On Tuesday, November 10, Matt Cohen (Detective Burrow, The Young and the Restless, and formerly Dr. Griffin Munro, General Hospital) stars in a new holiday rom-com alongside soap alum Brittany Underwood (ex-Langston Wilde, One Life to Live) in Christmas at the Zoo.

The holiday movie streams beginning today on Tubi. In story, an entrepreneur brokering a sponsorship for a zoo’s new Humboldt penguin habitat finds herself caught between business and romance after falling for a compassionate zookeeper during the holidays.

Cohen visited ABC 7 Chicago’s Windy City Weekend and chatted with hosts, Josh McBride and Val Wilmer about his role in the story which was filmed in Chicago at the famed Brookfield Zoo.

Courtesy/Tubi

FALLING FOR THE PENGUINS

“There are not a lot of rom-coms that have been told like this, almost entirely about the Brookfield Zoo,” explained Cohen. “And if you know anything about Chicago, the Brookfield Zoo holds it down. This is a zoo that truly cares about the animals. The caretakers are amazing. And this movie’s going to make you cry. It’s going to make you laugh.”

Matt expressed he was touched by the animals during the filming, especially the penguins! “I’m in the mix of a lot of penguins and I knew them all by name,” the actor shared proudly. “I’ve got a real way with the penguins that would surprise you. I became like a real zookeeper during this thing. It was wild. I got passionate about it.”

Photo: Tubi

DOES THIS ZOOKEEPER FIND LOVE?

Explaining the epicenter of the story, Cohen shared, “The premise is very simple, It’s a man that works at the zoo. He care very much about these animals. The female lead comes in, wants to change things for the animals to make more money, make more profit. That hurts my heart. I can’t let that happen. I got to protect them during that process. Maybe we fall in love or maybe we don’t. I don’t want to spoil this Christmas movie. But, it feels good because the animals are the center of this thing. ”

At the end of the day, the rom-com is all about love for the animals, and if his character finds love! “It’s the center of this love story. It’s about helping them, not ourselves,” explained Cohen. “So, if were you an animal lover before this movie? I am a dog lover, a cat lover. I never knew I was a penguin man. I am a penguin man. I love giraffes. I love people. Go to the zoo. It feels good.”

You can catch Matt’s conversation on Windy City Weekend below and the trailer for Christmas at the Zoo.

Now let us know, will you be checking the movie out and would you like to see Matt have a more prominent role in Genoa City under the new head writing regime at Y&R, or if not, join another soap? Weigh-in via the comment section.

 

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The Young and the Restless has remained the top-rated daytime drama for 37 consecutive years and soon to be 38 as of the end of December. So, it’s no small order to be named the head writers of the soap with the pedigree of its legendary co-creator and head writer, William J. Bell. 

Now with Josh Griffith’s final stories playing out, new head writers Jamey Giddens and Dan O’Connor’s scripts and material begin to air this Wednesday, November 11. As with any head writing regime, it takes time to get out of the previous regimes stories and on to yours, but the two gentlemen with a vast love of soap operas are patient and excited about their plans for Genoa City in the very near future.

Giddens, who was an double Emmy-nominee this year for his work on the writing teams of Beyond the Gates and Days of our Lives, and O’Connor who spent a number of years on the One Life to Live writing team, which eventually led him to a co-head writer position at General Hospital and later a stint at Days of our Lives, sat down for their first major interview with TV Insider to share some of their goals their vision for Genoa City.

Photo: JPI

GET CHARACTERS OUT AND ABOUT

First order of business is they want the town to have a more community feel and characters to mix and mingle with others more.

Giddens explained, “Sometimes when new regimes come in, it’s such a jarring change. We wanted to lean into some of the stories that we really gravitated to and write the next chapters. We wanted to bring a community feel to the show and cross some characters that might not have been playing together, and make it feel like a town, get these characters out and about.” That sentiment was echoed by O’Connor who added,  “Make Genoa City feel like a real place.”

THE YOUNG, RESTLESS, AND THE  MODERN

Key to Jamey and Dan’s storytelling will be to give the show a modern feel, while still harkening back to the classic storytelling of Bill Bell. Giddens shared, “We want to really pay homage to what Mr. Bell did with a contemporary feel for this modern era that we live in and to keep these stories fresh and sexy and young and restless for many generations to come.”

But will Jamey and Dan’s Y&R be high camp? Tension-filled? Romantic with lots of danger and intrigue? Plenty of Big returns and new characters? Stay tuned.

The head scribes did explain, “We want people to be able to just escape for one hour a day into this fantastical world that you also can relate to. We want to bring it back to heightened escapism and a mixture of grounded reality. “

So, Y&R and soap fans, excited to hear Jamey and Dan’s story perspective as the number one soap moves forward in the coming months? What story would you love to see being told with any of the characters currently on the canvas that ids? Let us know your thoughts in the comment section.

Sonny (Maurice Benard) and Ava’s (Maura West) daughter Avery looks quite different, starting on today’s November 9 episode of General Hospital. That’s because GH has made Avery into a full-blown teenager and the role is now being played by actress Alya Bullington.

In her debut, the Tennessee native was thrown into the deep soap waters with Daytime Emmy winners, Maurice Benard and Eden McCoy (Josslyn). Bullington weighed-in to TV Insider about her first scene which featured Avery overhearing a fight between Sonny and Josslyn.

She explained “It was something I have never done before, I did not have a lot of experience with the screaming and the crying stuff, but I got my first script, and I was like, ‘OK, this is a huge opportunity to learn so much about how that stuff works and to become this character that I have never even tried playing before.’” 

Photo: ABC

THE TEENAGED VERSION OF AVERY WILL HAVE A LOT TO CONTEND WITH

Speaking of working with McCoy, Bullington shared, “She’s incredible. I remember her just laughing and making jokes on set, and then the minute that they started taping, she just locked in and she cried immediately, and my first thought was, ‘I want to be able to do that.’

The soap opera newcomer added, “I think she just inspired me so much because she is so great and she can just lock into whatever character she wants to in the moment.” 

The character of Avery was born back in 2014, but as recently as the October 8 episode of General Hospital, the character was suddenly referred to as a teenager. This is the second young female character in recent months to be aged up following the casting of Kayden Brenna Tokarski as Scout Cain.

As for her take on Avery and what’s ahead, Alya said,“She’s emotional, and she’s curious, and she’s a really fun person to play because so much stuff is happening in her life. I think she’s kind of confused about what’s happening and what to believe.”

So, what do you think about General Hospital making Avery a teenager? Are you excited to see the conflict between Sonny, Ava and Avery now that they have aged up the character? Share your thoughts and welcome Alya to GH via the comment section below.