{"id":20272,"date":"2021-12-11T13:47:31","date_gmt":"2021-12-11T19:47:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/tvmeg.com\/?p=20272"},"modified":"2021-12-11T13:51:57","modified_gmt":"2021-12-11T19:51:57","slug":"interview-with-ryan-mcpartlin-jana-kramer-and-maria-menounos","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tvmeg.com\/index.php\/2021\/12\/11\/interview-with-ryan-mcpartlin-jana-kramer-and-maria-menounos\/","title":{"rendered":"Interview with Ryan McPartlin, Jana Kramer and Maria Menounos"},"content":{"rendered":"<h3><strong>TV Interview!<\/strong><\/h3>\n<script async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js\"><\/script>\r\n<!-- TVMEGBODY -->\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:block\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-1056557952271337\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"8801203268\"\r\n     data-ad-format=\"auto\"\r\n     data-full-width-responsive=\"true\"><\/ins>\r\n<script>\r\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script>\n<p><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-20274\" src=\"https:\/\/tvmeg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/holidayfixup1.png\" alt=\"Ryan McPartlin, Jana Kramer and Maria Menounos in Lifetime's &quot;The Holiday Fixup&quot;\" width=\"484\" height=\"142\" srcset=\"https:\/\/tvmeg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/holidayfixup1.png 927w, https:\/\/tvmeg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/holidayfixup1-300x88.png 300w, https:\/\/tvmeg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/holidayfixup1-768x225.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 484px) 100vw, 484px\" \/><\/p>\n<p><strong> Interview with Ryan McPartlin, Jana Kramer and Maria Menounos of &#8220;The Holiday Fixup&#8221; on Lifetime by <a href=\"https:\/\/tvmeg.com\/index.php\/2020\/06\/13\/biosuzanne\/\">Suzanne<\/a> 11\/8\/21<br \/>\n<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>This is a fun movie, particularly if you like DIY projects, and the press panel for the movie was highly entertaining. These are some very attractive people, for one thing. Ryan was on &#8220;Passions&#8221; years ago, and he still looks great! Of course, it goes without saying that everyone&#8217;s acting is top of the line, too. I&#8217;ve enjoyed all of the Lifetime holiday movies this year. I hope you do, too.<\/p>\n<p><b>MODERATOR:<\/b><\/p>\n<p>Hi, everyone. Our next panel is \u201cThe Holiday Fixup.\u201d Please welcome EP and stars, Jana Kramer, and Ryan McPartlin, and star Maria Menounos.<\/p>\n<p><b>JANA KRAMER:<\/b><\/p>\n<p>Hi. Hi, guys. Hi, Ryan. Hi, Maria.<\/p>\n<p><b>RYAN MCPARTLIN:<\/b><\/p>\n<p>Hi, guys.<\/p>\n<p><b>JANA KRAMER:<\/b><\/p>\n<p>Hi.<\/p>\n<p><b>MARIA MENOUNOS:<\/b><\/p>\n<p>Hi. Can you guys hear me?<\/p>\n<p><b>JANA KRAMER:<\/b><\/p>\n<p>The team\u2019s all back.<\/p>\n<p><b>MARIA MENOUNOS:<\/b><\/p>\n<p>I know.<\/p>\n<p><b>MODERATOR:<\/b><\/p>\n<p>Before we get into the questions, today we have a pre-submitted question. What was it like filming a holiday movie all together in the dead of summer in Connecticut?<\/p>\n<p><b>JANA KRAMER:<\/b><\/p>\n<p>(Laughs.).<\/p>\n<p><b>RYAN MCPARTLIN:<\/b><\/p>\n<p>(Laugh.) I love your laugh.<\/p>\n<p><b>JANA KRAMER:<\/b><\/p>\n<p>Exactly that. Exactly that.<\/p>\n<p><b>RYAN MCPARTLIN:<\/b><\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s perfect. That\u2019s it.<\/p>\n<p><b>JANA KRAMER:<\/b><\/p>\n<p>Yeah.<\/p>\n<p><b>MARIA MENOUNOS:<\/b><\/p>\n<p>It was hot. It was so fun though. I love these guys so much. Jana and Ryan are gems, and we just have the best time.<\/p>\n<p><b>JANA KRAMER:<\/b><\/p>\n<p>Yeah. I will say that, I feel like we got pretty lucky guys. Like it could have been &#8212;<\/p>\n<p><b>MARIA MENOUNOS:<\/b><\/p>\n<p>Yeah.<\/p>\n<p><b>JANA KRAMER:<\/b><\/p>\n<p>I mean, we had a few (hot) days, but the days that we were outside I felt like we were blessed with not like, you know (not too hot)&#8211; And I think there was only one day, I was like \u201cI think I might pass out.\u201d But, Ryan, it doesn\u2019t matter if it was sunny or not, Ryan was going to always have a fan &#8212;<\/p>\n<p><b>RYAN MCPARTLIN:<\/b><\/p>\n<p>Oh, yeah.<\/p>\n<p><b>JANA KRAMER:<\/b><\/p>\n<p>Whether it was sunny, not sunny. I mean, that man sweats so much, like, thank God it wasn\u2019t hotter &#8212;<\/p>\n<p><b>RYAN MCPARTLIN:<\/b><\/p>\n<p>It didn\u2019t help that I was taking a supplement that I found out afterwards &#8212;<\/p>\n<p><b>JANA KRAMER:<\/b><\/p>\n<p>Yep.