On Friday I went over to The Rock (which is really a sound stage) and I interviewed the cast of Make It or Break It that airs on ABC Family on Mondays at 9p. The first actor from the show I am going to feature is Johnny Pacar who plays the absolutely endearing and perfect boyfriend Damon Young. Damon has been dating Emily shortly after his friend/bandmate Razor left town and he said he would look out for her. Well Razor returned and Damon left for LA to advance his music career, but when things didn’t pan out he returned home only to get arrested and lose Emily. Tonight his band plays the prom and he tries to win Emily back and he told me that Damon is not going to let her get away without a fight.
Now when it comes to Razor, he is played by Nico Tortorella, who left the MIoBI to star on The Beautiful Life. So I had to ask Johnny was he nervous when the The CW show got cancelled and Nico would be returning? He told me that Nico and him are friends and he liked what the show had written for them. And so far what we have seen in the first few episodes of the season, it has been really good.
One of the things that makes Damon so likable and why you want him to wind up with Emily is the way that he romances. So I had to find out how much Johnny is like Damon in that way and you have to watch the interview above to find out. And let me tell you are going to want to hear him say it in his own voice.
Unlike the girls on the show, Johnny is a musician and not a gymnast. So I asked him if he knew that he was going to play music on the show when he tried out for the role and he told me, “I knew he was the guitar player in the band. I went into the audition, I think most of the guys that auditioned I saw there, had their guitars with them ready to go. We didn’t really have time to perform any songs or anything for the audition because they were seeing so many people, pressed for time. I was prepared. It was a requirement that you know what you are doing on guitar.” And as we can see from the show, he knows how to play his guitar.
So what does Johnny prefer acting or music and he told me, “I would definitely say I like them both equally. You know 50/50. It’s great because they’re both such fulfilling outlets…It’s great to be able to be on a show that allows me act, but also play music. Cause we actually take the time to learn the songs. We play with the real guys and they teach us all the chord structures and things like that. It’s fun to be able to work music in like that. I am always writing music, recording music. I like doing both equally.” And he does both equally well.
If you want to hear his music (and believe me you do) you can listen to it at JohnnyPacarMusic on MySpace or buy his Moment of Time EP on Amazon. Now when it comes to his acting you can see him Love Hurts, a movie that earned him a Best Supporting Actor award, when it comes out DVD soon. You can also see him in the upcoming WWII Independent feature Fort McCoy when it comes out later this year. But most importantly you can see him every Monday at 9p in Make It or Break It on ABC Family!
CBS announced today that it has picked up the #1 new show of the season NCIS LA and the well liked The Good Wife for a second season. Both shows have done really well for CBS on Tuesdays, so it is no surprise that CBS is sticking with them.
Also coming back for a second season is TNT’s critically acclaimed show Men of a Certain Age that stars Ray Romano, Scott Bakula and Andre Braugher. Can I tell you I love this show! I am one of the few people that didn’t love Everybody Loves Raymond, but I am loving this show so check it Mondays at 10p on TNT.
Here is something to sing about, Fox is bringing back the most talked about show of the new season, Glee for a second one. As if there was any doubt that they would!
Finally ABC Family had its highest ratings yet for The Secret Life of the American Teenager and Make It or Break It when they had their season premiere last week, so they wasted no time to announce that they will bring them both shows for another season.
All the above shows join the pick ups of ABC’s Wednesday night comedies The Middle, Modern Family and Cougar Town.
ABC Family’s The Secret Life of the American Teenager is back tonight at 8p and tonight’s episode is a little like Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. The episode starts off shortly after Anne has given birth and her daughter Amy and her have taken their sons to Mimsy’s. Back at school Ben, Ricky and Jack decide to play hooky and when Adrian and Grace find out they decide to follow them. When Ashley overhears them she decides to follow and before long all of our cast members decide to go too. When a kid overhears their plan he goes to the new school counselor played by Mayim Bialik. She has a past you will have to watch to find out, but her mission now is to get these kids back into school. She gets their parents together and everyone talks out what is wrong with their life and through that we get caught up on how everyone is doing. ABC Family gave birth to a great when they greenlight The Secret Life of The American Teenage so check it tonight and every Monday at 8p!
