Kids Archives - Page 26 of 29 - StayTuned Magazine

Abby Lee Miller fights back: Christi Lukasiak exploits daughter Chloe

September 24, 2012 Lori Acken

Dance Moms’ Abby Lee Miller has a few choice words for her most outspoken client and costar, Christi Lukasiak — and they came through my inbox this afternoon. • Related: Channel Guide’s exclusive interview with Abby Lee Miller In a tersely worded e-mail that my Dance Moms-watching partner in crime Hubby Rik officially decreed “the most awesome email in the history of email” — Abby, when I spoke with you recently and told you he would happily leave me to be your manservant, I meant it — Miller presents her side of the ongoing battle with which DM fans are all […]

“Don’t Divorce Me!” premieres tonight on HBO

September 20, 2012 Lori Acken

I am not a child of divorce. My birth child is. My three step-kids are, obviously, too. This has given me a broad, but common, perspective on marriage and parenting. My own mother and father have been wed 51 years and have lived in exactly two houses in the same town for the entirety of their union — the one I lived in until I left for college and the one they moved into after. My daughter has lived in multiple apartments and houses in multiple cities and states in her 24 years, dividing her time — only some of […]

Elmo gets new format as “Sesame Street” begins Season 43

September 20, 2012 Jeff Pfeiffer

The beloved and influential children’s series Sesame Street begins its 43rd season Monday, Sept. 24, on PBS (check local listings for the exact time and channel in your area). While much of what has made the show so impactful and important will remain — the fun and educational elements — one change is taking place of note regarding one of its most famous characters. The little red furry monster Elmo is having his “Elmo’s World” segment replaced after 13 years. But don’t fret, Elmo fans. Elmo is simply being given a new series of 11-minute skits, called “Elmo the Musical,” […]

VOD Spotlight: “The Pirates! Band of Misfits”: a ship-to-shore-up operation

August 28, 2012 StayTuned Staff

Working on a stop-motion animation film like The Pirates! Band of Misfits presents its own brand of troubles. One major problem the filmmakers encountered on this particular set was the fact that the action was to take place largely at sea, but they were to shoot in a studio setting — which meant they had to devise themselves water. “How do we make the pirate ship sail with no water?” Morgan Roe, the mechanical engineer on the film, asked at the time. “It may be shocking, but ships don’t just rock. They rock, they roll, and they rise and fall; […]

VOD Spotlight: Bringing “Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax” to life

August 21, 2012 StayTuned Staff

It’s always a touchy business, taking a revered children’s book and bringing it to the screen in full 3-D. When it’s a story as stylized and personal to its author as The Lorax is, just suggesting the attempt can border on hubris. But in the case of this particular story, producer Chris Meledandri says the idea wasn’t theirs to begin with. “The genesis of the decision to do The Lorax as the follow-up to Dr. Seuss’ Horton Hears a Who! actually came from [Seuss’ widow] Audrey Geisel,” he recalls of the conversation. “We had talked about wanting to do another […]

Disney’s “Code 9” allows kids to punk their parents

August 3, 2012 Tom Comi

Parents, your worst nightmare has officially arrived. With all of the prank shows on TV nowadays, it was only a matter of time before some network came up with a opportunity for kids to embarrass their folks nationally. And thanks to Disney Channel, that nightmare comes in the form of Code 9 (tonight, 7:30pm ET). I knew something was askew last week when my kids (ages 9 and 7) told me I had to sit down and watch “this cool new show” with them. They thought the idea of children making their mom and dad look silly was the funniest thing […]

“Toddlers & Tiaras’” Honey Boo Boo Child Alana Thompson gets her own show!

July 20, 2012 Lori Acken

Say what you will about the kiddie pageant industry, TLC’s jaw-dropper reality hit Toddlers & Tiaras has still produced some of the most amusing tots on TV — few more so than 6-year-old rural Georgia resident Alana Thompson, a highly quotable, Kewpie-faced cutup who famously renamed herself Honey Boo Boo Child in one of the show’s most talked about episodes. Thompson’s antics — combined with the plain-spoken parenting style of her mother June Shannon — made her an overnight YouTube sensation. And now Honey Boo Boo’s coming back to TV in her own TLC docuseries, Here Comes Honey Boo Boo. […]

“Dance Moms” recap: Secrets, Lies & Leslie

June 27, 2012 Lori Acken

Is it just me, Dance Moms Nation, or was this the feel-bad episode of the year? So much so that I changed my mind about what this blog should be called about 18 times in the first ten minutes alone. Abb-niss Eats The Children. Everyone’s Replaceable. Bully For You — whoops did that one already. Hush, Little Leslie, Don’t Say A Word. Go For The Silver (Anniversary). IT’S THE LARGEST COMPETITION IN THE WHOLE WIDE WORLD! And given the various horrors of last week’s trip to Michigan, I expected Abby to spend at least the whole time I decided what to call […]

“Dance Moms” recap: A Tale of [Those] Two [Other] Studios

June 20, 2012 Lori Acken

I’m troubled, Dance Moms Nation. No, not about the overall feeling of discord and dread that seems to have permeated Pittsburgh. No, not about the conspicuous lack of attention my beloved Ohio sign is getting thus far. Not even about how much sleep Maddie is getting, which I don’t think is enough. While all of those things do worry me, what is weighing so heavily on my mind is how fashionable everyone in the Pitt Crew has become. I mean, accessibly fashionable. So that even I can understand it. Fashion for TV Writer Dummies, if you will. Witness Kelly’s lovely […]

Paula’s oldest boy, Jamie Deen, invites you “Home For Dinner” Saturdays on Food Network

June 15, 2012 Lori Acken

As the son of Southern cooking’s grande dame Paula Deen — and now her partner in the iconic Savannah eatery The Lady & Sons — Jamie Deen knows all about good food. So when it came time to ask for his now-wife Brooke’s hand in marriage, Deen went to his kitchen and whipped up … egg salad. “Egg salad is her favorite thing to eat on,” Deen — now dad to sons Matthew, 1, and Jack, 5 — laughs. “People know my family’s history — and I’ve been so fortunate to travel and eat everywhere — but I made egg […]