<\/p>\n<p><b>RYAN MCPARTLIN:<\/b><\/p>\n<p>&#8212; causes excessive sweating.<\/p>\n<p><b>JANA KRAMER:<\/b><\/p>\n<p>Uh huh.<\/p>\n<p><b>RYAN MCPARTLIN:<\/b><\/p>\n<p>And then we\u2019re in sweaters in the dead of summer, and I\u2019ve done this multiple times, as Jana has as well, &#8212; so I\u2019m always preparing the crew and production saying, hey, we need some ice packs. We need fans standing by. I need dryers to dry the hair. I didn\u2019t want to hold up production\u2026and somehow it\u2019s always like the afterthought, right? And then when the sweat starts coming and you\u2019re holding up production everybody\u2019s like send as many people to the store as possible. We need to get fans. We need dryers. We need everything.<\/p>\n<p><b>JANA KRAMER:<\/b><\/p>\n<p>I needed Gatorade. That was my ask. I was like I need a Gatorade. I\u2019m feeling lightheaded\u2026but it was so fun &#8212;<\/p>\n<p><b>RYAN MCPARTLIN:<\/b><\/p>\n<p>I was a little upset that when I was pouring sweat, I\u2019d look at you guys and you\u2019re like, no, not a drop.<\/p>\n<p><b>JANA KRAMER:<\/b><\/p>\n<p>We glisten. Ryan sweats. Maria and I didn\u2019t &#8212;<\/p>\n<p><b>RYAN MCPARTLIN:<\/b><\/p>\n<p>Yeah. That\u2019s right. That\u2019s right.<\/p>\n<p><b>MODERATOR:<\/b><\/p>\n<p>Suzanne. Please let us know your question.<\/p>\n<p><b>QUESTION:<\/b><\/p>\n<p>Oh, hi, guys. I enjoyed the movie. I\u2019m not really into DIY, but what about you? Ryan, do you do DIY in real life? (Laughter.)<\/p>\n<p><b>JANA KRAMER:<\/b><\/p>\n<p>Wait, can I answer that, please?<\/p>\n<p><b>RYAN MCPARTLIN:<\/b><\/p>\n<p>Go ahead. Go ahead.<\/p>\n<p><b>JANA KRAMER:<\/b><\/p>\n<p>Because the first time that I ever met Ryan &#8212; Suzanne, thank you for watching the movie &#8212; but the first time that Ryan and I actually Facetime\u2019d he was trying to hang blinds, I think it was, and doing a terrible job. So, Ryan,\u00a0 &#8212;<\/p>\n<p><b>RYAN MCPARTLIN:<\/b><\/p>\n<p>And that was the last time I\u2019ve done anything around the house. Well, no, no, no\u2026I had to fix a doorknob last night. I went to Home Depot and then Loew\u2019s &#8211; had three different people explain to me how to do it, and I was like, I\u2019m just going to hire somebody. It\u2019s not my jam.<\/p>\n<p><b>JANA KRAMER:<\/b><\/p>\n<p>Yeah.<\/p>\n<p><b>QUESTION:<\/b><\/p>\n<p>Okay. Well, and the snowball fight was the most fun of all the movie, I thought. Was that as fun for you to shoot as it was for us to watch?<\/p>\n<p><b>JANA KRAMER:<\/b><\/p>\n<p>Yeah.<\/p>\n<p><b>MARIA MENOUNOS:<\/b><\/p>\n<p>It was super fun, and that was the hottest day, too, you guys. That was the only day that was excruciating &#8212;<\/p>\n<p><b>RYAN MCPARTLIN:<\/b><\/p>\n<p>It was the hottest day.<\/p>\n<p><b>JANA KRAMER:<\/b><\/p>\n<p>Yeah. That was the hottest day, and then I feel like, Maria, you and I became a little competitive. Like we were legit pushing each other at the start of doing that. We\u2019re like \u201cit\u2019s going down\u201d &#8212;<\/p>\n<p><b>MARIA MENOUNOS:<\/b><\/p>\n<p>Yeah.<\/p>\n<p><b>RYAN MCPARTLIN:<\/b><\/p>\n<p>That was Brian Herzlinger, our director &#8211; he wanted to have his \u201cSaving Private Ryan\u201d moment where he was going to get all this camera action and get the really artistic movement as &#8212; Well, you see it in the trailer as Maria and Jana are just unloading on each other and getting very competitive with each other.<\/p>\n<p><b>MARIA MENOUNOS:<\/b><\/p>\n<p>It was so fun<\/p>\n<p><b>JANA KRAMER:<\/b><\/p>\n<p>Yeah.<\/p>\n<p><b>QUESTION:<\/b><\/p>\n<p>Oh, thank you.<\/p>\n<p><b>JANA KRAMER:<\/b><\/p>\n<p>It was kind of funny, too, Brian wanted a \u201cSaving Private Ryan\u201d moment. Like you do know this is a Christmas movie, right? But it was so much fun &#8212;<\/p>\n<p><b>MARIA MENOUNOS:<\/b><\/p>\n<p>Oh, and actually these guys championed my husband having a cameo in the movie, and that was the scene he made the snow. He\u2019s Nick the Snowman.<\/p>\n<p><b>RYAN MCPARTLIN:<\/b><\/p>\n<p>Nick the Snowman.<\/p>\n<p><b>MARIA MENOUNOS:<\/b><\/p>\n<p>Um hm.<\/p>\n<p><b>JANA KRAMER:<\/b><\/p>\n<p>Yeah.<\/p>\n<p><b>QUESTION:<\/b><\/p>\n<p>Oh. Great. Thank you so much.<\/p>\n<p><b>MARIA MENOUNOS:<\/b><\/p>\n<p>Thank you.<\/p>\n<p><b>MODERATOR:<\/b><\/p>\n<p>Thank you. That\u2019s awesome. Damina, your question next?<\/p>\n<p><b>JANA KRAMER:<\/b><\/p>\n<p>Oh, you\u2019re muted, sweetie. Can we unmute her?