Daytime Soap Operas: Ryan's Hope

In Episode 204, titled “Amanda,” the team hunts for Amanda Weiss (Gillies), a killer dubbed the Masseuse, who became famous for breaking the necks of her massage clients. She has kidnapped a woman and, rather than killing her, has even darker plans in mind.

In Episode 205, titled “Noah Cyrus, two decades after his apparent death, cult leader and serial killer Noah Cyrus (Grammer) appears on the doorstep of one of his followers. Against the clock, the team races to stop Cyrus’ plans, but everything is not as it seems.

In Episode 206, titled “Lou Kaplan,” a serial killer who targets social media influencers, Lou Kaplan (White) resurfaces, and instead of killing influencers, he collaborates with them. The team tries to combat Lou’s mastery of technology and manipulation.

The Hunting Party is a crime procedural about a small team of investigators – led by former FBI profiler Rebecca “Bex” Henderson (Melissa Roxburgh) – who are assembled to track down and capture the most dangerous killers the world has ever seen, all of whom have just escaped from “The Pit,” a top-secret government prison that’s not supposed to exist. But as Bex races to catch these killers before it’s too late, she’ll discover that the one thing more twisted than the escapees she’s chasing is the prison that they just escaped from … because the Pit wasn’t just a prison.

The cast also includes Nick Wechsler, Patrick Sabongui, Josh McKenzie and Sara Garcia. Previously announced guest stars also include Eric McCormack as Ron Sims, a serial killer who escapes from The Pit in the premiere episode, and Niecy Nash-Betts as Frances Stone, in Episode 202, a tough former federal agent.

Co-showrunners JJ Bailey (creator) and Jake Coburn are writers and executive producers. Thor Freudenthal is the director and executive producer. Michael Jones Morales is a writer and executive producer. Universal Television, a division of Universal Studio Group, produces The Hunting Party.

Grammer is repped by UTA and Vault Entertainment; Gillies is repped by Paradigm and Ziffren Brittenham; Jackson is repped by Gersh, Principal Entertainment LA, and Lichter Grossman Nichols.

Jon Lindstrom Breaks Down His ‘General Hospital’ Return as Kevin Collins

For the actor, who is currently playing Joey Armstrong on Beyond the Gates, it was a matter of working out his schedule. “It’s just been difficult to find the time,” explains Lindstrom, who shoots the new CBS soap in Atlanta.

Looking back, Lindstrom says the decision to trade Port Charles for Fairmont Crest wasn’t a tough one. “In all fairness to me, it had whittled down to about one or two shows a month, so Kevin had been fairly inactive for a long time,” he points out. “I haven’t seen him have a really active story since the show Port Charles, or unless Ryan [Chamberlain, Kevin’s twin] was around, so it was kind of a no-brainer.”

Still, he knew taking the job on BTG would impact his GH appearances. “When I called Frank [Valentini, GH’s executive producer] to tell him that I would be going to do Beyond the Gates on Election Day 2024, he asked me, ‘Can you do both?’” relays Lindstrom. “I said, ‘Well, technically, yes, because I’m not under contract. The only stickler is that they’re 2,000 miles apart.’ So, there were just logistical problems along the way over the last year where they would reach out every now and again and ask if I was available for one episode or another episode in the middle of a week, and that’s impossible for me to do from out here because Gates takes up a lot of my time.”

Even so, GH found a way to make a visit work. “To their credit, they came to me and said, ‘What if we stack a bunch of shows up over a couple of days? Will that be worth your while to make the trip out?’” he shares. “And the short answer is, ‘Yes, of course.’ Besides, I think Genie [Francis, Laura Collins] is getting tired of talking to a disembodied Kevin on the phone.”

Returning to the soap he first joined in 1993 carried emotional weight for Lindstrom. “I love those people,” he says. “I love all of them. So many great things in my life are a direct result of my association with General Hospital. Coming back, the beautiful thing is a lot of people don’t know you’re coming back, so they see you in the hallway, and they’re really happy to see you. It was like, ‘My God, Jon, how long has it been?’ And then you walk on the stage, and they can’t believe that they’re actually seeing you, so it’s great. It’s like coming back to see old friends and a great reunion around it.”

