Tyranical dance instructor Abby Lee Miller received a prison sentence of one year and a day in her bankruptcy fraud case, but her crimes have resulted in a much harsher sentence for her show as Lifetime officially confirms that Dance Moms has been canceled.
The confirmation comes via International Business Times, who reveals that the series finale episode will air October 31. There are no details about the finale episode yet, so it is unclear if there will be any sort of special “good bye” moments from the current (and former) cast members.
The finale will be followed by two specials: Abby’s Last Dance and Chloe & Christi’s Encore on November 7. In Abby’s Last Dance, Abby takes a look back at her time on the show and, according to Lifetime, she “explains the method behind her madness.”
Chloe & Christi’s Encore is also a “looking back” special featuring the mother/daughter duo as they also explain some of what went on behind the scenes.
Although this appears to be the end of Dance Moms, something tells me that Abby Lee Miller will be back on the small screen soon with some sort of new reality show. I’m still thinking a prison dance crew series would be great! I’d watch just to see Abby try her usual tyranical bully tactics on adult women convicts! If Abby was actually able to get a group of women behind bars to put on a solid choreographed dance routine by season’s end, it would be a pretty remarkable feel-good achievement. Sure it would be a positive experience for the convicts in Abby’s crew, but I think it would be an even more positive (and humbling) experience for Abby.
I should point out that the reality television industry is notorious for rebooting shows, so it may very well be that Dance Moms will be back after a 366-day hiatus. Time will tell.
In honor of Dance Moms‘ final chapter, I’d like to offer up this tribute from a woman waaaaaaay more badass than Abby Lee Miller. Oh, and a photo of Abby eating macaroni and cheese on the way to prison:
