'Sun Records' First Teaser Released by CMT

Drake Milligan stars as young Elvis Presley.

CMT has unveiled its first teaser for the red-blooded, white-hot, born-from-the-blues series Sun Records, premiering Thursday, February 23 at 10 p.m. ET/PT. The all-new scripted series based on the Tony Award-winning musical "Million Dollar Quartet" will join Nashville to complete CMT's new Thursday line-up.

In the teaser, fans get their first preview of young Elvis Presley (Drake Milligan) and Johnny Cash (Kevin Fonteyne) with guitars, Jerry Lee Lewis (Christian Lees) jamming out on the piano, and Sun Records founder Sam Phillips (Chad Michael Murray) in the studio asking to hear something musically he hasn't heard before.

Set in Memphis during the tumultuous early days of the civil rights movement, "Sun Records" tells the untold story of nothing less than the birth of rock 'n' roll. Guided by Sam Phillips, young musicians like Johnny Cash, Elvis Presley, Carl Perkins and Jerry Lee Lewis combined the styles of hillbilly country with the 1950s R&B sound created by artists like Muddy Waters, B.B. King, Fats Domino and Ike Turner, and changed the course of music forever. The series chronicles these young artists' often jarring and sudden meteoric rise to fame in the face of sweeping political change and social unrest.

The all-star cast includes Billy Gardell (Presley and Eddy Arnold's manager, Colonel Tom Parker), Jonah Lees (Jimmy Swaggart), Trevor Donovan (Eddy Arnold), Keir O'Donnell (Dewey Phillips), Jennifer Holland(Sam's wife Becky Phillips), Margaret Anne Florence (Sam's assistant Marion Keisker), and Kerry Holliday (Ike Turner).

Watch the teaser below.

'Sun Records' to Premiere February 23 on CMT, Stars Chad Michael Murray, Billy Gardell, Drake Milligan, Christian Lees, Jonah Lees, Trevor Donovan

Photo Credit: CMT

CMT has revealed a new title and premiere date for its upcoming limited eight part scripted series Sun Records, formerly known as Million Dollar Quartet and based on the Tony Award-winning musical, on Thursday, February 23 at 10 p.m. ET/PT. The announcement comes on the heels of the 60th anniversary of the historic Million Dollar Quartet recording sessions featuring Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis and Carl Perkins on December 4, 1956 at the Sun Records Studios in Memphis, Tennessee. Sun Records will join Nashville to complete CMT's new Thursday line-up.

Set in Memphis during the tumultuous early days of the civil rights movement, Sun Records tells the untold story of nothing less than the birth of rock 'n' roll. Guided by Sam Phillips, young musicians like Johnny Cash, Elvis Presley, Carl Perkins and Jerry Lee Lewis combined the styles of hillbilly country with the 1950s R&B sound created by artists like Muddy Waters, B.B. King, Fats Domino and Ike Turner, and changed the course of music forever. The series chronicles these young artists' often jarring and sudden meteoric rise to fame in the face of sweeping political change and social unrest.

The all-star cast includes Chad Michael Murray (Sun Records founder Sam Phillips), Billy Gardell (Presley and Arnold's manager, Colonel Tom Parker), Drake Milligan (Elvis Presley), Kevin Fonteyne (Johnny Cash), Christian Lees (Jerry Lee Lewis), Jonah Lees (Jimmy Swaggart), Trevor Donovan (Eddy Arnold), Keir O'Donnell (Dewey Phillips), Jennifer Holland (Sam's wife Becky Phillips), Margaret Anne Florence (Sam's assistant Marion Keisker), and Kerry Holliday (Ike Turner).

Sun Records is a part of CMT's growing roster of scripted programming including the highly-anticipated new season of Nashville on Thursday, January 5 (following tonight's one-hour preview) and the second season premiere of Still The King starring Billy Ray Cyrus this spring. The network also recently announced the pilot His Wives & Daughters, including Jane Seymour, Gail O'Grady and Jeff Kober, will begin production this January. Additional scripted projects in development include a script order for a television adaptation of Varsity Blues.

Sun Records is produced by Thinkfactory Media with Leslie Greif as executive producer, Gil Grant as executive producer and showrunner, Barry Berg as co-executive producer and Herb Nanas and Colin Escott as producers. Oscar nominee Roland Joffé directs, with Jayson Dinsmore and Julia Silverton as executive producers for CMT. The series is based on the musical written by Floyd Mutrux and Escott, with original concept and direction by Mutrux. Casting done by Fern Champion and Sharon Lieblein.

'Days of our Lives' Alum Trevor Donovan Visits 'Home & Family'

Photo Credit: Copyright 2016 Crown Media Family
Networks/Photographer: Jeremy Lee

Former Days of our Lives and 90210 actor Trevor Donovan appeared on Hallmark Channel's Home & Family on Friday.

One of the stars of the Hallmark Movies & Mysteries film JL Family Ranch, Donovan teams up with Matt Rogers outside at the grill. The two are showing off a good old fashioned dish with a twist: steak and potato skewers. An important fact is to soak the skewers in water for up to 30 minutes to avoid them catching on fire. When cutting up the ingredients, the steak and potatoes should be the same size.

Watch their segment below.

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Lynn Liccardo writes in the January-February 2013 issue of Harvard Magazine: "Haunted by her lost pregnancy, in 1972 she created ATWT's beautiful and independent Kim Reynolds, who was meant to have a baby of her own. Of course, to conceive that baby, Kim seduced her sister’s husband. Sponsor Procter & Gamble, unwilling to reward adultery, chose to veto that happy ending; when Phillips—increasingly difficult to work with and unwilling to sensationalize her plots to compete with rival shows—was fired, Kim’s pregnancy ended in a miscarriage. It’s hard to say what caused Phillips more pain—losing the show that was so real to her, or reliving the loss of her baby as Kim lost hers. A few months later, she died of a heart attack, or perhaps of a broken heart."

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The attention Bregman (Lauren) gets driving her Karma makes her feel like a rock star.

Watch the video below:

Trevor Donovan, Julie Mond, Shelley Long Star in 'Strawberry Summer' August 25

Strawberry Summer, a Hallmark Movie Channel Original World Premiere is sort of the perfect summertime love story, one filled with music and redemption (not necessarily in that order). Set in rural Fairland, California – famous for growing the world’s best strawberries, Beth Landon (Julie Mond), the reigning Strawberry Queen, is planning the annual Strawberry Festival with her mother Eileen (none other than Shelley Long of CHEERS fame). But right off the bat, there’s trouble. Beth wants the bad-boy country crooner Jason Keith (Trevor Donovan of 90210) to be the festival’s musical act.

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Johnson is currently producing the new CW medical drama, EMILY OWENS, M.D., and is currently unavailable to tape more episodes, which is all part of the long-running understanding she's had with B&B's executive producer and headwriter, Bradley Bell. That means the broader story being planned for Karen and Danielle may have to wait, for now.