The Stafford Project

The decision to debut a comedy web series coincided with Stafford's departure as Phyllis Summers on The Young and the Restless, a role that became "crazy-popular" over the course of her fifteen years with the soap opera, as well as earning her two Daytime Emmy Awards out of ten nominations.[2][3] Of her decision to leave the soap, she told Soap Opera Digest: "There were a lot of personal reasons that I just think are not important to share with the world. Only my good friends should know."[4] In an interview with TV Guide's Michael Logan, she said that wanting to pursue comedy was a primary reason behind her decision to exit the show.[5]

The web series' launch also coincided with the launch of Stafford's personal website, which she dubbed "Doing It as a Single Chick", a website about lifestyle topics such as fitness, parenting, style and romance. The Stafford Project sheds light on Stafford's life, as she plays herself in a tongue-in-cheek reality depiction of her own life.[3]

PRWeb's Marlan Willardson noted that it "will focus on highlighting the humor in humiliating situations. Michelle’s own life serves as inspiration – which is anything but dull – whether she’s dating, parenting or looking for her next gig as an actress in Hollywood".[3] For the web series, Stafford enlisted the help of her close friends, Paige Dorian and Paige Long.[3]

The web series pokes fun at the "degrading" events of Stafford's life: "I just lead that kind of life. Things go wrong. Things blow up in my face. But even the most difficult things in my life are riddled with comedy".[5] Despite the hard events of her life, such as her struggle with having a child, she said that "I am able to look back at everything and find the humor in it all. And I do know how to tell a good story! So I thought, why not turn all this into a web show? Self-deprecation is my friend".[5] Prior to its debut, Stafford released a promotional video teaser on July 31, 2013.[6]

Stafford in 2007.

The series focuses on topics such as reality television, Hollywood, and Stafford's unsuccessful love life.[2] Based on her own life, Stafford plays Michelle, an actress known for her role of Francis on a soap opera who is raising her three-year-old daughter and trying to "get her groove on as a single chick and mother".[7] The first episode of The Stafford Project has Michelle being persuaded by her Hollywood agents to drop her soap opera role and create a web series. She refuses, but they won't take no for an answer as the camera is already rolling.[8]

• Michelle Stafford as herself
• Michael Walker as Steve
• Mike Randleman as Richard
• Natalia Stafford as herself
• Sevier Crespo as Marcus
• Rob Filios as Jonathan

Michael Logan of TV Guide appreciated the web series, calling it "terrific and audacious" and saying that "there's never a dull moment in the life of Michelle Stafford".[5] Jamey Giddens of the entertainment website Zap2it said that Stafford is "as viable and fiery as ever", calling The Stafford Project "insanely-funny".[11] Giddens also stated that he was "screaming with laughter the entire time", and "her adorable, talented, dream-drop of a daughter, Natalia Scout Lee, also appears, threatening to steal the show from her mommy".[12] Michael Fairman of On-Air On-Soaps stated that there "was a realism to the ridiculousness", and thought it was "well done".[10]

• The Stafford Project at IMDb