This year marks the 40th anniversary of The Golden Girls, and what better way to celebrate than with one of the brilliant minds behind the show? In this special episode of BuzzWorthy Radio, host NaVell J. Lee chats with Emmy-winning writer and producer Marc Sotkin, who helped bring Dorothy, Rose, Blanche, and Sophia to life. Marc shares his favorite memories from working on the series, writing for some of TV’s most beloved characters, and the lasting impact The Golden Girls continues to have four decades later. From behind-the-scenes stories to reflections on why the show remains timeless, this is a must-watch for every Golden Girls fan. ✨ Highlights of this interview:

• How Marc Sotkin joined The Golden Girls writing team
• Writing iconic episodes and working with the cast
• Why the comedy and heart of the series still resonate today
• The show’s influence on modern television

🎉 Join us in celebrating 40 years of friendship, laughter, and cheesecake with this unforgettable conversation! 👉 Don’t forget to like, comment with your favorite Golden Girls memory, and subscribe for more exclusive interviews.

Phil Rosenthal—creator of Everybody Loves Raymond and host of Netflix’s fan-favorite Somebody Feed Phil—sits down with me to share behind-the-scenes stories, laughs, and travel adventures. In this episode, we dive into:
✨ Phil’s cross-country tour and what he’s learned connecting with fans nationwide
✨ The latest season of Somebody Feed Phil on Netflix and the unforgettable meals along the way
✨ The hilarious story of how it took Ray Romano 3 years to get to Italy—and how that journey helped inspire Phil’s beloved food and travel series If you love comedy, food, travel, and great storytelling, this conversation with Phil Rosenthal is one you won’t want to miss!

When you think of independent comedy venues making big waves, SoulJoel’s at Sunnybrook Ballroom is likely at the top of the list. Known for its outdoor shows, community-driven spirit, and ability to attract top-tier talent, SoulJoel’s has become a must-visit stage for comedians and fans alike.

In our latest interview, founder Joel Richardson opens up about the wild ride—from launching pop-up shows during the pandemic to turning SoulJoel’s into a full-fledged comedy destination. He shares the highs, the challenges, and what truly makes this venue stand out in a crowded comedy landscape.

Whether you’re a stand-up fan, aspiring club owner, or just love a good entrepreneurial success story, Joel’s journey is full of laughs and lessons.

Also, find out what guests will be making their way to Pottstown, PA, to hit the SoulJoel's stage!

For more information on upcoming events, including their annual Summerfest, log onto their website at: https://souljoels.com/

Last week, The BUZZ attended the 14th season of the ATX TV Festival, and it did not disappoint. From amazing panels ranging from its opening night with Seth Meyers, to a MAD MEN retrospective, this event brought out the TV fan in all of us. During the course of the four-day festival, I had the chance to sit down and interview some of the stars before and after their panels.

Executive producer Paul Powell spoke with us about the new show set to premiere on June 9th: Art Detectives. The series stars Stephen Moyer, and it follows Metropolitan Police’s smallest department, the Heritage Crime Unit. An art-loving detective tackles cases connected to the world of art, antiques, collectibles and cultural heritage. Powell discussed the actors in the series, sharing our love for the Doctor Who franchise, and the makeup of Acorn TV.

Jane Seymour, former Bond girl and star of Dr. Quinn: Medicine Woman, sat with me to chat about not one, but two, series on the Acorn TV network: Harry Wild and Relative Secrets. Harry Wild, which was renewed for a fifth season, just aired its season finale, and Seymour gave us some intel on what fans can expect. Also, Seymour’s new show, Relative Secrets, delves into an everyday American family’s history to discover the dark truths buried in their bloodline. Each episode of this investigative series aims to solve the mystery and explore how it shapes the family today. Hear the actress share some stories from finding their roots, so to speak.

Finally, I got to connect with Shiri Appleby, who was in ATX to celebrate the tenth anniversary of the premiere of the Lifetime series, unREAL. She talked about reconnecting with the cast and crew of the series, and we got to talking about ROSWELL and what it was like to direct and come back for an episode in the spinoff series, ROSWELL: NEW MEXICO.

We have more ATX on the way as we sit down with the cast and crew of Finding Mr. Christmas, unREAL, and King of the Hill.

