Pop culture Q&A

August 14, 2011 at 12:00a.m.

By Rich Heldenfels

McClatchy Newspapers

Q. There is a movie that I have been searching for but have been unable to find. It is about the life of Natalie Cole and is called “Livin’ for Love: The Natalie Cole Story.” I believe it was made for TV in the 1990s, and I’m wondering, is it available anywhere on VHS or DVD?

A. The movie originally aired on NBC in 2000 and was based on Cole’s memoir. Four different people played her in the movie: Stephanie Sims, Andrea Lewis, Theresa Randle and, in the later portions, Cole herself.

James McDaniel, by the way, played Cole’s father, singer Nat “King” Cole. The movie was released on VHS, and I have seen copies for sale on Amazon.com. I do not know of an authorized DVD.

Q. My husband and I just finished watching the first season of a TV show called “Everwood” starring Treat Williams. We thoroughly enjoyed it. Have there been any more seasons of this show?

A. “Everwood” originally aired on the old WB network for four seasons, from 2002 to 2006. All four seasons have been released on DVD.

Q. Please tell me what happened to the “Nurse Jackie” new season. I marked my calendar to be sure I didn’t miss it, but it didn’t show up on the TV calendar. Is it gone for good or just delayed?

A. Three seasons of the Showtime series starring Edie Falco have aired, with the third having premiered from March to June of this year. It has been renewed for a fourth season to air sometime in 2012.

Q. My wife and I have enjoyed “Big Bang Theory” from day one and still do. Yet this past year, we did not seem to find the episodes to be as funny. Was there a change in the writers?

A. There were a couple of new writers, but a lot of veterans continued to work on the show. It may just be that the newer story lines, meant to keep a show fresh in its fourth season, were not all strong.

Though the series still had some big fun, I got very tired of the Leonard-Priya relationship. And since the staff overlapped with that of “Two and a Half Men,” the distractions around that show may have had some effect on “Big Bang Theory.”

Q. I have been trying to find a DVD or anything on the 1968/1969 TV series “Name of the Game,” with rotating roles played by Gene Barry, Tony Franciosa and Robert Stack. I believe this was the first “wheel” series in TV. A very young Susan Saint James had a great part, too. Can you help me find any of these shows? I would like to see if they hold up today.

A. For those of you tuning in late, a “wheel” series spins different stories from week to week under an umbrella concept; NBC, for example, would bundle shows under a “Mystery Movie” title, perhaps most famously a package of “Columbo,” “McCloud” and “McMillan and Wife.”

“The Name of the Game” followed three key figures in a magazine- publishing company — the boss, Glenn Howard (played by Barry), investigative reporter Jeff Dillon (Franciosa) and organized-crime expert Dan Farrell (Stack) — with different 90-minute telecasts focusing on each.

Saint James, later to co-star on “McMillan and Wife,” was Peggy Maxwell, an assistant to the three stars.

The show actually ran longer than you remember, from 1968 to 1971. Unfortunately, I do not know of an authorized release of the series on video.

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