'Mayans' revs up for another season on FX

Q: Will "Mayans M.C.," a great biker show with a great cast, be back?

A: Yes. FX has ordered another season of the series. But because of the pandemic, production has been delayed and it is not clear when the series might return.

Concept evolves, title doesn't

Q: I've been watching "48 Hours" on CBS for many years and it suddenly dawned on me: Why is it called "48 Hours"?

A: Here's the answer from CBS: " '48 Hours' began as the documentary '48 Hours on Crack Street' in 1986, which featured the reporting of 10 CBS News correspondents and 15 crews over a period of one weekend to chronicle the impact of the sale, use and effect of drugs. It became a regular series on Jan. 19, 1988, with the show built around a team of correspondents covering one subject for 48 consecutive hours." The show then evolved into a program focusing on law, crime and justice but retained the original title.

'Ivan' wasn't so terrible

Q: I wonder if you might know the name of an old show. The program was kind of a summer fill-in (on network television — what else was there back then), maybe four to six episodes, in the summer of 1978 (could be a year earlier or later). It was a parody of daily Russian life, the problems of living in an Iron Curtain country and was hysterically funny.

A: That was "Ivan the Terrible," a comedy on CBS for five weeks in 1976. Lou Jacobi starred as Ivan, a hotel waiter in Moscow who shared a small apartment with nine other people.

Nettlesome question

Q: What ever happened to John Nettles of "Midsomer Murders"? Why switch over to his cousin as chief inspector?

A: Nettles left the series in 2011 after appearing in more than 200 episodes over 14 years. He reportedly said at the time that he was getting too old for the role, and "it's always wise to leave people wanting more, rather than be booed off the stage because you bored them." He continued to act, including in "Poldark," as well as pursuing other projects.

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