You have questions. I have some answers.
Q: When will Season 1 of the new 鈥淪tar Trek鈥� series be available on DVD?
A: I was beginning to wonder when CBS might release a set of 鈥淪tar Trek: Discovery,鈥� which has been used to draw customers to its All Access subscription-streaming service. But the company has announced Season 1 will arrive on DVD and Blu-ray on Nov. 13, with many promised extras including deleted and extended scenes, looks at the props, costumes and production design 鈥� and subtitles in Klingon. The second season of 鈥淒iscovery鈥� is due early in 2019. And, in case you missed it, there is another 鈥淪tar Trek鈥� series in the works, with Patrick Stewart returning as 鈥淪tar Trek: The Next Generation鈥濃�檚 Jean-Luc Picard for a show about the next chapter in Picard鈥檚 life.
Q: Will there be more of 鈥淐all the Midwife鈥�? Love that show.
A: Yes. U.S. viewers have seen seven seasons of the series so far, and two more seasons are planned. Look for a Christmas special and then the eighth season around Spring 2019 on PBS; the ninth season will arrive in 2020. According to Good Housekeeping鈥檚 UK website, 鈥淎t the start of series eight, it鈥檚 spring time in 1964 and everyone is excited for the Queen鈥檚 Royal birth (of Prince Edward). Violet is holding a Teddy Bears鈥� Picnic and raising funds through a competition on whether the Queen will have a boy or a girl. With the additions of the two new Sisters, who have been sent to live and work with the team in Poplar, Nonnatus House feels full once more.鈥�
Q: Did they cancel 鈥淏ull鈥�? I see advertisements for 鈥淔BI鈥� on Tuesdays on CBS. Where鈥檚 鈥淏ull鈥�?
A: The legal drama starring Michael Weatherly will be back for a third season on Sept. 24. But after two cozy seasons following 鈥淣CIS鈥� (where Weatherly used to co-star), 鈥淏ull鈥� is moving to Monday nights, taking over the slot vacated by the cancelled 鈥淪corpion.鈥� That lets 鈥淔BI鈥� 鈥� the new series from producer Dick Wolf 鈥� move into 鈥淏ull鈥檚鈥� old Tuesday time, hammocked between the returning 鈥淣CIS鈥� and 鈥淣CIS: New Orleans.鈥�
Q: My kids watch reruns of 鈥淔ull House.鈥� Would you happen to know the name of a boy around 10 or 12 years old who performed in school plays with one 鈥淔ull House鈥� girl and sang on the show. He was really great! Whatever happened to him?
A: That was Blake McIver, at times billed as Blake McIver Ewing or Blake Ewing, who played Derek on the comedy. In addition to onscreen acting and animated-voice work, he has been a model and a musician. He has a stage show, 鈥淏lake Sings Barbra,鈥� that is part tribute to Barbra Streisand, part autobiography, and in July appeared in 鈥淧riscilla, Queen of the Desert: The Musical鈥� with the Uptown Players in Dallas. His website is blakemciverofficial.com and he is on Twitter as @BlakeMcIver.
Q: I absolutely love Turner Classic Movies. How is it possible that its wonderful movies can be shown without commercial interruption (for which I鈥檒l be forever grateful)?
A: TCM gets compensation from the cable and satellite companies that carry it 鈥� and is likely to be carried not only for its unique offering but as part of a vast media company holding a large batch of Turner channels, also including TNT and TBS, among others. It sells lots of TCM-themed merchandise. And its costs are relatively low; there鈥檚 not much demand from other channels for those old movies we love, and TCM has stayed away from more expensive, original programs like the ones you see on channels such as AMC, which went to commercials and originals because it could not match TCM at getting ad-free classic movies. (And that鈥檚 a blessing, too, since AMC鈥檚 change in strategy brought us 鈥淢ad Men鈥� and other fine series.)
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