One of our favorite guests at The BUZZ stopped by to talk about the latest season of, "Venice: The Series." Emmy nominated Gregory Zarian returns to the Emmy winning online series, and he promises that this season, fans will fall in love with...love! While we talked about the magic that is crafted for the stories told in the series, Zarian also shared his excitement on seeing/working with some heavy daytime drama hitters.

No stranger to daytime himself, Zarian had appeared on, "General Hospital," and, "Days of our Lives." One of the highlights of 2025 so far was the new addition to the CBS Daytime lineup: "Beyond the Gates." The new daytime soap centers around an African-American wealthy family, and the show set the internet ablaze! While voicing our love for the genre, and supporting the cast members who are involved in the series, that may or may not have stopped us from petitioning to appear in Fairmont Crest.

Rounding out the conversation was us getting us deep in the weeds and discussed what is happening in our world today. It gave us a chance to really reflect and speak from the heart, and you will hear our thoughts on what we wish we could see in our world today as a whole.

It's a conversation that is fun and thought-provoking all combined into one.

The BUZZ is back with a new show in the new year, with more on the way! This episode, which was taped last month, was one of our favorites to end the year with. Adam Schomer, director of the documentary, "Selling Superman," gave us some insight on filming this four-part series.

The series shows a man, Darren Watts, discovering over 300,000 comic books in his father's home. Darren, as well as other family members, did not know that his father collected these books. It was only discovered after his father passed away. One of the comics that he had, a Superman #1, was worth $3.5 million. Darren must now make the decision on keeping this treasure or selling it to the highest bidder.

Schomer discussed filming the documentary, which included some harsh realities that Darren, and even us watching, had to face. We dove into the topic of mental health in our discussion as certain areas dealt with mental health awareness and support. We also asked the question...what would you do if you were placed in a similar situation? Would you sell, or would you keep?

The four-part docuseries, "Selling Superman," is available to stream on Amazon Prime.

The BUZZ sat down with Johnny Ray Gill, who plays the role of ex-cop/antagonist Bobby Trey in the Prime original series, "CROSS." The series is based off of the novels by James Patterson and follows the life of forensic psychologist Alex Cross, and his partner, Detective John Sampson, as they track down dangerous killers in D.C. Bobby Trey stands out for his outlandish personality, which sets him apart from villains that we normally see in television series. He loves music, but he loves money more.

Most of Ray Gill's screentime was spent in scenes with Ryan Eggold, who plays Ed Ramsay, a serial killer who is obsessed with notorious serial killers; so much so that he finds look-alikes to make them look like their doppelgänger and plans to get rid of them on the birthday of the killer they resembled. I got to ask him about working alongside Eggold in the series: 

"Working with Ryan was a treat. He is a fantastic actor, and to be able to share the screen with him was super dope. Early on, I sent the producers a video of badgers and coyotes hunting together to highlight that these are two individual killers that are coming together for their own mutual self-interest. Don't get it twisted, though. At the end of the day, if the coyote talks to the badger the wrong way, somebody got to go! There's a charged energy when you approach the scene in that way." 

Ray Gill talks also about the characteristics of Bobby Trey: 

"With the creation of Bobby Trey, I was reading, 'A People's History of the United States,' at the time when I was offered the role. Mr. Ben Watkins, genius showrunner of the project, was giving me nuggets about where Bobby Trey comes from. He said that, 'Bobby Trey fakes smiles all the time.' When he told me that, I thought about capitalism. The first thing I wrote in my notes was, 'Bobby Trey is capitalism come to life.' I mean, the personification of it: Capitalism is incredibly charming, but it'll murder you in a f****** second. When I thought about what his drive was, Ben said he is motivated by money. That's where the viciousness and the charm came from, and as a former detective/police officer and former member of the military, I wanted to inject the violence of that." 

More in the discussion included us talking about the fantastic soundtrack used throughout the series, the impact and real life stories being implemented into the storyline(s), and some standout moments from this season. 

All eight episodes in season one of, "CROSS," are available to stream on Prime.

The BUZZ had a thought-provoking discussion with director Andrew Abrahams about the film, "Dog War."  

