No date set for next season of ‘Transplant’

Q: I just finished streaming the third season of “Transplant” on Peacock. Is Season 4 not available?

A: While the Canadian-made medical drama’s fourth and final season already has aired up north, U.S. rights-holder NBC has not set a date for airing it here. TVLine.com noted that 15 months passed between the Season 2 finale on NBC and when Season 3 finally aired stateside. NBC’s summer slate is well populated by “America’s Got Talent” and other unscripted fare, as well as its extensive Olympics coverage. And the network has announced a fall lineup that does not include “Transplant.”

By the way, the fourth season is a planned finale; according to NBC Insider, series creator Joseph Kay said, “I’d always intended a four-season window into Bashir’s life as he completes his medical residency for a second time, sets down roots in Canada, and learns to shed some of his past, and it’s incredibly fulfilling to be able to tell his complete story.”

Q: Every so often, I think about a situation comedy that ran during the early ‘60s. It was about a couple who ran a ranch. They had one child, a son named Brook. Their ranch hand was named Lonesome. They were friends with a Native American; I don’t recall his name, but he had a niece named Pink Cloud. Can you recall the series?

A: That was “Guestward, Ho!” It aired on ABC for a single season in 1960-61. Joanne Dru and Mark Miller played a couple who owned a dude ranch in New Mexico.

Q: Will “Schitt’s Creek” and “The Spencer Sisters” be returning?

A: No. The award-winning “Schitt’s Creek” ended in 2020 after six seasons. “The Spencer Sisters” was canceled earlier this year after one season.

Q: In the late 1960s or early 1970s, I saw a stunning movie where a hippie daughter was inadvertently shot and killed by her father after he turned into a vigilante flag-waver. It was prescient for the eventual polarization of America. I believe it was given the simple one-syllable name of either the daughter or the father. Wondering what happened to it.

A: I think you are remembering “Joe,” a 1970 film starring Peter Boyle and featuring Susan Sarandon. It was nominated for an Oscar for best original screenplay, although it did not win. Film critic Chris Vognar called it “a sort of Rorschach test for a bitterly divided public” on rogerebert.com. The movie is available on Blu-ray and via streaming on Tubi, Plex and other sites.

Q: I recently reread the outstanding John Grisham novel “Calico Joe” and saw somewhere that a movie was to be made based on that book. Do you know if that’s still in the works?

A: The movie rights to the baseball novel were acquired by one company in 2012, but apparently nothing came of it. In 2020, Smokehouse Pictures — founded by George Clooney and Grant Heslov — announced plans to produce a “Calico Joe” film, possibly with Clooney directing. That is the most recent news I’ve seen, but that doesn’t mean the project is dead. Making a movie can take a very long time, especially when the participants are as busy as Clooney.

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