Pop Culture Tonight with Patrick Phillips

We’re going behind-the-scenes of the Hallmark Channel original movie “A Gingerbread Romance” with its Director Richard Gabai!

Have you ever wondered what goes into making those feel-good, family friendly seasonal movies? We’ll discover how the snow always looks so picture perfect, explore magic locations like “Santa’s Landing”, (which is a secret park that has a lighted landing strip for Santa so he can land even in bad weather) and learn what makes Hallmark Movies so unique.

“Christmas and the holiday spirit is something that unites all of us.” – Richard Gabai

“A Gingerbread Romance” Starring Tia Mowry-Hardrict and Duane Henry premieres Sunday December 16th at 8pm/7c on the Hallmark Channel. Learn More! 

Get in the holiday spirit with the story of Scrooge in A Christmas Carol, narrated by Patrick Phillips, (author Gaby Goldsack) in the form of a rhyming children’s story with the spirit of the Charles Dickens classic.

 

Abby Stern has been a Hollywood insider and freelance celebrity reporter for many years. She has covered red carpets and interviewed A-list celebrities for People Magazine, Entertainment Weekly and countless others. This week she joins Patrick to discuss her new book “According to a Source”, a juicy, big-hearted novel about a young woman who loses herself in a fast-paced, glamorous world where finding your authentic self isn’t easy.

Abby Quick Facts:

– Born and raised in New Orleans, LA

– Graduated USC with a B.A. in Theatre and a Film Critical Studies Minor

– Did stand-up comedy for a hot minute and was auditioning. Hopes to get back to performing.

– Been involved with creative writing for as long as she can remember. Was on the staff of high school literary magazine and had a poem recognized by the Nancy Thorpe poetry contest.

– Been a freelance writer for lifestyle outlets and celebrity journalism outlets for the past 10 years. Outlets include People Magazine, The Zoe Report, FabFitFun. Reporting has appeared in Entertainment Weekly.

– Would like to produce a TV version of According to a Source.

Get your copy of “According to a Source” HERE!

Kevin Conroy moved to New York in 1973 when he earned a full scholarship to attend Juilliard’s famous drama division, where he studied under actor John Houseman. While there, he almost ended up living with future Superman actor Christopher Reeve, but ended up rooming with Robin Williams who was in the same group as both Kevin and Kelsey Grammer. In 1978, after graduating from Juilliard, he toured with The Acting Company, Houseman’s acting group, and, in 1979, he went on the national tour of Ira Levin’s Deathtrap.

Vocally, Kevin Conroy is best known to audiences for his role as Batman in Batman: The Animated Series. Conroy continued to voice-play Batman in the subsequent series The New Batman Adventures, Batman Beyond, Justice League, and Justice League Unlimited. His tenure in the role also includes the DCAU films Batman: Mask of the Phantasm, Batman & Mr. Freeze: SubZero, Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker, and Batman: Mystery of the Batwoman. He also voiced Batman for the character’s guest appearances in Superman: The Animated Series, Static Shock and The Zeta Project. Apart from the DCAU, Conroy has also voiced Batman in the DC Universe Animated Original Movies Batman: Gotham Knight, Superman/Batman: Public Enemies, and Superman/Batman: Apocalypse.

Conroy is well remembered by fans for being the first person in animation to use two distinct voices to portray Bruce Wayne and Batman, which was Conroy’s idea. In a tally of performances that include every episode, movie, and guest appearance made as Batman, Conroy has portrayed the superhero longer than any other actor in either live-action or animation.

Additionally, he also voiced Batman in the video games The Adventures of Batman and Robin, Batman Vengeance, Batman: Rise of Sin Tzu, as well as the 2001 revamp of Batman Adventure – The Ride, located at the Warner Bros. Movie World theme park in Queensland, Australia. Conroy also voiced the Phantom Stranger and an alternate Batman in Batman: The Brave and the Bold, another animated series unrelated to the DCAU.

