Lori Acken, Author at StayTuned Magazine

“Dance Moms” recap: Boys Rule, Chicks Cruel

August 15, 2012 Lori Acken

Well, I was kinda hoping we might start this week’s outing by addressing why Abby went outer limits at duet-winner Chloe at the end of last week’s episode, but I guess not. And given that we’re chugging ever closer the end of Season 2, I should really stop grasping for a plotline to cling to like the Maddie-Chloe rivalry of simpler days gone by. And yet I cannot. Abby’s still speaking remedial French, though. And she seems downright tickled at how Starbound Philly went. So whatever the “Sneaky Sneaky” meltdown that sent Chloe fleeing in tears was about, I guess c’est […]

“Dancing with the Stars: All-Stars” partners announced

August 13, 2012 Lori Acken

The Dancing with the Stars: All-Stars pairings have been announced — and while five pro-celeb combos are repeats of their original seasons, only football legend Emmitt Smith and two-time champ Cheryl Burke scored themselves the mirror ball trophy. That leaves the rest of the field populated with some serious power pairings and fan-favorite match-ups that should equate with a highly competitive and ultra-entertaining outing. “We’re trying to pair people based upon what we think is going to make the most intriguing season and make a brilliant season,” executive producer Conrad Green told reporters at the Television Critics Association summer press […]

“Dance Moms” recap: French Diss

August 8, 2012 Lori Acken

Or … “The one in which I find out what that ‘Alouette’ song I learned in Girl Scouts really means.” But first, did everyone come through two weeks with no new Dance Moms okay? Everybody good? Catch a little Olympics action? Or … whatever else they air on Tuesday nights? And now we’re back, but Paige and Kelly aren’t. Turns out, they’re at the doctor for the foot Paige crunched backstage at last episode’s competition in Lancaster. Abby uses this information as a teaching moment: The girls have to understand that their bodies are their instruments. Or Abby’s instruments, anyway. Little talented tools […]

“Dance Moms” star Abby Lee Miller gets new Lifetime dance-competition show

August 6, 2012 Lori Acken

Dance Moms fans, if you’re wondering what you’re going to do when Season 2 wraps up this fall, Lifetime just provided the answer. And it’s a doozy. The network has picked up a 10-episode run of Abby’s Ultimate Dance Competition, in which our favorite dance-teaching diva Abby Lee Miller will join Pussycat Dolls founder Robin Antin and dancer/choreographer Richard Jackson in choosing one of the country’s most talented young dancers to receive a $100,000 cash prize and a scholarship to the Young Dancer Program at the Joffrey Ballet School in New York. (Yes, my fellow Chloe Lukasiak fans, I know what you’re thinking, because I’m thinking […]

TCA: “Weeds” series finale — and what’s in those smokin’ props

July 31, 2012 Lori Acken

Weeds fans, if you’ve always wondered what’s in those “joints” that the cast members smoke on-camera, here’s the deal. The official tobacco- and nicotine-free props from Honeyrose are “created from a blend of quality selected herbs including marshmallow, red clover and rose. The taste is enhanced with fruit juice.” TV writers at the Television Critics Association Summer Press Tour’s Showtime sessions received these “tokins of appreciation” straight from the Weeds gang, who were on hand Tuesday to discuss their eight and final season. Though Showtime’s president of entertainment David Nevins would only say that the Sept. 16 two-part series finale would […]

TCA “Elementary” panel: Why a Big Apple Holmes and a woman Watson could work

July 31, 2012 Lori Acken

In the upcoming CBS drama Elementary, a very modern Sherlock Holmes (Jonny Lee Miller) is a disgraced and traumatized former London detective who takes a gig as a NYC police consultant after he’s sprung from rehab. His Watson? A troubled former surgeon turned sober companion who’s assigned to Sherlock’s case. Also, she’s a lady. First name, Joan. Played by Lucy Liu. But before you wave your well-worn copy of “Hounds of the Baskervilles” in protest, or swear you’ll only watch Holmes on high-falutin’ networks like PBS or the BBC, Elementary’s executive producer and writer Rob Doherty says he hopes […]

Connie Britton and Reba McEntire play country queens this fall on ABC

July 30, 2012 Lori Acken

On ABC’s promising upcoming sudser Nashville – an hour-long drama that’s a little bit country (music) and a little bit political/family potboiler — Connie Britton stars as a fortysomething songbird who finds her career impinged upon by a marginally-talented but brilliantly-marketed youthful sex bomb, played by Hayden Panettiere. While TV types have had a field day guessing which real-life Nashville doyenne and ingénue the ladies’ characters might be based upon, one country legend simply asked Britton outright. “I ran into Reba McEntire on a plane and she said, ‘Did you hear that they’re saying that you’re playing me in your […]

“Dancing With the Stars: All-Stars” — how’d they choose that cast?

July 28, 2012 Lori Acken

By now you’ve checked out the cast list and lamented the “All-Stars” left out (No John O’Hurley?! No Jennifer Grey?! No Yamaguchi, nor Osmond, nor Gosselin?!). Perhaps you’ve already picked your favorite — Team Ohno, right here! — and handicapped the competition in terms of pasos and popularity. And now you’re wondering — just how’s this Dancing With The Stars: All-Stars deal going to work, exactly? The show’s executive producer, Conrad Green, took time to explain the season he calls “a treat for the viewers” to a packed room of television writers at the Television Critics Association Press Tour. Asked […]

TCA: “Dancing With The Stars” all-star cast announcement (video)

July 27, 2012 Lori Acken

Straight from this morning’s announcement at the summer TCA Press Tour, here’s the cast of Dancing With The Stars: All-Stars: Pamela Anderson Emmitt Smith Gilles Marini Joey Fatone Drew Lachey Bristol Palin Kirstie Alley Apolo Anton Ohno Kelly Monaco Shawn Johnson Helio Castroneves Melissa Rycroft The 13th dancer will be chosen by the viewers from a field of Kyle Massey, Sabrina Bryan and Carson Kressley. Dancing With the Stars: All-Stars premieres Monday, Sept. 24, at 8pm.

TCA: Katie Couric offers bucket list for her upcoming ABC talk show “Katie”

July 26, 2012 Lori Acken

“I haven’t done this for a while,” said Katie Couric, looking enviably youthful and lovely — and just a trifle nervous — as she surveyed the roomful of television writers and critics assembled to hear her discuss her upcoming ABC talk show, Katie. Couric began by giving props to singer Sheryl Crow who wrote and performed Katie‘s peppy theme song which accompanied the video clip that preceded Couric taking the stage. “Sheryl’s someone who I admire a great deal and has experienced a lot in her life and is enormously talented,” she said, “so I was absolutely thrilled when she said […]