Following last year’s “Steel Links” program, produced by New Jersey’s Shore Road Productions, WQED engaged with the same company for the new seven-episode series “Conversations with Coach Cowher” (8 p.m. April 30, WQED-TV).
Former Steelers coach Bill Cowher sits on a sofa in a comfy Connecticut home (not his) and conducts interviews remotely with one celebrity with local ties per episode, including Swin Cash (8 p.m. May 7), Mark Cuban (8 p.m. May 14), Antoine Fuqua (8 p.m. May 21), Ming-Na Wen (8 p.m. May 28) and Joe Manganiello (8 p.m. June 4).
The series premiere this week features Cowher in conversation with Swissvale native Billy Gardell. They have known each other for more than a decade, and the episode begins with an inspirational video Cowher made for Gardell when he embarked on his weight loss journey during the pandemic.
There’s a lot of Gardell praising Cowher and Cowher returning the compliments, which in some situations might feel fake-Hollywood schmoozy, but given their history, here it actually seems like legitimate, mutual respect, admiration and friendship.
Cowher easily coaxes stories out of Gardell, including how Gardell met his wife and what Gardell’s father told him when he left Pittsburgh for Los Angeles.
“He said the most Pittsburgh thing ever,” Gardell recalls. “He goes, ‘You ain’t pretty, you got no money and you don’t know nobody. You better outwork everyone.’ That was his advice before I got into the car.”
A bonus episode featuring Pittsburgh Mayor Corey O’Connor asking Cowher questions airs at 8:30 p.m. April 30. (WQED members can stream the first four episodes beginning today on the WQED streaming app.)
Shore Road’s Brad Turkel created and executive produces “Conversations.” He declined a phone/Zoom interview request but agreed to answer questions in writing. (WQED CEO Jason Jedlsinki said Cowher was not available for an interview about the program.)
Turkel recalled that while filming “Steel Links,” Cowher flew into Pittsburgh and spoke from his heart about what Pittsburgh means to him and in what ways it was the foundation for his success in life.
“I was very moved by what he was saying and when I heard him speak so poetically and heartfelt about the city, I thought about ways in which he could share these sentiments on a deeper level by connecting with other well-known people with Pittsburgh roots who might also share their feelings about their hometown in a way in which only two Pittsburghers can,” Turkel wrote. “That concept was very compelling, and it turned out that these guests share the same deep love for their hometown and loved to talk about it with Coach.”
Cowher has on-camera experience as a TV football analyst, but Turkel said “Conversations” allowed him to go deeper.
“He really embraced that this was in fact a different experience for him and that comes right through,” Turkel explained. “He was so adept at taking off his ‘football’ hat and delving into this world, which was new to him. He was genuinely so excited to meet these guests, and they were so excited to meet him. And they all truly feel like a conversation that he and the guest would have if the cameras were not on and we as the viewers are just a ‘fly on the wall’ listening in.”
Episodes of “Conversations” filmed from November 2025-March 2026. Multiple cameras are aimed at Cowher and at Gardell at his desk at home in Los Angeles, allowing for an assortment of angles to keep the show from becoming static.
“We worked around Coach’s busy schedule, and the spread-out schedule actually allowed us to take the time needed to make each episode unique and special,” Turkel wrote. “Since all the guests were remote, we were fortunate to have a warm and inviting space where Coach could feel right at home and look up at a large screen TV and the guest would be looking right back at him as if they were in the same room. It made for a very intimate environment where everyone could feel comfortable and welcome.”
‘Wowsabout’
For the first time since “Sesame Street,” The Jim Henson Company created puppets for PBS in the new one-off special “Wowsabout” (10:30 a.m. May 1, WQED-TV).
Created and written by Halle Stanford (“Fraggle Rock: Back to the Rock”) and Dorien Davies (“Kidding”) with John Tartaglia (“Avenue Q,” “Splash and Bubbles”) as director/co-executive producer, this music-filled, cute half-hour was filmed outside on location and is set at Sequoia National Park.
Rule-following, organized Ronald the pig (Tartaglia) and free-spirited, messy Roxy (Davies) the hedgehog search for the park’s “magical giants,” the Sequoia trees.
Other than Fred Rogers Production’s “Donkey Hodie,” puppet shows are in short supply in children’s programming today. That this one filmed in the great outdoors makes it even more unique.
Along the way, Ronald and Roxy sing, meet native creatures, learn about Sequoia’s original human indigenous inhabitants, eat s’mores, stare at the stars (“Nature’s nightlights,” Roxy says) and interact with National Park Service rangers.
Channel surfing
The first round of NFL Draft coverage last Thursday from Pittsburgh powered the telecast to its third most-watched audience ever, 13.2 million viewers across all linear and digital platforms including ESPN, ABC, NFL Network, Disney and Hulu. … Apple TV’s ‘Ted Lasso” returns for its fourth season on Aug. 5. … Netflix renewed the animated spin-off “Stranger Things: Tales from ‘85” for a second season.