Yinzerific web comedy series “Greg & Donny” hasn’t produced regular episodes since 2016, save for two pandemic specials in March and April 2020, but the series returns Dec. 6 with the first in a batch of new episodes.

Unlike in past seasons where episodes were shot in advance and rolled out weekly, the new episodes will be filmed closer to air to “seize the moment,” per series co-creator Matt Yeager, a Johnstown native. Episodes will not debut weekly. A teaser is already posted to GregAndDonny.com (and on the show’s Facebook page) and episode one of what’s essentially the third season is in the can. (The team hopes to complete a second episode by year’s end.)

“We don’t usually veer into social commentary, but this one we do a little bit in a ‘Greg & Donny’ way we think everyone will enjoy,” said Yeager, who plays Donny, of the Dec. 6 episode. “We don’t ever make a statement. We just frolic in the chaos.”

The series follows yinzer-accented best friends Greg (Johnstown native Jeff Skowron) and Donny along with Greg’s wife, Gina (Carnegie native Kim Cea), and their friend Missy (Jennerstown native Tamera Gindlesperger-Fisher). In next week’s episode, they’re conversing via video chat — but with Skowron and Cea in New York and Yeager in New Jersey, getting the characters in the same room may be more feasible down the road.

Why revive the show now?

“It always comes about by just us feeling like doing it again,” Yeager said. “In the past, our interest in ‘Greg & Donny’ has revolved around is this advantageous to us career-wise? Will this turn into something that pays the bills? We let go of that and now we’re just doing it because we love it and fortunately other people love it, too.”

“Greg & Donny” episodes began streaming on the web in 2009 and won IFC’s “Out of the Box” award at the 2010 New York Television Festival. It was developed as a potential IFC series that never made it to air. Too bad, as “Greg & Donny” could have paired well with IFC’s “Portlandia.”

Skowron and Yeager wrote a season one outline for IFC’s version of “Greg & Donny” and filmed a pilot. Yeager said that pilot had “more of an indie film tone” and it didn’t catch “that fire that the web series did.” A network restructuring didn’t help.

“They were looking for something a little bigger that would make headlines and they didn’t think ‘Greg & Donny’ necessarily was going to do that,” Yeager said.

While “Greg & Donny” would seem like a natural show to have a crossover with “Pittsburgh Dad” – Yeager said fans suggest it frequently on the “Greg & Donny” Facebook page – the pair haven’t had conversations about it with the “Pittsburgh Dad” creators, but they’d be open to a crossover if there’s interest from the “Pittsburgh Dad” team.

As for this new round of episodes, Yeager and Skowron say they haven’t given up on growing “Greg & Donny” into something bigger, but they’re not pinning all their hopes on it, either.

“We think ‘Greg & Donny’ would also make a great cartoon, so perhaps that’s something we’ll explore in the coming months,” Yeager said. “This new round of episodes will be part of that so we can send something out we just did as opposed to [a two-year-old] covid special.”

Local TV news ratings

Often sweeps month ratings for local newscasts in Pittsburgh are all over the map, with something for each station to crow about — but in November 2022 there was a pretty decisive pecking order with KDKA-TV mostly in first place, WTAE-TV often in second place and WPXI-TV largely in third place.

Ratings released last week by Nielsen include household ratings that reflect a measure of popularity and the more important-to-stations demographic ratings, including the key demo of ages 25-54, that are used to set ad rates.

KDKA ranked first in households ratings at 12, 4, 5, 6, 10 (on WPCW-TV) and 11 p.m. WTAE was first at 5 and 6 a.m. (with KDKA in second place in those two time periods). WTAE was second in all other time periods. WPXI was third place across the board, although the difference between first and second was only one-tenth of a ratings point at 5 and 6 a.m.

In the key demo of viewers ages 25-54, KDKA ranked first at 12, 4, 5 and 11 p.m. WTAE was first at 5 and 6 a.m. and 6 p.m. WTAE and WPXI tied for second place at 5 p.m. At 10 p.m. WPXI’s news on WPGH was one-tenth of a demo ratings point ahead of KDKA’s news on WCPW.

In other Nielsen news, effective Jan. 1, 2023, Pittsburgh stands pat as the 26th largest TV market in the U.S.

Local criminal case on ‘Dateline’

The criminal case with local ties that keeps on giving for true-crime TV gets another spin in the spotlight on “Dateline NBC” this week as the two-hour broadcast (9 p.m. Friday, WPXI-TV) explores the fatal shooting of Bianca Rudolph by her husband, Hempfield dentist Dr. Lawrence “Larry” Rudolph, who was convicted of killing Bianca in Zambia’s Kafue National Park in 2016.

Correspondent Andrea Canning interviews the manager of the cabin where the shooting occurred as well as employees from Rudolph’s Three Rivers Dental Group.

New WQED-TV doc

WQED debuts a new 28-minute documentary at 8 p.m. Dec. 8, “Autism: Aging Out,” which explores when children with autism grow up to be adults with autism who at 21 “age out” of services that were previously provided through public schools.

Produced by Gina Catanzarite, the film profiles four families and the challenges they face. “Aging Out” was produced with sensitivity to sensory processing issues by using limited lighting. The film will also be available at wqed.org/autism.