Good news, Lifetime fans! Your favorite maniacs are back and snarkier than ever. Dance Moms returned January 1 in epic fashion, following an hour-long special called "The Smoke Before the Fire" with a 90-minute premiere titled "The Beginning of the End." If you‘re tuning in for high drama, these episodes won‘t disappoint, but if you‘re looking for show-stopping dance numbers, you‘ll luckily get some of that, too. "The Smoke Before the Fire" features interviews with Abby Lee Miller and her coven of dance moms doing their regular shtick; Abby is brash and egotistical, Christi questions Abby‘s perception of reality, Holly is ever-diplomatic and Jill outs everyone as Botox users. (Oh, Jill!) Kelly gives a teary, heart-felt testimonial to Abby‘s teaching that makes me like Kelly for a second or two. And Melissa admits that she‘d consider getting married on the show, much to the delight of the rapt audience. The girls use the power of dance to warn against the perils of texting while driving. And that‘s pretty much "The Smoke Before the Fire" in a nutshell. On to "The Beginning of the End!" Read more »

As Dance Moms fans know, Abby loves to remind the dancers that "everyone‘s replaceable." Well, this week, she puts her money where her mouth is. Abby replaces the entire team after the moms attempt a power play to bring back Kelly, Brooke and Paige, and the results aren‘t stellar for anyone involved. Read more »

Last week on Dance Moms, Abby cut the whole team and brought in superstar dancer Sophia. This week, Abby lets her old dancers (and moms) return, but not without letting them know that Sophia is now the top dancer in the Abby Lee Dance Company. Yes, it‘s true that Sophia is terrific. Still, that‘s not why Abby‘s throwing it in everyone‘s faces. The moms made a power play last week, and Abby‘s ruthlessly trying to ensure that it never happens again. Of course, it‘s not fair for Abby to take out her anger on the kids. In an interview, Chloe laments that Miss Abby keeps telling the girls that Sophia is the best dancer in the group. Poor Chloe. She deserves a dance teacher with her priorities in check. Read more »

Dance Moms season 3 continues on Tuesday, January 22 with an episode called "Liar Liar, Dance Mom on Fire!" and it looks like someone has got a secret that they‘re keeping from everyone else.   Read more »

Tuesday night TV shows are all about liars, and this week, Dance Moms is no exception. The moms try to give Pretty Little Liars and The Lying Game a run for their money with "Liar Liar Dance Mom on Fire," the episode that explores Melissa‘s, ahem, diplomacy around the other moms. Long story short: When Abby downgrades Maddie from star soloist to Kendall‘s duet partner, Melissa tells the moms she‘s thrilled, but she admits to Abby that she‘s disappointed. This doesn‘t fly with Jill, who takes Melissa‘s disappointment as an insult to Kendall (and, by extension, Jill herself). The other moms are mad at Melissa because, oh, I don‘t know -- they‘re drama vampires who feed on conflict? Who knows. I mean, yes, Melissa was a little dishonest, but putting on a happy face for the sake of the group seems like an awfully minor offense, like telling someone her Botox looks natural. "Sure, Jill, I‘m thrilled that my daughter‘s dancing with yours!" Is that really so bad? I don‘t think so, but clearly Jill and the other moms disagree.  Read more »

Dance Moms season 3 continues on Tuesday, January 29 with an episode called "Revenge of the Replacements," and it looks like fans are going to get to see something they never, ever thought they‘d see on the show.   Read more »

This week‘s Dance Moms is book-ended by bitch-fests, meaning this was either the worst episode of the season or the best. I guess it all depends on your drama tolerance. Things started on the wrong foot when Abby got a phone call with some bad news, and it all went downhill from there. Tears were shed, insults were thrown and (gasp!) not a single Abby Lee dancer took home first place in the competition. Read more »

Dance Moms continues its cattiest season yet with an episode called, Boys Are Cuties, Girls Have Cooties." The episode airs on Tuesday, February 5 at 9pm on Lifetime and in it, Abby‘s girls are going to go head-to-head with Cathy‘s all-boy team.   Read more »

After last week‘s toxic episode of Dance Moms, it‘s actually refreshing to see Cathy and the Candy Apples again. After all, Abby needs a nemesis that isn‘t on her own team, and Cathy fills that position nicely. That‘s not to say that Abby was nice to her dancers and dance moms this week -- far from it! Abby threw fits, dancers cried and moms stormed out with their children in tow, cursing the day they ever learned the name "Abby Lee Miller." But the episode focused a little more on dance and a little less than dramatic brawls than last week‘s irredeemable episode did, and for that, I‘m personally grateful. When Abby‘s focused on crushing the Candy Apples, the Abby Lee dancers bring their A-game, and Dance Moms viewers win.     Read more »

