Q: Are the guys on "Pawn Stars" as knowledgeable as they are portrayed to be? Or does the show have researchers who feed them detailed information so they may expound at length upon the history of each obscure object, especially when they do the cut-away monologues about an item's place in history?

I find it hard to believe that anyone could be an expert in so many wide-ranging areas of history and not be in academia.

A: According to History publicist Heather DiRubba, "The 'Pawn Stars' do their own research. If an item comes into the pawnshop and they are not aware of the history or background, they will conduct their own research off camera. But many of the times, they know about an item due to their many years as owners of a pawnshop that deals with obscure and historic items.

"The experts that appear on 'Pawn Stars' are not compensated for their time on the show. They are colleagues of the [stars] and have worked with them for many years. The [stars] refer a lot of business to them and vice versa."

'Vegas' lacked right kind of viewers

Q: I heard that "Vegas" had been canceled. Why? It had some big names starring in it.

A: TV shows are almost always canceled for reasons that are, at root, financial. In the case of "Vegas," while it had a large number of overall viewers, its ratings among viewers most prized by advertisers were terrible. That's why it was canceled.

'Little Couple' coming back

Q: What happened to new episodes of "The Little Couple" on TLC? The new season started with Bill and Jen going to China to bring Will back to the United States. Are they not going to show any more?

A: New episodes resume airing Tuesday, including William's return to Houston.

Time to reboot 'Police Woman'

Q: I used to watch "Police Woman," starring Angie Dickinson, years ago and really liked that show. It would be a good thing to bring it back with Kate Hudson as the lead. Any thoughts on that?

A: TV executives love nothing more than recycling ideas with built-in "brand appeal," so it's not a far-fetched notion. Hudson recently appeared on TV with an arc on "Glee," so she might even be game.

But do I think TV is usually at its best when recycling old ideas, especially a police procedural? No, I don't.

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