Pop culture Q&A

September 19, 2010 at 12:00a.m.

By Rich Heldenfels

McClatchy Newspapers

Q. Why is Melina Kanakaredes no longer with “CSI: NY”?

A. The actress did not offer much of an explanation when she left the show in July. The makers of the show said they had hoped she would continue with the series, but some reports indicated that the deal she was offered included a pay cut. And a deal was very quickly made to add Sela Ward to the cast. Still, Kanakaredes chose to leave on a positive note, saying that “I made some amazing and lifelong friendships during my six seasons on ‘CSI: NY,’ and I will treasure them forever.”

Q. I’d like to know what happened to “Ghost Whisperer.” Is it ever coming back on?

A. CBS decided not to renew the series, inspired by the work of paranormal investigator Mary Ann Winkowski. The fifth and final season will be released on DVD on Oct. 12. A week before that, “The Ice Cradle: A Novel From the Ghost Files” will hit bookstores. It’s the second in a series of novels co-authored by Winkowski.

Q. I saw an old black-and-white movie with Robert Mitchum and Jean Simmons. Mitchum played a doctor in a small town. Simmons had a lot of money and was passing through. I think she had car trouble and the town helped her out. She sent everyone in town a gift for helping her. Do you know the name of the movie?

A. While Simmons and Mitchum made several movies together, the one closest to your description is a 1954 feature called “She Couldn’t Say No.” According to the synopsis on Turner Classic Movies’ website, Simmons plays an heiress who wants to repay a small Arkansas town for helping her father obtain a life-saving operation for her when she was young. Mitchum is the town doctor.

Q. Is the TV show “Alice” available on DVD? If not, are there any plans to release it?

A. So far, the only DVD releases have been a six-episode “Television Favorites” compilation — and “Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore,” the Ellen Burstyn movie which inspired the TV series. I do not know of plans for any more.

Q. Is the film “Our Hearts Were Young and Gay” available on DVD?

A. The 1944 movie, based on a book of the same name by Cornelia Otis Skinner and Emily Kimbrough, starred Gail Russell as Skinner and Diana Lynn as Kimbrough. Unfortunately, it has not made its way to an authorized DVD.

Q. Of all the cable channels around, why don’t any of them run some of the shows from the ’70s and ’80s that I consider the best: “Mary Tyler Moore,” “The Bob Newhart Show,” “St. Elsewhere,” “Hill Street Blues,” “Taxi,” “The Carol Burnett Show,” “Perfect Strangers,” “Bosom Buddies,” etc.?

A. It pains me to say it, but shows from the ’60s and ’70s are often shoved aside in favor of relatively recent fare, even on nostalgia- driven channels. TV Land, for example, still carries some oldies but has been using prime time for the likes of “The Nanny” and “Everybody Loves Raymond.” And, while TV Land still lists “The Bob Newhart Show” and “The Carol Burnett Show” among its programs, neither was on a recent schedule.

You can find some shows if you look hard. “Hill Street Blues” and “St. Elsewhere,” for example, air on American Life TV, as do “Rhoda,” “Phyllis” and “L.A. Law.” Some older shows have been made available on DVD, or through online video. CBS.com’s “classics” lineup, for example, includes “Family Ties,” “The Love Boat” and “Perry Mason.” Hulu.com’s shows include “The Bob Newhart Show” and “Mary Tyler Moore.”