Still Here Hollywood

Before streaming, before social media, and before reality TV took over, millions of viewers stayed up late watching USA Up All Night.

This week on Still Here Hollywood, Steve Kmetko sits down with television personality, comedian, actress, entrepreneur, and USA Up All Night host Rhonda Shear.

Rhonda shares behind-the-scenes stories from one of cable television's most beloved late-night shows, the challenges of being a woman in Hollywood during the 1980s and 1990s, her experiences with Playboy, Joan Rivers, George Burns, and Johnny Carson, and how she reinvented herself after Hollywood to build the wildly successful Rhonda Shear Intimates brand and the famous Ahh Bra.

She also discusses the reboot of Up All Night, the changing comedy landscape, her thoughts on political correctness, and finding love with her junior high school sweetheart after decades apart.

Subscribe for more conversations with the stars you remember and the stories you've never heard.

#StillHereHollywood #RhondaShear #USAUpAllNight

CHAPTERS

00:00 Introduction

01:36 The Legacy of USA Up All Night

03:58 Landing the Hosting Job

05:26 Was Rhonda Shear a Trailblazer?

08:21 Why Fans Still Love Her

09:55 Building Rhonda Shear Intimates

12:12 The Story Behind the Ahh Bra

13:52 Returning to Stand-Up Comedy

15:10 Wild HSN Stories

18:36 Creating the Up All Night Character

21:09 Comedy Training and Improv

22:04 Being Told She Could Never Make It

24:19 Becoming an Accidental Feminist

26:09 Creating Opportunities for New Talent

27:29 Female Comics Today

29:20 Finding Material in Real Life

33:06 How Rhonda Sees Herself

34:11 Beauty Queen Beginnings

35:53 Working with Johnny Carson

36:11 Political Correctness and Comedy

37:07 Rebooting Up All Night

39:28 Career Regrets and Reinvention

41:38 Dating Glenn Frey

42:43 What Wouldn't Fly Today

48:24 Advice from Joan Rivers and George Burns

50:07 The Most Important Part of Her Story

52:12 Jewelry, Creativity and Never Retiring

54:23 Up All Night Returns

Show Credits
Host/Producer: Steve Kmetko
All things technical: Justin Zangerle
Executive Producer: Jim Lichtenstein
Music by: Brian Sanyshyn


https://stillherehollywood.com
http://patreon.com/stillherehollywood
Suggest Guests at: [email protected]
Advertise on Still Here Hollywood: [email protected]
Publicist: Maggie Perlich: [email protected]


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Monica Potter joins Steve Kmetko for one of the most emotional and revealing conversations yet on STILL HERE HOLLYWOOD.

From starring alongside Robin Williams in Patch Adams, to unforgettable roles in Parenthood, Along Came a Spider, Con Air, and The Last House on the Left, Monica opens up about her remarkable career, motherhood, growing up poor in Cleveland, and the deeply personal lessons she learned from some of Hollywood’s most iconic actors.

She shares emotional memories of Robin Williams, hilarious stories about Nicolas Cage, heartfelt reflections on Philip Seymour Hoffman, working with Morgan Freeman, and how Hollywood once pressured her to choose career over family.

Monica also discusses:

Why she hated acting classes

Her father’s incredible inventions

Raising empathetic children

Rebuying her childhood home in Cleveland

Why she says she’s “already canceled”

The emotional cost of fame

Her connection to nature, healing, and intuition

This is one of the rawest, funniest, and most unexpectedly touching episodes of STILL HERE HOLLYWOOD.

#StillHereHollywood #MonicaPotter #Parenthood #PatchAdams #RobinWilliams #MorganFreeman #NicolasCage #PhilipSeymourHoffman #SteveKmetko #HollywoodStories #CelebrityInterviews #90sMovies #2000sTV #BehindTheScenes #Cleveland #Hollywood

Transcript source:

 

00:00 Monica Potter remembers Robin Williams

02:04 Intro

03:39 Working with Robin Williams on Patch Adams

05:52 Nicolas Cage stories and on-set laughs

07:04 Philip Seymour Hoffman memories

09:21 Morgan Freeman and driving stunts

11:26 “I’m already canceled”

14:31 Growing up with an inventor father

17:33 Raising empathetic children

18:59 Her father’s inventions and the Whiptail lure

23:13 The hardest part of Hollywood

25:00 Why Monica shifted from movies to television

27:33 Reflecting on Robin Williams after his death

28:22 Parenthood and playing a character with cancer

29:33 Why she didn’t want her kids acting

32:50 Returning to her Cleveland childhood home

36:33 Buying back the family house

40:00 Renovating her childhood home

41:34 Advice for aspiring actors

45:00 Hollywood pressure and motherhood

47:58 Monica’s “secret talents”

