Lori Acken, Author at StayTuned Magazine

Will Manti Te’o hoax become an episode of Catfish?

January 17, 2013 Lori Acken

Whether or not the rest of us believe that Notre Dame linebacker Manti Te’o was truly duped by a guy claiming to be a ill-fated woman who stole his heart, the Heisman-trophy finalist’s got one important ally. Nev Schulman, star of the hit 2010 documentary Catfish and the current MTV show of the same name, has reached out to Te’o offering to help get to the bottom of the apparent hoax. Schulman himself had once been fooled by a troubled Michigan mom posing as a luscious young woman who formed an online love affair with Schulman, but avoided meeting him in […]

Dance Moms recap: Picking at Scabs

January 15, 2013 Lori Acken

Looks like we’re divided kinda 50-50 on whether we’re OK with Abby’s new dancers or not, Dance Moms fans. Which is bad news for the half who aren’t so charmed, because even after last week’s so-so success, the scabs are back and Abby’s still hoping the Pitt Crew will soon be but a memory. No such luck, Abs — they’re back as well, with Mrs. Hyland in tow. Kel says that she realizes that the way Abby treats her girls is never going to change and since they miss the studio and they miss Miss Abby, may as well go […]

Beth Chapman on Baby Lyssa and Duane Lee’s absence from CMT’s Dog and Beth On The Hunt: “You can’t force your kids to stay with you forever”

January 11, 2013 Lori Acken

When I sat down with Leland, Dog and Beth Chapman to talk about their upcoming new CMT reality series Dog and Beth: On The Hunt and told them that my own family loved watching theirs on A&E’s smash Dog the Bounty Hunter, Beth wanted to know what I liked best about the show. I told her it was her family’s bond. • NEW INTERVIEW: Dog Chapman talks business family, and CMT’s Dog and Beth: On the Hunt Season 2 Much to my surprise — and with Dog and Leland looking on — she offered candid insight into what the Twittersphere has been discussing […]

Kevin Hart’s Real Husbands of Hollywood premieres Tuesday on BET

January 11, 2013 Lori Acken

BET has assembled some bona fide comedy kings – and princes, too — in an all-new, star-studded Tuesday night lineup featuring Kevin Hart’s semi-improv Real Husbands of Hollywood and Second Generation Wayans, a scripted comedy starring (and culled from the lives of) Damien Dante Wayans and Craig Wayans, nephews of the legendary Wayans brothers. Billed as “the fakest reality show on television,” Real Husbands of Hollywood turns the tables on one of reality TV’s most prolific — and over the top — franchises, putting the newly divorced Hart, Nick Cannon (for the sake of the premise of the show, we’ll call him […]

Cyndi Lauper talks Broadway, philanthropy and her upcoming WE tv reality show

January 9, 2013 Lori Acken

If you still think of Cyndi Lauper as the rainbow-haired, helium-voiced pop music confection who defined ’80s girl power with tunes like “Girls Just Want to Have Fun” and “She Bop” — well, you’re partially right. Her hair remains a canvas for her mood, and the voice is unmistakably Lauper. But in the decades since she burst into the pop culture lexicon with 1983’s platinum-selling “She’s So Unusual,” Lauper has evolved into an actor, author, Broadway composer and tireless philanthropist — all the while continuing to make music and a home life with her actor husband David Thornton and their […]

Dance Moms recap: Mutiny On The Abby

January 8, 2013 Lori Acken

Tonight’s episode of Dance Moms begins with another parking lot conference, during which the mothers decide it’s their job to determine whom the competition team will be at the studio that belongs to Abby Lee. Even Holly’s onboard. She says they must stand up for what is right. Like telling a business owner how to run her business. To put their plan into action, they begin by gliding silently past an incredulous Abby and hiding out in the ladies room. Then they come out of the ladies room. They sit across from Abby and have themselves a silent pout. Atta […]

American Idol: Judges and execs talk Season 12

January 8, 2013 Lori Acken

The judging panel for American Idol Season 12 took to the stage at the TCA Winter Press Tour today to present a united front. Sort of. While FOX head of alternative programming, Mike Darnell, assured assembled critics that the much-publicized feud between freshman judges Mariah Carey and Nicki Minaj wasn’t drummed up to lure disillusioned viewers back to the show, he added that all of the judges disagree with one another — only because they are so passionate about finding America’s next music superstar. “They fight all the time,” Carey then quipped about fellow newbie Keith Urban and the judge’s […]

Deception premieres tonight on NBC

January 7, 2013 Lori Acken

Most talk about NBC’s new nighttime soap Deception, which premieres tonight at 10, has centered on two things: the fact that its lead character is a black female (Det. Joanna Locasto, played by Caliornication‘s Meagan Good) and the show’s seeming amalgamation of rival-network dramas like Scandal and Revenge. But Deception‘s creator Liz Heldens says she wasn’t so much focused on any of that when she began to assemble the series — she was thinking about the movies. “Two of my favorite movies are [mob infiltration flicks] Donnie Brasco and The Departed,” Heldens told reporters at this week’s TCA Winter Press Tour. “And […]

NBC’s new Michael J. Fox series will debut in fall

January 7, 2013 Lori Acken

At yesterday’s NBC executive session at the Winter TCA press tour, NBC Entertainment President Jennifer Salke announced that its half-hour sitcom from Michael J. Fox has begun production. Written by Sam Laybourne (Cougar Town, Arrested Development) and directed by Will Gluck (Easy A), the as yet untitled show is based on Fox’ own experiences as a husband. dad and famous guy who is grappling with Parkinson’s disease. Slake said that while Fox will play a newsman — not an actor — who left the spotlight because of the effects of the disease, the show will mirror his own ability to […]

7 Questions with Juan Pablo Galavis of The Bachelor

January 5, 2013 Lori Acken

What did having his heart broken on The Bachelorette teach The Bachelor’s Juan Pablo Galavis about handling his own rose ceremonies? “Nothing!” he laughs. “I HATE rose ceremonies. I hate hurting people and I knew that if I took this opportunity, rose ceremonies were going to be the hardest thing for me to do.” The salsa-loving Galavis says that dance skills are a bonus for the woman who will earn that coveted final flower, but “I’m looking for someone who is both classy and honest. Most importantly, she has to love my daughter!” We didn’t make “Will you be our […]