TV Talk: Jeff Goldblum causes 'Kaos;' Caitlin O'Connor honored; WPXI reporter exits

It’s a busy week for performers with Western Pennsylvania ties: Friendship’s Learnmore Jonasi competed and advanced to the semifinals on “America’s Got Talent.” (He’ll next perform on the Sept. 11 episode of “AGT.”)

This weekend, 2007 Uniontown High School grad Caitlin O’Connor, who had a role in HBO’s “Winning Time” as Dyan Cannon, will be inducted into her alma mater’s hall of fame.

Pittsburgh native Jeff Goldblum stars in Netflix’s Greek gods-populated comedic drama “Kaos,” now streaming, and filmed-in-Pittsburgh exorcism drama “The Deliverance” debuts Aug. 30 on Netflix.

O’Connor’s honor

O’Connor will be one of 13 individuals inducted into the Uniontown High Hall of Fame and one of three added in the HOF arts category for her work in Hollywood as an actress, host and producer, which includes her acceptance into the Producers Guild of America earlier this year following recommendations from the directors of feature films she produced.

In a Zoom interview Monday, O’Connor said she and boyfriend Joe Manganiello (“True Blood”), a 1995 Mt. Lebanon High School grad, will visit Pittsburgh for about a week. (Manganiello threw the first, ceremonial pitch at Wednesday’s Pirates game.)

“I’m honored to be inducted,” O’Connor said Monday, adding that she and Manganiello will attend the Uniontown High School football game Friday night and a HOF brunch 9:45 a.m. Saturday in the school cafeteria, where she’ll give a seven-minute speech.

“I am going back to my high school days and my method of procrastination so I’ve just been brainstorming so far,” she said. “I have six more days to figure it out.”

In addition to “Winning Time,” O’Connor has roles in three recent movies, including “Angels Fallen: Warriors of Peace” with Cuba Gooding Jr. and Denise Richards. It’s now available via streaming video on demand.

“I get murdered in that one,” she said with a laugh.

She plays a news reporter in both “Roswell Delirium” and “Burn My Money.”

“I don’t mind being typecast,” she said. “You can typecast me all day, I’ll show up.”

While in Pittsburgh, O’Connor said she and Manganiello will visit Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC, where Manganiello will play a game of Deal or No Deal with patients. (She said Manganiello already filmed season two of NBC’s “Deal or No Deal Island.”)

“We have a lot of traveling coming and there are some little announcements coming up for us, but work-wise I’ve just been focused on this seven-minute speech,” O’Connor said. “I’m a little bit concerned. My mother is my biggest fan and she’ll be in the front row listening to every word so I have to be on my game.”

Goldblum’s ‘Kaos’

In a role that allows him to stretch his acting chops more than he has in years, Pittsburgh native Jeff Goldblum plays Zeus in Netflix’s “Kaos,” now streaming.

It’s set in a contemporary time where the gods of ancient Greek mythology still rule.

Created by Charlie Covell (“The End of the F*****g World”), “Kaos” is a clever comedic drama that builds a world where the gods are celebrated and reviled like modern-day celebrities and political figures. It’s a serialized show that introduces its characters as it goes along and then allows them to intersect one another’s stories.

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• TV Talk: Director Lee Daniels exorcises demons in Netflix's filmed-in-Pittsburgh 'The Deliverance'

Goldblum gets to play Zeus’ funny-eccentric glee and his more sinister scheming. Zeus doesn’t particularly get along with his wife, Hera (Janet Mcteer), or his wayward son, Dionysus (Nabhaan Rizwaan). Zeus is petty and vindictive, which makes him an entertaining character.

But it’s the way the eight-episode first season of “Kaos” unspools — introducing a legion of gods and humans — and how they ultimately interconnect that makes the series an addictive, intriguing addition to the Netflix roster.

‘The Deliverance’

Filmed and set in Pittsburgh, director Lee Daniels’ “The Deliverance” is an exorcist movie where the exorcism almost seems like an afterthought.

Streaming Aug. 30 on Netflix, “The Deliverance” clocks in at one hour and 50 minutes but the film devotes its first hour almost entirely to character and relationship stories regarding single mother Ebony (Andra Day, excellent in this role) and her struggles with alcohol, with her mother (Glenn Close), with a social worker (Mo’Nique, excellent in her reunion with Daniels after “Precious”) and with her children, who have started acting strangely since moving from Philadelphia to a rental house in Pittsburgh.

Daniels seems more interested in Ebony’s relatable, personal demons than the demonic possession of Ebony’s kids and the exorcism that follows, which all play out in rote fashion. There’s nothing about the possession or the exorcism that’s unique to “The Deliverance,” which makes the movie a pretty meh exorcism flick.

The film’s first half and focus on Ebony and her foibles prove more distinctive albeit also depressing.

Houy exits WPXI-TV

Longtime Channel 11 part-time reporter/fill-in anchor Lori Houy will depart the station this week. She joined WPXI in 1998 from the Youngstown TV market as a Channel 11 weekend morning fill-in anchor and most recently Houy was a reporter for the station’s weekday morning newscasts.

Houy plans a move to near Sarasota, Fla., but she’s not calling it retirement.

“I plan on working part-time in some capacity, but it probably won’t be (in TV news). I’m not going in that direction,” she said Wednesday. “It’s a big move for us. My husband’s brother lives there with his family a couple of streets over.”

Houy acknowledged the Pittsburgh TV market has changed since she arrived at a time when it was more difficult to get a foot in the door. She kept sending her resume to local stations — and back then she snail-mailed it in on paper.

“I can’t believe how long I’ve been here and yet it also seems like a blink of an eye,” Houy said. “I really feel blessed that I’ve worked here for so many years and met so many wonderful people, true professionals.”