Dance Moms season 3 continues on Tuesday, February 12 with a special 90-minute episode called "Rotten to the Core." From the title alone you know it‘s going to have something to do with Cathy‘s Candy Apples. Check out the preview video below to see what they couldn‘t fit all the drama into a normal one-hour episode.   Read more »

An hour couldn‘t contain all the drama of this week‘s Dance Moms. Lifetime had to give us an extra thirty minutes to chronicle all the water-splashing, purse-slapping chaos was was the battle between the Abby Lee Dance Company and Cathy‘s new boy bandish Apples Cores. This episode aggravated everyone‘s chronic conditions: Nia had stress pain in her foot, Abby‘s blood pressure shot through the roof and Cathy just couldn‘t stop gloating because ... well, we‘ll get to that in a minute.   Read more »

Dance Moms aired an extra-long episode on Tuesday, February 12. Apparently a normal hour episode couldn‘t hold all the drama that happened when Cathy‘s boys beat Abby‘s girls. Those extra 30 minutes were needed so we could see what happens when adults continue to act like the biggest babies I‘ve ever seen.  Read more »

After a week‘s hiatus, Christi returns to the Abby Lee Dance Company with Chloe in tow. She‘s prepared for Abby‘s attitude, but she doesn‘t expect the cold shoulder from her former bestie, Kelly. With Kelly and Christi wrapped up in their own tension, no one has any major conflict with Abby this week, and the results are pretty miraculous. Abby‘s a relatively decent teacher in this episode! Aside from replacing Chloe‘s name with "Blondie," she‘s a fair, supportive leader who doles out praise, hugs and even some dollar bills to the dancers. If this is how things go when Kelly and Christi battle each other, these partners in crime should stay broken up. Read more »

Dance Moms season 3 continues on Tuesday, February 26 with an episode called "Bye Bye Baby" and judging by the preview, it looks like the moms may end up in their biggest fight yet.   Read more »

No matter how much viewers might love to hate Abby Lee Miller, it‘s hard not to sympathize with her on this week‘s episode of Dance Moms. The teacher lost her dog, Broadway Baby, to kidney failure, and the episode highlights Abby‘s mourning process. Abby‘s uncharacteristically sullen this week, although she does show up enough to yell at the girls and moms a few times. She‘s mostly teary and depressed, though. The moms, to their credit, rally behind Abby and do their best to cheer her up. And of course, the kids are sweethearts who dance a tribute to their teacher. Though the death of Abby‘s Baby casts a shadow on the episode, there are still a few characteristically dramatic Dance Moms showdowns. Kelly and Christi are still at odds, and Jill has a run-in with former ALDC mom Kaya (awkwardly known as "Black Patsy"), so there‘s that. Don‘t worry, Dance Moms fans, you still get your doses of drama.  Read more »

Dance Moms season 3 has been full of a lot of ups and downs, plus more than a few battles. On this week‘s episode, called "All‘s Fair in Love and War," there is a little bit of love and a whole lot of war.   Read more »

Every show has a shelf life. Much like the yogurt in my refrigerator, there are a ton of TV shows, both scripted and reality, that have long passed their expiration dates. Here are 10 reality shows that are starting to sour or are simply down right rancid.  Read more »

This week‘s two-hour edition of Dance Moms has a promising start. Like all episodes, though, it quickly dissolves into conflict. The moms play nice during the first half, prepping Abby for her date with a scruffy Italian gas station attendant (!), helping Melissa find a wedding dress for her third marriage (!!) and even having some real talk with the kids about gay rights (which is really tremendously awesome). If that doesn‘t exactly make the show a virtuous experience, at least it makes it a little less toxic. Of course, nothing gold can stay. After the girls finish seventh in the group dance competition, Abby turns her company into a boot camp for the tiny dancers and their stage moms. Inexplicably, everyone‘s to blame for the camo-clad hip-hop disaster but the teacher/choreographer. It‘s funny how that works.  Read more »

Dance Moms season 3 continues on Tuesday, March 19 with an episode called "The Apple of Her Eye." It looks like there may have been even more drama than normal in this one, because they‘ve made it into another special two-hour episode.   Read more »

In another very special two-hour episode of Dance Moms, Abby once again uses social causes to choreograph a number. Unlike last week‘s confusing "Don‘t Ask, Just Tell," though, "Rosa Parks" actually works. It‘s a great week to come up with a winning routine, too. Victory is especially sweet when Abby‘s crushing Cathy‘s apples. Girls may be "a dime a dozen" at competitions, as everyone on Dance Moms keep telling us, but when they dance a perfect ten, it doesn‘t really matter if the boys try to win. Read more »

