Recap:

• Jacob fills in for Gloria at a photoshoot and clashes with Nick over his ab makeup and his wanting to be taken seriously as an actor.
• Gloria is the one finding her quiet time interrupted when Jacob barges in with the new budget proposal and a demand for respect.
• Meanwhile Sam is blindsided during an interview about his new movie when the interviewers press him about doing an action film at his age, implying he is too old. Sam’s attempts to recover go awry much to Becky’s dismay.
• Gloria has a run in with a studio executive over the show’s budget and delivers a passionate defense of Hearts on Fire.
• Becky and Sam have a fiery clash after his disastrous interview which he feels wasn’t as bad as she is making it seem.

Line of the episode:

“Did Mommy not breastfeed you? Is that what happened to you?” ~ Becky to Sam

Fun facts:

Lilly Melgar and Sean Kanan adlibbed the fight between Becky and Sam after the interview. Lilly shared with us that she was surprised the entire scene was going to be improv and wasn’t sure she could do it, but Sean had faith in her and pushed her to new acting heights, “Never in my entire career have I done improv for the entire scene, but we did that, and I love the scene and it is so good! And it’s so much fun to work with someone who can do that like he (Sean Kanan) does, that is one of his strengths. So, for me it was one of the biggest challenges I’ve had in a long time, and I like to be challenged so as mad as I was, it was thrilling and exciting and it definitely called me to be more present than I’ve ever been. I had to be.”  

James Lott Jr. is a podcaster in real life, and he played the podcaster who interviewed Sam and put him on the spot about his age. He had this to say about his guest spot on Studio City, “I basically play a host and I’m the opposite of myself. I got to do the things that I normally wouldn’t do as a host. I ask questions and say things I would never say in real life. I’m just coming at him, and I don’t do that in my interviews. You don’t invite someone on your show and then attack them but I kinda do that and it’s just his (Sam’s) reactions that are the best!”

Meet the characters:

Lilly Melgar plays Becky Pope, the PR person assigned to Sam by the studio producing his movie. She had this to say about her character, “She’s a ball buster which is very true to me and Sean’s relationship through the years, so I think he was inspired by our actual relationship, just amped it up a bit. She’s a ball buster but she’s got some heart.”

Philip Bruenn talked to us about Nick Cassidy, who plays Sam’s rival, Devon Stryker, om Hearts on Fire, and he told us, “He is like any guy who wants to make something of himself. He grew up watching Sam and it’s that idolization. He’s got a little bit of pompousness to him …and what I really liked about the second season is that he goes through a moment of second guessing, a little bit of that internal journey of ‘am I who I thought I am? Hold on, someone needs to validate me real quick!’”

Studio City season 2 is available on Amazon Prime Video! Come back next week for our recap of episode 3, Maximum Velocity, as well as exclusive content from cast and crew of the award-winning Studio City!

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An exhausted Sam who is portraying an exhausted Pierce is trying to contact his agent Bryan to help get his crazy schedule sorted out now that he is filming two roles.

Attempting to engage fans and raise ratings, producer, Gloria has arranged for behind-the-scenes interviews for the cast and crew, but they don’t go exactly as planned.

Christine is frustrated with Nik when he cares more about his process than rehearsing their scenes.

Sam finally gets a quiet moment, but it is soon interrupted by the arrival of the publicist assigned to him by his new movie studio. She is unimpressed by him and lays down the law before leaving.

No sooner has left when Gloria shows up and piles on to the bad day he’s having.

Later at the hospital, Sam tries to convince Doc to get treatment. He refuses and tries unsuccessfully to push Sam away.

Line of the episode:

“Don’t be the monkey wrench in this well oiled machined, just be my monkey.” ~ Gloria to Sam

Fun facts:

In the episode Sam Stevens says he always takes his coffee the same way, “2 Splenda’s, almond milk.”