50:11 Why acting classes felt wrong to her

53:42 Beauty, modeling, and self-image

55:40 Why soap operas weren’t for her

57:48 Her home decor and wellness line

1:00:09 Archaeology, crystals, and camping

1:00:40 Final thoughts and emotional goodbye

Show Credits
Host/Producer: Steve Kmetko
All things technical: Justin Zangerle
Executive Producer: Jim Lichtenstein
Music by: Brian Sanyshyn


https://stillherehollywood.com
http://patreon.com/stillherehollywood
Suggest Guests at: [email protected]
Advertise on Still Here Hollywood: [email protected]
Publicist: Maggie Perlich: [email protected]


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Actress Marisol Nichols joins Steve Kmetko for one of the most intense and emotional episodes of Still Here Hollywood yet.

Known for her roles on 24 and Riverdale, Marisol reveals the shocking double life she led off-camera, working undercover alongside law enforcement in operations targeting human traffickers around the world.

She opens up about:

Going undercover in dangerous trafficking operations

The terrifying mission that made her write a goodbye letter to her daughter

Working with ex-CIA and military operatives

How acting helped save lives

The heartbreaking loss of Luke Perry

What it was really like working with Kiefer Sutherland on 24

Growing up in Chicago

Hollywood struggles as a Latina actress

The dark side of social media and online predators

This is one of the most powerful conversations we’ve had on Still Here Hollywood.

Subscribe for more legendary guests and untold Hollywood stories.

#MarisolNichols #Riverdale #24 #LukePerry #KieferSutherland #StillHereHollywood #SteveKmetko #Hollywood #TrueCrime #HumanTrafficking #CW #FoxTV #TVLegends #Podcast

CHAPTERS

00:00 Intro

00:45 Marisol’s Secret Undercover Operations

02:18 Going Undercover For The First Time

04:36 The Most Terrifying Mission Of Her Life

05:50 Why She Got Involved In Fighting Trafficking

08:05 Helping Put Criminals In Prison

10:38 What She Hopes People Learn From Her Work

12:48 The Monsters Behind Trafficking

14:18 Steve Kmetko’s Chilling John Wayne Gacy Story

16:14 How Acting Helped Her Go Undercover

18:15 Discovering Acting In Chicago

20:48 Moving To Hollywood

22:47 Advice To Her Younger Self

23:52 Being Latina In Hollywood

25:02 The Frustration Of Self-Tape Auditions

26:20 Riverdale Becomes A Cultural Phenomenon

27:51 The Role That Challenged Her Most

29:47 What She Learned From Kiefer Sutherland

30:35 Working With Luke Perry

33:31 How Undercover Work Changed Her Acting

35:38 Talking To Her Daughter About Predators

36:44 The Internet And Child Safety

38:51 The Project She Wants To Make Next

39:39 Growing Up In Chicago

41:32 Her Daughter’s Creative Talent

43:01 Dream Actors & Directors To Work With

44:34 Turning Down A Major Movie Role

47:17 The Dark Side Of Hollywood

49:04 Why She Could Never Move Back To Chicago

52:08 Social Media Pressure & Mental Health

53:24 Fashion, Makeup & Being “A Girl”

54:26 Final Thoughts

Show Credits
Host/Producer: Steve Kmetko
All things technical: Justin Zangerle
Executive Producer: Jim Lichtenstein
Music by: Brian Sanyshyn


https://stillherehollywood.com
http://patreon.com/stillherehollywood
Suggest Guests at: [email protected]
Advertise on Still Here Hollywood: [email protected]
Publicist: Maggie Perlich: [email protected]


Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

What happens when one of the funniest and most outspoken stars from Sex and the City sits down with one of television’s original openly gay entertainment journalists?

 

In this deeply funny, brutally honest, and surprisingly emotional episode of STILL HERE HOLLYWOOD, Mario Cantone opens up to Steve Kmetko about fame, fear, gay representation in Hollywood, censorship, aging, Broadway, comedy, family, and the legacy of Anthony Marentino from Sex and the City and And Just Like That....

 

Mario reveals:

 

Why Johnny Carson canceled his appearance

The truth about working with the cast of Sex and the City

What really happened after Willie Garson passed away

His thoughts on Kim Cattrall not returning

Why he believes AIDS set gay progress back decades

The line from Sex and the City he still gets recognized for

His emotional meeting with Carol Burnett

Why he thinks comedians can’t say what they want anymore

 

The conversation also dives into growing up gay in the 70s, Broadway, Liza Minnelli, Barbra Streisand, surviving Hollywood, and the cultural impact of Sex and the City.

