Submit your question to Rob Owen

This week's TV Q&A responds to questions about "Scrubs," "CSI: Miami" and "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno." As always, thanks for reading, and keep those questions coming.

-- Rob Owen, Post-Gazette TV editor

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Q: I am a big fan of both "American Idol" and "Dancing with the Stars." The fact that they air LIVE makes me more interested in them. This week I watched "American Idol" and flipped back to "Dancing with the Stars" like always.

On "American Idol," host Ryan Seacrest went into the audience and said hello to Rascal Flatts who just happened to be there. After "Idol" was over, I went back to watching "Dancing with the Stars" and thought I may have been a little crazy when Rascal Flatts was introduced as the guest singers for the night. I am not sure where the studios are in relation to one another, but I found this odd. Either one is not live or Rascal Flatts are more amazing then I thought, going from one place to another within 30 minutes.

-- Natalie, Wilkins

Rob: No deception or super-human speed was involved. "American Idol" and "Dancing with the Stars" shoot on the same CBS lot in soundstages that are close to one another.

Why are shows on Fox and ABC produced at a CBS facility? Because it's very common practice in Hollywood. Shows grab soundstage space wherever it is available. There's only so much space on the big studio lots -- Warner Bros., Fox, NBC/Universal, Paramount -- so productions often end up on a lot owned by a network that doesn't air their show. "Will & Grace" shot at the CBS/Radford lot, a stone's throw from the old "Big Brother" house, for its entire run.

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Q: Is "Lincoln Heights" coming back on ABC Family?

I think it was a great family show that had real issues that the average American deals with in today's society. It was a family show that my 15, 6 and 3 year old could all sit down and watch without arguing!

-- Kelly, Beechview

Rob: Yes, it has been renewed and a new season will begin airing this fall. No premiere date has been announced.

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Q: Why did CBS decide to change the time for "Cold Case's" season finale? I am a dedicated fan of the show, and I watch it every week at 9 p.m. Sunday. When I tuned in this past Sunday to watch the show, I realized that I had missed it because CBS moved it to the 8 p.m. time slot. I am sure that a lot of fans were as disappointed as I was. Will this episode be re-run in the future, and if so, when?

-- Gina, North Versailles

Rob: CBS executives moved "Cold Case" because it's their show. They can air it wherever they like. Is that helpful to viewers? Of course not, and it's probably part of the reason viewers have quit watching and ratings are down. But that's how networks operate these days and yet another reason to invest in a DVR that can be programmed to catch your favorite shows wherever they air.

That said, "Cold Case" was listed to air correctly at 8 p.m. in TV Week. I suspect it was moved to 8 so they could air the last two episodes of "Dexter" from 9-11 p.m. Why they felt compelled to do that, who knows. I'm not privvy to the decisions of network schedulers.

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Q: Is it true that "Scrubs" will be coming back for another full season due to the writers' strike? Is it also switching networks to ABC?

-- Brian, Canonsburg

Rob: Yes, it is expected that when ABC announces its fall schedule next week that "Scrubs" will be on it.

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Q: Do you know why Khandi Alexander left "CSI: Miami"?

-- Justine, Butler

Rob: According to the show's publicist, Alexander approached the producers about leaving to do other things, and they wrote it into the storyline. She's expected to make guest appearances in the future.

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Q: Who is "The Banker" on Deal or No Deal?

-- Nick, Homer City

Rob: Watching the show, it seems like producers intentionally keep that a secret, and this was the only response the producers would give: "The Banker has been the same since the show started except when special guest bankers presided (e.g. Donald Trump, Darth Vader). He is a genuine gamer with a nasty disposition."

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Q: Dave Letterman does not tell many jokes in his opening and yet he uses cue cards. Jay Leno tells a boatload of jokes in his opening. Does he use cue cards? It doesn't seem that he does.

-- Bill, Pittsburgh

Rob: The "Tonight Show" publicist says there are cue cards available should he need them throughout the show, but he doesn't read off of them, just references them.

"Jay is in tip top shape hitting the road several times a week doing stand-up," she said. "His routine can sometimes last over an hour, no cue cards required!"

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Q: On the "Tonight Show" when Jay Leno is tossing to commercial after the first segment, the cameras show announcer John Melendez holding up a coffee mug.

Is there some meaning to these mugs because they seem to change very often and always have some sort of logo. Do organizations/businesses send in mugs to get promoted?

I know this is an awkward question but was just wondering.

-- Jeff, Ross

Rob: Melendez explains, "I started holding up the mugs because I felt the wave I used to do was awkward looking. A guy e-mailed me saying how I looked bad with that awkward wave. I wrote back saying you try it, look at yourself in the mirror, pretend Jay announces your name, then do something and tell me if there's anything that you can do that doesn't look awkward. The next day, the guy e-mailed me back and said, 'You've got a point!'