The Abby Lee Dance Company gets an extra helping of star power this week in the form of Rachelle Rak, a scrappy professional dancer with Broadway credits and years of experience. Rak‘s star may be shiny, but she‘s not above helping the ALDC craft a winning number. The Flashdance performer is a personal friend of Abby‘s, so she lends her teaching skills and hairography to the ALDC with pleasure, polishing the group dance, "Gold Digger," with Fosse-caliber choreography. It‘s too bad Abby doesn‘t fully appreciate her friend‘s contributions.  Read more »

Dance Moms season 3 continues on Tuesday, April 2 with an episode called "Watch Your Back, Mack." Check out the synopsis and preview video below to find out what happens when Abby brings another new dancer to the studio.   Read more »

The competition‘s reached a fever pitch between the Abby Lee Dance Company and the Candy Apple‘s Dance Center. Cathy‘s back this week and determined to oust Abby‘s girls from the winner‘s circle. She‘s picked a great moment to strike, too. The group is distracted by newcomer Asia and her mom, Kristie, while Abby‘s still mourning the loss of her dog, Broadway Baby. With chaotic conditions at the ALDC, Cathy is able to prep her boys for a winning number. Read more »

Dance Moms season 3 continues on Tuesday, April 9 with an episode called "The Politics of Dancing." Check out the synopsis and preview video below and see what happens when the moms decide to go all-out and attack Kristie and Asia.   Read more »

This week‘s Dance Moms is all about the politics of the dance world. It‘s a topic with plenty of potential, to be sure. In fact, it‘s pretty much what Dance Moms is all about: women fighting for the good graces of a powerful connection who can break their daughters into the rarefied air of professional dance. The girls all have merit in spades, but that will only get them so far without competitive spirit, a strong alliance and a teacher who can turn their potential into actual success. Abby tries to spin that story into a gold medal win, but with mixed results. Asia and Maddie rise to the occasion, but the group number takes second place (the first loser!), and Chloe slips into Maddie‘s silver shadow. Read more »

Dance Moms season 3 continues on Tuesday, April 16 with an episode called "May I Have This Dance?" Check out the synopsis and preview video below and see what happens when Maddie is turned into a choreographer and two girls battle it out to accompany Abby to Hollywood.   Read more »

Abby pulls Maddie from this week‘s group number, "See No Evil," and promotes her to assistant choreographer. The surprising move serves a few functions. First, it allows Maddie to use her dance talent in a new way (and Abby just can‘t stop gushing about Maddie‘s incredible gift for dance this week). Also, it forces the rest of the group to step up their game instead of allowing Maddie to carry the team on stage. Not that Maddie‘s the lone star in the ALDC, but you know -- Abby‘s been known to play favorites every once in a while. Read more »

Dance Moms season 3 continues on Tuesday, April 23 with an episode called "The View from The Top." Check out the synopsis and preview video below to find out what happens when Abby takes the girls to perform on The View.  Read more »

Mackenzie‘s been benched for weeks with an injured foot, but now that the team is performing on The View, Mack experiences a miraculous recovery. Obviously, Abby and the dance moms aren‘t buying it. There‘s only room for one mini-dancer in "The Last Text," and new Kristie wants Asia in the number. Original Christi just loves to rake Melissa over the coals. Holly and Kelly voice support in Asia‘s general direction, sort of, but don‘t seem terribly invested either way. Only Jill seems to really side with Melissa and Mackenzie, and only because she wants Kristie placed firmly at the bottom of the totem pole (right below Jill herself). Abby, of course, wants nothing more than to teach Melissa a lesson for trying to have her cake and eat it, too. Abby is, after all, the ultimate tough teacher, and this week, she wants to school Melissa. Read more »

Dance Moms season 3 continues on Tuesday, April 30 with a special two-hour episode called "Candy Apple Showdown." Check out the synopsis and preview video below to find out what happens when Abby and Cathy battle it out in New York City.  Read more »

Abby and Cathy have their final showdown of the season at the Masters of Dance competition, and everyone cracks under the pressure. Kristie blows a fuse and drops some f-bombs. Kelly cries harder than Kendall backstage. Anthony fights with everyone in sight -- Cathy, Rick, Christi and even Paige! Only Jalen and Vivi seem to have their heads on straight tonight. Oh, and Nia, who wisely flies under the radar during this crazy mess of a Dance Moms season 3 finale.  Read more »

Dance Moms season 3 continues on Tuesday, May 7 with a special follow-up to the finale. Check out the synopsis and preview video below to find out what happens when Abby and the moms sit down to hash out everything that happened during the season.   Read more »