Register a SA Forums Account here!
JOINING THE SA FORUMS WILL REMOVE THIS BIG AD, THE ANNOYING UNDERLINED ADS, AND STUPID INTERSTITIAL ADS!!!

You can: log in, read the tech support FAQ, or request your lost password. This dumb message (and those ads) will appear on every screen until you register! Get rid of this crap by registering your own SA Forums Account and joining roughly 150,000 Goons, for the one-time price of $9.95! We charge money because it costs us money per month for bills, and since we don't believe in showing ads to our users, we try to make the money back through forum registrations.
 
  • Post
  • Reply
QUEER FRASIER
May 31, 2011


Is there a better reality series on television right now? I don't know, because I'm too busy watching The Real Housewives! I'm obsessed with these ladies and their drama, and I refuse to believe that I'm the only goon who feels this way. I'm currently on a quest to watch every season in existence and produce tiered power rankings of the housewives' performances, so anyone binging old seasons should feel just as welcome here as folks watching the new content.

FAQ
Wait a second, isn't this all fake and/or scripted? What? Hell no! You think anyone in the world could script the ridiculous poo poo these people do? In all seriousness, I prefer to think of Real Housewives as contrived reality. What's contrived is that these people who hate each other would continue to put themselves in the same physical space to fight about these issues over and over again, and that these ladies know that if they don't bring the drama that they'll eventually get fired from the show. But those heat of the moment reactions and nasty words? All real! And in fact, I would argue that the general 'kayfabe' that characterizes Real Housewives sometimes leads to the best drama: cast members get IRL pissed and IRL blow up when they feel someone else has overstepped the boundaries of the kayfabe- last night's Teresa/Jackie blowup being a perfect example of this. It's basically the Real Housewives equivalent of when two kids are play-fighting, someone gets hit a bit too hard and gets mad about it, and next thing you know they are really fighting.

But okay isn't this just the most vapid poo poo on television? Look I can't deny that this is all a bit trashy. Although I don't necessarily want catty drama in my own life or social circles, I love watching it! But I would actually argue that the Real Housewives is insightful about our U.S. society, if you take the time to look for it. In particular, Real Housewives is a (terrifically entertaining) portrait of America's depraved petit bourgeoisie class. Artless, cultureless, personally unhappy and unfulfilled, both repressed by and comforted by cultural norms. Rich, and yet not rich enough to avoid getting smashed by market forces and having to accept a massive decline in their standard of living. Many of the Housewives families, much like the U.S. economy as a whole, are built on a pretty unspectacular amount of real wealth which has been debt stacked and leveraged a million times over for the purpose of conspicuous consumption. We watch them make generally disastrous financial decisions in the hopes of keeping up appearances long enough to somehow bail themselves out. Often we get to see the bubble burst as the Housewives get foreclosed upon, downsize, get divorced, even see their husbands get busted for their crooked business practices. If that sounds vapid to you, I'd like to watch the deeply insightful stuff you watch!

Real Housewives: The Locations
of Orange County: The OG Housewives series, and it's hilarious to rewatch the early seasons and see how much they were trying to ride the "Desperate Housewives" wave into semi-documentary form. Although the likes of Vicki and Tamra long made this one a real highlight, I don't watch currently but I know even Andy Cohen acknowledges that it desperately needs a reboot. I believe most of the drama these days revolves around the ladies' alcoholism?

of New York City: Not the highest rated Housewives series but arguably one of the best, in part because the ladies are actually a part of an organic friend group/social circle. NYC is also notable for the many of the Housewives having a level of fame, independence, business accumen, and skill that would be head and shoulders above any of the Housewives in some of the other locations. I don't watch currently but am binging old seasons to catch up.

of Atlanta: This is supposedly one of the best and most popular, but I haven't actually seen it! On my to-do list for sure.

of New Jersey: This one is my personal fave. With the exception of the weird season where they totally changed the cast and tried to go in a Jersey Shore direction, these ladies always bring it, from the feudal Manzo clan, to Danielle's decade long attempts to befriend the Housewives, to the epic Joe/Joe fights that nearly tore a family apart, and of course Teresa's jail sentence and Joe Giudice's recent deportation to Italy that did tear a family apart. Season 11's debut last night was a doozy, with an iconic Teresa/Jackie fight that's sure the stir the pot throughout this season. I'm looking for a big season from Teresa with Joe out of the way, and her likely being able to see that she and Ramona are the only OG Housewives who haven't been fired yet. No more namaste!

