Lori Acken, Author at StayTuned Magazine

Blindspot Season 2 premiere: Who Is Jane Doe? We’re About To Find Out!

September 9, 2016 Lori Acken

BLINDSPOT NBC Returns: Sept. 14 at 10pm Where We Left Off: Weller’s livid, Jane’s cuffed, Mayfair’s dead and no one trusts anyone. Blindspotters, have you caught your breath after those whiz-bang episodes that lead up to the show’s Season 1 finale? Prepare to lose it all over again when the NBC ratings hit returns in a new Wednesday night time slot. “The show picks up three months after the season finale,” says series creator Martin Gero. “They’re all in a dark space, as you can imagine. They’ve all been through hell. The first episode is really about how they can […]

This Is Awesome: NBC’s This Is Us Is A Must-See

September 2, 2016 Lori Acken

This Is Us NBC Premieres: Sept. 20 Airs: Tuesdays at 10pm; Tuesdays at 9pm beginning Oct. 11 Who’s In It? Mandy Moore, Milo Ventimiglia, Sterling K. Brown, Justin Hartley, Chrissy Metz, Chris Sullivan If you aren’t a heart-clutching, happily teary mess by the end of the premiere episode (or, hell, even the trailer below), well, we just don’t know about you. But we’re not going to tell you why just yet. Here’s what you should know: Pop star turned actress Moore and Heroes’ Ventimiglia costar as Rebecca and Jack, a passionate, loving couple whose triplets arrive on Jack’s 36th birthday. […]

Fall Preview: Ted Danson, Kristen Bell Make The Good Place Great Fun

September 1, 2016 Lori Acken

The Good Place NBC Premieres: Sept. 19 (preview), Sept. 22 timeslot premiere Airs: Thursdays at 8:30pm ET Who’s In It? Ted Danson, Kristen Bell, William Jackson Harper, D’Arcy Carden, Drew Goddard, Jameela Jamil, Manny Jacinto Credit the doofuses who push their yellow-arrow luck for inspiring comedy mastermind Michael Schur (The Office, Parks and Recreation) to craft this dazzlingly inventive belly-laugher about boorish Eleanor Shellstrop (Bell), who alters the course of heaven — a.k.a. The Good Place — when she lands there by accident. “In my opinion, two cars are allowed to do that,” Schur explains. “Sometimes there’s a third car […]

Black-ish on iTunes: Get Season 2 free now through Wednesday

August 15, 2016 Lori Acken

Black-ish fans — or folks wanting to give the outstanding ABC series a try following its three Emmy nominations — you can get the show’s stellar Season 2 for free on iTunes. But only if you act fast. ABC Studios will make all 24 episodes available at no cost now through Wednesday, August 17. During Season 2, black-ish was recognized by the American Film Institute as an AFI Television Program of the Year, and received the coveted Peabody Award. In July, the show received three Emmy nominations, including a second consecutive nod for Anthony Anderson for Outstanding Lead Actor in a […]

The Walking Dead en Español on NBC Universo: Season 3 begins this month

August 15, 2016 Lori Acken

NBC Universo will air The Walking Dead en Español Season 3 beginning Wednesday, Aug. 31 at 10/9CT. “We are excited to have more people become part of our universe and having the opportunity to present our show to Latinos in the U.S. on NBC Universo is unprecedented,” said Greg Nicotero, Executive Producer, Director and Special Effects Makeup Supervisor for The Walking Dead in the NBC Universo press release. “With any survival story you have to find characters you identify with… that you would want to fight alongside, fall in love with them or be forced to watch them die. For The Walking Dead we have […]

Fear The Walking Dead: The Group Is Splintered As Season 2 Returns

August 14, 2016 Lori Acken

For those of us still reeling from May’s (literal) barnburner of a Fear the Walking Dead midseason ender, relief is in sight. The newly splintered Manawa-Clark-Strand-Salazar crew returns Aug. 21 with their already dicey world in tatters and no alternate plan at the ready. Let’s take stock. After banishing Strand (Colman Domingo) for giving Thomas (Dougray Scott) a merciful end, Celia (Marlene Forte) and her corral of undead went up in flames, courtesy of a fed-up Madison (Kim Dickens) and a hallucinating — and now MIA — Daniel (Rubén Blades). Nick (Frank Dillane) took the loss of his spooky mentor personally […]

Gomorrah: SundanceTV Imports Acclaimed Italian Mob Series

August 13, 2016 Lori Acken

Despite its gritty subject matter, Gomorrah is a sophisticated watch. The Italian import’s bleak color palette, rapid-fire and subtitled dialogue, and unapologetically grim world might challenge even foreign film aficionados, especially at the outset. But sit tight and pay attention and by the end of the premiere, you’ll find yourself as much in the grip of crime boss Don Pietro Savastano (Fortunato Cerlino, Hannibal) as the don’s enemies and associates in Naples’ Camorra crime family. And this must be said: There’s something deeply satisfying about watching an earnestly authentic mob story set in Italy … in Italian. SundanceTV acquired two […]

Better Late Than Never: Winkler, Shatner, Foreman and Bradshaw Tour Asia. Hilarity Ensues.

August 13, 2016 Lori Acken

Better Late Than Never premieres Tuesday, Aug. 23 at 10/9CT. Henry Winkler and William Shatner are sitting on a bus in Thailand, watching George Foreman and Terry Bradshaw sing karaoke duets. No, it’s not the start of an epic joke. Or the kind of post-bender dream that makes you wonder if you should give up the sauce entirely or indulge a bit more often. It’s just one of the excellent adventures the four legends of sports and entertainment tackle together in NBC’s new Winkler-coproduced series Better Late Than Never. Inspired by the Korean reality smash Grandpas Over Flowers (that’s not a […]

The Walking Dead Season 7 preview: AMC airs hourlong special Sunday

August 12, 2016 Lori Acken

The bat man returns … soon. OK, soon-ish. To tide us over until The Walking Dead‘s Season 7 premiere on Oct. 23, AMC will air an hourlong preview special this Sunday, August 14 at 9/8CT. According to the net, the preview — hosted by everyone’s favorite Dead guy Chris Hardwick, and featuring Talking Dead super-guest Yvette Nicole Brown and Austin Amelio, who plays Negan-ite Dwight — “will give fans an early look at what to expect in the upcoming season, featuring exclusive interviews with the cast, executive producers and special guests … as well as behind-the-scenes moments.” But as Dead heads well know, the EPs and […]

When Does Dance Moms Return? And What’s With the Cats?

August 12, 2016 Lori Acken

Neither fraud conviction nor Ziegler defection nor — well, we guess, much of anything — can keep Abby Lee Miller and her reality show off of Lifetime. Yes, people, Dance Moms will return for the second half of its sixth season on Tuesday, Sept. 6 at 9/8CT. Though Miller could be sentenced to up to 30 months in jail after pleading guilty to bankruptcy fraud (she learns her fate on Oct. 11), the show must apparently go on. No. Matter. What. And with star sisters Maddie and Mackenzie Ziegler and their Abby-acolyte mom Melissa off to greener pastures, and hair-bow-loving spitfire — and frequent Miller target — […]