We asked Sean Kanan, who plays Sam, if this was his coffee order too and he told us that he likes his coffee black or with Stevia and almond milk. Art doesn’t always imitate life!

Michele Kanan, Studio City writer, executive producer, supervising producer and wife of Sean Kanan, ALSO appeared in the opening scene as the patient, Minnie, who Pierce is treating on Hearts on Fire! This woman does it all!

She told us all about her role as supervising producer, “The first year we had a pretty big crew, and we did 6 episodes and then we took a break because of Covid. Then we did 5 more episodes and during those 5 episodes we were only allowed 10 people together at a time. So, I had to do pretty much everything except for sound and lights and camera. This year I did the same thing, but I had a few more people.”

Meet the characters:

Erin Michele Soto filled us in on her character Christine, who plays Anastasia, Sam’s love interest on Hearts on Fire, “My character is finding her way into the acting world and fighting for her position. She’s dealing with a man’s world and nepotism and what that looks like.”

Scott Turner Schofield who plays Max, the portrayer of Dr. Brantly on Hearts on Fire, told us, “Max is like me and not like me. There is an element of Max that we took from my real life in terms of being an actor who is transgender, who is dealing with all of that behind the scenes and in life and then there is plenty that is just acting. He is an actor who is determined, and he wants to just be an actor. That’s his number one goal in life, to shine for that talent that he has. As the co-star of Hearts on Fire, he is always navigating everybody else’s nonsense.”

Studio City season 2 is available on Amazon Prime Video! Come back next week for our recap of episode 2, America’s Abs, as well as exclusive content from cast and crew of the award-winning Studio City!

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Season 1 received a jaw dropping 16 Daytime Emmy nominations and took home 3 wins! They also got 11 Indie Series Awards nominations with 4 wins and swept all 5 categories they were nominated for at the LA Live Film Festival and all of that was just for season 1! Pretty good first outing for what Kanan terms “a little engine that could”.

In the first season we were introduced to Sam Stevens, an aging soap heartthrob who leads Hearts on Fire, America’s number 2 daytime drama as Dr. Pierce Hartley and his cast mates including Christina, (Erin Michele Soto) who plays his onscreen love interest Anastasia; Nick Cassidy (Philip Bruenn) who plays Dr. Devyn Stryker, Sam’s rival both on and offscreen; Max Carter (Scott Turner Schofield) a transgender man who plays Dr. Brantly and runs a transgender support group; and Isabella (Melissa Riso) who is Sam’s real life fiancé and Hearts On Fire’s newest cast member, Mia.

Hearts on Fire is led by producer Gloria Winton (Carolyn Hennesy) who butts heads with Sam over his new contract and storylines on the show while running roughshod over her cast and crew and especially, her assistant Jacob (Justin Torkildsen).

We met Sam’s family including his domineering mother Violet (Patrick Darbo), his ailing stepfather Doc (Tristan Rogers), half sister Laurie (Sarah Joy Brown) and possible daughter, Delilah (Juliet Vega).

As the season progressed, we were also introduced to Sam’s friend and agent Bryan Michaels (Michael James Lazar), casting director Jolene Hernandez (Anna Marie Horsford), pr person Becky Pope (Lilly Melgar), Movie star Shelby Brock (Natalie Burn) and Ronn Moss and Devin DeVasguez playing themselves in a hysterical guest spot!

The amazing season 1 brought us all these wonderful characters and immersed us in their lives, giving us a real feel for them all. We followed Sam’s fight for his future on Hearts on Fire as well as finally getting his big break into movies, his entire family dealing with Doc’s illness and desire to stop treatment, and his own conflict over what his mother revealed to him about his own paternity and the possibility that he may have fathered Delilah. We saw Max’s fears for his transgender support group and if he was the right leader for them after tragedy struck and Christina’s fight to not just be a supporting actress to leading men but to also lead her own stories on the show. All of this and more was in the 11-episode first season which is available on Amazon Prime. If you haven’t seen it yet, see it now! You will not regret it!

