for the unscripted genre, the History Channel only announced a season premiere date for “Oak Island” in late October.
Season 12 of “The Curse of Oak Island” premieres at 9 p.m. Nov. 12.
A new spinoff, “Tales from Oak Island,” premieres at 10 p.m. Nov. 19. The spinoff sounds like a clip show with updates that, per History Channel, “explore the most captivating theories, legendary figures and momentous events surrounding Oak Island. Offering new information and key flashbacks, the series dives deeper than ever before into the incredible people, fascinating theories, and critical discoveries made by the many searchers who have devoted their lives to unlocking the locale’s many secrets and treasures.”