 

Funny, raw, emotional, and wildly entertaining, this is Mario Cantone like you’ve never seen him before.

 

00:00 Intro

00:47 Mario Cantone joins the show

01:44 Johnny Carson canceled Mario over “gay material”

04:52 Becoming Anthony on Sex and the City

06:45 Why And Just Like That ending hurt

07:01 Mario reads every comment online

08:46 The explosion of Sex and the City fame

10:07 Michael Patrick King directing Mario

11:24 Willie Garson’s death changed everything

12:35 Was Mario typecast?

14:49 Fear of being openly gay in comedy clubs

17:47 Anthony & Stanford’s relationship

19:48 Will & Grace vs Sex and the City representation

21:20 Lines Mario couldn’t believe he got to say

24:14 Most iconic Anthony scenes

25:38 Steve Kmetko opens up about coming out

28:52 Being bullied as a kid

30:08 How AIDS changed gay progress

32:06 Steve reveals his father married him to a woman

34:02 Mario says he never hid who he was

35:32 George Clooney reaction to People magazine article

36:40 Straight actors playing gay characters

39:40 Chris Noth controversy

40:38 Kim Cattrall not returning

41:50 Getting in shape for nude scenes

42:35 Willie Garson storyline discussion

45:12 Mario loves cooking and baking bread

47:29 Celebrity Autobiography on Broadway

49:20 Discovering Judy Garland at age 2

50:45 Steve’s Barbra Streisand story

52:54 Mario cries meeting Carol Burnett

54:11 Mario reflects on his cultural impact

55:27 Will Sex and the City ever return?

Show Credits
Host/Producer: Steve Kmetko
All things technical: Justin Zangerle
Executive Producer: Jim Lichtenstein
Music by: Brian Sanyshyn


https://stillherehollywood.com
http://patreon.com/stillherehollywood
Suggest Guests at: [email protected]
Advertise on Still Here Hollywood: [email protected]
Publicist: Maggie Perlich: [email protected]


Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Some actors play powerful men. Others understand what power actually costs.

On this episode of Still Here Hollywood, Steve Kmetko sits down with legendary actor Eric Braeden, the man behind Victor Newman on The Young and the Restless, a role he’s defined for more than four decades.

But this conversation goes far beyond daytime television.

From growing up in post-war Germany, to arriving in America and confronting its contradictions, to working with icons like Marlon Brando and James Cameron, Eric shares a deeply personal and unfiltered look at the life experiences that shaped both the man and the character.

He opens up about the brutal demands of soap operas, the psychology behind Victor Newman, the reality of Hollywood, and why acting, at its core, is about truth, discipline, and survival.

This is a powerful, honest conversation about legacy, resilience, and what it really means to endure in this business.

THIS IS STILL HERE HOLLYWOOD, I’M STEVE KMETKO. JOIN ME WITH TODAY’S GUEST, FROM THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS, ACTOR ERIC BRAEDEN.

 

00:00 Opening Tease

00:01 Intro, Eric Braeden 

01:25 Seinfeld, Comedy, and Great Casting

03:07 The Brutal Reality of Daytime TV

05:00 Why Acting Still Excites Him

06:16 Growing Up in Post-War Germany

09:51 Loss, Hardship, and Early Life

13:08 Working with Brando, Duvall, Legends

14:21 Hollywood, Cynicism, and Purpose

16:55 Why Acting Became Meaningful

19:27 Could Brando Handle Soap Operas?

21:07 Inside a 100+ Page Workday

22:36 Sports, Discipline, and Competition

24:48 Why He Didn’t Choose Sports

25:25 Life Outside Acting, Staying Sharp

31:49 What Young Actors Get Wrong

35:25 Almost Turning Down Titanic

41:56 Working with James Cameron

42:16 Thoughts on Streaming vs TV

46:43 Eric vs Victor Newman

47:08 The Evolution of Victor Newman

50:09 Breaking Out of “Bad Guy” Roles

51:08 Discovering the Truth About History

55:48 A Life-Changing Moment in America

59:53 His Autobiography

01:01:18 Closing Thoughts

Show Credits
Host/Producer: Steve Kmetko
All things technical: Justin Zangerle
Executive Producer: Jim Lichtenstein
Music by: Brian Sanyshyn


https://stillherehollywood.com
http://patreon.com/stillherehollywood
Suggest Guests at: [email protected]
Advertise on Still Here Hollywood: [email protected]
Publicist: Maggie Perlich: [email protected]


Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.