ABC Family’s hit new show Make It or Break It is back tonight at 9p and it picks up with the girls returning home after nationals. Payson is home dealing with her broken back and her new life without gymnastics. Kylie is trying to deal with being the national champion and being boyfriendless. Lauren is trying to do good after causing so much of a mess, but don’t worry she is still a bitch. Kaylie is dealing with her boyfriend leaving, but what will she do when the other one returns? Besides dealing with all of this they have to prepare for the Olympics and that means they need a coach and someone from the past is going to return. Plus the girls from The Rock aren’t the only ones the new coach will be training, so let the bitchiness begin as people from the past and enemies return as the girls go for the Gold.
This season is going to be a lot of fun, so let the competition begin tonight at 9p and be prepared for not everyone to stay balanced…on the balanced beam.
On Tuesday 10 Things I Hate About You had its season finale and today Jen from Watch with Kristin confirmed that the show was picked up for 10 more eps starting early next year!!! The show is based on characters from the 1999 movie, but as the season went on it became its own and got better with each episode, so I am thrilled we are getting more. I especially love how Kat and Patrick’s relationship is playing out, check out Watch with Kristin to see what is coming up for them in the next 10 on 10 Things!!!
Now if only ABC Family would renew Ruby and the Rockits I would be as high as a rocket could go!!!
UPDATE: Alexa Vega just Tweeted that Ruby and the Rockits was not picked up. I am so sad now because I really loved the show that had something for every family member in your household. BTW show ABC Family what a mistake they made and watch the show this Tuesday at 8:30p when Shirley Jones will once again play David Cassidy’s mother.
ABC Family’s Ruby & the Rockits really is a fun set to be on, not only because all 4 of the Cassidy brothers are working on it but also because the kids on the show know how to play a good prank or two on each other! Alexa Vega might be playing the cousin of Austin Butler and Kurt Doss, who are playing brothers but really these three are more like siblings than co-stars.
I recently did a set visit and the three of them told us about the practical jokes that happen when the camera is off. Here are the pranks that they played on each other and see how they don’t know who did what to who.
Austin’s cereal… Austin: So I was having to eat Cap’n Crunch in the scene, and I left for a second, and they filled it with salt. I didn’t want to eat it because it’s soggy and I don’t like soggy cereal, and then they were like, “Oh, no, it’s really good. Cap’n Crunch is really good soggy.” So I was like, “Okay, I’ll try it.” And so not only was it soggy, it was salty like crazy. So it was terrible. Alexa: We were in the middle of shooting a scene a couple weeks ago, and we’re supposed to be eating breakfast at the table, and I was like, “Hey, Kurt, watch this.” And I totally unscrewed the salt lid, and I’m like pouring salt all over Austin’s cereal. And that was probably a bad idea because it suddenly unlocked this thing in his mind that that’s okay. “I didn’t know we could do that.” I was like, “Oh shoot, I probably shouldn’t have done that because we’re going to get in trouble now.”
The bra on Austin’s door… Kurt: Well, I found a bra inside our dressing room. It’s like just right around this corner before we get to the stage. And I picked it up and I thought, “This will be—this gives me ideas.” So, I tape it to his door. And I wrote a note on the bra when I taped it. And it said, “Wardrobe said you dropped this. Your loving brother Ben.” I asked Alexa to take a look at it. She thought it was funny. It turns out it was her bra, so twice the funny. He’s going to be the jokester. He thinks he can retaliate, but no.
How Austin and Alexa protect themselves against little Kurt: Austin: Last Friday, while we were doing the show, the audience was here, we had one scene in between our scenes that we were going to be in, and I saw him walking with this group of keys. And he had been warning me all day that he was going to get me. And I was like, “Oh, this can’t be good.” So I went to my room, and I hid in my bathroom. And sure enough, five minutes later him and four guys came in there, and Kurt’s like, “Oh, here’s the plan. We’re going to put all his furniture in the middle of the room.” And then they had this huge thing of Saran Wrap, and I came out and I screamed at him. And he’s like, “Oh. You got me.” So yeah. He was going to Saran Wrap all my furniture together. Alexa: And my boyfriend shows up on set the next Friday after he heard about all these jokes going on, and Kurt was planning on playing another joke on Austin. And my boyfriend walks up to him, and he’s a producer, and he goes, “Listen, Kurt, I’m going to say this once. I know where to find 300 live tarantulas. Don’t think about messing with Alexa’s room. That’s all I’m saying.” And Kurt’s just like, “Yes sir,” and walk away. But yeah, I was just like what if he gets me? I don’t want to get messed with. I just want to be the one that helps him out. So we have a couple cool ideas that we’re going to try on poor Austin. He’s like the poor guy that gets picked on. But I’m sure I’ll end up getting hit one of these days.
Souds like Austin needs to be just as afraid of Alexa as he is of Kurt.
BTW besides playing jokes on each other, these three actors’ futures are really bright. Alexa Vega can sing and act and even though she has been doing this for a long time, she is still so sweet and respectful and unspoiled by Hollywood. Austin Butler is an up and coming teen idol as he should be because like Alexa he can sing and act, plus he has the hair that drives girls crazy. And then there is 13 year old Kurt Doss who is like the cutest thing ever. We all fell in love with this little man the second he started talking. He is funnier than most of the comedians that are 2, 3, 4 and 5 times his age.
Ruby and the Rockits is as fun to watch as it sounds like it to work on. So check it out tonight and every Tuesday night at 8:30p on ABC Family after 10 Things I Hate About You.
Tonight on ABC Famly's 10 Things I Hate About You Bianca and Dawn want to raise money, so they create a web reality show. When they realize what makes them more popular they keep taking things further and further including going as far as they do in those pictures. If you really want to see to how much further they will take it tune into 10 Things on ABC Family at 8p! BTW I was on the set the day they filmed this scene for a set visit and the show's creator Carter Covington told us they originally wanted Bianca to sell her panties to guy in a Japan, but ABC Family said no to that and yes to same-sex kiss! How far the network has come!!!
Tonight at 8:30p on ABC Family, we really get to see Ruby and her family band together as they try to help each other out from getting into trouble on Ruby & The Rockits! When Jordan calls Ruby to say he needs a ride a home because his designated driver is too drunk to drive she borrows her uncle’s car, that he doesn’t let anyone drive, to pick him up. The three (including Ben) think they got away with the perfect crime until her uncle realizes someone drove his car. Ruby asks her dad, David to take the blame and he does but wait to see how he blows it thus the title “Do You Want To Blow a Secret?”! What I really loved most about tonight’s episode is we are really getting to see Ruby and her new found family work together!
Ruby & The Rockits really is a show that everyone in the family can enjoy, so sit down with your family and watch it tonight and every Tuesday at 8:30p after 10 Things I Hate About You!
BTW I know I said I would post about the non-Cassidy family members from the set visit today, but with the TCAs everything is getting delayed. So next Tuesday find out about all the pranks on the set. And don’t forget to see teen idol Austin Butler in the movie Aliens In The Attic that is out now!!!
For the first time in David, Shaun, Patrick and Ryan Cassidy's lives, the four brothers are working together. So what brought this Showbiz legacy of a family all together? Well Shaun Cassidy pitched a show to ABC Family called Ruby & The Rockits with his brothers Patrick and David in mind and then hired his baby brother Ryan to set design and the rest is TV history. So what is it like for these brother to work together? As someone who has been on the set, it is like going to family reunion where the brothers recapture their childhood and everyone wants to hang with them and they want you to do the same. It really is a family atmosphere on the set. The Cassidy brothers aren't the only ones of their family to work on the show, Patrick's wife Melissa Hurley, who was a dancer in the '80s and '90s music video, choreographs the '80s video dance numbers and last week it was confirmed that David's TV mom and Shaun, Patrick and Ryan's real mom, Shirley Jones will appear on an episode as guess what…their mom. In fact Friday nights when the show tapes 3 generations of the family come out to watch Ruby & The Rockits and because there are so many of them, I think that is why the show's taping are always sold out and that was before the show even aired! Joking! It really is a show with someone and something for everyone in your family!
