Seven Questions with Baby Daddy's Derek Theler and Guest Star Kelly Monaco; CBS Pulls McCarthys for Big Bang Repeats

Tuesday, February 03, 2015

Seven Questions with Baby Daddy's Derek Theler and Guest Star Kelly Monaco; CBS Pulls McCarthys for Big Bang Repeats

Today, we've got another installment of Seven Questions and this time we have Derek Theler of Baby Daddy and Kelly Monaco of General Hospital. Both are talking to us about the upcoming crossover between the two series. On Baby Daddy, Kelly Monaco plays an exaggerated version of herself. Danny is offered a cameo role on General Hospital; he's really nervous and asks Riley to help him rehearse. Riley is a huge fan and can't believe Danny is going to be in a scene with Kelly Monaco (Kelly Monaco), who plays her favorite character, Sam. Although Kelly is initially annoyed by the stunt casting, she soon finds Danny charming and decides he needs to be her new love interest. Meanwhile, Tucker and Ben are tired of living with Bonnie and are determined to get her out of their apartment and back into hers. The boys figure out the best way to break the lease is to have Bonnie "die," so they stage a funeral on the General Hospital set.

Then on General Hospital, Melissa Peterman plays an old friend of Olivia's from Bensonhurst and Derek Theler plays a colleague of Dr. Patrick Drake. In this episode, it is Valentine's Day in Port Charles. Olivia receives a surprise visitor from her Bensonhurst days. Melissa Santoro-Picard (Melissa Peterman) and the two old friends quickly catch up on life and loves. Later in the day, Melissa runs into another familiar face in Port Charles. Meanwhile, Dr. Patrick Drake is called to consult on a case at the last minute, delaying his date with Sam. Coincidentally, Patrick's colleague Derek (Derek Theler) was also stood up by his date. Derek and Sam agree to keep each other company until their significant others arrive. As the night progresses, the two discover the true meaning of Valentine's Day.

The Baby Daddy episode airs this Wednesday (February 5) at 8:30PM ET/PT on ABC Family. The General Hospital episode airs Friday, February 13 on ABC in the daytime, check local listings for the time in your area. So without further adieu, it's time for our "Seven Questions." with Derek Theler and Kelly Monaco!

"Seven Questions with Baby Daddy's Derek Theler and Kelly Monaco"

SitcomsOnline: So, to start it off...wow a sitcom and a soap opera doing a crossover. We love the idea...I know the sitcom Hope & Faith did a soap opera type episode on ABC about 10 years ago, but not an actual crossover like this. Can you let us know how it was to shoot the Baby Daddy episode and what's in store in the episode?

Kelly Monaco: Well for me, I go over to Baby Daddy and I'm playing basically my character on General Hospital and myself, Kelly, but sort of an exaggerated version of what people may think that a soap opera star and diva would be. So I kind of play around with that and poke fun at myself and have the luxury of the schedule of Baby Daddy, where you get to rehearse all week and live shoot with a live cast on a Friday and it was awesome... I had a really good time. I felt very welcomed and it was definitely a nice departure for me from General Hospital.

Kelly Monaco, Derek Theler and Chelsea Kane

SitcomsOnline: Are Kelly and Danny going to hit it off both on and off-camera? And will maybe a love quadrangle form between Danny, Riley, Kelly and Ben?

Kelly Monaco: (Laughs) we're not going that far (laughs). We'll see how well the show is viewed and what the fans think. There is always room to come back.
Derek Theler: Yeah, it was really fun having Danny actually go through acting and see his lack of skills obviously as an actor and just play around with the heightened reality of what would it be like for a sitcom in General Hospital in the Baby Daddy world, so it was a great time playing with Kelly in front of an audience and things.

SitcomsOnline: Kelly is this your first real sitcom experience and what was it like doing it? I think you did a Spin City episode many years ago, but obviously this Baby Daddy episode you get to play a somewhat version of yourself, so that's cool!

Kelly Monaco: I did the season finale of Spin City. This is a lot different, I mean, no offense to anyone on Spin City, but I was much more welcomed with the Baby Daddy cast and I think appreciated for the crossover and the experience was just amazing, like I said. I actually knew some of the crew I worked with over on Port Charles 15 years ago. There were some type of familiarity there and there also was a feeling of just awkwardness because I'm doing comedy and a drama, so it was great and everyone treated me fantastic and I had a blast.

Melissa Peterman, Kelly Monaco and Derek Theler

SitcomsOnline: Then we have the General Hospital episode with Derek and Melissa guest starring. But they're not in character of Danny and Bonnie, right? Can you let us know what happens in that episode?