Among those reunions, reconnecting with Francis was a standout. “I love working with Genie, and she and Jonathan [Frakes, her husband] have become really close friends,” he notes. “I hadn’t seen them in over a year, so to be able to just sit down and hang out in the dressing room with Genie and catch up and talk about life and how things are, I was really excited to do that. I also ran into Maurice [Benard, Sonny Corinthos], and we had a little bit of work together. I love Mo.”

Once back on set, slipping back into character as Kevin proved effortless. “Like putting on a comfortable old suit,” Lindstrom reports. “It did feel like going back to my hometown. I haven’t lived in my hometown since 1978, but I still have that feeling whenever I step off the plane into the Medford, Oregon, terminal. It’s like, ‘Wow, I’m home. This feels really familiar.’ And it’s a good feeling. They say you can’t go home again. I don’t know if that’s true.”

Story-wise, Kevin will quickly get caught up to speed about Laura turning to Sonny for help in the wake of Professor Henry Dalton’s (Daniel Goddard) death. “Genie, who never slouches, never walks through a scene, is just terrific in this story,” he praises. “Kevin doesn’t love her relationship with Sonny, but he also understands it. Being the shrink that he is, he understands the value of human connection.”

While Kevin’s return will be impactful, Lindstrom is also energized by his work on BTG. “I’m absolutely loving it,” he declares. “Michele Val Jean [BTG’s creator] has written really great characters for me in the past — she wrote all the great Ryan and Kevin stuff back in the day — so when she came to me and said, ‘Oh, by the way, I threw your name out to the network, and they approved you,’ I was stunned. I haven’t had a character this good, this layered, this interesting, this much fun to play since I played Ryan Chamberlain the first time around.”

And in a twist that amuses him, Joey resembles a GH fave. “I was with Michele at the GH Emmy party, and we were talking to Maurice, and Mo goes, ‘So what’s this character that you do?’” Lindstrom recalls. “And Michele laughs and goes, ‘He’s you. He’s the Sonny of the DMV.’ And I said, ‘I think Joey has a much better sense of humor than Sonny Corinthos.’”

Part of the thrill of being on BTG, he adds, is working with a clean slate. “One of the reasons I really love doing this show is because it’s new,” he says. “It’s because of that energy of everyone wanting it to work and be seen and enjoyed by a lot of people. It’s hard to get a show off the ground, but that energy and focus of trying to find the rhythm of something that doesn’t know its rhythm yet is hard to beat. And to have that feeling at this time of my career and my life is such a gift to me. Boy, I’ll tell you, Mick Jagger was right when he said, ‘Do what you love, it keeps you young.’ I get up every morning ready to go to work. I want to go to work. I want to be a part of this, and it’s really wonderful.”

Outside of acting, Lindstrom is juggling multiple creative projects. His next book, Hollywood Payback, will be released on April 14, 2026, and he’s the host of a new pilot, The Bible on Trial, but he’d be open to another appearance in Port Charles. “It all comes down to scheduling,” he says. “I’ll do GH anytime. I just don’t know if we can work it out. I’m busier than I’ve ever been, and I thought I’d be retired by now!”

Former Soap Star Gets Children’s & Family Emmy Nomination

Outstanding Multiple Role Voice Performer in a Children’s or Young Teen Program

Eric Bauza as Daffy Duck & The Do-Do
Daffy in Wackyland
HBO/HBO Max (Warner Bros. Animation)

H. Michael Croner as Barry Buns, Rat, Chubbles Wubbington, Soda Jerk & Buffalo Security
Kiff
Disney+ I Disney Channel (Titmouse, Inc.)

