Andy Gray

Assorted ramblings from the world of entertainment:

• Writing about the death of longtime WHOT DJ A.C. McCullough this week reminded me of one of my favorite stories.

A few times over the years, I’ve done “expert opinion” movie stories, interviewing someone with first-hand knowledge of a movie’s topic to talk about what it got right and what it got wrong, such as talking to former Trumbull County sheriff’s deputy Pete Lucic, who also was professional wrestler Preston Steele, about Mickey Rourke’s movie “The Wrestler.”

The first one I did was in 1997, when I took McCullough, Fred “Fast Freddie” Woak, who was morning show host on WNCD-FM (The Wolf) at the time and then-WRRO-AM morning man Dan McDowell to the movies to see Howard Stern’s “Private Parts.”

Back in 1997, Stern’s syndicated morning show was carried on WNCX-FM in Cleveland, which could be heard throughout Trumbull County and in parts of Mahoning, so he was at least indirect competition with the local broadcasters.

McCullough’s first question when I pitched the idea to him was, “Who’s paying, because I’m not giving Howard Stern any of my money.”

The newspaper picked up the tab.

It was a lively, fun conversation and a rare summit involving heated competitors. By 1997, McCullough had been on WHOT for 25 years and Woak had been doing radio in the Valley for about 18 years. In the parking lot after that interview, Woak said that was the first time he’d ever really talked to McCullough.

At the time of McCullough’s death, he and Woak, now in afternoon drive on WYFM (Y103), were colleagues, both working for Cumulus Media stations. Woak and John “Mr. Sports” Batcho, who I also interviewed for the story that ran Monday, talked about the heated rivalry with The Wolf and Y103 and other stations in the market all gunning for the top-rated McCullough in the morning.

Things definitely were different when almost all of the stations had different ownership and all local jocks. But it’s not like the newspaper industry is the same as it was in 1990s either.

• WonderStruck announced its lineup Wednesday, which probably left fans of the music festival formerly known as LaureLive dumbstruck.

The original LaureLive and the first two years as WonderStuck at Lakeland Community College boasted a lineup that leaned more toward indie pop and adult alternative. There certainly are some of those artists among the 26 acts announced Wednesday — including the top-billed Khalid –but the other names at the top of the bill are more hip hop (Flo Rida and Nelly) and country (Walker Hayes, Chris Lane, Jimmie Allen).

Variety is one of the things that makes going to music festivals fun. But WonderStruck, like many established festivals, sells early bird tickets at a reduced rate before the lineup is announced. Based on the response on social media, many early bird buyers were expecting acts on par with past headliners like Vampire Weekend, Walk the Moon, The Lumineers and Portugal. The Man, not country singers.

Then again, Khalid has songs with streaming totals in the billions, so there should be plenty of folks happy to take those early bird tickets off their hands.

The lineup includes a couple acts with local ties. Youngstown’s The Vindys, which have played both WonderStruck / LaureLive and other festivals produced by Elevation Group, will be back this year, and playing guitar for Paris Jackson is Warren native Michael O’Grady (Jackson also will be at the Roxian Theatre outside of Pittsburgh on Feb. 23).

The rest of the lineup includes COIN, Tai Verdes, The Struts, Sasha Alex Sloan, Ingrid Andress, Aly & AJ, Echosmith, Rosa Linn, Leah Kate, almost monday, Runaway June, The Beaches, Hembree, Mo Lowda & the Humble, Mac Saturn, .wavrunner, Siena Liggins and Tall Tall Trees.

Tickets go back on sale at 10 a.m. Saturday at wonderstuck.com.

• The popular PBS series “Antiques Roadshow” is coming to Akron’s Stan Hywet Hall & Gardens on June 6, and folks can apply for tickets and an opportunity to have their prized possessions evaluated by the show’s expert appraisers.

Admission is free, but ticket availability is limited. The deadline to enter the ticket sweepstakes and the early bird tickets contest is March 13. Entry form and complete details are available at www.pbs.org/wgbh/roadshow/tickets/faq/#attending

Only ticketholders can attend. Stan Hywet will be closed to all other visitors June 6.

Andy Gray is the entertainment editor of Ticket. Write to him at agray@tribotday.com.