Submit your question to Rob Owen

This week's TV Q&A responds to questions about "Law & Order: Criminal Intent," "American Chopper" and "Just for Laughs." As always, thanks for reading, and keep those questions coming.

-- Rob Owen, Post-Gazette TV editor

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Q: Last fall I came upon a true train wreck of a show while surfing through cable channels. The name of the show is/was "Flipping Out," originally shown on the Bravo network, but I caught it as a replay on CNBC. The show followed a Southern California real estate speculator and his crew through various residential projects. Although I found the show a true disaster and its characters beyond annoying, I inexplicably found myself looking for it week after week. My question is simply, do you know if Bravo anticipates a second season of this epic? I guess even train wrecks can hold one's attention.

-- Brian, Shadyside

Rob: Brian, we've all been there . Nothing wrong with having a guilty pleasure show.

A Bravo publicist said "Flipping Out" has not yet been renewed for a second season, but a decision should be made soon. If it gets renewed, I'll try to note it in the Post-Gazette.

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Q: The last Goren-Eames episode of "Law & Order: Criminal Intent" before last summer's break was called "Endgame" and starred Roy Scheider as a serial killer who contacted Robert Goren (Vincent D'Onofrio) before the killer's scheduled execution to share details of many of his other victims. It was also the episode where Goren's mother died, and as more details of the killer's past crimes were discovered, it became evident that there had been a relationship between Bobby's mother and the killer and that he might even be Bobby's father. We left Bobby pretty traumatized by this knowledge and by his mother's death, and though he still looked pretty shaken in the first fall show, he rallied to help solve the murder of Alex's husband, and no mention has been made to date of the cloud over Bobby's parentage. Did they just decide to drop this question? Also, was this perhaps one of Roy Schieder's last roles before his death?

-- Alison, Edgewood

Rob: According to a publicist for the show, late in the next season of "Criminal Intent," Goren's complicated family story will be revisited: "In addition to questions about Goren's paternity, there are also unresolved 'issues' between Goren and his brother (Tony Goldwyn), and his brother's son (Donny, played by Trevor Morgan). One, or both of them, is likely to reappear in Bobby's life."

As for Scheider's last roles, IMDB.com lists a few others after his "L&O: CI" appearance.

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Q: I was recently watching "American Chopper" and noticed that Vinnie has not been in any of the episodes. Has he left Orange County Choppers, or was he let go by the Teutels?

-- Jack, Sunset Beach, N.C.

Rob: According to a show publicist, "Vinnie and Orange County Chopper had a mutual parting of ways last year. The story was covered in the last episode of "American Chopper's" fourth season, "Iowa Farm Bureau Bike 2," which premiered in October of 2007 on TLC.

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Q: Is the show "Just For Laughs" the foreign version of "TV's Bloopers" here in America?

-- Nick, Homer City

Rob: Yes, "Just for Laughs" is a Canadian import.

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Q: I recently watched both seasons of "Dead Like Me" on DVD. Was it only a two-season show, or will there be more DVDs coming out?

-- Jayne, Youngwood

Rob: Just two seasons aired on TV, but a direct-to-DVD "Dead Like Me" movie has been filmed and will be out on DVD later this year.

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Q: A few weeks back the TV listings had a show called "UFO Hunters" on both the Sci Fi Channel and The History Channel. I wondered at the time if they were the same show running on both networks. But, after watching both, it seemed that the Sci Fi show was akin to their "Ghost Hunters" franchise, in that they went at it from a totally skeptical, scientific approach, while The History Channel show has one guy who is a total believer.

-- John, Green Tree

Rob: I had the same question at the time and even called Sci Fi to ask. They are two different programs with the same name. What aired on Sci Fi was a "special episode," probably the pilot that was hurried on the air when they got wind of a competing series on History Channel. The Sci Fi show remains in development.

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Q: I just watched The KDKA "News at Five." They had advertised that they were running a Consumer Reports segment about the company Direct Buy. I was a little shocked to see a commercial for the same company about 10 minutes before the segment.

When I watched the story by Yvonne Zanos, the recorded portion from Consumer Reports didn't give a very nice review of the company, but after that report, Zanos interviewed the owner of the local Direct Buy and seemed to say they were OK, just be careful.

Is this standard practice to sell air time to a company and then try and do a report on them?

-- Patrick, South Fayette

Rob: It can be a sticky situation for any news outlet to report on an advertiser, even if it's more an issue of appearance.

KDKA general manager Chris Pike said the news editorial process and advertising sales operate "completely independently."

"Whenever we are going to do a story about an advertiser, good or bad, we offer them the courtesy of moving their advertising away from the editorial content," Pike said. "They do not have any opportunity to impact the editorial content in any way. The company in question had the opportunity to move their commercial out of that day's newscast but made the decision to leave it in. As for the editorial content, the story was balanced. It included customers who had problems with the company, and we gave the local manager the opportunity to comment on the concerns."

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Q: I just recently switched to Verizon's FiOS TV. I am wondering when they will have Fox Sports Pittsburgh in HD.

-- Rob, Hampton

Rob: Verizon still has no time table for the launch of FSN-Pittsburgh in HD.

• I read your article in the Post-Gazette several Sundays ago, and I have been having terrible problems with ghosts. They are robbing me. I am out about $2,500. A friend of mine begged me this morning to call you and maybe you can talk to this young man and see if he can give me an idea how I can correct this situation.

-- Helen, referring to an article on A&E's "Paranormal State."

• I have ghosts and I have had them for quite a few weeks; they are robbing me blind. I'm missing, as of this time, about $2,200 worth of food, clothing and all kinds of little things you use in a home, you know, pots and pans, things like that. And all my Corning Ware. They have stolen three casseroles; the small one is not expensive, but the large one is $79.99. I would appreciate it if you would give me a call and suggest some type of help.

-- Helen, a few minutes later