of D.C: I never watched this one but it got cancelled because one of the housewives was the woman who snuck into that Obama event at the white house. Different times! There's a lot of talk about bringing this one back.

of Beverly Hills: This is another popular one that I'm catching up with. LVP is gone, but let's be honest... was she really that fun to begin with?

of Miami: Previously cancelled, now coming back! I personally credit Wendy Williams, who has been lobbying for its return for years.

of Potomac: This is one of the newer ones and it's super popular as far as I can tell. I'm catching up, only up to season 2, but these ladies are tremendously entertaining. Gizelle in particular is a model of what a top tier Real Housewife should be.

of Dallas: I don't really know anything about this one except that LeeAnne is apparently iconic.

of Salt Lake City: This is the newest one (pt 2/3 of the reunion aired last night) and it has been a huge hit. Some RH franchises are blessed to start their lives with one cast member who was obviously born to be a Real Housewife- SLC was blessed with two, in the form of Jen Shah and Heather Gay. The New Yorker even wrote it up as "culturally sensitive trash" for the way the show has featured, shall we say, frank discussions of race and privilege. Cannot recommend highly enough.

ALSO: Feel free to use this thread for general Bravo-chat since the Summer Houses and Below Decks of the world probably aren't worthy of their own thread

QUEER FRASIER fucked around with this message at 16:52 on Mar 25, 2021

Adbot
ADBOT LOVES YOU

QUEER FRASIER
May 31, 2011

okay so first of all, I'm still buzzing from the NJ season 11 premiere, and it has been hilarious (albeit a bit sad) to watch the most toxic figures in the Housewives universe crawl out of the woodwork to back up Teresa/condemn Jackie. I have a strong suspicion given the balance of powers in the current cast that Jackie will end up having to fold on this one, which I think exemplifies a lot with what is wrong with NJ right now, but maybe I'll save that rant for if/when that happens.

It's also funny to read Page Six explaining Teresa's heinous behavior as a result of her being terrified of getting fired, complete with a quote from her lawyer, who I've heard was the one who told her to spread the Jackie rumor in the first place.

Also I want to debut my Housewives Power Rankings! As I mentioned I'm trying to over the course of 2021 watch every RH season ever made, and I've been cruising along at a pace of a season per week or so, so I'd like to share these when timely (I have a few banked already I'll write up when I have more energy) as a way of making my RH quest feel like it's productive, rather than just private derangement made public. I'll share my SLC rankings after pt 3 of the reunion on Wednesday, but for now maybe I'll do New Jersey Season 10 since I watched that this month to lube myself up for s11.

Methodology: Coming up with these rankings was fun in part because it made me think a lot about what makes a good Real Housewife. First and foremost, I'm looking for a housewife who is consistently bringing the drama and making me laugh out loud or gasp: that's what I tune into the show for. But it's not always that simple... cause too much drama, and you can land yourself in the Danielle Staub Danger Zone where you get kicked off the show because everyone hates you. I look for a top ranked Housewife to constantly be surrounded by other housewives- hosting events, corralling feuding cast-members into spaces where they can fight all over again, and generally acting as my guide to the depraved petit bourgeoisie of their locality. I hate when housewives lean on their family storyline too hard, unless their family is a hilarious disaster. And I really hate when housewives can be seen actively defusing drama, a pitfall that many of the Grand Dame-like characters on the show fall into.

The tiers:
A tier = an exemplary housewives performance that anyone could watch as a guide for how to behave on this show.
B tier = an entertaining performance from someone we know has more to give.
C tier = an 'average housewife'- they bring about as much drama as you might expect, no more and no less. No real thrills here but they give us some laughs and continue to earn their spot on the show.
D tier = a 'below replacement level' housewife whose presence actively detracts from the show through her being peripheral from the other cast members or defusing drama.
F tier = fire her now.