<\/p>\n<p><b>MODERATOR:<\/b><\/p>\n<p>We can come back. We\u2019ll come back &#8211; &#8211; Oh, there you are. Damina? Okay, we\u2019ll come back. Steven, you\u2019re up next. Steven.<\/p>\n<p><b>JANA KRAMER:<\/b><\/p>\n<p>How\u2019s the photo, Ryan? Do you need your ID?<\/p>\n<p><b>RYAN MCPARTLIN:<\/b><\/p>\n<p>I got you. I got you. You always get me every time and I never know it until later.<\/p>\n<p><b>QUESTION:<\/b><\/p>\n<p>Did you guys call me?<\/p>\n<p><b>MODERATOR:<\/b><\/p>\n<p>Yes.<\/p>\n<p><b>JANA KRAMER:<\/b><\/p>\n<p>Yeah, it\u2019s your turn, buddy.<\/p>\n<p><b>QUESTION:<\/b><\/p>\n<p>Thank you. Here we go. All right. So, yes, talk to us about this amazing film. Ryan, I see that you\u2019re doing your thing. You\u2019ve still out here ever since the \u201cPassions\u201d days.<\/p>\n<p><b>RYAN MCPARTLIN:<\/b><\/p>\n<p>Thank you for that.<\/p>\n<p><b>QUESTION:<\/b><\/p>\n<p>Oh, yeah. You look amazing. All of you look great.<\/p>\n<p><b>MARIA MENOUNOS:<\/b><\/p>\n<p>Thank you.<\/p>\n<p><b>QUESTION:<\/b><\/p>\n<p>Happy holidays.<\/p>\n<p><b>RYAN MCPARTLIN:<\/b><\/p>\n<p>Yeah. Happy Holidays to you. Go ahead, Jana.<\/p>\n<p><b>QUESTION:<\/b><\/p>\n<p>So, talk to us about the film, and how is it? Is it challenging coming up with the chemistry between cast members? How long does that normally take?<\/p>\n<p><b>JANA KRAMER:<\/b><\/p>\n<p>Ryan, you kick it off.<\/p>\n<p><b>RYAN MCPARTLIN:<\/b><\/p>\n<p>Well, we got to Zoom\u2026Jana and I, fortunately, had all these Zoom\u2019ing sessions with our writer who is amazing, Jessica Etting. And so there was a couple times that Jana and I were on the same page &#8212; but not some of the other voices, because there\u2019s a whole lot of voices &#8212; and you just look at the camera in one of these Zoom meetings and you\u2019d kind of look at each other and try and stifle a little of laughter\u2026it was like being in class and just locking eyes with somebody who was in on the joke. And so Jana and I felt like we were in on the same joke that everybody wasn\u2019t in on, and that kind of kicked off our friendship.<\/p>\n<p><b>JANA KRAMER:<\/b><\/p>\n<p>Yeah. No, we had\u2026I mean, pretty much instant chemistry. The same with Maria and I. Every time I\u2019ve been with Maria, we had that and I\u2019m like, oh, that\u2019s going to be easy to play best friends with her, because every time I see her I feel like she\u2019s such a close friend. And then with Ryan it\u2019s like we had that kind of, you know &#8212; that brotherly\/sister, fun banter, fun &#8211; it\u2019s that good energy. So that part was really easy, to have the chemistry. And then we were all teammates together. We all helped each other out, and when I got super tired, Ryan was there to pump me up.<\/p>\n<p><b>RYAN MCPARTLIN:<\/b><\/p>\n<p>There was no pumping you up when were that tired. When you\u2019re that tired nobody can do anything about it. But I will say, back to the chemistry with Maria, too &#8212; Maria and I started talking about trying to do something in the Christmas space together at least two years ago, right? Sometime around two years ago&#8230;<\/p>\n<p><b>MARIA MENOUNOS:<\/b><\/p>\n<p>Oh, yeah. Yeah.<\/p>\n<p><b>RYAN MCPARTLIN:<\/b><\/p>\n<p>And when I saw her at a Christmas party, I was like, oh, my God, I got to talk to Maria about being in this space\u2026and Maria and I have known each other for years. I threw a touchdown pass, or was it you to me? No, it was me to you, right?<\/p>\n<p><b>MARIA MENOUNOS:<\/b><\/p>\n<p>You to me, yeah. (I throw it back @ 00:28:34) &#8212;<\/p>\n<p><b>RYAN MCPARTLIN:<\/b><\/p>\n<p>Yeah. It was, yeah, we have the footage. Yeah, yeah, yeah.<\/p>\n<p><b>MARIA MENOUNOS:<\/b><\/p>\n<p>I\u2019m such a giver.<\/p>\n<p><b><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-20273 alignleft\" src=\"https:\/\/tvmeg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/mcpartlinkramer.png\" alt=\"Ryan McPartlin and Jana Kramer in &quot;The Holiday Fixup&quot; on Lifetime 11\/8\" width=\"276\" height=\"400\" srcset=\"https:\/\/tvmeg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/mcpartlinkramer.png 276w, https:\/\/tvmeg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/mcpartlinkramer-207x300.png 207w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 276px) 100vw, 276px\" \/>RYAN MCPARTLIN:<\/b><\/p>\n<p>Yeah. Well, you did throw an extra point then. You were playing quarterback and played like &#8212; did a two-point conversion. It was amazing. I got the footage.<\/p>\n<p><b>MARIA MENOUNOS:<\/b><\/p>\n<p>Oh, you\u2019re right.<\/p>\n<p><b>RYAN MCPARTLIN:<\/b><\/p>\n<p>Yep. But, no, Maria &#8212; when I saw her at this party that we were at, I was like, Maria, you have to be in this Christmas space and then\u2026you go, Maria, I don\u2019t want to monopolize this conversation.<\/p>\n<p><b>MARIA MENOUNOS:<\/b><\/p>\n<p>Not at all. Yeah, I\u2019ve said this, I think it was just super cool. Ryan saw a little doc that I did on my experience with my parents getting COVID at the same time, and I did this little like 19-minute piece, and he saw it and sent me this beautiful email about how much it moved him, and how he was going to really kind of cherish those moments with his family even more, and it was just a beautiful letter\u2026and one thing led to another and all of a sudden, I was getting on a plane to Connecticut to make this movie with them. And it was very much needed for me at the time. I just lost my mom, and I got to go back to Connecticut, and stay in my bed, and be with my dad, and get to have fun with these guys every day. And I do think that it\u2019s super rare to have just such instant chemistry with everybody, and we all just clicked so fast and so easily. I was doing Jana\u2019s makeup at one point. Jana\u2019s fanning Ryan. Like everybody was helping each other, and it was really special. So, I told them, I\u2019m like, I just want to be able to do this every summer with you guys, because I love them so much, and we have just such a great team all around.<\/p>\n<p><b>MODERATOR:<\/b><\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s really beautiful. Thank you. Thank you so much. And, Jana, wow. Ryan really coming for you about being tired on set. We have your back.<\/p>\n<p><b>RYAN MCPARTLIN:<\/b><\/p>\n<p>Thank you.<\/p>\n<p><b>MODERATOR:<\/b><\/p>\n<p>And, Jamie, the next question is from you. Jamie Ruby, sorry. We have another Jamie.<\/p>\n<p><b>QUESTION:<\/b><\/p>\n<p>I was going to say which Jamie.<\/p>\n<p><b>MODERATOR:<\/b><\/p>\n<p>Sorry, Jamie Ruby.<\/p>\n<p><b>QUESTION:<\/b><\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s okay. And, Maria, I think you sort of just answered this partially but maybe you can add more to it, but for all of you, what was it originally though that made you want to do this film?<\/p>\n<p><b>JANA KRAMER:<\/b><\/p>\n<p>I\u2019ll start &#8212; because I had had a meeting about a different movie a few days prior to talking to Ryan and the producers of this film, and it was something about\u2026 Well, one of the reasons I really wanted to do it, because I\u2019ve always wanted to work with Ryan and it was cool because there wasn\u2019t a script, so I was able to kind of put my two cents into it. This is Ryan\u2019s idea that he\u2019s had for a long time, so it was cool to be able to actually collaborate and help bring the story to life as opposed to showing up on the page. Because usually we just get the script and we read it, we like it, or we don\u2019t. But to be able to kind of have a say was really cool and one of the main draws of doing this film. I was like, okay, cool, I can actually have a little bit of a say in it, and Ryan was open to all of that. So that was neat.<\/p>\n<p><b>RYAN MCPARTLIN:<\/b><\/p>\n<p>She had a lot of say in it, not just a little bit of say, because when &#8212; It\u2019s not that you\u2019re that over opinionated, Jana &#8211;It\u2019s like I really respected her opinions and she had very good input, ideas, story points. She\u2019s done this, you know, she\u2019s done as many of these as probably I have, I\u2019d say. And you don\u2019t want the redundancy of doing the same story over-and-over-again. So, you look for ways to say how can it be different? How is it different than the other stuff out there, and that\u2019s what I\u2019m really proud of &#8212; especially how we would talk out some of these things, if it was a real relationship and a real life and we were playing real exes. And the way that I saw the story ending is not necessarily the way that Jana saw it from her perspective. So, when our writer, Jessica Koosed Etting, heard her response if I said one thing and then Jana said, well, I would say this &#8212; it just turned everything. So, you got to kind of play like you would in, you know, onstage in a theater, in a class together. And you go, oh, that\u2019s interesting\u2026if that\u2019s how you would really react let\u2019s work that into the story and still tie it up nicely to deliver to the audience what they expect, but in a different way than that expect it.