"Finally, I thought, well hey, I like to drink beer and toasting is something a beer drinker loves to do, so hence the mug tip. I started out holding up the 'Tonight Show' mug, then slowly added new ones, 'Happy St. Patrick's Day,' or a huge beer stein that says, 'Happy Father's Day.' I'm from New York so I started holding up NYPD and NYFD because many of my friends are New York City police officers and firemen. I also hold up my New York Giants mug as well as my New York Yankees mug. Recently, I have been holding my "National Lampoon Presents One, Two, Many" mug which promotes the release of my film which was released April 15th. Sometimes people send me mugs and hey, if it's cool, you never know I might hold it up!"

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Q: Will KDKA be replacing Don Cannon from outside or are they going to move someone up from a regular reporter?

-- Chris, Bethel Park

Will KDKA replace Don Cannon on the weekend evening newscasts or are they going to continue to fly solo with Stephanie Watson? I know when she has been out Alison Morris and David Highfield have filled in for her. I think either of them would be worthy candidates internally to take Cannon's place alongside Watson. Any chance that this may happen?

-- Ryan, Pittsburgh

Rob: My understanding is that the station is still exploring its options. I would guess that it might make a decision and have someone in place this fall.

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Q: Any thoughts on how come the Myanmar cyclone and the astonishing death toll number that climbs every day is being virtually ignored by the media? You'd think a devastating cyclone would make for a great sweeps story.

-- Patti, Pittsburgh

Rob: Given that the story has been on newspaper front pages and covered by morning and evening national newscasts all week, I completely disagree with the premise that the story has been ignored by the media.

Perhaps there's not as much new video from the scene because news crews, like humanitarian aid, have had a tough time getting into the country because of its isolationist regime.

If you're talking about coverage in local newscasts, I guess I'm not all that surprised it hasn't been a lead story because local stations generally don't devote much time to international news.

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Q: I live in Butler County and have been a cable subscriber for quite some time, so I'm used to Armstrong having a sub-par channel lineup when compared to its counterparts in other counties. However, do you know why they refuse to offer Versus as one of the options in their normal cable packages?

They moved it to the highest tier possible and while I'd be willing to bump my subscription up one tier, two is ridiculous. I am a devoted Pens fan and find it completely insane that I can't watch my hometown team, during a crucial play-off period, within the comfort of my own home. I can't be their only customer in such a predicament.

-- Megan, Zelienople

Rob: I guess it depends on how you define "normal." Cable companies are attempting to redefine "normal" by moving channels from expanded basic to a digital tier. But Armstrong never had Versus on expanded basic and recently moved it to a more widely purchased tier.

"Armstrong offers Versus on our second most popular level of service, Television Plus 40," said Armstrong spokesman Dave Wittmann. "We moved Versus to this level of service earlier in the year so that a greater number of Armstrong customers would receive the channel. We also added the Versus/Golf HD channel in April, which enabled our ever-growing HD customer base to enjoy the best possible picture quality for their NHL games and PGA Tour coverage."

Armstrong carries Versus on Channel 485. Versus and Golf HD share Channel 172.

Wittmann notes that the primary programming carried by Versus does not generate significant ratings at present.

"For example, regular season NHL games generally are viewed by fewer households than a women's softball game shown on ESPN," he wrote in an e-mail. "The vast majority of video providers in this country do not carry Versus on their lowest level of service."

But several local cable providers do offer Versus on a less expensive, non-digital tier, as sports on TV writer Bob Smizik pointed out yesterday.

"This situation is a small part of the much larger 'cost of sports programming' issue," he wrote. "Two different talk shows last evening were speculating about ESPN getting back into broadcasting NHL games in the future. Just this morning, there was another article in your paper concerning NFL Networks continuing legal action against Comcast. The Big Ten Network issue will heat up again when college football starts in the fall. All of these questions revolve around the issue of whether every basic customer should pay for these sports license fees."

Regarding the question/complaint about Drew Carey hosting the "Price is Right," I think he is doing a great job. I was on maternity leave when Drew first took over Bob Barker's position so I got to watch the show every day. At first, I will admit, he stunk. He didn't really know the games and seemed really nervous. I think, though, that over time he has improved.

I don't think people realize that Bob Barker was on the "Price is Right" for AGES. Of course Bob is going to know all the games. Now think about when you first started your job. Did you know everything after the first six months or so? No. People need to cut Drew some slack.

-- Marcy, Robinson

Did you happen to see the 11 p.m. news on KDKA Saturday? The newsreader was speaking of the Greek Food Festival opening. She said ".....stop in and get your belly full of Greece." A belly full of Greece (grease)? Really? Doesn't someone proofread this stuff?

And since I have your ear, I never liked the phrase "accident working." Example: "There is an accident working on the Parkway West." That just doesn't make any sense.

-- Jennifer, Robinson