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Dance Moms Season 5 episode 10 recap: Upsettin’ the Apple cart and robbin’ the cradle

March 10, 2015 Lori Acken 36

First of all, Dance Moms nation, I’m sorry for botching the blog post six ways from Sunday last week. Bad case of the donna-mos, I guess. I’m back on track, I swear. We open with Gia at the front desk greeting dancers and mothers, including Ashlee and Brynn. Yay! Ashlee’s back! Ain’t that right, Jill? Right. Everyone’s in shades of green as we gather for pyramid and Abby’s bangs are in fine form…because I know you’d want to know. Bottom of the bottom is Nia, because her dance was dumb and Abby’s knows it and that wasn’t Nia’s fault. Then […]

Dance Moms Season 4 Episode 16 recap: The mother(s) of all midseason finales

April 15, 2014 Lori Acken 60

It’s the Season 4 Midseason finale, Dance Moms Nation and that means it’s time for the much-discussed new team. And the new mothers. Well, sort of new. One gave us a special little taste of her tact and refinement — and brought out the best in Melissa — last week. Another we met a month or so ago in Michigan. And another isn’t new to Kira at all. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves. We start out on a somber note, because the show has finally caught up to Maryen Lorrain’s Feb. 8 death. As each Pitt Crew mother-daughter […]

Dance Moms recap Season 4 episode 13: A 17-!@#$ salute!

March 25, 2014 Lori Acken 44

So here’s the thing, Dance Moms nation. Remember when this show used to be an entertaining end to a Tuesday? No? Not anymore? Well, try. I can wait. Because there was a time that, whether or not we agreed with Abby and her methods, or the mothers and their madness, the show still somehow managed to, well, at least do no harm. Or not much anyway. Now Dance Moms can ruin a perfectly good day — and frequently seems to delight in doing so. As I’ve said before, I still have to blog this show as part of my job, […]

Dance Moms recap Season 4 episode 12: Sisters are doing it for themselves

March 18, 2014 Lori Acken 31

We’re a dozen episodes into Season 4, Dance Moms nation, and a few themes seem to be emerging. The obvious biggie is that one not-so-fine day, Abby is going to assemble a new competition squad. Unless it’s simply a fresh way to instill terror into her current dancers, while parading a steady stream of other dancers in front of the cameras. Whether or not said new team will truly be assembled and what it might mean to the show and the existing team remains to be seen. But in the meantime, it’s as inescapable as a butt rash. And just […]

So, about those Dance Moms lawsuits …

February 18, 2014 Lori Acken 21

Yes, Dance Moms nation, now that we’ve all seen the Dance Moms “Battle in the Bronx” on last Tuesday’s episode, Kelly Hyland has done something official about it. In response to the lawsuit filed by Abby Lee Miller following the pair’s November bitey-slappy-hair-pully altercation in New York, Kelly spent Valentine’s Day filing her own $5 million complaint in L.A. Superior Court, alleging non-payment, unlawful working conditions for the children and a litany of other abuses. Both Abby Lee and the show’s parent company Collins Avenue Entertainment are named as respondents. As first reported by TMZ and subsequently fleshed out by […]

Dance Moms recap Season 4 episode 6: The New Adventures of Old Chloe

February 4, 2014 Lori Acken 58

Welcome back, Dance Moms nation. Did everyone have a nice week? Did everyone recover from the delicious emotional overload that was At Last? Did everyone see my near miss at a job offer in the comments section of last week’s blog? (Psssst, Abs, if that actually was you, have your people call my people about the sequel. Just give me a couple minutes to, you know, get some people.) • RELATED: Abby Lee Miller loses mom Maryen Lorrain Miller to cancer On with the show. We start out in the studio, where Abby’s got a little mall-bang thing going on […]

Dance Moms Season 4 episode 5 recap : The Next Right Thing

January 28, 2014 Lori Acken 55

Let me just get this out of the way right now, Dance Moms Nation, since I have been doing a horrible job of keeping you current on all of the legal crap between Abby and Kelly (because I could not care less about all of the legal crap between Abby and Kelly). I actually did inquire into Abby’s reported engagement — because I think Dance Moms Wedding Special would breathe some kind of new life right into me where Dance Moms is concerned. OK, so I actually asked the show’s saintly publicist Theresa if she had, you know, any bridesmaid […]

Abby’s Ultimate Dance Competition Season 2 episode 8 recap: Shootout at the AUDC corral

October 22, 2013 Lori Acken 20

Another day, another counter on my screener, so let me just apologize for that right off the cuff, Abby’s Ultimate Dance Competition fans. Also, let me thank all of you who engaged in such a spirited debate in the comments section of last week’s blog and for keeping it largely civil, since a large portion of the discussion was about a kid. A frequently obnoxious kid, to be sure. But a kid all the same. I think we can all accept she probably didn’t come out of the womb that way. And the editing room doesn’t help. But it’s also […]

Dance Moms wins Best Mama Drama Series in Channel Guide’s 2013 Viewers Voice Awards

October 21, 2013 Channel Guide Contributor Comments Off

Dance Moms wins Best Mama Drama Series in the 2013 Viewers Voice Awards, Channel Guide’s annual reader poll. Oh the drama! And we ain’t talkin’ traditional drama. This is the mama drama category — where we witnessed lots of finger-wagging and tongue-lashing and a whole lot of cattiness. In the end, the backstabbing, drink-throwing, solo-demanding divas of Pittsburgh’s Abby Lee Dance Company earned more mama-drama cred than all the Housewives combined. Bravo, ladies! Best Mama Drama Series — Winner: Dance Moms Dance Moms/Lifetime 36.6% Toddlers & Tiaras/TLC 24.3% Gypsy Sisters/TLC 10.2% The Real Housewives of New Jersey/Bravo 9.8% Pretty Wicked Moms/Lifetime […]

Dance Moms Season 3 Tell All Reunion Part 2 recap: For Crying Out Loud!

May 14, 2013 Lori Acken 8

Welcome back, Dance Moms nation. Did everyone have a nice Mothers Day, even if you didn’t get your own TV special to commemorate it? Are you ready for — or dreading — our two-week sabbatical until Dance Moms starts up again June 4 with what’s looking like a doozy of a summer season? But right now we’ve got one more hour of Dance Moms Season 3 Tell All Reunion (and dance moms in jewel-toned dresses) to get through, so let’s have at it. We begin with a solo Abby once again, and this time JC Superstar Executive Producer wants to talk […]