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Family

Matthew Morrison, Kristin Chenoweth headline TLC’s Broadway at the White House

Though it’s best known for a myriad of oddly addictive reality shows and specials, TLC gets artsy this Thanksgiving eve with its star-studded hourlong special Broadway at the White House. Hosts Matthew Morrison (currently starring in Finding Neverland) and longtime Broadway favorite Kristin Chenoweth join First Lady Michelle Obama as they welcome a group of specially chosen  high-school students for a once-in-a-lifetime, all-day symposium at the White House focusing on careers in theater. • MORE: See First Lady Michelle Obama address the Broadway at the White House audience here With the help of current Broadway performers, 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue transforms into a space for students to nurture […]

Nature Cat
Animation

Tally ho! Imagination runs wild with “Nature Cat” on PBS Kids

Brothers David and Adam Rudman have long worked on Sesame Street (David is Cookie Monster’s puppeteer and Adam is a writer), and they’ve created Nature Cat, an animated kids series for PBS inspired by their own adventures playing outside as kids. “We wanted to do Looney Tunes with a nature curriculum,” David says. “And we felt like that’s a great way to get kids interested in going outside and inspired to go out in nature.” Nature Cat (premiering Nov. 25 on PBS; check local listings) is about an exuberant housecat who goes outside with his animal pals to explore the outdoors […]

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Family

Interview: Alfonso Ribeiro and Vin Di Bona on a new era of America’s Funniest Home Videos

If new America’s Funniest Home Videos host Alfonso Ribeiro is even a little nervous about inheriting the gig from his pal Tom Bergeron, following Bergeron’s 14-year tenure with the show, well, you’d never know it by looking at him. Same goes for the show’s proud creator, Vin Di Bona, who is putting his signature series through its most dramatic (don’t worry, moms and dads. It’s not that dramatic) revamp since the show debuted to smash ratings in 1989. Standing a few feet apart at a summer ABC cocktail reception, both men attributed their serenity to one reassuring notion: America’s Funniest Home Videos — AFV for short — is and always has […]

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Family

Dan and Michelle Hamill on a big new season of Our Little Family

When Dan and Michelle Hamill introduced viewers to life with their three adorable kids — big brother Jack and twins Cate and CeCe — in February, it was little surprise that folks promptly fell head over heels for the Annapolis, MD, family, all of whom were born with achondroplasia. Now the Hamills and their charming TLC unscripted series, Our Little Family, are back for Season 2 with a fresh batch of fun. Summer vacation has arrived for Jack, the girls are cherubic (and potty trained!) chatterboxes and new adventures await. We caught up with Dan and Michelle last week to talk Season […]

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Competition

Dance Moms Season 5 finale recap: Would you like seconds?

OK, so I didn’t quite get to last week’s recap either. Press tour — the near-fatal summer (and winter) camp for television critics. It’s kinda the same thing every day and you’re lucky to make it out alive at the bitter end. Kind of like recapping a season of Dance Moms. OK, recapping of a season of Dance Moms is worse. At least they feed us and sometimes the drinks are free at TCA. But anyway, let’s wrap this sucker up, shall we? So Nationals week is here, so is Jeanette and her team from the Broadway Dance Academy — even […]

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Competition

Dance Moms Season 5 episode 26 recap: Babies, bats and unruly hats …

Mama’s home, boys and girls! And since I was away for so long, I want everyone to hit up the comments section and tell me the best thing and the worst thing about the two episodes I missed. Also, veteran readers, how about that John R. Kasich, Governor, running for president?! At least WE know who the guy is, anyway. Looks like we got us an intact ALDC LA while I was away, too. Jill’s so happy about it that she decides to do a cartwheel in a skirt, which allows the first screen capture of my return to feature […]

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Kids

Nickelodeon Premieres Mutt & Stuff: A Tail-Wagging Series For Preschoolers

Mutt & Stuff is an adorable new series premieres Friday, July 10 and is about a unique school for talented real-life pooches and hilarious puppets. The series is the brain-child of legendary producers Sid and Marty Krofft (H. R. Pufnstuf, Land Of The Lost) and producer Bradley Zweig. Calvin Millan, son of famed animal trainer Cesar Millan (who is also a producer), is the series’ human star and plays the doggie academy’s teen teacher. The prospects of a wriggling pile of pups sounds like heaven to many preschoolers; and not only are they cute, the dogs on Mutt & Stuff […]

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Competition

Dance Moms Season 5 episode 23 recap: Chica Mica Meet Laquifa!

Welcome back to Discord Central, Dance Moms nation. Everyone recovered from all of the drama (bra-ma?) that went down at the end of last week’s episode? Good. Because this bad boy is nothing short of a snooze. We start out with a little confab among the girls in which they discuss whether Kalani is really gone for good and what is going on with Abby and the shout-fest that was last week’s competition. Meanwhile, the Moms are in the Mom Closet talking about pretty much the same stuff. Bad feelings. Bad feelings abound. Let’s see if Gia has something reassuring […]

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Family

Now Available: New Episodes of Amazon’s Kids Series “Annedroids”

This morning, Amazon released Season 2 of its Emmy-nominated children’s series Annedroids. The series follows a STEM (Science,Technology, Engineering and Math) curriculum and there is much rejoicing in the Freeze household today — this season features 13 all-new, 30-minute episodes. The live-action adventure continues with tween scientist Anne (Addison Holley, Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood) and her friends creating experiments in Anne’s fantastic junkyard laboratory. When Nick (Jadiel Dowlin) and Shania (perpetually hilarious Adrianna Di Liello) return to school after spending their summer in the junkyard, Anne finds new ways to stay in touch using Pidgely, a pigeon with a broken wing […]

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Family

Six Pilots Released For Potential Amazon TV Series For Kids

Amazon has released pilots for six new children’s programs and wants our help in deciding which should pilots should be further developed into a series. Viewer feedback of the pilots will help choose the next wave of rewarding and award-winning programming for kids available on Amazon’s Watch it Now service and for subscribers to Amazon Prime. All pilots are now available (free!) via the Amazon Instant Video app for TVs, connected devices and mobile devices, or online. Check out the diverse slate of programming that Amazon is considering: Which series would your kids want to watch? I checked the six […]