Derek Theler: No, we're actually--well Melissa has a full blown Jersey accent, which was great.
Kelly Monaco: So funny!
Derek Theler: Yeah it was very funny to watch. She was kind of going in and out of it and she was cracking me up.
Kelly Monaco: (Laughs)
Derek Theler: My character's name is Derek, and he's the chief of plastics in the hospital. That was fun to play. It was a lot different than Danny, so I definitely enjoyed myself the two days that I was on set. It was a big difference when it comes to the atmosphere and way the show works and how fast paced it is on a soap opera and I really was kind of nervous but at the end of it I felt a little more comfortable with that kind of atmosphere. And it's the Valentine's Day episode airing on Friday the 13th, February 13. And what happens in it Kelly, I guess everyone is trying to get to their big date?
Kelly Monaco: There is a little bit of Derek and Sam. They actually wind up at dinner together, so we'll tease you with that and the audience can tune into see what happens.

SitcomsOnline: Derek how was it like doing the soap opera format? Did you get pointers from Kelly and the GH gang and did you have to learn any of the key soap opera face movements and acting, haha?

Kelly Monaco: (Laughs)
Derek Theler: I did, yeah. She helped a lot. On set she kind of told me where to go and you know how fast I needed to be ready, which was a huge help.
Kelly Monaco: (Laughs)
Derek Theler: Like I keep saying, just the pace of it and how fast it is and how focused everybody is on set because they have so many things to get through in one day. I don't want to be the guy that messes up the scene, which I feel like I was once or twice (laughs).
Kelly Monaco: No, not at all.
Derek Theler: And nobody is used to that because everyone is so professional on the set there but I definitely felt at home and it was fun...it was a great experience!

SitcomsOnline: Going back to the Baby Daddy episode for a bit, I'm hoping that you come back for another episode or two, Kelly. Any plans on for you to return to stir things up with Danny? Or is it just a one-off guest appearance?

Kelly Monaco: That would be amazing. Melissa and I were talking about it. Melissa was like 'I need a friend on the show' so that would be really fun to be able to incorporate another crossover again. I would be down for it. I felt like I have known her (Melissa) forever. I felt like I knew the whole cast, everyone was really friendly and amazing. But yeah, we really got along and she's like literally I think I'm probably closer to her age than the rest of the cast on her show. So we were kind of teasing about how it would be to have a buddy on her show.

SitcomsOnline: And finally, what key learning item did you guys take away from each other's format? So, Derek, what did you take away from the soap opera format and Kelly what did you take away from the sitcom format? And also please share with our readers some other interesting facts!

Derek Theler: For me, I keep saying the same thing, it's just the pacing, it's so fast and everyone is so professional and ready to go. And as soon as you're on you get one try to put it out there. I learned to try to speed everything up and try to be prepared and try to get my lines right. And give the best performance I can because you get only one shot at it.
Kelly Monaco: For me it was the exact opposite. To have the luxury of rehearsing all week and working out the kinks and being able to try different things was definitely a departure from what I am used to like Derek said we have to pretty much in one take go-go-go and you have to go with your instincts and kind of spread it out. And to be able to like really kind of marinate in a character is pretty fun.
Kelly Monaco: (As for some interesting facts) Derek is really tall.
Derek Theler: (Laughs). And Kelly is pretty short. That's about it, I had a great time, it was an enjoyable experience and I'm glad I did it.

We appreciate Derek and Kelly taking the time to talk with us! They were both very fun and informative. They really seemed excited about this crossover event and wanted to share with us as much as they can. We encourage fans to check out the crossover event on Baby Daddy on ABC Family this Wednesday and on ABC's General Hospital on Feb. 13.

CBS has pulled the last two scheduled airings of The McCarthys from its line-up. Instead, CBS will once again air repeats of The Big Bang Theory the next two Thursdays at 9:30pm. Now CBS will have four episodes left to air of The McCarthys, if they ever schedule it. Because come Feb. 19, The Odd Couple is joining the CBS Thursday line-up and there is no room for The McCarthys to air. Has CBS given up on the freshman comedy? It sure seems like it because they already had preempted the show on Jan. 22 for a Big Bang repeat. The McCarthys is a multi-camera comedy about a loud, sports-crazed Boston family whose somewhat athletically challenged son, Ronny (Tyler Ritter), is chosen by his father to be his assistant high school basketball coach, much to the surprise of his more qualified siblings. Ronny wants nothing more than to move away, join the singles scene and find a partner. His distraught mother, Marjorie (Laurie Metcalf), is not upset that her favorite son is gay, but that he wants to leave Boston and his family. Ronny's plans change, however, when his politically incorrect and outspoken father, Arthur (Jack McGee), stuns everyone with his choice for an assistant. Touched by his father's offer, Ronny embarks on a completely different future - and he can be sure that his loving, tight-knit family is going to have a very vocal opinion about it.