David Errigo Jr. as Hamton J. Pig & Plucky Duck
Tiny Toons Looniversity
HBO/HBO Max (Warner Bros. Animation)

Kate Mulgrew as Admiral Janeway & Hologram Janeway
Star Trek: Prodigy
Netflix I CBS Studios (Nickelodeon Animation Studios)

Kari Wahlgren as Evelyn & Mrs. Grant
Legends of Evergreen Hills
Chick-fil-A Play App (Bento Box)

Talk Show Appearance

Frances Fisher, Will Patton, Lauren Holly Lead ‘Ruby Road’, Which Saw All Cast & Crew Get Same Daily Pay; Rosario Dawson Exec-Produces

Independent Spirit Award nominee and Guggenheim fellow Talia Lugacy directs the movie, which wrapped production this summer in rural Kentucky, Pennsylvania and West Virginia.

The film follows Fisher as Ruby, a former coal-truck and school-bus driver, who when facing a terminal illness sets off in her yellow mini-bus through the Appalachian mountains on a final journey to reconcile with her past and her fractured family. The filmmakers are targeting a 2026 premiere.

Written and directed by Lugacy, the film was produced through a collaboration withAppalshop, an Appalachian media and advocacy organization, and supported by the Mellon, Ford, Schubert and MacArthur Foundations.

Appalshop and Lugacy developed the project alongside local performers, artists, and craftspeople, many of whom make cameos in the film, which hybridizes fiction and improvisational non-fiction.

The project is a continuation of the team’s cooperative filmmaking model, emulating Lugacy’s previous feature film, the Independent Spirit Award nominated This Is Not A War Story which was acquired by Warner OneFifty for HBO Max.

According to producers, everyone on the cast and crew received the same daily pay while traveling and living together throughout a 30 day shoot across three states.

Lugacy, Ryan De Franco, Emily Cooper, Julian West and Noah Lang produced with Rosario Dawson, Gill Holland, Fisher, Patton, Luke Lieberman, and Slade McPherson executive-producing. Satya Polisseti co-executive produced with Nick Shadix and Robyn Haddad serving as associate producers.

“Look at it this way – the backbone of America, the Appalachian region, is a microcosm of where we’re at as a collective, as a nation,” Lugacy said. “We have common threads in our anger about how things are, in our disillusion as well as in our fight for integrity and decency. This is a film that seizes on our common threads and asks us existentially how are we going to face the crises of our times – together, or not at all?”

Fisher said: “This is that one-in-a-million chance an actor yearns for: to grab hold of a character and to tell her story from the inside out – to do her justice. Then to collaborate with passionate and fiercely dedicated writer-director Talia Lugacy, was a dream come true. The scope of what we accomplished, across three states in Appalachia – from the depths of pathos to the heights of tenderness and humor with each one of my fellow actors, made this experience a poetic odyssey.”

“This is my third feature collaboration with Talia. We’ve continuously aimed to explore and celebrate the complexities of being human which has been both the guiding light of our independent filmmaking and our friendship,” said Dawson in a statement. “We’re obsessed by the worlds we’ve championed on this journey together. Producing stories that push us to dig deep and take creative risks is the driving focus that has compelled and moved us all of these years.”

Fisher is repped by Greene Talent; Patton by Grand View Management and IAG; Gainey by Monolith Entertainment Group and ATB Talent; and Holly by Mavrick Artists Agency, The Characters Talent Agency, and Gilbertson Entertainment.

Corbin Bernsen Signs With Innovative Artists Entertainment

Bernsen is best known for starring as retired police detective Henry Spencer on the USA Network series Psych, and for his role of divorce attorney Arnold Becker on the NBC drama L.A. Law, for which he received an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series and Golden Globe nomination for Best Actor – Television Series Drama.

More recently, Bernsen recurred on Nathan Fielder and Benny Safdie’s The Curse for Showtime, J.J. Abrams’ Duster for HBO Max, and Jonathan Tropper’s Your Friends and Neighbors for Apple TV+, opposite Jon Hamm.

Bernsen is set to next appear opposite Tracy Morgan and Daniel Radcliffe in the NBC series The Fall and Rise of Reggie Dinkins from executive producer Tina Fey. Most recently, he signed on to lead Laura Louise, an indie thriller from filmmaker Duane Edwards.

Bernsen also directed, produced, and appeared in the horror film Dead Air and directed, wrote, and starred in Christian Mingle. He continues to be represented by Randy James Management.

Duane Edwards’ Thriller ‘Laura Louise’ Sets Cast Led By Corbin Bernsen

Laura Louise follows Edward Brannock (Bernsen), a retired postal worker thrust into the center of a reopened missing person’s case. As new evidence surfaces decades after a teenage girl’s disappearance, Brannock faces mounting scrutiny and must confront long-buried family secrets he’s desperate to keep hidden.

Edwards will direct and produce under his label The King Productions, with production to commence this fall at Rock River Studios in Northern Illinois.

The film is based on an original screenplay by Frederick Mensch (HBO’s Nightingale), who previously collaborated with Edwards on the 2024 feature drama Wrong Numbers, starring Emily Hall and David Kelsey.

Bernsen is represented by Innovative Artists and Randy James Management. Sanchez is repped by GVA Talent Agency and A List Talent Management. Owuor is repped by D2 Management and Innovative Artists. Mulvey is represented by Stewart Talent and The Boothe Group. Bush is repped by Stewart Talent and Framework Management. Krausen repped by Stewart Talent and Bercy Talent Management.

Christian Slater To Star In ‘Father Of Us’ For Former MGM President’s New Banner First Class Pictures

Set in 1968 suburbia, Father of Us follows five siblings caught between their magnetic but reckless father and their radiant but overwhelmed mother.

The film is being directed by Suzanne Coote and Matt Angel (The Wrath of Becky), from a screenplay by Carol Olson Coote. Additional casting is being finalised.

The film is produced by Hollywood vet Michael G. Nathanson and Chris K. Daniels through their new production and development banner First Class Pictures, marking the first collaboration in their slate. L.A. Confidential and A Time To Kill producer Nathanson is the former President of MGM Pictures, also known for his stints at OddLot, Columbia Pictures and New Regency, while Daniels heads The Launch Company.

Michael Benaroya’s International Film Trust (IFT) is representing worldwide rights. Sales president, Christian de Gallegos, will introduce the project to distributors at the TIFF market.

The project is a three-generation family collaboration. It’s a true story about Bob Olson, written by Bob’s daughter and co-directed by Bob’s daughter’s daughter. Slater takes on the role of Bob Olson, the adored but flawed father at the heart of the story.

Suzanne Coote and Matt Angel said: ”This is a true story about family. But not just any family. It’s our family. It’s people we see and speak to nearly every day. And we’ve been given the opportunity to dive into their childhoods and explore some of the most influential moments in their lives—the moments that made them the beautiful people we know and love today. We can’t think of anything more terrifying and special as filmmakers.”

Producer Michael G. Nathanson commented: “This is exactly the kind of emotionally resonant storytelling we want to champion at First Class Pictures. Carol has crafted a screenplay that finds profound beauty in life’s messiest moments, and Christian brings exactly the complexity and vulnerability this role demands.”

“Working with Suzanne and Matt to realize this vision has been extraordinary,” added producer Chris K. Daniels. “They understand how to balance the humor and heartbreak that makes this story so universal yet deeply personal.”

Kelsey Grammer Joins ‘Young Washington’ Film From Wonder Project And Angel Studios

Grammer will play Lord Fairfax, the unofficial leader of the Virginia gentry who has a complicated relationship to young George Washington as both his crucial mentor and as the father of his romantic rival.

Young Washington chronicles the origins of America’s first president. After making a tremendous mistake that triggers the French and Indian War, an ambitious 22-year-old George Washington must face his failures and find the courage to become the leader that will forge a nation.

The Frasier star joins the previously announced William Franklyn-Miller who will portray George Washington, Sir Ben Kingsley who will portray Robert Dinwiddie, Andy Serkis who will portray General Edward Braddock, Joel David Smallbone who will portray the cunning William Fairfax.

Grammer just wrapped filming for Avengers: Doomsday. Most recently, he shot two seasons of the Frasier reboot for Paramount+. He is represented by UTA and Vault Entertainment.

The film will be directed by Wonder Project founder and House of David creator Jon Erwin (Jesus Revolution, House of David) and is set for a nationwide theatrical release over Independence Day weekend 2026.

Erwin will produce the film with Chip Diggins. Wonder is joined on the production side by 10 Ton Productions, led by Benton Crane, and 2521 Entertainment, led by Tyler Zacharia. Angel will distribute worldwide. The film was written by Jon Erwin and Tom Provost & Diederik Hoogstraten.

‘Duster’ Canceled — What Would Have Happened in Season 2

So will the J.J. Abrams and LaToya Morgan co-created series return for Season 2? Here’s what we know so far.

No. On Wednesday, July 9, it was announced that Duster was canceled after one season.

The cast included Josh Holloway as getaway driver-turned-FBI informant Jim Ellis, Rachel Hilson as Nina Hayes, Camille Guaty as Izzy, Asivak Koostachin as Nina’s bureau partner Awan Bitsui, Corbin Bernsen as Jim’s father Wade, Benjamin Charles Watson as Royce Saxton, Sydney Elisabeth as Genesis Saxton, Adriana Aluna Martinez as Luna, Greg Grunberg as Abbott, and Keith David as Ezra Saxton. Now, we’ll never know who would have played Joey, a.k.a. Xavier.

The series would have had to follow up on the threads left dangling by the Season 1 finale, including revealing the true fate of Ezra Saxton after he was shot in the chest and what that meant for his children, Royce and Genesis. Last we heard, Royce was “still at the hospital,” presumably with his father in critical condition. Also yet to be determined was what was next for Izzy as she undergoes chemotherapy treatment and how that could have impacted the relationship between Jim and Luna, who still calls him Uncle Jim even though he’s her father.

The season should have also featured Nina participating in the FBI’s effort to track down the national security threat Xavier, who happens to be Jim’s brother Joey, whom he and Wade grieved as dead in an explosion. Nina revealed that it was Saxton who helped Joey disappear, so surely there would have been some drama there, too, if the story had continued.

Morgan told TV Insider she was excited about exploring more about Joey, saying, “We’re so excited about where that’s gonna take us, and hopefully, if we get a Season 2, so many fun escapades to get into — all very exciting, I think … Who is Joey now? And what has he been getting into and who has he been getting into it with? There are a lot more murky areas that we want to peel back the layers of to really deepen the story and really challenge Jim and Nina’s relationship. They’ve just sort of kind of come to a place where they have a little bit of trust and now, what happens when this other X factor is thrown into the mix, so there’s lots of good stuff to play with.” She also teased that a romantic future between Jim and Nina or Jim and Izzy was “on the table.”

Corbin Bernsen To Star In Thriller ‘Laura Louise’ From Duane Edwards

Laura Louise follows Edward Brannock (Bernsen), a retired postal worker thrust into the center of a reopened missing person’s case. When new evidence surfaces decades after a teenage girl vanished, Brannock faces intense scrutiny, forcing him to confront long-buried family secrets he’s desperate to keep hidden.

Pic is based on an original screenplay by Frederick Mensch (HBO’s Nightingale), who previously collaborated with Edwards on the 2024 drama Wrong Numbers, starring Emily Hall and David Kelsey. Edwards will produce for The King Productions, alongside co-producers Phil Lee and Darryl Manuel. Aaron Schoonover cast the picture, which shoots in Chicago this fall.

A two-time Emmy and Golden Globe nominee, Bernsen can currently be seen starring opposite Jon Hamm in Apple’s Your Friends and Neighbors, and in the Max series Duster from J. J. Abrams and LaToya Morgan. He is represented by Paradigm and Randy James Management.

‘Dexter: Original Sin’ Renewed For Season 2 At Showtime

From creator, showrunner and executive producer Clyde Phillips, Dexter: Original Sin is the first prequel series in the expanding franchise following serial killer Dexter Morgan. Michael C. Hall, who portrayed the titular antihero in the mothership series, is the prequel’s narrator. Patrick Gibson plays Dexter in his late teens, when he was a baby slayer in training, 15 years before the events of the original Dexter series.

The 10-episode original drama series is set in 1991 Miami and follows Dexter (Gibson), a student refining his killer skills with the help and support of his adoptive father Harry (Christian Slater). In his dad, he finds solace and understanding, especially as his bloodthirsty urges grow and can no longer be ignored.

As his only confidant, Harry teaches Dexter a code that’s designed to help him find and kill people who deserve to die — all while avoiding getting caught by law enforcement. This is a particular challenge for young Dexter as he begins a forensics internship at the Miami Metro Police Department.

Season 1 also stars Molly Brown, Christina Milian, James Martinez, Alex Shimizu and Reno Wilson, with guest stars Sarah Michelle Gellar and Patrick Dempsey.

Dexter: Original Sin premiered on December 13 with 2.1M global viewers across Paramount+ and Showtime in the first three days of availability, according to Deadline’s Katie Campione in a December 19 ratings story, noting also that Paramount+ touted the episode as Showtime‘s most-streamed series in 10 years. By the time of the show’s finale on Valentine’s Day, the finale audience grew 27% over the December premiere with a tally of 2.68M global viewers on Paramount+ with Showtime, Campione noted on February 20. It was the most-streamed episode of the season, up 30% from the premiere’s streaming audience.

Phillips, who was showrunner on the first four seasons of Dexter, is in production on Dexter: Resurrection, a continuation of the limited series Dexter: New Blood, set to premiere this summer. The Dexter-verse is now one step closer to adding a second prequel spinoff to the franchise, the long-spoken-about Trinity Killer limited series with John Lithgow, who originally played the madman, potentially returning to narrate.

Dexter: Original Sin is executive produced by Phillips, who also served as showrunner for the debut season, and produced by Showtime Studios and Counterpart Studios. Executive producers for the first season also included Scott Reynolds, Hall, Mary Leah Sutton, Tony Hernandez and Lilly Burns, with the series produced by Robert Lloyd Lewis. Michael Lehmann served as directing executive producer.

Children’s & Family Emmy Winner

Jon Lindstrom’s Beyond the Gates Debut Date Revealed!

Lindstrom actually made his daytime debut back in 1984 playing Brady Chapin on the short-lived syndicated soap Rituals. He then played Mark McCormick on NBC sudser Santa Barbara from 1985-86 and Paul Jarre on Generations in 1989. But he became a full-fledged soap star when he joined the cast of General Hospital in 1992 as the villainous Ryan Chamberlin and the following year also playing his good twin, Kevin Collins.

From 1997-2003, Lindstrom brought Kevin over to the GH spinoff Port Charles, and from 2008-10, he took over the role of Craig Montgomery on CBS soap As The World Turns. In 2013, the actor returned to GH again and continues to appear on a recurring basis even as he adds another role to his resume.

“Joey comes from the other side of the tracks,” Lindstrom said during a press junket for BTG. “He has fought his way up in many ways but he’s never lost his charm. Joey runs a casino, which, if you’ve ever been inside a casino, you know a casino is kind of like what a bar is to an alcoholic. So people can get into a lot of trouble around Joey and Joey doesn’t like trouble. He knows how to end trouble, but he doesn’t like trouble.”

If you haven’t jumped in on the ground floor of CBS’s newest daytime addiction, you can easily get caught up by binging all the episodes on Paramount+ so you can be ready for Lindstrom’s shady character to show up on Friday!

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Kelsey Grammer, Elizabeth Gillies & Jefferson White To Guest Star On ‘The Hunting Party’