In the press release announcing season 2 of Studio City, Kanan said “I am unbelievably proud of STUDIO CITY and what we accomplished during season one. It was a project that, with the hard work of an ensemble of talented creatives, came to fruition and won the Daytime Emmy in 2021 for Outstanding Fiction Series. We are excited to bring you season two.”

We recently got to speak to Sean about the upcoming season 2 and this is what he previewed for us:

“In season two we see that Sam Stevens finally gets his big shot to be an action star in a film however, he encounters a little bit of resistance among the media who are a little concerned that Sam is a little long in the tooth for an action career at this stage of the game and Sam does not like that one bit. Sam is assigned a new publicist from the studio that’s doing the movie, played by the lovely Lilly Melgar and she’s fantastic.

We’re gonna see Justin Torkildsen, who had a much smaller part in the first season, has a much larger role this season which is great. We’re gonna see Carolyn Hennesy and Tristan Rogers back. Juliet Vega, who may or may not be my daughter, has some terrific stuff.

We also have a terrific actress named Natalie Burn who is in a great deal of the episodes, and she plays my costar in the action film. Her character’s name is Shelby Brock and there is a mysterious and seemingly nefarious character who is the head of the movie studio that is played by Will Roberts who is a terrific actor.

A lot of really good stuff in these 6 episodes. Phil Bruenn and Erin Soto are back again, and they are both terrific.

We played with a new narrative component where we’re doing interviews with the actors as their characters which adds a fun new little thing.

I’m really excited to see what people think of it. As always, we put our hearts and souls into it.”

The press release tells us that “in addition to Kanan, the star-studded cast of season two includes Carolyn Hennesy, Tristan Rogers, Anna Maria-Horsford, Juliet Vega, Philip P. Bruenn, Justin Torkildsen, Natalie Burn, Erin Soto, Lilly Melgar, Will Roberts, and Scott Turner Schofield.”

“Created by producer, actor, and author Sean Kanan and Jason Antognoli, season two of STUDIO CITY is directed by Timothy Woodward, Jr. and written by the husband and wife producing and writing team, Michele and Sean Kanan along with Timothy Woodward, Jr.  Sean Kanan, Michele Kanan, and Timothy Woodward, Jr. serve as Executive Producers. Season two consists of six episodes” and will be available on Amazon Prime Video this week! Make sure to check it out and come back every week to read our episode recaps with exclusive comments from the cast and crew of the incomparable Studio City!

The post Amazon’s ‘Studio City’ Is Back! Series Creator Sean Kanan Previews Season 2 appeared first on TV Source Magazine. TV Source Magazine - TV News, Spoilers, Recaps, Interviews

The vindictive John Blackwell (Ronn Moss) continues to stir things up with a little help from his old friend Captain Elliot Sanders (Charles Shaughnessy). The ego-centric Press Secretary Kenneth Allen (Sean Kanan) attempts some damage control. Mother Katherine Blackwell (Judi Evans) continues to worry. Viewers are warned to prepare for an unexpected surprise return from a former Bay City character that will put chills down your spine!

How will Manny Ramos (Ignacio Serricchio) react when Marly Garrett-Nelson (Martha Madison) bends his ear? Is Mayor Jack Madison (Nicolas Coster) and Sofia’s (Jacklyn Zeman) posh family gathering the start of something big? Will resident cougar Janice Ramos (Lilly Melgar) find the courage to attend and face her young lover Peter Garrett (Kristos Andrews)? Does Sara Garrett (Mary Beth Evans) heed Steve Jensen’s (Matthew Ashford) warning? And exactly why does the newly unemployed Nathan Perkins (Scott Bailey) seek the company of Father Leone (Vincent De Paul)?

Watch The Bay written and directed by Gregori J. Martin now at: http://blip.tv/thebaytheseries/the-bay-chapter-12-part-3-6896204 Use the hashtags #MayBay #TheBay and follow the series on Twitter and Instagram at @TheBaytheSeries.

