Lori Acken | 2/19 | Channel Guide Magazine

Abby’s Ultimate Dance Competition recap: The Politics of Dancing

November 7, 2012 | By Lori Acken
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Last night on Abby’s Ultimate Dance Competition — the show about children striving to win a dance competition — we had the mother of a six-year-old physically aggressing another mother and challenging her to a sidewalk brawl for the second time, and a dance teacher turned judge telling a kid she wants to break her ankles. And you thought monitoring the election results was scary. Let’s recap. After a little fussing from a few mothers and Hadley, Abby and Kevin show up to inform the girls that, because there are only eight dancers left, well, pretty soon it’s going to feel [...]

Matt and Amy Roloff talk “Little People, Big World: Wedding Farm”

November 2, 2012 | By Lori Acken
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After six seasons, nearly 250 episodes and a quartet of specials, Little People, Big World stars Matt and Amy Roloff found themselves at a personal and professional crossroads. Their four kids were growing up and preparing for life away from the family’s home and the enormously popular TLC series they created there. The couple had just purchased land adjacent to their farm. And a major marital milestone loomed. “Matt and I looked at each other, like, ‘What are we going to do with each other?’” Amy chuckles. “‘What are we going to do?’” They found the answer in their new [...]

“Catfish” star Nev Schulman helps other online lovers on MTV’s “Catfish: The TV Show”

November 2, 2012 | By Lori Acken
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If you’re a fan of the 2010 hit documentary Catfish, you know Yaniv “Nev” Schulman as the 24-year-old New York photographer who formed a long-distance, technology-driven relationship with “Megan,” a luscious but evasive Michigan woman, then discovered that his online dream girl was actually a troubled middle-aged mom name Angela. In the wake of the film — which concludes with Schulman making peace with his deceiver — Schulman heard from an astounding cross section of people worried that their own online lovers aren’t really who they seem. • RELATED: Will Manti Te’o hoax become an episode of Catfish? The result is [...]

Abby’s Ultimate Dance Competition recap: Dance, Off

October 30, 2012 | By Lori Acken
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So, uh, tonight’s Abby’s Ultimate Dance Competition was actually about … dance. Like, all about dance, with only the slightest sprinkling of mama drama tossed in there just in case we stubbornly forget that Yvette is a grinning meddler and Kristie enjoys being mad. Let’s recap. This week’s theme is New York, New York, and in honor of that, Abby is going to turn the 45-Minute Combo challenge into a mock Broadway audition. Each of the dancers is wearing a number; each will perform the combo over and over again, until all but one are eliminated. There’s even a live piano [...]

Abby’s Ultimate Dance Competition recap: Use Your Agony To Claim Sweet Victory

October 24, 2012 | By Lori Acken
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That little gem is actually not an Yvette-ism. That’s an Abby-ism. And I may well have it tattooed on my forearm, I like it so much (no, Mom, not really).But first, let’s get to this week’s Abby’s Ultimate Dance Competition recap, shall we? Speaking of Yvette, she doesn’t know why Kristie honestly thinks Asia can win. Probably because Asia thinks Asia can win and it’s pretty contagious. Meanwhile, Shayna knows Tua is on the bubble and needs to step up her confidence or else. This is not the kind of environment that is conducive to stepping up one’s confidence, so I’m [...]

Leif Garrett parodies Brad Pitt’s Chanel No. 5 ad

October 19, 2012 | By Lori Acken
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Happy Friday, my fellow fans of Leif Garrett and World’s Dumbest! In response to Brad Pitt’s trippy new ad for Chanel No. 5 — which became instant fodder for the wrath of certain late-night comics — Meetinghouse Productions, the folks who bring you the long-running truTV hit, have introduced their own hilariously earnest version, starring Garrett waxing philosophical about Night Ranger, naked dreams and the most important thing mankind has ever done … So who’s more likely to convince you to shell out some serious cash to smell like fay-tuh and luck-kuh, ladies — Pitt or Garrett? You know who has [...]

“RuPaul’s All Stars Drag Race” premiere available now on Facebook

October 18, 2012 | By Lori Acken
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RuPaul’s All Stars Drag Race, the fifth installment of the legendary drag queen‘s endlessly entertaining Logo series premieres this Monday night at 9pm ET/PT — but if you can’t wait to watch the ladies tuck, tussle and lip sync for their lives, you can Like the show’s Facebook page and watch the first episode right now. Featuring a cast of Season 1-4 standouts — Pandora Boxx, Tammie Brown, Nina Flowers, Jujubee, Mimi Imfurst, Manila Luzon, Alexis Mateo, Raven, Shannel, Yara Sofia and this Race fan’s favorites Chad Michaels and Latrice Royale — competing for a $100,000+ prize package and Queen-of-Queens supremacy, [...]

“Abby’s Ultimate Dance Competition” recap: Put Your Big Girl Panties On and Gid’ Out

October 17, 2012 | By Lori Acken
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Dear Abby, Richy and Robin: You may not cause Yvette to go home, because I will have to go back to thinking up my own names for these blogs and I’d rather not. Unless, of course, Yvette stops dropping Yvettisms. Then you go right ahead and do how you do whenever you do it. Sincerely, Lori OK. Now that we have that little bit of business handled, let’s get to the episode. With introductions out of the way in last week’s outing, we resume getting to the bottom of what the mothers are all about. Yvette says the $100,000 cash [...]

“My Life Is A Lifetime Movie” spotlights real-life ladies at the center of scandal

October 16, 2012 | By Lori Acken
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Saluting its much-discussed movies’ place in American pop culture, Lifetime’s newest unscripted series My Life Is a Lifetime Movie recounts real-life “truth is stranger than fiction” stories as told by the ladies who lived them. The show’s most high-profile participants are Hailey Glassman, the then free-spirited coed who found herself at the center of Jon & Kate Plus 8 stars Jon and Kate Gosselin’s very public marital implosion, and Kristin Davis, the former finance executive turned high-end madam who spent four months in Rikers Island for her role in the Eliot Spitzer prostitution scandal. Both women say they welcomed a [...]

“Dance Moms” breast cancer PSA [video]

October 16, 2012 | By Lori Acken
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In support of National Breast Cancer Awareness Month, Lifetime — long a leader in the fight against breast cancer with its Stop Breast Cancer for Life initiative — has released a public service announcement featuring the stars of its popular series Dance Moms. The 30-second spot, which features past and current footage of Nia, Chloe, Maddie, Mackenzie and Kendall and their mothers, Holly Frazier, Christi Lukasiak, Melissa Gisoni and Jill Vertes, encourages viewers to do their part in helping to find the causes and cure for the disease, with which more than 200,000 women a year are diagnosed. • RELATED: Say Yes [...]