TV Talk: Another local TV news anchor will depart Pittsburgh

Pittsburgh continues to show its colors as a steppingstone TV news market: KDKA-TV weekend morning anchor Briana Smith is the latest to announce her departure. She posted to Twitter that she’s leaving KDKA after two years to become a reporter at the ABC affiliate in Philadelphia. Her last day at KDKA will be May 24.

Smith, a native of Totowa, N.J., joined KDKA in March 2021.

Smith’s departure follows news last week that WPXI-TV meteorologist Jessica Faith will depart Channel 11 on April 21 for a forecaster job at WRC-TV, the NBC affiliate in Washington, D.C. Angie Moreschi left Channel 11 in January for an investigative reporting position that sees her appear on Sinclair’s “The National Desk” newscasts.

PITT ???? PHILLY!@KDKA & Steel City: I can’t thank you enough for providing me with love, growth & memories these past 2 years!

I’m ecstatic to announce my journalism journey continues in Philadelphia as the newest reporter for the legendary @6abc!

My last day is May 24th. pic.twitter.com/VcbiFPfZ7F

— Briana Smith (@brianasmithnews) April 3, 2023

‘Beef’

If you go by the news and themes in social media, everyone, everywhere is angry all the time. That’s certainly true of the lead characters in Netflix’s “Beef,” a 10-episode, half-hour comedic drama that streams Thursday.

It’s the story of down-on-his-luck contractor Danny (Steven Yeung, “The Walking Dead”) who’s buying gas-powered grills in a bid to kill himself by carbon monoxide poisoning when another driver honks at him in a store parking lot. He follows that white vehicle, driven by Amy (comedian Ali Wong), who is preparing to sell a business while managing her own volatility.

While “Beef” could devolve into nothing but a grudge match — Danny later gets into her home and urinates on the floor of her bathroom; Amy paints “I am poor” on his truck — the series is interested in serving up the fights viewers want to seem, but it also peels back layers of the characters to ultimately reveal how similar Danny and Amy are.

Whether it’s healthy for easily-triggered viewers to tune in to watch others get triggered, well, each viewer will have to decide on their own.

Kept/canceled/spun off

After cast and producers took a 25% pay cut, CBS renewed “Blue Bloods” for a 14th season.

Netflix renewed freshman drama “The Night Agent” for a second season.

Freeform’s “grown-ish” will end with its upcoming sixth season.

Paramount+ ordered the series “Star Trek: Starfleet Academy,” which appears to be set in the most recent “Discovery” time period.

Netflix ordered an anime series spin-off from the 2010 movie “Scott Pilgrim vs. the World” with much of the film’s cast returning to voice animated versions of their characters.

Premiere dates

Comedy Central’s “Awkwafina is Nora from Queens” debuts at 10:30 p.m. April 26.

FX’s “Mayans M.C.” debuts its final season at 10 p.m. May 24.

Marvel’s “Secret Invasion” debuts June 21 on Disney+.

Meanwhile, on PBS Kids, several series will debut new episodes soon, including “Nature Cat” (week of April 17), “Alma’s Way” (April 24-26) and “Wild Kratts” (May 22-25).

Channel surfing

Pittsburgh-based Fred Rogers Productions’ PBS Kids shows “Alma’s Way” and “Donkey Hodie,” both renewed for second seasons, have received a two-year, $600,000 grant from the Arthur Vining Davis Foundation. … In a sign this is likely the final season for Fox’s “The Resident,” the network ordered a new straight-to-series medical drama, “Doc,” about a Minneapolis woman who suffers a brain injury, wiping out her memory of the past eight years, and continues practicing medicine.