Barb Oates, Author at StayTuned Magazine

Whitney Thore returns for new season of My Big Fat Fabulous Life

September 9, 2015 Barb Oates

Whitney Thore returns to TLC for a second season of My Big Fat Fabulous Life tonight at 9pmET /8pmCT with two back-to-back episodes. The new 22-episode season finds Whitney heading back to the doctor’s office to deal with her pre-diabetic diagnosis, and ultimately looking to adjust her lifestyle (for real). At 380-pounds, Whitney tries to ride a bike for the first time in years, finish a 5k (you go girl!), and finds successes with her Big Girl Dance Class who perform at a Greensboro Grasshopper baseball game. Whitney was cast into the media spotlight when a YouTube video she posted […]

Ray Donovan recap Season 3 Episode 9: Happiness comes to some Donovans, but for how long?

September 6, 2015 Barb Oates

Ray Donovan recap Season 3, Episode 9 “The Octopus” (original air date Sept. 6, 2015): Episode 9 of Ray Donovan “The Octopus” finds the Donovans (at least some of them) in a rare moment — happy and enjoying family. The episode starts with Mickey (Jon Voight) working the informant deal. He thinks he’s got a name and offers it up to the Detective Sheila Muncie (Michael Hyatt). What he really has is a common Armenian nickname like “dude.” But that’s OK, they’ve got another plan for old Mick. Some guys from the human trafficking division who are preparing a sting […]

Ray Donovan recap Season 3 Episode 8: Whose grave are they digging?

August 30, 2015 Barb Oates

Ray Donovan recap Season 3, Episode 8 “Tulip” (original air date Aug. 30, 2015): Episode 8 of Ray Donovan “Tulip” finds the Donovan family on the defense as Father Romero (Leland Orser) comes to Fite Club and the Minassians seek revenge. The episode starts with Ray in the desert swinging a pickaxe, he’s digging someone’s grave — we just don’t know whose. The episode is told in flashback sequences that walk us through how he got there. Earlier he wakes up suddenly from a nightmare, Paige (Katie Holmes) is in the bed next to him. Ugh! I was really hoping […]

Loretta Devine adds her spark to The Carmichael Show

August 25, 2015 Barb Oates

From her Broadway turn in Dreamgirls and starring roles in films like Waiting to Exhale and Jumping the Broom to TV’s Grey’s Anatomy, Loretta Devine has the thespian trifecta when it comes to a diversified resumé. The delightfully humble Devine returns to TV in comedian Jerrod Carmichael’s new multicam sitcom The Carmichael Show (beginning Wednesday, Aug. 26 at 9pm on NBC). The laugh-out-loud series is a modern-day All in the Family of sorts that follows the Carmichael family’s zany dynamics. Carmichael plays Jerrod, who’s hiding from his contrarian father (David Alan Grier) and Bible-obsessed mother (Devine) that his girlfriend Maxine […]

Ray Donovan recap Season 3 Episode 7: Is it time to repent?

August 23, 2015 Barb Oates

Recap Ray Donovan Season 3, Episode 7 “All Must Be Loved” (original air date Aug. 23, 2015): Episode 7 of Ray Donovan “All Must Be Loved” starts at home. Father Romero (Leland Orser) tending to his pigeons at a facility for the Servants of the Paraclete (you’ll learn a lot about Catholicism in this episode). Paige Finney (Katie Holmes) is alone sitting at the edge of her bed stoically contemplating the day ahead. She grabs her sunglasses but leaves her wedding bands on her nightstand. Before she leaves she peeks in on Varick (Jason Butler Harner) sleeping in a room […]

Lifetime’s “Unauthorized Full House Story” is going to be cutthroat …

August 19, 2015 Barb Oates

From 1987 to 1995, Bob Saget, John Stamos, Dave Coulier, Candace Cameron, Jodi Sweetin, and Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen were part of TV’s most beloved family sitcom — Full House. The series followed a widowed father (Saget) raising his three young daughters with the help of his brother-in-law Jesse (Stamos) and best friend Joey (Coulier). After a 192-episode run, ABC pulled the plug, but their story was far from over. Fast-forward to present day and you’ll find Saget’s edgy autobiography Dirty Daddy still garnering laughs, Netflix in production on the spinoff series Fuller House, and Lifetime telling the behind-the-scenes story […]

Ray Donovan recap Season 3 Episode 6: So that’s why Paige is married

August 16, 2015 Barb Oates

Ray Donovan recap Season 3, Episode 6 “Swing Vote” (original air date Aug. 16, 2015): Episode 6 of Ray Donovan “Swing Vote” starts with absentee parents Abby and Ray Donovan actually under the same roof, a surprise for Bridget as she readies herself for school — neither of them noticing as they both are cashed out in separate rooms. This episode, however, shows some hope for the estranged couple. Mickey (Jon Voight) gets a lesson from Mrs. Minassian (Grace Zabriskie) and her grandson on what happens when one of her debtors is late with their payments. Her grandson unleashes some […]

Recap of Ray Donovan episode 5: That naughty little Paige

August 9, 2015 Barb Oates

Ray Donovan Season 3, Episode 5 “Handshake Deal” (original air date Aug. 9, 2015): Oh good gawd, Ray and Mickey in matching Hawaiian shirts?! That is precious. Here’s the recap of Ray Donovan episode 5. As enjoyable as it was to see the Donovan clan enjoying a poolside party at Mickey’s North Hollywood apartment complex — with Abby sunbathing, Terry, Bunchy and Daryll playing catch in the pool with Conor, and Mick and Ray smiling and enjoying a beer together (in their matching shirts) — we figured it was some effed-up drug trip Mick was on. Instead, Daryll woke Mick […]

Recap Ray Donovan Season 3 Episode 4: Family first doesn’t always work out

August 2, 2015 Barb Oates

Ray Donovan Season 3, Episode 4 “Breakfast of Champions” (original air date Aug. 2, 2015): Lots of crazy cereal talk in this episode. Made me pick up a box of Captain Crunch (so why does that cereal rip out the top of your mouth, anyways?). OK, enough of that, here’s the recap Ray Donovan Episode 4. The episode begins with Abby returning to Boston to visit her Southie family. She surprises her brother Dave (Aaron Hendry) at their family bar. “You look like a fucking teenager,” he tells her. “I feel like an old woman.” Abby (Paula Malcomson) takes no […]

Bachelorette finale left one man feeling: “I’m the world’s biggest joke”

July 28, 2015 Barb Oates

The odds that the 2015 season of The Bachelorette were going to be out of control were evident right from the beginning with the whole Britt Nilsson versus Kaitlyn Bristowe, but we never predicted this one. It felt like it would come down to a coin toss for Kaitlyn Bristowe as she confessed her confused love toward both of her finalists — Nick Viall and Shawn Booth. In the end Kaitlyn professed her exclusive love to Shawn Booth and the two are now engaged. For Nick Viall it was a painful déjà vu and complete blindside. The Chicago software sales […]