By Robbie Taylor
Since 1998, Lifetime movies have been on television screens with “Memories of a Murder” being the first film to premiere on the network. Known for their dramatic and romantic films, Lifetime has been entertaining audiences for decades.
For 15 years, Patrick Serrano has been working as a patron service manager for Dominican. In 2016, he began giving reviews on his podcast for his friend, who doesn’t watch the films himself.
“I was not intending on becoming a Lifetime film critic,” he said. “I posted my podcast notes online [lifetimeuncorked.com] and those notes [received] a good response. People liked my writing voice, but not my grammar. [This] has led to me writing reviews professionally for Oprah Magazine and the New York Times.”
In 2022, Serrano appeared in a Lifetime film, “Old Flames Never Die”, where he portrayed Jordi. While the part was small, Serrano loved the experience of working on the film.
“I got the role in the Lifetime movie by an offer from Jake Helgren, [our] director [and] producer,” he said. “Actress Lisa Ann Walter [from “Abbott Elementary”] heard my podcast episode about her movie “Psycho Stripper.” [She] thought it was so funny [that] she shared it with Jake, and he messaged me on Instagram.”
He also discussed how the role of Jordi helped him find new experiences and opportunities.
“They paid me the day rate and I got to see Cher’s house from our LA mansion filming location, so that was cool,” he said. “Dreams [do] come true.”
Serrano loves making Lifetime movies due to the specific set of rules that the network produces.
“The protagonists are always women who are overcoming a seemingly insurmountable betrayal or life event,” he said. “They always succeed in taking down the villain in the end. Culturally, Lifetime [has] a reputation for being poorly acted, low budgeted, and lazy produced. However, that makes it more fun because you never know what you are going to get.”
The Lifetime Uncorked podcast is available on all streaming platform as well as on podcast@lifetimeuncorked.com.
