TV Talk: Morning local newscast launches on WPGH-TV next week; Fox readies 'Grimsburg'

WPGH-TV, Channel 53, will launch a 7 to 8 a.m. weekday newscast on Jan. 8, per promos that are airing and TV listings.

As reported last month, this 7 a.m. newscast, like the 10 p.m. news on WPGH, will be produced and staffed by personnel from WPXI-TV.

Channel 11’s morning news team — Gordon Loesch, Katherine Amenta, Scott Harbaugh and Trisha Pittman — will also handle news, weather and traffic duties on WPGH’s 7 a.m. broadcast.

Channel 53’s 7 a.m. news will be the second local newscast in the time period. KDKA-TV programs local news from 7 to 9 a.m. on sister-station WPKD-TV, Channel 22.

“Channel 11 Morning News on Fox 53” will replace one hour of the three-hour national news program “The National Desk.”

WPGH’s morning news is just the first local news expansion of 2024. Next week KDKA launches a one-hour prime-time newscast at 8 weeknights on WPKD (aka KDKA+) anchored by Jessica Guay with weather forecasts from meteorologist Ray Petelin.

‘Grimsburg’

Fox’s latest animated comedy, “Grimsburg” (previews at 8 p.m. Jan. 7; regular time slot premiere 9:30 p.m. Feb. 18, WPGH-TV), stars Jon Hamm as the voice of Marvin Flute, a washed-up detective who returns to the police force of a town cursed by a 1648 virgin sacrifice (town motto: “If you lived here, you’d be dead now”).

Showrunner Chadd Gindin (“The Cleveland Show”) capably apes the fast-paced style of Fox stalwart “Family Guy.” “Grimsburg” jokes fly by at warp speed. Some of them are quite funny, but the show’s unrelenting barrage of one-liners, non-sequiturs and word play does feel familiar.

At one point Marvin says, “I just found out Pete Davidson broke up with” and then the sounds cuts to a robotic voice that says, “Name TBD; fill in in post,” a crack at the former “Saturday Night Live” stars prolific dating history.

As Marvin investigates the murder of a teenager, depicted with comedically graphic gore in the show’s opening moments, he encounters his ex-wife (voice of Erinn Hayes), a TV news reporter raised by bears.

“The only crime here is that belt with those boots,” Marvin says, gesturing toward his ex-wife’s wardrobe.

“And the decapitation,” adds Marvin’s partner, Det. Greg Summers (Kevin Michael Richardson).

Hamm, who serves as executive producer on “Grimsburg,” is clearly having a good time with the role and fans of “Family Guy” will certainly find that this latest Fox animation entry goes down easy. But “Grimsburg” lacks distinguishing features (the weirdness of “Bob’s Burgers,” the familial warmth of “The Great North”) that would make it seem fresh.

Channel surfing

A merger of spring football leagues XFL and USFL will be called the United Football League (UFL) and will air games beginning March 30 on Fox, ABC, FS1 and ESPN (USFL team the Pittsburgh Maulers did not make the cut for the new league). … Remember CNN’s now canceled “Searching for Italy” with Stanley Tucci? It will return under a new title. National Geographic Channel ordered “Tucci – The Heart of Italy,” a 10-episode series that begins production this year. … Disney Channel’s long-running live-action comedy “Bunk’d” will end with its seventh season airing in 2024. … Amazon’s Prime Video will begin carrying ads on Jan. 29 for all customers. Anyone who wants to maintain the current ad-free experience will have to sign up to pay an extra $3 per month.