Pop culture Q&A

March 4, 2012 at 12:00a.m.

By Rich Heldenfels

Q. What happened to “CSI: NY”? I can’t find it anywhere in my TV listings.

A. The series starring Gary Sinise and Sela Ward has been on a long hiatus. It is slated to return March 30.

Winter and spring are tricky times for TV shows across the network schedule. One reason is that even the most successful prime-time broadcast shows make only about 22 episodes in a season that runs more than 40 weeks. That means networks either have to air reruns — which in many cases will not hold on to a show’s audience — or try out new programs.

By winter, as well, the worst performers from the previous fall are gone, so new programs have to fill the gaps. Shows from the previous fall also may be tried out in different time slots.

And the winter has included the return of several shows that eat up big chunks of prime time, such as “American Idol” and “The Voice,” so some programs get moved around or benched.

Then there is the burden of the February sweeps period, when local stations are compiling their ratings and their networks accordingly offer a lot of stunt programming, both in the form of specials and highly promotable episodes of regular shows.

In that situation, some shows just don’t look competitive enough to stay on the air for a month or so.

“CSI: NY” is not a strong show these days. At the end of its seventh season last spring, it was so uncertain of renewal that the producers reportedly made a season finale that could also serve as a conclusion to the show if it was not renewed.

While it did come back for its eighth season, CBS put it on the bench to see how some newer shows fared on Friday.

As I said, it will be back. But no one should be surprised if this season proves to be its last.

Q. Please tell me what happened to “Bones.” They are my very favorite. They used to be on at least three times; now they are on just once a week, and mostly reruns.

A. It looks as if you are watching the forensic-crime series both on TNT, which airs repeats of old episodes on Tuesdays and Thursdays (although NBA telecasts may pre-empt some showings), and on Fox, which runs new episodes.

Fox has had the show on hiatus, partly because of a production break taken after co-star Emily Deschanel gave birth to a son last fall, and to open a time slot for trying out “The Finder,” a spinoff of “Bones.”

Deschanel’s character, Temperance Brennan, also has been pregnant; she and partner/baby-daddy Seeley Booth (David Boreanaz) still will be awaiting their child’s arrival when the series resumes on Fox on April 5.

Now, on to other topics.

Q. In the early ’70s I saw a movie about a wealthy man who died, but someone married him anyway. I vividly remember the wedding scene at the beginning of the movie where he was in his coffin, but they stood it up at the altar and he had a cassette player built into it where his butler would pop in tapes with pre-recorded messages. Any idea what this movie was called and where I could get a copy of it now?

A. You are remembering “Arnold,” a horror-comedy starring Stella Stevens, Roddy McDowall and Elsa Lanchester, from 1973. I do not know of an authorized DVD release of it. I did see an old VHS copy for sale on Amazon.com, but because of the rarity of the movie, it was quite expensive.

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2012 the Akron Beacon Journal

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