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One thing about waking up in the morning in Studio City, California, in October, you’re never sure what the day is going to be like until the smog lifts. I’ve been here in October when the San Ana’s came in and the temperatures were 103 degrees. On the third day of our trip, a Wednesday morning, I opened the patio doors of our hotel room to see what the weather was like and was surprised to feel cool air greet me. We were going over to the sets of “American Dreams” at Sunset Gower Studios in Hollywood and would be outside most of the time, so I wanted to make sure I dressed appropriately. A short sleeve shirt with a pullover sweater seemed to be a good choice for the day.  

On our California trip in March of this year we were also on the sets of “American Dreams,” but this time we were there to present two Viewers Voice Awards. The first award was for Favorite New Show of the 2002-2003 Primetime Television Season and the second award went to Brittany Snow as Meg Pryor, for Favorite Young Performer in a Primetime Television Series.

As we entered the gates of Sunset Gower Studio the sun was breaking through and it was starting to warm up; time to lose the sweater. We parked our car and walked to where we were going to meet the publicist of “American Dreams,” Grace Niu. As you’re walking down the streets of the studio lot behind us in the distance you could see the famous Hollywood sign.

Grace was running a little behind schedule and was late with meeting us, so we just found a nice shady spot and relaxed. When she arrived she explained that Brittany Snow was out on location shooting a scene for the show and was due to arrive soon. In the meantime she wanted us to meet some of the other cast members.

A few minutes later she brought over a young man, Arlen Escarpeta who portrays Sam Walker an African-American teenager at a private Catholic high school during the social turmoil of the 1960’s. Arlen was very friendly and eager to talk about the show.

I asked Arlen about the love interest that seemed to be developing between Meg Pryor and Sam Walker. He admitted it could become an issue in the storyline of the show but couldn’t really give any details. Arlen hung around with us while we waited for Brittany and he was a fun young man to talk too. We did a short interview with him which will appear in a future column and on our Viewers Voice TV Show.

The next cast member to come over and talk with us was 8 year-old Ethan Dampf who portrays Will Pryor the youngest member of the Pryor family. He was a little bashful when I was interviewing him but he did tell me that he just finished doing a hospital scene where he had some major surgery and that his cousin, Alec was in the was scene with him.  Ethan has been acting since he was 15 days-old when he starred with Arnold Schwarzenegger as Danny DeVito’s newborn son in the feature film “Junior.”

After spending some time with Ethan, Grace informed us that Brittany was being held up in traffic. That really was no surprise to me, who isn’t held up in traffic in the L.A. area. I could never live in L.A. just because of the traffic; I don’t have that kind of patience.

Twelve-year-old Sarah Ramos who portrays the brainy and youngest of the Pryor girls, Patty, came over and talked to us. I was surprised how much she had grown from last year. We discussed the relationship the two sisters had on the show; always fighting. She said that things would improve some this year but not that much. Sarah did emphasize that in real life her and Brittany get along great.

We waited a little longer before Brittany made it through the traffic and entered the studio lot. We passed the time talking with Arlen and taking video of the different sets.

Finally Brittany Snow appeared with her mother and we were introduced. I have to say she is as sweet and nice as she looks. We were also joined with Jonathan Prince, the creator of the show, and Rachael Boston who portrays Beth Mason, Will Pryor’s girlfriend.

When Jonathan Prince was introduced to me he looked familiar, then he informed me he was also an actor. He’s appeared on “Blossom,” “Life Goes On,” “Murphy Brown,” and the movie “Halloween II.”

After all the introduction and a little chit chat we got down to business and I presented the first award to Jonathan Prince for Favorite New Show of the 2002-2003 Primetime Television Season to “American Dreams.” His response was: “Thank you so much for honoring us, to be honored by the viewers is more important than anything you can get. People would like to win awards from their peers but for us we always felt like this show was more for our families and for the families that are watching, so it’s an honor to get it from you, thank you.”  

We then presented sixteen-year-old, Brittany Snow with her award for Favorite Young Performer in a Primetime Television Series. Brittany appears to be a very quiet girl and simply said thank you, but you could see in her face she was delighted to get the award. She was also very nice about posing for photos. Brittany made her start in television on “The Guiding Light” and also appeared in “Safe Harbor” another Viewers Voice favorite.

 I did have a chance to talk to her mother and she was very concerned about Brittany’s education and not becoming too much a part of the Hollywood scene.

That was our visit on the set of “American Dreams.” The cast and crew of the show always make us feel so welcome it’s always a pleasure going over there. Make sure to watch “American Dreams” on NBC, Sunday night at 7:00-8:00 p.m., CST. It a great family hour and a show you don’t want to miss. Until my next column, let your voice be heard.