"Dog War" follows a duo of war-hardened, canine-loving combat veterans fighting to stop the dog meat trade in South Korea. Surveilling and infiltrating hidden meat farms and markets, they risk it all to save as many dogs as possible. At the same time, the film spotlights a country at war with itself over the issue, igniting questions about cultural difference, and social and generational change. "Dog War" probes these questions without simple black and white answers—about animal rights vs. human livelihood, heroism vs. vigilantism, respect for another culture, and how far we can justly go to save man’s best friend. 

Abrahams talked about how this project started six years ago. He also called out my own naïveté about this happening across the globe. While I kept saying this was a difficult watch, one thing that wasn't said by me was how eye-opening it was to discover that this was happening. It opened up a lot of other questions that I could not get into during this conversation, but one thing is for sure... what can we do to stop this from happening going forward? This also was addressed in conversation and in the film, as South Korea's National Assembly voted to ban the dog meat industry beginning in 2027. This will make it illegal to breed, slaughter, and sell dogs and dog meat for human consumption. However, consumption of dog meat will still be legal.

We will inform you on how to watch "Dog War" when it becomes available.

The BUZZ recently sat down with actress/writer/director Sara Friedman to talk about her film, "Heightened." Filmed in Maine, it follows the story of Nora (Friedman) who moves back in with her parents after suffering a mental breakdown. While she undergoes court-ordered psychiatric treatment, Nora’s world is further upended when she is assigned to volunteer at a local state park. Her awkward assignment actually shows promise when her anxiety subsides in the company of her new supervisor Dusty (Dave Register), who is dealing with crippling issues of his own. Maybe Nora and Dusty can help each other overcome the obstacles their socially complicated world presents to them.

We got to speak with Friedman about working alongside Sarah Clarke and Xander Berkeley, as well as how we as humans need to break the stigma surrounding mental health. She also talked about when she came up with the concept of the film.

"Heightened" can be streamed on major streaming platforms, including Apple TV, YouTube TV, and Amazon Prime.

Our recent BUZZ interview found us sitting with Richard Hull, who makes his directorial debut with the documentary, "Fighting Spirit: A Combat Chaplain's Journey." Chaplains are truly the unsung heroes standing side by side with our soldiers. They carry no weapons stand up for our soldiers of all faiths - and no faiths. The film is also the first co-production between Hollywood and the U.S. Army Chaplain Corps.

Hull spoke about how he got involved in the project: 

"I think that most people don't know this to be a profession, or that it even existed. When people see it, they are interested in learning about it. I got involved in this years ago. I sit on the board of Paulist Productions, which started over 60 years ago by a Catholic priest. They came to me and said, 'We want to make this documentary about military chaplains. Would you help us?' They asked me because Halle Berry and I made a documentary about black soldiers that fought in all the U.S. wars we ever had. We both won the NAACP Image Award for that. It was a project that built a lot of trust with the military. When these guys came to me a dozen years later, and said, 'We need somebody the military trusts, build that connection and get the support of the military so we can interview active duty soldiers in uniform.' What I signed up for was one phone call, and as you can imagine, one phone call became more and more and more. The guy who had the original idea for the film ultimately could not be the filmmaker on it. So, I stepped in, and while it this marked my 28th film as a producer, it is my first time as a director. That, to me, was a fun experience to see the world through a different lens." 

As we dove more into the discussion, we spoke about how Chris Pratt, whom audiences know him from "Parks and Recreation" and "Guardians of the Galaxy," joined as executive producer of the film: 

"The tricky part is aligning the celebrity partner with the subject matter and really finding someone who is passionate about the subject matter. You don't want some random celebrity just for the sake of having a celebrity. Chris has an incredible agent, manager, and publicist. We we able to galvanize all of them to recommend him to watching the movie. He watched and fell in love with it. That kind of steamrolled to where we are today. He's incredible passionate. He's very supportive of the military. He's got a very heavy faith-based element to his life. There's a lot of boxes this checked for him. Once he said, 'Yes, I'm in,' he has just been an incredible partner." 

Hear our discussion about one of my favorite teen flicks, "She's All That," as well as more from the documentary itself and learning more about military chaplains.

For more information on the film, visit https://www.fightingspiritfilm.com/

"Fighting Spirit: A Combat Chaplain's Journey" premieres in theaters in time for Veteran's Day on Friday, November 8th.