Thursday, May 10, 2012

Thom Bierdz Returns to Old Dogs & New Tricks for Second Season

 May 9, 2012 – West Hollywood, CA – It’s official!  Due to popular demand, Young & the Restless Thom Bierdz will rejoin the cast of the web sitcom Old Dogs & New Tricks for its upcoming second season, shooting this summer.

Bierdz plays “Bobby Burton,” a FOX Sports anchor and boyfriend to Muscles (Jeffrey Patrick Olson).  He appeared in 3 episodes of the show’s first season, and fan response was so enthusiastic (especially after photos from a love scene with Olson hit the blogosphere), that producers persuaded Bierdz to return. 

“The character of Bobby was originally written out after the beginning of the second season,” explains Old Dogs’ creator/actor Leon Acord.  “But when Thom came on board, he gave the show such an incredible boost.  His fans have been adamant about him returning long-term.  We’d be stupid not to listen to that!  And he’s great to work with.  So we’ve re-written the storyline, and Thom will appear in at least eight of our ten new episodes.” 

However, Acord promises Bobby and Muscles’ road to love will be far from smooth.  

Well-known to soap fans, Bierdz portrayed teenage heir “Phillip Chancellor III” in the mid-1980s on Y&R, until his character was killed off in an automobile accident.  In 2009, Bierdz returned to the show, where his character explained he’d faked his death to protect his family from discovering his homosexuality – making Chancellor the first major gay character in Young & the Restless’ long history, and earning Bierdz the historic honor of being the first openly gay actor hired for a contract role on a soap opera.   

His other acting credits include St. Elmo’s Fire, and television’s Melrose Place, Murder She Wrote, Matlock and Highway to Heaven.   

Bierdz is also an accomplished author and painter.  His memoir Forgiving Troy has won many awards, including “Best Indie Autobiography” from USA Books News and a nomination for a Lambda Literary Award.  He is the 2006 recipient of the “Key to the Light” award from Thalians/Cedars Sinai.  His paintings have raised over $100,000 for charities across the country, and earned him the title “Best Emerging Artist Los Angeles” from Out Magazine in 2005.  The Belsito-Roche Gallery (www.belsitorochegallery.com) in Long Beach recently hosted a show of his artwork.  Learn more at his website at www.thombierdz.com. 

Old Dogs & New Tricks follows four middle-aged gay best friends living in youth-obsessed West Hollywood.  Acord, Olson, Curt Bonnem and David Pevsner star as the four friends; cabaret star Amanda Abel and Ryland Shelton co-star.   

Written/created by Acord, the web series is developed for the web by Arvin Bautista.  Matt Ladensack, Laurence Whiting and Acord serve as Co-Executive Producers.  The show’s score is composed by veteran film and TV composer Nic. tenBroek. 

Producers promise a few new exciting guest stars in the second season, and will be announcing them soon. 

Old Dogs & New Tricks’ second season will premiere Jan. 2, 2013.  The show is raising funds via the crowd-sourcing site IndieGoGo. Please visit www.indiegogo.com/olddogsnewtricksseason2.

Actors & creative team are available for interviews. For info: www.OldDogsNewTricksTheSeries.com.

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