Lori Acken, Author at StayTuned Magazine

UnREAL episode 2 recap: We’re having a ball! And a baby! And a funeral!

June 8, 2015 Lori Acken

In last week’s UnREAL series premiere, we learned plenty of the not-so-secrets that got Rachel Goldberg booted from — and invited back to — the Everlasting set. This week, we learn that secrets abound in the Everlasting control room — and not just in Dr. Wagerstein’s folder. And they go a long way in explaining why some of these folks have no problem waging war on love for the sake of a paycheck. Namely, their own broken hearts. We start the episode with an interesting lesson in on-the-fly hygiene from the intrepid Rachel (toothpaste as pit-freshener!) who has apparently taken up […]

Grossly engrossing! National Geographic Channel unveils the world’s first T rex Autopsy

June 5, 2015 Lori Acken

National Geographic Channel’s Sunday-night special T Rex Autopsy takes guts … and turns them into geek-out, gruesome fun wrapped up in a hefty education in all things Tyrannosaurus rex. Mixing cutting-edge CGI effects with top-notch science — and scientists — the network will reveal how the 65-million-year-old, teeny-armed rock stars of the dinosaur world lived, the challenges they encountered and why they died. Billed as “part gruesome monster film and all real science,” T. Rex Autoposy “stars” an impressive 43’ x 13’ beastie nicknamed Edwina lovingly created over 12,000 hours by Crawley Creatures of Walking with Dinosaurs fame. And they spared the scientists no detail of […]

You got it, dude: Lifetime to air “The Unauthorized Full House Story” in August

June 4, 2015 Lori Acken

If you spend your evenings relishing Nick@Nite’s endless Full House reruns and wishing someone, oh someone, would give you a peek behind the scenes of the squeaky-clean series, well, as Michelle Tanner would say: You got it, dude. On the heels of last year’s The Unauthorized Saved By The Bell Story (and ahead of Netflix’ all-grown-up reboot Fuller House), Lifetime will present The Unauthorized Full House Story on August 22. Like its predecessor, TUFHS offers up a cast of unknowns stepping into the shoes — and other questionable ’80s/’90s attire — of the folks who became household names during Full House‘s 192-episode run: Garrett Brawith as Bob […]

True Detective Season 2 star Taylor Kitsch: “I’ve never walked away from something as excited and proud as I am of this”

June 2, 2015 Lori Acken

Praise and pity for True Detective creator Nic Pizzolatto. The first season of his mega-award-winning HBO drama was widely (and justifiably) trumpeted as unlike anything else in TV history, luring Matthew McConaughey back to the small screen and blowing viewers’ and critics’ minds with a spine-tingling mystery that turned water-cooler talk into an impromptu psychology class. So how would the guy handle Season 2? The short answer: Move the series to California and assemble an even larger A-list cast into an intricate tale of cops, career criminals and politics that, like Season 1, unravels from a single, strange murder. Though […]

Another Period — Comedy Central pokes fun at the Kardashians of the past

June 1, 2015 Lori Acken

Comedy Central’s latest scripted series, Another Period, is a sort of Downton Abbey for people who loathe Downton Abbey — messy, ribald and hilarious, but also surprisingly well researched. Series stars and longtime pals Natasha Leggero and Riki Lindhome (Garfunkel and Oates), who created the show from a short film they made with the same premise, spent time in the show’s Newport, R.I., home base to get a feel for the era and setting in which their turn-of-the-century socialite sisters Lillian and Beatrice Bellacourt lived. Then they threw a big ol’ voyeur-TV bomb right in the middle of all that gentility. “Riki and I had actually […]

Dance Moms Australia special Part 2 recap: Abby whines and Nia shines

May 26, 2015 Lori Acken

Why didn’t any of you warn me that Dance Moms is already back June 9, Dance Moms nation? I know you knew before I did, because you always know things before I do, even I get paid to know the things. And here I was looking forward to at least a handful of relaxing summer Tuesdays after we wrap up our Australian adventures and head off to further torment in L.A. But noooooo. Speaking of noooooo, that’s about how much fun Abby wants the girls to have before getting back down to business. A little snuggling koalas and that is […]

Hoarders Family Secrets star Matt Paxton: “This year … it will all make sense”

May 22, 2015 Lori Acken

When Lifetime debuts its Hoarders reboot, Hoarders: Family Secrets, Thursday night, fans of the A&E original will be pleased to see some very familiar faces have returned to the Hoarders fold — including extreme cleaning specialist Matt Paxton. Paxton says that even though A&E pulled the plug on Hoarders in 2013, reruns on the show’s new Lifetime home have kept the series — and serious discussions about this very real mental disorder — alive. “It’s been pretty surreal to see the response on social media — for me, on social media it never ended,” Paxton says. “New people were finding the show and they were […]

Grace of Monaco premieres Monday night on Lifetime

May 21, 2015 Lori Acken

Despite its very public slide from Cannes Film Festival opener and much-anticipated theatrical release to Lifetime movie of the week, you could do worse than to spend the waning hours of your Memorial Day watching Grace of Monaco. Especially if you’re a fan of Nicole Kidman and her considerable knack for playing steely stunners. There. Permission granted to watch it and enjoy it. How you handle the rest is up to you. If you approach Grace as a sort of weird amalgamation of golden-hued rags-to-riches princess tale and G-rated political-intrigue drama/mystery — rather an accurate biography of the cool blond Hollywood ingénue turned misunderstood princess — you’ll […]

UnREAL — New Lifetime dramedy examines the harsh reality of reality TV

May 20, 2015 Lori Acken

UnREAL premieres Monday, June 1 at 10/9CT on Lifetime. Can you be a feminist and still love The Bachelor? Better question: Can you be a feminist and admit to loving The Bachelor? Best question of all: Can you be a feminist and actually work on The Bachelor? It’s a lot to digest — just ask writer/producer/director Sarah Gertrude Shapiro. When Shapiro was in her early twenties, she spent a few years working as a producer on ABC’s reality behemoth during its fourth and fifth seasons (that’s the disastrous “Bob and Estella” and “Jesse and Jessica” for those of you keeping score). […]

Dance Moms Australia Special Part 1 recap: Making Astras of Ourselves

May 19, 2015 Lori Acken

Even though we’ve been reading about it and watching stuff on YouTube for months now, its time for the official Jeff Collins-crafted version of the ALDC’s Australian misadventures, Dance Moms nation. Everyone got their comfortable walking shoes … and their passport? No, no everyone does not. We start out in the dark of night at LAX where Abby is two hours from departure and a million light years from knowing where hers — plus her driver’s license and her credit cards — is. Er, what seasoned traveler heads to the airport without checking and rechecking boarding passes and necessary I.D.? Isn’t […]