Lori Acken, Author at StayTuned Magazine

Better Call Saul episode 6 recap: “Five-O”

March 9, 2015 Lori Acken

Better Call Saul episode 6 is arguably the hour most Saul fans have been longing for since it was announced that Jonathan Banks’ stone-faced fixer Mike Ehrmantraut would be part of the story. And one most Breaking Bad fans hoped for, too, before Saul was even a twinkle in AMC’s eye. More than any this season, this episode also adds fuel to the burning question of whether or not you really must be a disciple of Breaking Bad to truly get the most from Saul. In this episode, we only see our titular hero for a few moments — priceless moments to be sure, but the […]

Sondra Celli on tonight’s “Gypsy Wedding” and more!

March 5, 2015 Lori Acken

She sews seas shells! On tonight’s all-new My Big Fat American Gypsy Wedding, Gypsy Sisters star Nettie Stanley’s son Whitey marries his longtime love Lottie — and, of course, the family turned to everyone’s favorite gypsy-couture all-star, Sondra Celli, to design the dress. “The wedding was down by water, so we did seashells,” says Celli, calling from her suburban Boston business on yet another snowy winter day. “The dress is absolutely gorgeous. She had a theme to her wedding, so it worked for me to go into ice blues and seashells. Seashells! It’s a beautiful dress. It’s odd because it […]

Dance Moms Season 5 episode 9 recap: A little less talk and a little more dancin’

March 3, 2015 Lori Acken

Uh oh, Dance Moms nation. The counter is back. I suppose it was only a matter of time. And just for the record, I’d consider using Lifetime-sanctioned photos for these things if, you know, they actually offered some from each — or any — episode. Which they don’t. And what’s a story without pictures? So I make my own. So let’s all just ignore the counter. We do not see you, counter! Lalalala! As promised, we’re back in Pittsburgh. Holly says she sees L.A. as a success, even if Abby did try to sabotage Nia at every turn — Aubrey […]

Better Call Saul episode 5 recap: “Alpine Shepherd Boy”

March 2, 2015 Lori Acken

When we left the McGill brothers at the end of last week’s Better Call Saul, things were looking up for Jimmy and not so much for Chuck, who risked going to outside long enough to make an unauthorized purchase of his neighbor’s paper only to be further traumatized by what he found on the front page. And that is where we pick up in this week’s episode, “Alpine Shepherd Boy.” When a pair of cops appear on Chuck’s doorstep to investigate the “crime,” Chuck points out that the neighbor actually made a tidy profit on the exchange and then attempts to engage […]

The Returned: The spine-tingling French series gets an American reboot on A&E

March 2, 2015 Lori Acken

If you saw The Returned in its original French incarnation, odds are you haven’t forgotten a moment. The eerie character study about a small town unmoored when a handful of its dead return seemingly unchanged explored matters of life and death and devotion in a gorgeously quiet, emotionally rending way. Now the series is getting an American reboot from writer/producers Carlton Cuse (Lost, Bates Motel) and Raelle Tucker (Supernatural, True Blood). The pair says that, rather than re-create the original, they used it as a starting point for more expansive storytelling as “the returned” and their reeling loved ones navigate […]

Go behind the scenes of NGC’s “Killing Jesus”

February 26, 2015 Lori Acken

I am seated near a bank of monitors in a maze-like casbah in Tamnougalt, a 400-year-old village in Morocco’s Draa River valley. Actors, crew members and locals mill about in cool, cramped hallways with rocky floors, clay walls and a tightly thatched ceiling that, now and then, releases a shower of dust that coats our hair and teeth. Flies and feral cats are omnipresent. And we’re all in the presence of Jesus. Actually, it’s my first day visiting the sets of National Geographic Channel’s Killing Jesus, its most ambitious film project to date and the third of the network’s films […]

CSI Cyber — The new kid in the CBS franchise tackles “Crime 2.0”

February 26, 2015 Lori Acken

Can you control your thermostat, your DVR and even your coffee maker with just a couple taps of an app on your phone? It’s cool, certainly — convenient, for sure — but it could also make you a prime candidate for a savvy new brand of criminal. It’s a great big Wi-Fi world out there and our willingness to forego our privacy for the love of the latest gadget is the catalyst for a timely new CSI spinoff. CSI: Cyber stars recent Oscar winner Patricia Arquette as Special Agent Avery Ryan, head of the FBI’s Cyber Crime Division — a role […]

My Big Fat American Gypsy Wedding Season 4 preview: You can’t ring my bell….

February 25, 2015 Lori Acken

My Big Fat American Gypsy Wedding returns to TLC for a fourth season on Thursday, Feb. 26 at 9/8CT — and in the season premiere, Small-family teen Julie does her (literal) level best not to ring in her Sweet 16 celebration. In keeping with her ultra traditional family’s customs, Julie will have bells sewn into her lavish party dress. Asked to walk a straight line when she enters the festivities, Julie’s dress must stay perfectly quiet as a sign of her purity or she’ll face the wrath of her grandma Tils. And from the looks of it, you do not want to get […]

Dance Moms Season 5 Episode 8 recap: Out with a whimper

February 24, 2015 Lori Acken

Another day, another million dramas, Dance Moms nation. We start out back on the set of the MattyB video, where Abby is still stewing about Melissa not recognizing that Mackenzie is just this side of Ariana Grande and refusing to sign her on in a second fiddle role. Abby says the papers that Melissa did sign say that Mack will appear, but keep her golden little pipes to herself. If she sings, she gets top billing. Even though MattyB’s people are paying for this thing, so, uh, there. Blake talks the sudden hitch in the giddy up with Melissa, who admits she just […]

Our Little Family preview: Adapting in an average-sized world … plus, it’s potty time!

February 24, 2015 Lori Acken

Our Little Family returns to TLC tonight with back-to-back new episodes. In the first, it’s potty-training time for Cate and Cece, Dan builds Jack a playground fortress that’s the perfect size for him, and a trip to the grocery store with the kids gives Michelle another chance to demonstrate how to adapt in an average-sized world. • MORE: We talk with Dan and Michelle Hamill of TLC’s Our Little Family! “Some little people use grabbers at the grocery store — I’m having none of that,” she says, clambering up shelves in the cookie aisle and coming back down with something Jack nixes […]