Ruby & The Rockits is loosely based on the Cassidy Family and things they have been through. Kind of how like when Ruby surprised David in the pilot by telling him he is her dad, David did that with his brothers with Katie. According to Shaun when the Melrose Place star was 15, David brought her along to dinner one night with his brothers and then he said, "Oh, and by the way, this is my daughter, I’ll have the chopped chicken liver and the…”. That was the first time they met and learned about her. Shaun is the family man like Patrick and Patrick is the father of 2 boys like his character. In fact Shaun told us when he originally pitched the show, he wanted Patrick to play the rock star and David the dad, thankfully they switched that out.
The three other brothers talked about their experience with the show and working together. David being the eldest took credit how it was idea that got the ball started!
Well, my brother and I had a phone call about a year and a half ago—Shaun and I. And I had the germ of the idea of doing a family show, which we have talked about—Patrick and I haven't talked about working together and said, “Wouldn’t it be great if we could,”—I’m trying to think of the original conversation that just sparked the idea. And he ran with it, you know. That’s what he does and he does it well. I said a music show satirizing our family, my persona, his, and Patrick and I have always wanted to work together.
And I said, “You know, it’d be great if we could get Ryan as well. Then the four of us can work together for the first time,”
Patrick summed it up best what it is like for the 4 Brothers to work together:
There’s no downside to it, because even when—let’s say Shaun and I have a disagreement or Dave and I have a disagreement, this is the only job I know where I can go to the Executive Producer and he can yell and scream at me, and I can yell and scream back at him and I still have a job the next day. You know what I mean?
So, it’s a collaborative effort. And like Katie was saying, I’m always wondering what the crew people and the other actors think about what it’s like from the outside looking at us all doing this together. I think they get how much we care about each other. I think they get how much it means to us to be able to do this, to have the privilege to do it together. I think they feel all of that. And I think they feed off of that. So, there really isn’t a downside. There really isn’t.
It’s a funny thing. I’ve said this. I’m really getting paid to have therapy, because I’m getting to do it with my family. And you learn stuff about your family when you work with them as opposed to just hanging out with them every Christmas.
And baby Ryan put it all in perspective:
I love working with my brothers. I come every day, and it’s great. You know, it’s a little surreal actually, because I’ve been doing this for so many years on different shows, to go to work and actually see all your, you know, all your siblings, is great, actually. It’s been such a joy to do. So, I’m having so much fun. And I’m very grateful for it because it’s a once in a lifetime kind of opportunity, I think. So, I’m enjoying every moment of it, and it makes the work just that much more enjoyable to do. I actually don’t see it as work. I see it as enjoy, you know. So, it’s great.
As you can Ruby & The Rockits is a show the whole family can enjoy because it really is a family show. What other sitcom on TV today can say that? So tune into ABC tonight at 8:30p to feel like part of The Cassidy Family! On tonight's episode Ruby is adjusting to living with Patrick, his wife and their two sons and finally getting to know her dad. What better way for her to get to know him, but to organize a father/daughter dance at her school. Will David disappoint her or will he make her proud. Believe me you will want to tune in to see what he does because it will definitely having you LYAO!!! BTW I have to admit that I was kind of nervous that the show wouldn't be as good as the pilot and after seeing the 2nd and third episodes, I have to say I was right because the show was not as good as the pilot…it was a whole lot better! Seriously this show gets btter with each laugh!!!So make sure to check it out tonight and every Tuesday on ABC Family at 8:30p! Next week see what the non-Cassidy Family members had to say about working on the show, and which one of the brothers is their favorite…hint they all the same thing!!!
ABC Family has picked up its new hit drama Make It or Break It for 10 more episodes to air early next year. I love that MOB is the perfect mix of romance and friendship with gymnastics. It is really interesting to watch what the athletes go through in order to compete to make it to Olympics and it was about time someone did a show about it. I am so happy that ABC Family wasted no time in picking it up for 10 more episodes! Now hopefully they will do the same ASAP for 10 Things I Hate About You and Ruby & The Rockits!
Make It or Break It airs on ABC Family Mondays at 9p, so make sure to catch it tonight!
