Toddlers and Tiaras

The costume: Honey Boo Boo
From Toddlers & Tiaras to Here Comes Honey Boo Boo, this blond-haired little girl (real name: Alana Thompson) has taken the reality TV world by storm. If you've ever wanted to give your inner pageant girl a test ride, there's no better time to do it than for Halloween.

Hair and makeup: Keep your blush, lipstick, and eye shadow hot pink, and apply the longest false eyelashes you can find. Don't be shy about adding a little (or a lot) of glitter, either, especially around the eyes. For your hair, either opt for a larger-than-life wig with lots of bouncy curls, or do the style yourself by sleeping in sponge rollers. Finish with a teased up poof and loads of hair spray.

What to wear: Pageant dresses are all about sequins, puffy skirts, and tulle. Since the success of Toddlers & Tiaras, many are available in costume form — just remember your lace socks and patent leather heels.

Take it to the next level: Mix up some go-go juice (Red Bull and Mountain Dew) and wear a supersize crown.

Welcome to Miami! Like most reality shows, the runaway ratings hit Dance Moms on Lifetime has seen its share of drama. The original follows instructor Abby Lee Miller, the girls' fiercely competitive instructor, as she tells it like it is — little girls' and their mothers' feelings notwithstanding. Like its predecessor, Toddlers and Tiaras, Dance Moms has proven to be as much about the conflicts and personalities of the don't-call-them-stage-moms stage moms as it is about actual dance (hence the title).

Much of show's controversy has centered on Miller's very demanding teaching style. She is very up front about the fact that she does not baby these girls and expects complete and utter focus and determination — bellyaches, schoolwork, and other kid stuff is irrelevant in her world. Berating both mother and child is a part of the job.

The spinoff takes the wildly successful franchise down South, to the slightly more TV-friendly locale of Miami, FL — the original is filmed in Pittsburgh, PA — to follow two new teachers and a new crop of eager pupils. Maybe the warmer climate will mean a mellower crowd? Let's hope not: that wouldn't make for very good TV now, would it?

Will you tune in for Dance Moms: Miami?

Source: Lifetime

With their Pretty Woman hooker costumes and wannabe pop star careers, it seems like the toddlers on Toddlers & Tiaras are growing up way too fast. But, what will they be like once they actually become adults? In a new video, Funny or Die follows up with a young beauty queen Mackenzie, played by Ashley Tisdale, and her mother, played by Leah Remini, 22 years later. Mackenzie is still competing at 25 at three-quarters, while still acting like a three-year-old diva. The "where are they now" sketch, complete with toddler actors who could be straight off the actual reality show, almost doesn't seem like a parody if you're familiar with the actual TLC version. Check it out now.

Usually the pageant moms on Toddlers & Tiaras get a lot of flak for pushing their children into the beauty pageant lifestyle. But in the case of 7-year-old Brock, who describes himself as a "diva," his mom should be commended for her loving support of her son's involvement in pageants. Brock is passionate about dancing, saying he'd love to be on Broadway when he grows up, a refreshing change of pace from the girls who are dragged kicking and screaming onto the stage. In the video below, Brock's mom talks about how when Brock was only 2 years old he wanted to take tap dance lessons, and ever since then both she and her husband have encouraged him to be who he is, even when that means dressing up like Dorothy from The Wizard of Oz and playing with dolls. Watch the sweet video below.

Toddlers & Tiaras, what hath ye wrought, seriously? In this week's episode, a mother took her tiny daughter to the salon to get her eyebrows waxed. Why this even occurred to anyone as a feasible thing is unclear, but it's especially bad because, as the mother herself explains, "She had a bad [waxing] experience . . . the wax was way too hot and it ripped off her skin, so she's been kind of terrified ever since." We're pretty terrified, too. Here's the footage: