Articles by Lori Acken

About Lori Acken
Lori just hasn't been the same since "thirtysomething" and "Northern Exposure" went off the air.
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Family

“Dance Moms: Miami” coming soon says Lifetime

January 17, 2012 Lori Acken

Watch your Pilates-toned backs, Bravo Housewives! Looks like Lifetime has found a lady-centric reality franchise of its own in the Dance Moms. With the popularity of the original Pittsburgh-based Dance Moms reality spectacle (now airing its second season Tuesday nights at 9) at a fevered pitch, Lifetime has announced it will air six hour-long episodes of Dance Moms: Miami, set at the sultry south Florida city’s Stars Dance Studio. The school’s owners, renowned contemporary dance teacher Victor Smalley — an instructor on  Season 6 of So You Think You Can Dance — and choreographer Angel Armas train a diverse group of […]

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Family

New “Little People, Big World” special airs Jan. 22 on TLC

January 17, 2012 Lori Acken

Zach Roloff — the only one of Matt and Amy Roloff‘s four offspring to share their dwarfism — gets the girl on an all-new Little People, Big World special set to debut this Sunday at 8pm ET on TLC. And while I’m tickled pink about this new development as a near-obsessive LPBW fan, I’m also trying hard not to notice that this will be the third of four hourlong specials promised by the network — meaning that only one remains. When the special episodes were announced last summer, the couple told The Hollywood Reporter that, “the response from the fans since Little […]

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Drama

TCA recap: TNT’s “Dallas” – Hagman, Duffy and Gray all return

January 15, 2012 Lori Acken

TNT exec Michael Wright began yesterday’s TCA session for it’s upcoming revival of the beloved ’80s series Dallas by gently taking journos to task over the words we’ve been using to describe it. “Dallas is not a remake,” he said. “It is not a reboot. It is a continuation of the story of the Ewings.” Those of us who’ve seen the pilot would be hard-pressed to argue. In the first episode alone, original Dallas alum Larry Hagman, Patrick Duffy and Linda Gray (“The Big Three,” all regulars on the new series),  plus Charlene Tilton and Steve Kanaly were all present. […]

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Politics

TCA News: Keith Olbermann will helm election coverage on Current

January 14, 2012 Lori Acken

Sure, he’s had a few dust-ups with his new network home, but the countdown to Keith Olbermann’s election coverage is on at the Al Gore/David Bohrman-helmed Current TV. “Keith has told us that he will do our special election coverage moving forward, which we desperately want him to do,” Bohrman told a capacity crowd at Friday’s Current TCA session. Asked why Olbermann was not there to deliver the news himself, Bohrman said he was “on vacation,” leaving reporters to speculate if that actually meant vacation from the network in the wake of his criticisms over stuff like low-tech sets and […]

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Interview

TCA: “Desperate Housewives” cast and creator on the end of the beloved series

January 13, 2012 Lori Acken

On Tuesday, the Wisteria Lane gang gathered before assembled TCA critics to, as castmember Felicity Hoffman put it, “[have] the funeral before you die.  Everyone gets to go, ‘You were great. We’re really going to miss you.  I’m sorry you’re dying.’ And you go, ‘Thanks.  I really had a great time!’ Though the 8-season show has had its share of ups and downs, the new season is being universally heralded as a high note and the mood in the room was more like a fond-farewell party for a group of beloved friends than a funeral, with the brunt of the […]

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Comedy

TCA: James Van Der Beek steals the spotlight from “The B—- In Apt. 23”

January 12, 2012 Lori Acken

Krysten Ritter, the gleefully titular “B”[*tch] in ABC’s upcoming comedy Don’t Trust The B— In Apt. 23, was present in a strapless red frock that set off her milky skin and crimson lipstick. Dreama Walker, the target for the B—‘s bitchery, was there too, resplendent in blue. But the only Apt. 23 panel member that TCA Press Tour critics wanted to talk to  and about was Dawson. Er, James Van Der Beek. The Beeeeeeeek! In da apartmeeent! It’s a little understandable. Most of us grew up with Dawsey and Pacey and Joey on the Creek. Plus, Van Der Beek’s new […]

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Comedy

TCA: Kutcher and Lorre talk “Two And A Half Men”

January 11, 2012 Lori Acken

S’at you, Ashton Kutcher? Seated on stage with Two And A Half Men creators Chuck Lorre and Lee Aronsohn, and his costars Jon Cryer and Angus T. Jones, Kutcher sported a fresh, mom-approved haircut and a conservative suit (a show-sanctioned look that will be explained on Monday night’s ep)  — and a ring on his wedding finger, with which he was noticeably fiddling. He also talked in measured tones about technology and investment funds. And a bit about Two and a Half Men. Mostly that he enjoys being on the show, is pleased that its demographic is skewing younger and […]