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An Affair Exposed?

Press Secretary Kenneth Allen (Sean Kanan) informs Mayor Jack that his wife and his mistress are both on his yacht. Marisa Ramos aka Orchid (Terri Ivens) has just been hired as Sofia’s (Jackie Zeman) personal assistant. “You have such a lovely wife Jacky,” she teases.

Kenneth quickly escorts Orchid-Marisa off the boat. Jack tells Sofia that he doesn’t think she should hire someone without any references but Sofia dismisses his concerns. Why should he have any say in the matter? If she only knew!

A Not Too Friendly Warning

Peter has been taking care of his brother-in-law Manny Ramos’s (Ignacio Serricchio) body shop and gets a surprise when Manny returns. After thanking Peter for taking care of his business while he was away, Manny asks him about his love life. “It’s better than ever,” Peter awkwardly responses. Of course his love life is great thanks to Manny’s sister Janice. Speaking of Janice – she gets a not too subtle warning from Marly to stay away from Peter.

Something Fishy

Nathan Perkins (Scott Bailey) pays chief editor Boyd Bloom (Bill Cobbs) a visit at Patrick’s Roadhouse. Apparently, Nathan’s article on Steve has caused such a stir that Nathan has to be let go. Boyd says that his hands are tied unless Nathan can provide his sources. Zoey looks fairly pleased by Nathan’s bad luck. Is she up to something?

Meanwhile, fragile Katherine Blackwell (Judi Evans) gets a call from John. She is at the hospital chapel, distraught over her son. John says he is meeting with Elliot and he’s looking for some answers. Alone, Katherine begins to pray and cry. What is her husband looking for?

An Albatross Around The Neck

Lex visits Sara, demanding that Sara give him some answers. Why is she married to Steve? Sara refuses to answer and tells Lex to leave. Lex says he is going to find out the truth no matter what. “Even if it hurts me? You’re not my savior Lex!” yells Sara.

Whatever Steve is holding over Sara must be pretty bad for Sara to not only agree to marry him but also for her to protect him. Does it involve their son? Did Sara do something unmentionable that she wants to keep unmentionable?

Skeevy Steve has some plans to get Lex out of the picture as he serves Lianna an odd request. Get Lex into bed. Whatever Steve is up to can’t be any good. Of course when is he ever up to anything good?

Watch this episode of The Bay at http://blip.tv/thebaytheseries/the-bay-chapter-12-part-2-6896185

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Will Mayor Jack Madison’s (Nicolas Coster) secret be exposed? Can Peter Garrett (Kristos Andrews) and Janice Ramos’ (Lilly Melgar) relationship be on the rocks? Does Steve Jensen (Matthew Ashford) catch Lianna Ramos (Jade Harlow) at her most vulnerable? What exactly does Zoey Johnson (Taylor Stanley) know that Nathan Perkins (Scott Bailey) doesn’t? Can Sara Garrett (Mary Beth Evans) trust Lex Martin (Tristan Rogers) with her secret?

Watch The Bay written and directed by Gregori J. Martin now at: http://blip.tv/thebaytheseries/the-bay-chapter-12-part-2-6896185 Use the hashtags #MayBay #TheBay and follow the series on Twitter and Instagram at @TheBaytheSeries.

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TV Guide’s Michael Logan reports Kanan’s last day on set is March 28 and should last air sometime in April. He’ll report to work at The Bold and the Beautiful in mid-April, and will first air Friday, June 13.

Kanan notes that while he was “utterly thrilled” to have been welcomed back to GH and enjoyed working with executive producer Frank Valentini, the writing for his character wasn’t what he expected. “Doing stories about panic attacks and relish was not what I thought I’d signed up for,” said Kanan. “I feel I brought everything I could to the character yet it was obvious they weren’t going to give me a great love story, which I found very disappointing.”

