MTV Films Episode of 'Teen Cribs' at Palm City Home

Photo by Alex Boerner

Field producer Rebecca Rasmussen, right, talks with McKenna Knipe, center, and her friends, sitting from left, Ella Callahan, Katie Convertini and Zach Cramer, while setting up a shot in McKenna's bedroom during filming of an episode of MTV "Teen Cribs" at the Palm City home. Field coordinator Casey Pierce is on the left.

By Mike Readling, Source: TC Palm

PALM CITY, FLA - Bobby Gomez knows a good thing when he sees it. Especially when what he sees is a castle.

Gomez, a coach at Ultimate Cheer and Dance Allstars in Port St. Lucie, has coached McKenna Knipe for the past four years. After a visit to her house in Palm City, Gomez’s mind began working overtime.

“He called me up and asked if I had ever seen ‘Teen Cribs’ on MTV,” said Knipe’s mother, Laura Crawford. “He said, ‘You’ve got to watch it,’ but I went home and forgot about it.

“He called that night and told me it was on right now and that they would take our house. I told him he was crazy. I mean, we don’t have bowling alleys and stuff like that in the house.”

What Crawford, her husband, Dean, and McKenna did have, however, was an 8,500-square-foot Tudor-style castle on 3.5 acres running alongside Bessey Creek. It is a teenager’s dream come true and it fit perfectly into MTV’s plans to continue to woo that audience.

“They said what they liked about it was it was different. It was a castle and they had never shot one of those. And there was so much for the kids to do outside. They had not ever filmed anything as expansive and kid-friendly outside,” Laura Crawford said.

“All the local kids are here and they’ll come and stay for days. We pretty much run a local laundry service and Dean is a short-order cook for breakfast.”

For two days last weekend, two film crews from the music network descended upon the Crawford castle on Southwest Winding Way. They filmed the lagoon-style pool, the five-car garage, the game room and the guest house.

When the episode airs toward the end of the year it will be the first “Teen Cribs” episode to take up the entire half hour.

McKenna, an aspiring model and actress who has two films coming out, hosted the show at her home. She led an on-camera tour, pointing out the things in the house that appeal to a teenager’s eye and the things that didn’t.

Among her favorites were the refrigerator and freezer in the kitchen, which are hidden behind a faade designed as an armoire; and the game house, which is located above the garage and features a movie theater, pool table, bedroom, kitchen and bathroom.

“When I have friends come over we mostly stay in the game house,” said McKenna, who is scheduled to be in Japan from October through December for several fashion and couture shoots and, she hopes, to sign a cosmetics deal. “It’s where we spend the night. It’s like our own little house.”

While she was leading MTV cameras through the expansive house, about 45 of her friends were holed up away from the sensitive microphones, waiting for their chance to get on TV. Laura Crawford credited the “mom wranglers” who showed up to help organize the chaos for helping the day go so smoothly.

At one point — after McKenna’s entrance on a monster golf cart with mud tires — the film crew chose three friends to join in the shoot.

Ella Callahan, Zach Cramer and Katie Convertini filmed a segment in Mckenna’s room, one of three master suites.

“It was fun. But it was really weird having to see behind the scenes and how they film a show like that,” Zach said. “Other than that, having the film crew follow you around was different.

Ella said, “There was a lot of sitting around while they set up for stuff. I thought there was going to be a lot more people there. I just like this house so much. It’s so much fun.”

MTV 'TEEN CRIBS'

What it is: A 30-minute show on MTV that features houses around the nation suited to teens. Many are customized spreads with indoor treehouses, large pools, gymnasiums, golf courses, skate parks and other unusual activities.

Airs: 4-4:30 p.m. weekdays on MTV. An air date has not been set for the Crawford episode, but it is tentatively scheduled to air at the end of the year.

Other featured cribs: While most “Teen Cribs” episodes have been shot at homes owned by non-superstar families, MTV filmed “Celebrity Teen Cribs” at houses owned by Shaun White, Teddy Geiger, AJ and Aly, Bow Wow and Omarion.

THE CRAWFORDS' 'CRIB'

Built: 1986 by local optician Brian Schmidt. The Crawfords bought the house in 2006 and took two years to renovate the inside, finally moving in to the estate in October 2008.

Dimensions: About 8,500 square feet of air-conditioned living space. Renovations turned it from a seven-bedroom, 3 1/2-bath house into a three-master-suite home with two offices, a guest house and 4 1/2 bathrooms.

Highlights: Five-car air conditioned garage, lagoon-style pool with rock waterfall and hot tub, trampoline, basketball court, game house with movie theater, pool table, kitchen, bedroom and bathroom, guest house with 80-inch television, 3.5 acres frontage on Bessey Creek.

Home trivia: The house was designed to be able to host photo shoots. Ed Hayslip of Hayslip Landscaping gave the front a traditional Tudor look with manicured trees and hedges, varying degrees of green and sharp angles. The property features an Old Florida section, a tropical area with rare and unusual palm trees, and a Florida Keys-style trail through the woods that leads to a 2,000-square-foot pavilion. The grounds can be rented for weddings or other events.

Photo by Alex Boerner

The front view of the home of McKenna Knipe and her parents, Laura Knipe-Crawford and Dean W. Crawford.

Photo by Alex Boerner

Rebecca Rasmussen, field producer for MTV "Teen Cribs," talks with McKenna Knipe, daughter of Laura Knipe-Crawford and Dean W. Crawford, during taping for an episode of the show in Palm City. The premise of the show is to profile the home of a teenager that is a fun hangout for other teens. For this episode, McKenna was giving a guided tour through the home and the other features of the property.

Press Release: Teen Celebrities Love Dum Dum Pops

Debby Ryan, who played "Bailey Picket" on the "Suite Life on Deck" on the Disney Channel, poses with a new Mango-flavored Dum Dum Pop. (PRNewsFoto/Spangler Candy Company)

Attending the celebrity gifting suite were over 70 actors from movies and television shows such as Suite Life on Deck, Hannah Montana, Wizards of Waverly Place, iCarly, Sonny with A Chance, and many others. See our Facebook fan page at http://www.facebook.com/dumdumpops to see more photos of celebrities enjoying Dum Dum Pops.

Spangler Candy attended the event to promote Dum Dums, especially with the teen and tween (8-12 year old) demographic. Dum Dums, including our newest flavors Mango and Tangerine, and Dum Dum branded t-shirts, plush dolls, magnets, and keychains were handed out to the celebrities as they visited the gifting suite area. The gifting suite was held outdoors in a private tent area at the landmark Sportmen's Lodge & Resort in Studio City, California.

Most companies attending were cosmetics, jewelry, handbags, apparel, or other unique items. "The response to Dum Dums was wonderful," noted Jim Knight, VP-Marketing for Spangler, "the teen celebrities had an obvious fondness for the Dum Dum brand."

Dum Dum Pops have always been popular with younger children and toddlers, and adults too. With new fun promotions, new flavors, social media sites such as Facebook & the new Flick-A-Pop iPhone application, the Dum Dum brand's popularity continues to grow and expand even more to the older tween and teen set.

Dum Dum Pops are available at most local retailers (other Spangler products available at limited retailers). If you are unable to find any Spangler product at a retailer near you, you can order from our website at www.spanglercandy.com/order.

In business since 1906, Spangler Candy's line of quality confections includes Dum Dum Pops(R), Saf-T-Pops(R), Circus Peanuts and Marshmallow Treats, Spangler(R) Candy Canes, and Valentine, Easter, Halloween & Christmas candies. Spangler also manufactures candy under the Dreamworks(R) license.

myYearbook Turns A Profit By Getting Users To Pay

By Tameka Kee; Source: Paid Content

While pure-play media sites try to figure out how to offset ad sales declines by charging readers, it seems that social networks—surprisingly—are making faster progress at getting their users to pay up. The latest example is teen-friendly social net myYearbook, which says it’s now profitable because of a subscription and virtual goods-based business model that has increased revenues by 120 percent vs. a year ago.

Other networks like hi5 have begun to diversify their revenue streams with virtual goods and even downloadable games, while social game and app developers have also been making money by getting users to pay for credits and virtual goods. The biggest challenge these sites face with getting these revenue streams to scale is that the payment platforms aren’t streamlined: users need to enter a credit card for every different app or subscription, and for younger users, getting their parents’ buy-in can be a deterrent.

Companies like PlaySpan are trying to create one-size-fits-all payment platforms that work across multiple apps and networks (and accept prepaid game cards); myYearbook made it easier for its younger user base to pay for these options by partnering with mobile payment service Zong.

The social net says roughly a third of its overall revenue is user-derived. Members can buy virtual currency called Lunch Money, which can be used for virtual gifts; performance-based ads also offer up Lunch Money as an incentive for watching videos and completing surveys; and the social net also rolled out a premium membership called the VIP Club, with monthly fees that range from $7 - $20 per month.

Founded by teen siblings Catherine and Dave Cook in 2005, myYearbook has raised nearly $19 million in funding from Norwest Venture Partners, US Venture Partners and First Round Capital.

Kristen Stewart Talks Soul-Sucking Paparazzi

Source: Actress Archives

It's no secret that "Twilight" star Kristen Stewart is no fan of the paparazzi, or the out-of-control scrutiny regarding whatever is or isn't happening between her and co-star Robert Pattinson. In a new interview, Stewart says the paparazzi want her soul. Is it just us, or has Kristen been spending too much time around blood-sucking vampires?

Speaking to British magazine Dazed and Confused, Kristen Stewart said, "The fact is, the paparazzi and most interviewers, they want your soul. It's so scary because your persona... and I guess I now have one, because people think of me in a certain way... is all based entirely on quick snippets of crazed moments in your life. And that is what people then base their entire opinion of me on!"

Kristen Stewart continued, "Anything you say can come and bite you in the ass. It's not even like you say things you don't mean, it's just that sometimes they come out wrong."

We do feel a little bad for Kristen because she genuinely does seem like a person who just wants to act and genuinely hates everything that comes along with her fame. She probably had no idea when she signed up to be in the "Twilight" franchise that she'd end up becoming a tween obsession - as well as the love interest of the world's biggest tween obsession. The girl really doesn't stand a chance at having any sort of private life.

Kristen Stewart also spoke about choosing roles she can relate to. Said the actress, "With 'Adventureland,' and pretty much everything else I've done, I've been lucky because they're characters I really identified with. Sometimes, I'll read something and it has something about it that makes you need to live it, and if you don't, it's like an unconsummated relationship."

We've all heard enough about "Twilight." We know Kristen Stewart knows a thing or two about unconsummated relationships on screen...her and Pattinson in real life, however? Probably not so much.

Why Miley Cyrus is Stripping Down As She Grows Up

By Wendy Shalit; Source: NY Daily News

The song may have been called "Party in the USA," but when Miley Cyrus recently treated her Teen Choice Awards audience to a pole dance atop an ice cream truck, dressed in extremely short shorts, black boots and a bra-revealing tank top, the general impression was that the party was taking place in a strip joint.

Mothers of little girls cringed: Who provided the pole? And since when do Miley's backup dancers gyrate like the Pussycat Dolls?

Then there is the August issue of Elle, which features America's favorite 16-year-old in a number of contrived poses. In one, she's in black stilettos, with an exposed midriff, striking a backbend-pelvic-thrust combo. On the cover, she's in a leather push-up bustier, her cleavage revealed.

The overall impression of the girl in these pictures is perhaps the opposite from what is intended: She projects not confident sexuality but confusion. Even when reclining on her back offering up her black thigh-high boots for inspection, Miley seems to be saying not "Take me!" but, "Do I really have to do this?"

We are told in the magazine's text that Miley was under the "watchful eye of her parents" the whole time, just as she was during last year's Vanity Fair naked-bedsheet photo shoot at 15 and, no doubt, during her recent pole dance. This is all supposed to be reassuring.

Not to me. Elle editor Robbie Myers is at pains to explain, in her sanctimonious "Editor's Letter," that Miley, in "facing the camera" this way, is "offering a very clear view of herself" and "trying on a more mature persona." You see, Miley exhibited more than mere cleavage on the set that day; in going along with Elle's plans for her, she showed "genuine openness."

Ah, yes. How prudish and "closed" girls can be when they refuse to disrobe for the public. But Miley was not like that.

Elle claims its interest in Miley is not titillation, but empowerment, "watching her take the wheel." Think about this for a second. Miley is a talented singer of chart-topping songs, a multimillionaire teen mogul and actress. She has launched a fashion line and is the envy of little girls around the world. Yet we are to believe the girl simply did not "have the wheel" until a fashion magazine induced her to pose with her pelvis thrust forward.

It's not difficult to read between the lines and see that, having pledged abstinence before marriage, Miley poses a threat to conventional wisdom. Many people - indeed, whole industries - are invested in "neutralizing" that threat by getting her to take her clothes off as much as possible, as soon as possible.

But the sexuality-industrial complex doesn't have to win. So it's sad and more than a little creepy when the adults in her life - up to and including her own parents - are onboard for the virtual deflowering. (We learn from the accompanying piece that her father shows Miley photographs of guys and asks, "You don't think he's really hot?")

Ironically, it's Miley's younger fans who are acting more mature. They are screaming not for stilettos and cleavage but to hear her inspirational hit "The Climb," which encourages them to be themselves and "keep the faith."

Despite all the self-serving banter about her "taking the wheel" by disrobing, the truth is that a confident, modest Miley would be far more rebellious than a Miley who takes the usual route of pornification. The Britney Spears path out of Disney has, after all, been well-worn. The road less traveled nowadays is for a child star to grow up without stripping down. The problem is thus not really with Miley but with the rest of us - specifically, with our false notions of female empowerment.

It will certainly be interesting to see how this battle for Miley's soul plays out. Will she be able to resist the script we adults are handing her? Does she even want to?

In the meantime, she ought to keep in mind that Audrey Hepburn never needed "hooker boots" or a pole to prove her maturity. And no amount of cleavage can ever reveal a clearer view of Miley than do her work, her leadership and her beautiful personality.

Shalit is the author of "The Good Girl Revolution: Young Rebels With Self-Esteem and High Standards."

What Recession? Economic Crisis Passes Teens By: Study

Jeremy Conway, 13, sells apples while dressed in period costume outside the New York Stock Exchange in New York, September 30, 2008. REUTERS/Lucas Jackson

SYDNEY (Reuters) - The world may be slowly emerging out of recession, but the global financial crisis appears to have gone unnoticed to a whole swathe of people: teenagers.

In spite of rising unemployment and economic uncertainty, Australian business information analyst IBISWorld said most teenagers -- who make up just over 5 percent of Australia's recession-hit 21 million population -- see the economic crisis as something their parents, not them, have to worry about.

It found most teens live a "highly subsidized life" with their parents while earning their own money through part-time or full-time jobs, which they use to buy the latest gadgets, clothes and for entertainment.

"Unless their parents have been made redundant, lost a business or had to sell the family pad, it's little wonder the younger generation's impression of the global financial crisis is distinctly indifferent," said IBISWorld General Manager Robert Bryant, adding that nearly 80 percent of teens work part-time.

Although youths in other Westernised countries, such as the United States and Britain, are more affected by the economic crisis because their countries have been worse hit than Australia and job opportunities diminished, they still spend their money is much the same way, according to analyst Raghu Rajakumar.

Bryant said today's teens have little qualms about spending all their income, think little about saving and appear to grow up faster, coveting designer labels, the latest electronics and overseas holidays much sooner than previous generations.

The popularity of the Internet and social networking sites such as YouTube and Facebook make gadgets such as cameras, the latest mobile phones and laptops must-have items for many teenagers, regardless of gender, the research report said.

High-end fashion is also something teens are snapping up, helping the whole sector grow by nearly two percent this financial year despite the overall economic doldrums.

Entertainment options such as music downloads, the cinema, videogames and travel to exotic locations that their parents probably only thought of visiting when they were middle-aged and more financial stable are also popular with teens, the research added.

(Writing by Miral Fahmy, editing by Belinda Goldsmith)

Walmart To Launch True Jackson Tween Apparel Line

Source: just-style.com

A new tween apparel and accessories line inspired by Nickelodeon's hit live-action series True Jackson VP is being launched exclusively at Walmart stores.

The 'Mad Style by True Jackson' range touches on the trends from the fashionable TV show, and every item from sneakers to dresses retails at $14 or under.

Designed by Jane Siskin, president and chief executive officer of L'Koral LLC, the apparel line features long sleeved henley T-shirts, graphic knit tees, fashion leggings, jumper dresses, tunic dresses, Mary Jane shoes and ballet flats.

"Mad Style is a fashion collection filled with classic styles with a twist that can be customized to fit any tween's style mood," Siskin says.

A microsite has also been developed where kids can log on to view images of the line, get weekly style tips and play dress-up games.

Make It Ruby Launches Today for Tween Girls

PRLog (Press Release) MakeItRuby.com, a new online magazine for tween girls, launches today with fresh content of fun “how-to” projects for at home arts and crafts. Each DIY project contains three simple steps with materials easily found around the home, encouraging impressionable youth with the reusable, renewable, and repurposed movement for an eco-friendly and economical approach. Basic materials for Ruby’s creations are approximately $5 or under with some of the larger items available at most thrift stores.

At the heart of the site is its namesake personality, Ruby, an animated precocious tween girl who encourages her friends to be creative and have fun. She is the representation of the target audience of tween girls who love to learn, enjoy making something with their hands, and have a desire to exercise some creative energy. “We have found that many young girls are starved for content that is produced especially for them, similar to items found in shelter magazines and do-it-yourslef web sites,” comments Make It Ruby co-founder Joie Gharrity. “The market is untapped and we found a way to provide a safe environment for these young girls and their moms, and still make advertisers and partners happy.”

Gharrity, a former creative executive for Disney-ABC Television Group’s Stage 9 Digital Media, partnered with long-time friend John Frazier for the venture. Frazier, an art director and stylist who has worked for companies like JC Penney, Land’s End, Kellwood, and others, is the creative director for Make It Ruby. “We wanted to create a wholesome magazine full of inspiring ideas for young girls that would cost little to nothing to produce,” states Frazier. “After working with clients like JC Penney and Kellwood, we have found ways to create thrifty ideas that empower these tweens during these uncertain economic times.”

With over $40 billion in purchasing power, the children of young Baby Boomers and Gen X-ers have considerable influence in today’s market and are receiving increased attention by various companies. Their tenacious tendencies result in high use of electronics and the Internet, providing advertisers with a unique opportunity to develop their brands with this target audience. At Make It Ruby, the online magazine is rich with content with plenty of opportunities for promotional partners.

# # #

About Make It Ruby, LLC
Make It Ruby is a Los Angeles-based company created to produce quality, rich content for the ever-growing tween market through a safe and fun online experience. Its first online magazine, MakeItRuby.com focuses on fun how-to’s and do-it-yourself (DIY) projects with materials easily found at home, making for a very cost-conscience approach for families experiencing some hardships during this economic climate. The company includes a management team that represents over 60s years of expertise in creative content development, publishing, marketing, design, and entertainment.

TV Company Makes Teen Thriller For Web Viewing

By Richard Wray and Katie Allen; The Guardian, UK

•Programme to encourage audience participation to develop plot

•Move follows huge budget cuts on traditional TV channels

A new British teen thriller, from the makers of BBC hits Young Dracula and Tracy Beaker, will make its debut next month online instead of on television, as its producers follow their young audience who are switching off the set and focusing their attentions on the internet.

Po5t has been created by independent production house Barking Angel, founded by Joss Agnew and Mia Jupp, who have worked extensively on children's television dramas, and digital agency Worth whose previous output includes work for the government-backed youth-oriented drugs advice network Frank.

The first of six planned eight minute episodes of Po5t will appear next month and the producers are hoping to work with its teen audience to "tweak" future episodes before they come out so they can take in viewers' suggestions of how the suspense plot should evolve. Audience participation is expected to play an even greater role in the second series.

The series is part of a new breed of dramas that are being released straight to the web rather than relying on the declining youth audience on terrestrial TV. MySpace UK and Fremantle Media, the company behind The X Factor, have recently launched Freak, a new teen soap running online for 13 weeks.

The move was fired by the success of US sensation lonelygirl15, whose posting on YouTube three years ago became a cult hit. A Lonelygirl spin-off, the UK-based Kate Modern, was quickly commissioned and ran on Bebo in 2007, attracting 35m views. Since then digital production companies have increasingly expanded the format with online documentaries and reality shows such as The Gap Year. At the end of last year, the TV establishment gave the clearest sign yet that it was fully embracing the medium, with the BBC earmarking £1.3m for online drama.

The move by production companies to put dramas on the web follows huge cuts in the commissioning budgets available to traditional TV channels. It also reflects changing viewing habits.

Ofcom's annual snapshot of the UK's media and communications landscape published earlier this month showed Britons spent an average of 225 minutes a day watching TV last year, just a minute longer than in 2003, but internet usage has ballooned to 25 minutes a day from just nine minutes in 2003. The report indicated that TV reach among younger audiences, which was already lower than average, has been falling since at least 2003 as they divide their time between more media activities such as downloading music or watching TV online.

The Po5t series which throws together a group of teenagers when their lives are put in peril, stars three actors from the Young Dracula series – Clare Thomas, Ciaran Joyce and Harry Ferrier – as well as Darragh Mortell, whose credits include Tracy Beaker, and Alice Connor, who appeared in the Heath Ledger film A Knight's Tale."The way people view online is not only more immediate but more intimate and this led us to the conclusion that an internet only release would appeal to this audience who can log on and watch the series in their own time, in their own space and either on their own or with their friends," said Worth founder John Worth.

"It hasn't come as a surprise to us that even at this stage, when PO5T is yet to launch, that a buzz has been generated about it on social networking sites," added Joss Agnew. "This reflects the way its target audience – teens and young adults – are now communicating with each other."

Zac and Vanessa to Break Tween Hearts

Source: Metro

GOSSIP. We can imagine many heartbroken tweens will be crying into their “High School Musical” duvets once they get word of the latest rumor circulating on the Internet, which claims that Vanessa Hudgens and Zac Efron are engaged.

Britain’s News of the World reports that nudie pic-posing Hudgens gushed to the paper, “We haven’t set a date, and if we did we’d keep it secret for as long as possible. Why? What if one of us was offered a major film part? Then we’d have to postpone our marriage and people would say we’d split up. And we don’t want that.”

No, no, we don’t want that, Vanessa. We also don’t want to see you all over the tabloid covers once you marry, have kids, divorce, develop drug problems and get married again. Please, didn’t you two learn anything from Britney Spears or Jessica Simpson? Twenty is too young to get married, especially for the sake of the latest bad comedy — ahem, “Bandslam” — you’re headlining.

– Today’s Word was written by Heidi Patalano

Jodelle Ferland: Eclipse's Nameless Teen Vamp

by Marc Malkin, Source: E!

Jodelle Ferland has been sworn to secrecy. She's not allowed to say much about the part she just landed in the third Twilight movie, Eclipse.

"I'm allowed to tell people that I play a vampire who has just been turned," the 14-year-old Canadian actress tells me. "In other words, I'm a newborn vampire. I'm not allowed to say the name of the character."

So if she won't say whether her character is Team Edward or Team Jacob, what's her pick in real life?

It's Team Edward all the way for Jodelle.

Keep reading to find out why...

"I just think if maybe Jacob had been introduced first then everybody would like him better," she said. "It just seems that since Edward was the first one to be with Bella, people want him to stay with her. So, you know, that's the character that you start to like first! And then Jacob comes into the picture and everybody's like, 'Oh, no! Stay with Edward.'"

Jodelle says she's "really, really excited to meet Robert Pattinson." As are her friends. "Every single person I've told has asked me if they could come to the set," she said, adding with a laugh, "I've said, 'I'll have to think about that.'"

How did Jodelle celebrate snagging a part in what's destined to be one of the most successful movie franchises ever?

"You know, I was just thinking about that yesterday," she said. "I was just thinking that I haven't done anything yet. I need to think of something. Basically, I just jumped up and down and then I went into my room and watched a movie on my mini-DVD player.

"Actually, it wasn't a movie," she continued. "I was watching The Addams Family—the old ones, not the movie."

That sounds like a suitably ghoulish celebration for what could be the start of a monster career.

Miley Cyrus, Like Other Stars Before Her, Struggles Toward Adulthood

By Monica Hesse; Source: The Washington Post

Was it or wasn’t it?

For the past several days, the Internets — the mommy bloggers, the celeb stalkers, the generally righteously indignant — have been studiously debating whether Miley Cyrus’ performance at the Teen Choice Awards, which aired last week, could be described as a pole dance.

A brief recap: Midway through the actress-singer’s choreographed routine, two stagehands lugged out an ice cream cart with a pole on the top. Miley, 16, jumped on and grabbed the pole, squatted to her haunches, stood up, was wheeled across the stage while holding the pole, jumped off. Some say the pole was there for balance, some say the pole was there to corrupt your children.

Whole thing took maybe 30 seconds, so the hubbub surrounding it (if Miley was pole-dancing, are all of the pole-holding subway commuters doing it, too?) leads one to conclude something: It’s not about the pole.

It’s about how awkward it can be for teen and tween stars, especially the freshly scrubbed ones, to transition to adulthood.

The cycle has played itself out again and again: There was Britney Spears going from schoolgirl pigtails to flesh-toned bodysuit at the 2000 MTV Video Music Awards, an act that made co-host Marlon Wayans exclaim “Girl done went from ‘The Mickey Mouse Club’ to the strip club!” There was Christina Aguilera, purringly instructing listeners to “rub me the right way,” just a few years after hanging up her own mouse ears. There was Vanessa Hudgens in lingerie, causing parents everywhere to have awkward teachable moments with their pint-size High School Musical fans. And there was, yes, Miley’s first shocker: Last year’s arty/creepy Vanity Fair spread, in which the star of wholesome Hannah Montana wore nothing but a bedsheet.

For every child star who has forged a smooth path to adulthood — Jodie Foster, Brooke Shields — there’s another who has taken the Lindsay Lohan path, which leads Directly to Video.

Miley’s booty-shorted performance might have had some parents cringing, but it also might have been a survival tactic. “Seventeen magazine isn’t read by 17-year-olds, it’s read by 11-year-olds who want to be 17,” says Joal Ryan, author of Former Child Stars: The Story of America’s Least Wanted, who adds, “And 17-year-olds want to be 25.”

The conundrum: When the tweens who now worship Hannah Montana age a year or two, they won’t want to be reminded that they once worshiped Hannah Montana. Miley, just like Britney or Debbie Gibson before her, will become an embarrassing relic of her fans’ childhood. “It behooves you to have an older audience,” says Ryan, one whose tastes have already matured. Often, the child stars who thrive are the ones whose careers have paradoxically never depended on a kid audience. Nobody would say E.T. was just a kids’ movie, but Drew Barrymore seems to have done OK.

Gaining an older audience, though, can mean booty shorts. It can mean posing on the cover of not Seventeen but Glamour, as Miley recently did. It means leaving the chaste constellation of other tween idols like Taylor Swift and Ashley Tisdale, and competing against adult performers with adult sensibilities, like Katy Perry and Lady Gaga.

The smartest stars have eschewed the issue altogether by stepping away from the spotlight to finish growing up privately. Foster took an acting hiatus to go to Yale; Shields went to Princeton. Harry Potter star Emma Watson, 19, seems to be trying that tactic — just as the leering fanboys began to beg for topless pics, she announced that she’d be absconding to Brown. She’ll be a freshman here in Providence this fall.