Most recently, Kevin returned to voice the iconic Batman role in a trilogy of blockbuster video games, Batman: Arkham Asylum, Batman: Arkham City, and the upcoming Batman: Arkham Knight. The first two games released in the series have sold over 10 million copies combined.

Conroy’s hobbies include traveling, running, cycling, and painting. In his spare time, he also does work with foster kids. He has two brothers and one sister, as well as a chocolate Labrador named Bear.

Watch the spooktacular premiere of “Monsters of Pop Culture” featuring Patrick’s exclusive interview with renowned creature & FX artist Ed Edmunds!

Distortions Unlimited’s owners, Ed and Marsha Edmunds, and their talented crew make monsters. Their quality props, masks and creations have been a mainstay of the dark amusement industry since 1978. Long creative hours are spent in gray-walled offices with brain-eating hunchbacks, wall-scaling zombies and docile 3-foot tall aliens.

The working environment looks more like a nightmare factory than a place of business, and was recently featured on the reality show “Making Monsters” that aired on The Travel Channel. Ed Edmunds  *Born in Kansas City and grew up in Long Grove, Il. *Favorite Distortions Products are Shake & Bake and the Monster of the Month line *Current favorite music is Spocks Beard, Flower Kings, Mostly Autumn *Favorite Movies, It’s a Wonderful Life, The Time Machine, Eraser Head, and he loves watching Documentary film *Roles at Distortions include Design, Painting, Sculpting, a little bit of everything including janitorial services *Over 35 years in business!

This week on part one of “Monsters of Pop Culture”, Patrick welcomes Kenny Caperton, a horror-movie fan who built and now lives in a replica of the infamous Michael Myers house from John Carpenter’s 1978 horror classic HALLOWEEN.

Kenny Caperton has been fascinated with all things Halloween since childhood, and grew up watching 80s slasher flicks on late night cable television, but the blank pale face of serial killer Michael Myers stuck with him the most.

Kenny’s favorite film is still the original HALLOWEEN from 1978.  In 2008, at the age of 26, he reached a point in his life where he was ready to find a place of his own and stop paying rent.  During the process of house hunting, he just so happened to plan a vacation to Los Angeles, California, which included a mandatory pilgrimage to visit the original Myers House in South Pasadena (yes, it’s still standing!). 

As a lifelong fan of the HALLOWEEN series, seeing this infamous house in all its sinister glory at this moment in time gave Kenny an insane idea… thus, the creation of The Myers House NC!  So what could have been just another cookie cutter starter home became a life-sized homage to a classic horror movie.

Learn more!

Halloween 2017: The 5 best and worst states to go trick-or-treating

This week Patrick welcomes legendary composer Bruce Broughton to Pop Culture Tonight to discuss his career and new theme for “The Orville”!

About Bruce Broughton:

Bruce Broughton is best known for his many film scores, which include Silverado, Tombstone, The Rescuers Down Under, The Presidio, Miracle on 34th Street, the Homeward Boundadventures and Harry and the Hendersons. His television themes include JAG, Steven Spielberg’s Tiny Toon Adventures and Dinosaurs. His scores for television range from mini-series like Roughing It and The Blue and Gray to TV movies (Warm Springs, O Pioneers!)and countless episodes of television series such as Dallas, Quincy, Hawaii Five-O and How the West Was Won this fall, his new theme for Seth MacFarlane’s “The Orville” debuts on FOX!

With 24 nominations, he has won a record 10 Emmy awards. His score to Silverado was Oscar-nominated, and his score to Young Sherlock Holmes was nominated for a Grammy. His music has accompanied many of the Disney theme park attractions throughout the world. His score for Heart of Darkness was the first recorded orchestral score for a video game.

As a concert composer, ensembles such as the Cleveland Orchestra, the Chicago Symphony, the National Symphony and the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra have performed his works. His works for wind ensembles, bands and chamber groups have been performed and recorded throughout the world.

About Kevin Conroy

Kevin Conroy moved to New York in 1973 when he earned a full scholarship to attend Juilliard's famous drama division, where he studied under actor John Houseman. While there, he almost ended up living with future Superman actor Christopher Reeve, but ended up rooming with Robin Williams who was in the same group as both Kevin and Kelsey Grammer. In 1978, after graduating from Juilliard, he toured with The Acting Company, Houseman's acting group, and, in 1979, he went on the national tour of Ira Levin's Deathtrap.

Vocally, Kevin Conroy is best known to audiences for his role as Batman in Batman: The Animated Series. Conroy continued to voice-play Batman in the subsequent series The New Batman Adventures, Batman Beyond, Justice League, and Justice League Unlimited. His tenure in the role also includes the DCAU films Batman: Mask of the Phantasm, Batman & Mr. Freeze: SubZero, Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker, and Batman: Mystery of the Batwoman. He also voiced Batman for the character's guest appearances in Superman: The Animated Series, Static Shock and The Zeta Project. Apart from the DCAU, Conroy has also voiced Batman in the DC Universe Animated Original Movies Batman: Gotham Knight, Superman/Batman: Public Enemies, and Superman/Batman: Apocalypse.

Conroy is well remembered by fans for being the first person in animation to use two distinct voices to portray Bruce Wayne and Batman, which was Conroy's idea. In a tally of performances that include every episode, movie, and guest appearance made as Batman, Conroy has portrayed the superhero longer than any other actor in either live-action or animation.

Additionally, he also voiced Batman in the video games The Adventures of Batman and Robin, Batman Vengeance, Batman: Rise of Sin Tzu, as well as the 2001 revamp of Batman Adventure - The Ride, located at the Warner Bros. Movie World theme park in Queensland, Australia. Conroy also voiced the Phantom Stranger and an alternate Batman in Batman: The Brave and the Bold, another animated series unrelated to the DCAU.

Most recently, Kevin returned to voice the iconic Batman role in a trilogy of blockbuster video games, Batman: Arkham Asylum, Batman: Arkham City, and the upcoming Batman: Arkham Knight. The first two games released in the series have sold over 10 million copies combined.

Conroy's hobbies include traveling, running, cycling, and painting. In his spare time, he also does work with foster kids. He has two brothers and one sister, as well as a chocolate Labrador named Bear.

In this interview, originally recorded in October, 2012, Patrick chats with ‘Star Trek: The Next Generation’ star Marina Sirtis about her iconic role as Counselor Deanna Troi, her fellow castmates and the 25th anniversary of the series.

About Marina: Marina Sirtis gained worldwide acclaim as “Deanna Troi” in the successful “Star Trek: The Next Generation” TV series and four Paramount feature films. Marina’s dramatic range has also earned her opportunities on stage, television, and feature films far beyond the “Star Trek” franchise. Films include the Oscar®-winning Best Picture “Crash” for which she received a SAG Award® (Ensemble).

On television, Marina starred as Queen Wealhteow in Syfy Channel’s movie “Grendel” as well as recurred as Orli Elbaz on “NCIS.” Additional TV credits include: “Grey’s Anatomy,” “Without a Trace,” “Girlfriends,” and “The Closer.” Born in London, Marina secretly applied to the prestigious Guild Hall School of Music and Drama because her parents initially didn’t want her to become an actress. After graduating, Marina earned her acting chops on British TV before moving to Los Angeles.

In this interview, originally recorded in October, 2012, Patrick chats with ‘Incredible Hulk’ star Lou Ferrigno about interacting with his fans, and how fitness and comic books changed his life.

About Lou: Louis Jude Ferrigno is an American actor, motivational speaker, fitness trainer/consultant, and retired professional bodybuilder. As a bodybuilder, Lou won an IFBB Mr. America title and two consecutive IFBB Mr. Universe titles, and appeared in the bodybuilding documentary, Pumping Iron.

As an actor, he is best known for portraying the title role in the CBS television series, The Incredible Hulk. He has also appeared in several European-produced fantasy/adventure films such as Sinbad of the Seven Seas and Hercules. His most recent roles include a part in the 2009 feature film, I Love You, Man, and season five of the reality series, Celebrity Apprentice.

Visit Lou’s Website!