Paramount ’s “Mayor of Kingstown” will return to film its eight-episode fifth season in Pittsburgh this year, but it will also be the show’s final season.
Paramount announced the renewal/ending on Monday, with plans for stars Jeremy Renner and Edie Falco to return. (Falco’s warden character survived the show’s fourth season, which concluded Dec. 28.)
The fifth season renewal doesn’t come as a surprise, but making it the final season runs counter to what series star/co-creator Hugh Dillon said last year.
Last summer, reports quoted Renner suggesting the show would end with its fifth season, but a few months later, Dillon said that was a misquote.
“Season five will not be our last season,” Dillon said in early October. When asked how confident he was about that, given the new Skydance ownership of Paramount , Dillon said, “I’m 1,000% confident.”
Dillon made that statement several weeks before “Kingstown” co-creator Taylor Sheridan announced he was leaving Paramount for a new deal with NBCUniversal that won’t take effect for TV projects until 2028.
Word of the fifth season renewal began circulating among Pittsburgh-area production crews last month. The show’s production office re-opens this week; presumably filming will resume in the next month or two.
“Mayor of Kingstown” relocated from Canada to film in Pittsburgh beginning with its second season. The show is the longest-running, adult scripted series filmed in Western Pennsylvania.
‘Pitt’ wins at CCA
HBO Max’s “The Pitt” continues to win awards. Sunday, the series took home the Critics Choice Association Awards for best drama series alongside best drama actor (Noah Wyle) and best supporting actress (Katherine LaNasa) wins, a repeat of the show’s Emmy haul.
New noon anchor
KDKA-TV’s Barry Pintar will be the station’s noon weekday newscast anchor for the foreseeable future, though he has not officially been named to the position.
Kristine Sorensen, who had been anchoring in that time period, will take on other responsibilities, though she remains the official noon anchor.
New WQED-TV schedule
WQED-TV changed its weekday schedule for the new year with travel programs at 11 a.m., “Antiques Roadshow” at noon and a mix of dramas, science and docuseries from 1-5 p.m., presumably all programs that already aired in prime time.
“BBC News: The Context” will air at 5 p.m., “BBC America” news at 5:30 p.m. and “PBS NewsHour” at 6 and repeated at 7 p.m.
On Saturday, an assortment of cooking reruns continues at 10 a.m. with a “Saturday Workshop” programming block at 1 p.m., including episodes of “Energy Switch,” “Papa Ray’s Vintage Vinyl Roadshow,” “MotorWeek,” “American Woodshop” and “This Old House.”
On Sunday, a six-hour “Masterpiece” marathon will air at 12 p.m. and beginning Jan. 18, “Compass Points from PBS News,” examining international affairs, will air at 6 p.m.
Channel surfing
Pittsburgh native and former star of “Mike & Molly” and “Bob (Hearts) Abishola,” Billy Gardell, will launch a 2026 theater tour this month but so far no Pittsburgh dates have been announced. Gardell confirmed the tour won’t stop in Pittsburgh on its initial leg (through May 2) with the closest show in York, Pa., on May 2. … The next series from former Pittsburgher Dan Fogelman, co-creator of partially Pittsburgh-set “This is Us,” will be a Hulu pro-football drama series that is “nominally about the Cleveland Browns” and titled “The Land,” per Deadline.com. … CBS’s “The Kennedy Center Honors” sank to its lowest ratings number ever, drawing 3 million viewers.