The actor approached Valentini and expressed his unhappiness, with both sides agreeing to a parting of ways. Afterwards, he reached out to Bold and the Beautiful showrunner Bradley Bell and was offered a contract to return to CBS Daytime.

General Hospital head writer Ron Carlivati responded to Kanan’s criticism in the interview with criticism of his own via Twitter. “@TVGMLogan @seankanan @GeneralHospital His comments are like school in the summertime. No class,” wrote the scribe on Twitter. When a fan expressed disappointment in Ron’s choice of words, he replied, “I’m disappointed Sean wouldn’t simply say thank you for the opportunity and leave it at that.” See tweets below:

https://twitter.com/carlivatiron/status/445619624554790912

https://twitter.com/carlivatiron/status/445626141752434690

For more on Kanan’s decision to exit General Hospital, visit TVGuide.com.

My Take: I can’t say I blame Sean Kanan for wanting out. Quite frankly, the writing for AJ in recent months has left a lot to be desired. It didn’t help matters that AJ disappeared for large chunks of time (for whatever reason).While some might try to take Kanan to task for his decision to air his grievances with the writing during his interview, I found his candor quite refreshing. The tired spin that accompanies most exits nowadays needs to take a permanent backseat.

It’s easy to dismiss Kanan’s remarks as bitter or lacking class, but I’d rather focus on the validity in his of his statements. I doubt Sean criticized the writing for his character out of spite or bitterness. On the contrary, I think it’s because he believes the show could have – and should have done better. That’s not malicious or lacking class – that’s constructive criticism based in love for a show that gave him another chance.

The highlights of Kanan’s return to GH was re-establishing AJ’s relationship with his estranged son Michael and brief relationship with Elizabeth Webber. Those were definite high points that saw Kanan do some fantastic work. Sad to see him go but he did what he felt was best for him. That I have to respect.

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Who says you can’t go home? Fan favorite soap vet Sean Kanan is returning to ABC’s General Hospital after 15 years…but as who?

Who says you can’t go home? Fan favorite soap vet Sean Kanan is returning to ABC’s General Hospital after 15 years…but as who?

TV Guide‘s Michael Logan exclusively broke news of the actor’s return and reports he will first air October 29. According to reports, the network is keeping details of his return under wraps until his first airdate. Kanan took over the role of drunken black sheep AJ Quartermaine in 1993. One of the major storylines Kanan took part in still resonates on GH today – the accident that turned AJ’s brother from aspiring doctor Jason Quartermaine to brain-damaged assassin Jason Morgan!

Kanan spoke with the magazine exclusively about his return: “This is all pretty surreal and utterly unexpected – in fact I thought it was going to take an Act of Congress to get me back at GH!” says Kanan, referring to his Wildman ways and past alcohol issues that led to his ouster from the show in 1997. “GH is one of those places I never thought I’d see again and that makes what’s happened even more exciting. My life has changed completely since those days. I’m newly married and have a baby on the way. I also have an 11-year old daughter and four stepchildren. I’m not the guy I used to be.”

After his departure in 1997, GH recast the role with Billy Warlock. AJ remained a major character until the early 2000s when he was slowly deemphasized before being written out in 2003 and ultimately killed off by Dr. Thomas in 2005. Has AJ been faking his death all this time? Is Kanan taking over the role of Jason from the exiting Steve Burton? Or is it an entirely new role?

Though he recently returned to The Bold and the Beautiful as bad boy Deacon Sharpe, don’t expect him to be around for long. Kanan has been placed on contract at GH and TV Guide reports executive producer Frank Valenti has “major long-term stories” in the works for his character. “I can’t wait to see what the writers come up with!” says Kanan.

For more details on Kanan’s return, visit TVGuide.com.

My POV: I never thought I’d see the day! I really hope he’s back as AJ. The Quartermaine family hasn’t been the same for years and AJ would be just the character to help rebuild the family. Wouldn’t you like to see a little more mature (but still devious) AJ back in Port Charles?

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