Television Q&A

Television Q&A

By Rich Heldenfels

Q. Whatever happened to the actor who played Matthew Crawley on “Downton Abbey?” The character was killed in a car accident during Season 3. Is he doing any acting in TV or movies?

A. Dan Stevens, who played Mary’s ill-fated husband on the British drama, has followed his “Downton” departure in 2012 with appearances in movies including “The Fifth Estate,” “The Guest,” “A Walk Among the Tombstones,” “The Cobbler” and “Criminal Activities.” He also was the voice of the computer TIM on the American series “The Tomorrow People.”

Q. How many people have brought to your attention that the New York precinct station shown on the outside of “The Mysteries of Laura” is the same precinct station that used to be shown on the outside during “NYPD Blue?”

A. You are the only one, possibly because you are wrong. According to NBC, “The Mysteries of Laura’s” fictional 2nd Precinct uses for its exterior Brooklyn’s 78th Precinct on Sixth Avenue. For its 15th Precinct, “NYPD Blue” used the exterior of the old 9th Precinct building on Fifth Street in New York City; you also may know it from the TV series “Kojak.”

That building was torn down while the show was still on the air and a new precinct headquarters later built; according to Hitfix critic and “NYPD Blue” historian Alan Sepinwall, by the time of the demolition, “Blue” had constructed the facade on its lot in Los Angeles, where most of the show was shot.

Q. I would very much like to watch the new series “Bosch,” about one of my favorite characters from Michael Connelly’s books. But it’s on something called “streaming” and I don’t know what that is or where to find it. Can I watch it on regular TV?

A. First some tech, then some plain English. PC Magazine describes streaming as “a one-way video transmission over a data network widely used to watch video clips and movies from the Internet on computers, tablets, smartphones and TVs. Unlike movies that are downloaded and played at any time in the future, a streamed movie is played immediately after a small amount of video data is received, and the movie file is not stored permanently in the destination device.”

In other words, you go to a website, click on the title and watch it right at that time on your device without saving it.

Broadcast and cable networks routinely make some of their programs available for streaming on their websites. There also are services including Amazon.com (where you would find “Bosch”), Netflix and Hulu, which have not only programs from other venues, but also exclusive shows (again, “Bosch” is one example). Depending on what you are watching and where you are watching it, there may be a fee attached.

As for watching streaming programs on a “regular TV,” you need to have your TV connected to the Internet or to a device with Internet access. You could try waiting until a program goes to cable, broadcast or DVD/Blu-ray, but there’s no guarantee that will happen in a timely fashion, if at all.

Do you have a question or comment for the mailbag? Write to the Akron Beacon Journal, 44 E. Exchange St., Akron, OH 44309 or email rheldenfels@thebeaconjournal.com. Please mark the email or envelope with “mailbag.” Letters may be edited for publication. Please do not phone in questions. Individual replies cannot be guaranteed.

2016 Akron Beacon Journal

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.