<\/p>\n<p><b>JANA KRAMER:<\/b><\/p>\n<p>Sure, yep.<\/p>\n<p><b>MODERATOR:<\/b><\/p>\n<p>Our next question is from Jamie Steinberg.<\/p>\n<p><b>QUESTION:<\/b><\/p>\n<p>Hi, thank you guys so much for your time. Jana and Ryan if you could talk about how you stepped in as executive producers. Was this something of a passion project that came across your desk, or did they offer you a role of EP after you singed on to the film?<\/p>\n<p><b>RYAN MCPARTLIN:<\/b><\/p>\n<p>No, this was something where if you are involved creatively as an actor, from the get-go, like we both were you know &#8212; this started with Jessica Koosed Etting and I flushing out a different story, but then we adapted it towards Christmas a little bit, and then quite honestly the whole thing changed when Jana came onboard. We just started talking about the movies we loved. Jana, if you want to talk about that and some of the romantic comedies, some of the Christmas movies we loved\u2026and we started saying, okay, what are those themes that we want to play with.<\/p>\n<p><b>JANA KRAMER:<\/b><\/p>\n<p>Yeah, and that\u2019s something, too, because Ryan and I have done so many of these Christmas movies it was something that I had a conversation with Lifetime about and was like, I really want to be able to bring my ideas to the table. So, I would like to moving forward be able to executive produce, just so that way I, you know &#8212; because making Christmas movies are so much fun. They\u2019re easy. They\u2019re light. They\u2019re fun &#8212; but I also want to bring a little bit of complications to things, or a little bit of my own touch to things and to have that voice, and that way. I don\u2019t know, Ryan, if it felt the same way for you, but I felt really, really, really, proud of this one, because I felt like I had so much more to\u2026I offered so much more in this film than I have in the other ones. And, yeah, I loved all the other ones, but this one\u2026I was like, man, this is &#8212; It\u2019s the first thing I\u2019ve ever executive produced! So that was kind of cool to just be like &#8212; I was proud of myself and I was proud of you. It was fun.<\/p>\n<p><b>RYAN MCPARTLIN:<\/b><\/p>\n<p>Yeah. And I feel like, you know, Maria, hopefully, you felt your voice was the heard the same as, any producer or actor would be &#8212; come on in if they had ideas and wanted to play. It was nice because it was like a safe artists\u2019 space, you know. That\u2019s what we wanted to create.<\/p>\n<p><b>MARIA MENOUNOS:<\/b><\/p>\n<p>A hundred percent. I will say they were amazing executive producers. Not only did they feed the crew, got coffee trucks &#8212; they did all the things that really great producers do to keep everybody happy, keep everybody going. They always say it starts at the top and literally it was a perfect experience all the way through for everybody. We all loved it. We all had the best time. Everybody was excited, and everybody was onboard with making the best movie we could while having fun. So that is why I\u2019m committed to how do we do this every summer together? How do we add in some time where we always can make a movie together, keep the same crew, keep the same thing\u2026<\/p>\n<p><b>RYAN MCPARTLIN:<\/b><\/p>\n<p>Yeah. I\u2019d love that. And we also got to give credit to Stephanie and Margaret, our other executive producers &#8212;<\/p>\n<p><b>JANA KRAMER:<\/b><\/p>\n<p>Absolutely.<\/p>\n<p><b>RYAN MCPARTLIN:<\/b><\/p>\n<p>&#8212; they really gave us that freedom to jump in and produce alongside them. They did a lot of the hard, dirty work, I\u2019d say, as producers dealing with the budgets and the overtime and the schedules and all that stuff since we really want to stay in the creative space, and that\u2019s what we were able to do, thank God.<\/p>\n<p><b>JANA KRAMER:<\/b><\/p>\n<p>Although, I think that part\u2019s fun, but I\u2019ll do that later.<\/p>\n<p><b>RYAN MCPARTLIN:<\/b><\/p>\n<p>Yeah.<\/p>\n<p><b>MODERATOR:<\/b><\/p>\n<p>Thank you. Our next question is from Jay Bobbin.<\/p>\n<p><b>QUESTION:<\/b><\/p>\n<p>Hello, everyone. Maria, have you ever interviewed Jana? Is that where this friendship started, and if that is where it started, how do you remember the interview going?