As for Miley, she’s committed to a fourth season of Hannah Montana, and is in the middle of filming The Last Song, co-starring Greg Kinnear.

It looks like a wholesome family affair.

The Boston Globe Painless fun with an animated dentist

By Joanna Weiss; Source: Boston Globe

Nick at NiteKevin Nealon voices the title character, who hits the road with his family in an RV. (Nick At Nite)

There is no shortage of dysfunctional families in life - or in television. It’s just that the TV families tend to be cartoons - figuratively or literally - which means they can do things the rest of us generally can’t: you know, consort with talking dogs, cause meltdowns at nuclear power plants, plunder with Somali pirates.

By those standards, the Martins, the animated stars of Nickelodeon’s new “Glenn Martin, D.D.S.,’’ are fairly realistic; the most out-there character is 11-year-old Courtney, a budding CEO who already has a sycophantic personal assistant. Otherwise, this is a garden-variety nuclear family: Glenn, the dentist dad, well-meaning and slightly doofy; Jackie, his wife, cynical but supportive; Conor, his teenage son, awkward and hormonal; Canine, his dog, who acts like an actual dog.

They’re gentle - or, maybe, just edgy enough - which seems to be the operating vision for Nickelodeon’s “Nick at Nite’’ prime-time block. The network is aiming for fare that tweens and parents can watch together, and “Glenn Martin, D.D.S.,’’ which premieres tonight at 8, has that aura of cheerful togetherness about it, along with the sort of aggressive laugh track that still reigns on tween sitcoms like “iCarly’’ and “Hannah Montana.’’ It was created by Disney-chief-turned-producer Michael Eisner, who once came up with the idea of “Happy Days,’’ and while it’s updated to account for the texting and gaming that today’s tweens do, it feels deliberately old-fashioned.

That extends to its look, a stop-motion animation style created by Eric Fogel, the man behind MTV’s striking and much more cutting “Celebrity Deathmatch.’’ It’s a beautiful art form; the characters look like toys brought to life, and watching them makes you want to go out and buy modeling clay. And it’s well-suited to the premise: that Glenn, mourning a lack of connection with his kids, loads the family and his dentistry practice into an RV and hits the road. (The beauty of animation is that they can roam the nation freely, at no extra cost.)

In tonight’s premiere, Glenn decides the family needs a break from video games and cellphones, so he drives the RV to Amish country. What ensues isn’t particularly kind to the Amish - though how would they know? - and is moderately amusing. There’s a plot about Courtney corrupting Amish girls with a glowing celebrity magazine, a passable joke involving the Amish version of the “Sex and the City’’ women, and a funny bit involving a camera phone wielded as a weapon.

As Glenn, Kevin Nealon is likably clumsy, with a particular knack for delivering throwaway lines. “Hey, Google Maps. You guys don’t know what you’re missing,’’ he says as he fumbles with his cellphone, and it comes across well. It’s the grade of funny this show seems to have accepted - cute, giggle-worthy, and only a smidgen dangerous. To a family that has already shared the likes of Stewie on “Family Guy,’’ it must feel like some strange vestige of the rotary-phone past.

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FRIDAY Movies: Tween Films Still Rule Box-Office: This Weekend: Bandslam vs. Time Traveler's Wife?

New this week:

- "Bandslam": A new kid in town assembles a fledgling rock band to compete in a big battle of the bands. With Alyson Michalka, Vanessa Hudgens, Gaelan Connell, Scott Porter, Lisa Kudrow. GF, EGF. One hour, 51 minutes. (PG)

Returning this week:

- "Aliens in the Attic": A group of kids must save their vacation homes from invading aliens. EGF. One hour, 26 minutes. (PG)

- "G-Force 3D": A squad of guinea pigs must stop a diabolical billionaire from taking over the world. 2D version also showing. GF, EGF. One hour, 30 minutes. (PG)

- "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince": Harry begins his sixth year at Hogwarts and discovers a book leading to more about Voldemort's past. GF, EGF. (PG)