<\/p>\n<p><b>MARIA MENOUNOS:<\/b><\/p>\n<p>Well, I will say that I have zero memory. This is where I throw my brain tumor card down. I can\u2019t remember anything. My husband\u2019s my USB drive\u2026but, yes, I know I\u2019ve interviewed Jana &#8212; but we were also friendly just in the business and with Ryan the same thing. So, I can\u2019t say I remember the first moment I laid eyes on this beautiful woman.<\/p>\n<p><b>JANA KRAMER:<\/b><\/p>\n<p>I remember you helped me out with \u201cDancing with the Stars\u201d because I remember you were there at \u201cDancing with the Stars\u201d and Val was your partner, right? He was like you &#8212;<\/p>\n<p><b>MARIA MENOUNOS:<\/b><\/p>\n<p>Yeah. No, Val, he was like the fake doctor on the set.<\/p>\n<p><b>JANA KRAMER:<\/b><\/p>\n<p>Yeah. He\u2019s like you need to talk to Maria, because she also hurt her ribs or something like that. So, I just remember you being so nice and just so willing to\u2026 I mean, we talked for a while and then it just, again, it just felt like &#8212; man, we\u2019re talking like we\u2019re real friends. It was such a friendly conversation &#8212;<\/p>\n<p><b>MARIA MENOUNOS:<\/b><\/p>\n<p>Yeah.<\/p>\n<p><b>JANA KRAMER:<\/b><\/p>\n<p>I just remember hanging up on that and being like, wow, she\u2019s special, a special person.<\/p>\n<p><b>MARIA MENOUNOS:<\/b><\/p>\n<p>Thanks. Thanks, friend. Yeah, I never remember how I meet anybody, to be honest, because I am just I\u2019m so excited to see everybody and meet people when I meet them that it just floats away.<\/p>\n<p><b>RYAN MCPARTLIN:<\/b><\/p>\n<p>Except for when someone throws you a touchdown pass.<\/p>\n<p><b>MARIA MENOUNOS:<\/b><\/p>\n<p>Yes. But you just had to remind me that I threw you a two-point conversion. I don\u2019t remember &#8212;<\/p>\n<p><b>RYAN MCPARTLIN:<\/b><\/p>\n<p>Yeah. That\u2019s right.<\/p>\n<p><b>QUESTION:<\/b><\/p>\n<p>Thank you.<\/p>\n<p><b>MODERATOR:<\/b><\/p>\n<p>Thank you.<\/p>\n<p><b>JANA KRAMER:<\/b><\/p>\n<p>Thanks, (Jay @ 00:38:09).<\/p>\n<p><b>MODERATOR:<\/b><\/p>\n<p>We have time for one last question. Samantha.<\/p>\n<p><b>QUESTION:<\/b><\/p>\n<p>Hi. Jana, I\u2019m really curious about with the social media aspect of this role, I loved how you all really leaned into the positive aspects of it just with the world complaining so much about the problems, and I\u2019m just curious about the intention behind making that such a large part of your character\u2019s job in the film.<\/p>\n<p><b>JANA KRAMER:<\/b><\/p>\n<p>Yeah. It was fun. I mean, especially because I\u2019m like \u201cI don\u2019t know how to do this.\u201d Meanwhile, my whole entire life is social media, so that was kind of fun to do that. But also, I think what I learned\u2026actually, yes, we showed how it can bring people together. But, for me, personally, what I took away from the movie the most is actually about putting the phone down. It\u2019s what we always talked about, the one character, Rita\u2019s character &#8212; where it\u2019s back in the day when we didn\u2019t have the cell phones and we were able to just disconnect and be in a room together and not be glued to Instagram or the phone. And that\u2019s what I took away from it the most \u2013 it is just having that distraction away to really just be present with the people in front of me. So that\u2019s something that I would like to lean more into.<\/p>\n<p><b>RYAN MCPARTLIN:<\/b><\/p>\n<p>I think that social media caught us all by storm, you know, and there were no rules. There was no teaching moment. We didn\u2019t come up in school with teachers saying you should compartmentalize this. And then the job of these apps and the social media companies is to see how many hours they can get out of your day spent on these apps. So, there is a lot of benefit to it and there\u2019s a lot of, you know, businesses that thrive from it. Our small business that we have came about because of social media and there\u2019s a lot of charities that do very well &#8212; but it is a danger, and it\u2019s going to be. It\u2019s interesting that the back-and-forth that our characters had about compartmentalizing and what to use it for, and how to use it, and I think that\u2019s a real conversation that should be had in every household right now.<\/p>\n<p><b>JANA KRAMER:<\/b><\/p>\n<p>Um hm.<\/p>\n<p><b>MODERATOR:<\/b><\/p>\n<p>Thank you so much. Thank you to the cast and Eps of \u201cThe Holiday Fixup.\u201d Please make sure to tune in on December 11.<\/p>\n<p><b>JANA KRAMER:<\/b><\/p>\n<p>Thanks, guys. Appreciate it. Thank you very much &#8212;<\/p>\n<p><b>RYAN MCPARTLIN:<\/b><\/p>\n<p>Thank you.<\/p>\n<p><b>JANA KRAMER:<\/b><\/p>\n<p>Thank you very much.<\/p>\n<p><b>MARIA MENOUNOS:<\/b><\/p>\n<p>Bye.<\/p>\n<p><b>JANA KRAMER:<\/b><\/p>\n<p>Do we hang up now? Okay. Bye, guys.<\/p>\n<p><b>RYAN MCPARTLIN:<\/b><\/p>\n<p>Bye, guys.<\/p>\n<p><b>MARIA MENOUNOS:<\/b><\/p>\n<p>Okay, bye.<\/p>\n<p><b>RYAN MCPARTLIN:<\/b><\/p>\n<p>We\u2019ll talk to you all later.<\/p>\n<p><b>JANA KRAMER:<\/b><\/p>\n<p>Okay.<\/p>\n<p>MORE INFO:<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.mylifetime.com\/movies\/the-holiday-fix-up\">Preview<\/a><\/p>\n<div class=\"landing-page-element single-article post-type-press_releases\">\n<h2 class=\"article-item article-title sanitize-html\">Lifetime Reveals Full Holiday Movie Slate for Annual IT&#8217;S A WONDERFUL LIFETIME Programming Event Beginning November 12th, Including 30 New Premieres In 30 Days Kicking Off After Thanksgiving to Count Down to Christmas<\/h2>\n<div class=\"article-item article-date\">&#8211; 09\/28\/2021 &#8211;<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"text-component text-component-015aa69d8c51136 landing-page-element\">\n<div id=\"text-component-item-015aa69d8c51136\" class=\"text-component-item body-copy sanitize-html\" role=\"region\">\n<table class=\" aligncenter\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<table>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<table class=\"col cls100\" border=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"0\" align=\"center\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td class=\"cell-td\">\n<div>\n<p><strong>Lifetime Reveals Full Holiday Movie Slate for Annual<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong><em>IT\u2019S A WONDERFUL LIFETIME<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Programming Event<\/strong>\u00a0<strong>Beginning November 12<sup>th<\/sup>,\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Including 30 New Premieres In 30 Days<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Kicking Off After Thanksgiving to Count Down to Christmas<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<table class=\"col cls100\" border=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"0\" align=\"center\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td class=\"cell-td\">\n<div>\n<p><strong>Talent Around the Tree This Year Includes<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Kelly Rowland, Reba McEntire, Melissa Joan Hart, Mario Lopez, <\/strong><strong>Tia Mowry, <\/strong><strong>Smokey Robinson,<\/strong> <strong>Jana Kramer, Marie Osmond, <\/strong><strong>Corbin Bleu, Monique Coleman, Tatyana Ali, Roselyn S\u00e1nchez, <\/strong><strong>Jacky Lai, <\/strong><strong>M\u00fda, Ryan McPartlin, Thomas Cadrot, Bresha Webb, <\/strong><strong>Candice King, Emeraude Tobia, Aimee Garcia, Haylie Duff, <\/strong><strong>Ricki Lake, Kirk Franklin, John Schneider, Maria Menounos,\u00a0<\/strong><strong>Chad Michael Murray, AnnaLynne McCord, and Many Others<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p><strong>Los Angeles, CA \u2013 September 28, 2021<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 Get ready for the most cheerful holiday season yet! Lifetime announces its largest holiday movie slate ever for the network\u2019s annual\u00a0<strong><em>It\u2019s a Wonderful Lifetime\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>programming event, kicking off November 12th with five new movies Fridays and Saturdays, and a premiere on Sunday, November 21st. \u00a0Then, once the Thanksgiving feast is over and for the first time ever, Lifetime will premiere\u00a0<strong>30 new movies, in 30 days<\/strong>, with a new movie EVERY DAY from\u00a0<strong>November 26 through December 25.\u00a0<\/strong>As the #1 holiday movie destination, Lifetime\u2019s 2021\u00a0<em>It\u2019s a Wonderful Lifetime\u00a0<\/em>slate will feature\u00a0<strong>35<\/strong><strong>\u00a0<\/strong>new movies and over\u00a0<strong>1000 hours<\/strong>\u00a0of holiday programming.<\/p>\n<p>In case that\u2019s not enough excitement for you \u2013 get ready for <em><strong>It\u2019s a Wonderful Lifetime Holiday Movie Preview\u00a0<\/strong><\/em>hosted by\u00a0<strong>Tia Mowry<\/strong> (star of this year\u2019s\u00a0<em>Miracle in Motor City<\/em>)! This special will preview Lifetime\u2019s upcoming 2021 Christmas Movies and will be available on VOD beginning <strong>October 24\u00a0<\/strong>and will premiere on Lifetime <strong>November 7 at 10am ET\/PT<\/strong>.\u00a0In addition to sneak peeks and cast interviews, Tia will share a special holiday treat or cocktail recipe to go with each movie previewed!<\/p>\n<p>At Lifetime it\u2019s never too early to get in the spirit! Beginning <strong>October 15<\/strong>, <strong>Lifetime VOD<\/strong> will have <strong>10<\/strong> of your favorite holiday titles available to screen. And if you just can\u2019t get enough \u2013 starting <strong>November 12<\/strong>, <strong>LMC<\/strong> will have <strong>50<\/strong> of Lifetime\u2019s best holiday movies available to stream!<\/p>\n<p><em><strong>The Holiday Fix Up<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p><strong>Starring Jana Kramer, Ryan McPartlin &amp; Maria Menounos<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>12\/11 at\u00a08pm \/ 7c<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>When Sam (Jana Kramer), the designer behind a popular home renovation show, returns to her hometown during the holidays to help renovate the Bell Harbor Inn, she gets paired with Coop (Ryan McPartlin) as her lead contractor. The only problem \u2013 he\u2019s the guy who broke her heart and she\u2019s the one who got away. \u00a0Sparks fly as they work closely to get the renovations done in time for the inn\u2019s annual Christmas Eve Harborfest. Will they be able to fix the mistakes of their past to build a future together?\u00a0Maria Menounos also stars.<\/p>\n<p><em>The Holiday Fix Up<\/em>\u00a0is produced by Off Camera Entertainment with Stephanie Slack, Margret H. Huddleston, Jana Kramer and Ryan McPartlin as Executive Producers. Written by Jessica Koosed Etting and directed by Brian Herzlinger.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Proofread and Edited by <a href=\"https:\/\/tvmeg.com\/index.php\/2020\/06\/20\/biobrenda\/\">Brenda<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/tvmeg.com\/index.php\/interviews\/\">Back to the Primetime Articles and Interviews Page<\/a><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-20275\" src=\"https:\/\/tvmeg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/holidayfixupposter.png\" alt=\"poster for &quot;The Holiday Fixup&quot;\" width=\"297\" height=\"300\" \/><\/p>\n<script async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js\"><\/script>\r\n<!-- TVMEGBODY -->\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:block\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-1056557952271337\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"8801203268\"\r\n     data-ad-format=\"auto\"\r\n     data-full-width-responsive=\"true\"><\/ins>\r\n<script>\r\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>TV Interview! Interview with Ryan McPartlin, Jana Kramer and Maria Menounos of &#8220;The Holiday Fixup&#8221; on Lifetime by Suzanne 11\/8\/21 This is a fun movie, particularly if you like DIY projects, and the press panel for the movie was highly entertaining. These are some very attractive people, for one thing. Ryan was on &#8220;Passions&#8221; years [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[73,7],"tags":[79,87,346,478,425,964,124],"class_list":["post-20272","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","category-primetime","tag-article","tag-christmas","tag-interview","tag-lifetime","tag-movie","tag-the-holiday-fixup","tag-writing"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tvmeg.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20272","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tvmeg.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tvmeg.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tvmeg.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tvmeg.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20272"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/tvmeg.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20272\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":20278,"href":"https:\/\/tvmeg.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20272\/revisions\/20278"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tvmeg.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20272"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tvmeg.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20272"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tvmeg.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20272"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}