RH of New Jersey Season 10:
A Tier:
1. Jennifer Aydin - I feel like people were sleeping on this at the time, but season 10 was the season of Jennifer! Jennifer was season 10's number one poo poo-stirrer, fighting with every single cast member except Teresa. Jennifer's capacity to dig her heels in over some petty poo poo even when the entire rest of the cast was pissed at her was inspiring- I hope season 11 Jackie was taking notes! Her throwing things at Melissa was an obvious highlight, but the so-tactless-it-become-innocent way she told Jackie that Dolores doesn't consider her a friend, in front of Dolores, maybe made me laugh even harder and really exemplifies the no holds barred attitude Jennifer brought to this season. I also enjoyed her family B plot, her mother just responding "no" to being told Jenn's brother is gay has been stuck in my head for months now. An amazing season from Jennifer, and I expect her to have a quieter s11 and take a bit of a namaste tour, for fear of winding up in The Danielle Staub Danger Zone.

B Tier:
2. Margaret Josephs - I think Margaret is one of the best things NJ has going for it right now- she hosts a ton of housewives gatherings, seemingly has good rapport with everyone involved, ferociously brings the drama when appropriate, and has some of the most cutting things to say about everyone else (she seems like the smartest of this group by far). Her hair pull/water pour fight with Danielle was easily the highlight of the season, but I have to ding her for letting the Teresa off the hook for instigating Danielle to pull her hair.

3. Teresa Giudice - A good not great season from Teresa, who was a bit too preoccupied with her family drama to get too involved in drama with the other housewives. I did find the scenes around Joe's deportation and their reunion in Italy very emotional, although perhaps not what I come to RH for. Her late season meltdown at the production team for leaking to Margaret that she had told Danielle to pull her hair was one of the better Housewives Versus Production moments I've seen, but it's a shame that everyone continues to let her off the hook for her heinous behavior because I think we'd see a more interesting Teresa if she was taken out of her comfort zone a bit.

C Tier:
4. Dolores Catania - I broadly wish Dolores would get fired from this show, but I have to give her props for a decent season 10 performance highlighted by her relentless and actually mean bullying towards Jackie, who is just the perfect target given she obviously wants to be a housewife so badly. Unfortunately, Dolores' family b-plot is hideously boring, and her presence helps to prevent Teresa from ever being held accountable.

D Tier:
5. Melissa Gorga - I give Melissa props for how condescending she can be during confrontations, which was especially on display during her highlight scene of this season, where she meets with Danielle to tell her to gently caress off because nobody can stand her anymore. But Melissa is actually fairly peripheral to most of the season's drama, and her family b plots are so fake and or boring I can't stand them anymore. Seemingly only still on the show because of Teresa and Joe, but it's tough to see what she's bringing here that she couldn't bring as a "friend."

6. Jackie Goldschneider - Jackie is amusing because of how badly she wants to be a housewife, and how genuinely infuriated she gets during confrontations. Her fight with Dolores was pretty entertaining early season fodder, but she ultimately just got steamrolled. I think it would be interesting to see how Jackie would do in a cast not constructed around Teresa, but season 10 Jackie really had not figured out how to grow central to the group while still bringing the drama- as evidenced by the fact that nobody in pop culture knew who she was until Wednesday's s11 premiere. I hope to see more from her in s11, but this season Jackie was peripheral and her eating disorder B-plot was atrocious.

Victorkm
Nov 25, 2001

I never really watched much Housewives. I mostly keep up with NYC and Atlanta, and idly pay attention when my mom is watching Potomac. I kind of kept up with the Giudice crime drama when it was happening I guess but havent ever been into NJ. I had to skip the latest season of Atlanta when it went immediately into COVID and BLM right at the start because I find that part of the last year really boring after every show covered it loving endlessly.

Also maybe a subheader in this thread for Southern Charm which is a very similar vibe and has like 5 white dudes who I find nearly indistinguishable from each other joined by 2 white girls who also blend into each other, and the most cringe inducing trashy woman I've seen on one of these shows in Katherine.

Anyway I really love RHONY but its been a bit of a down trend the last couple seasons with Luann having to stop drinking. I'm both sad and happy she's back to it again. I really miss Bethenny a lot as well as she was the funniest snarky presence on the show by far.

emo-ignorance
Jun 12, 2020

I'm just going to say it. I miss Danielle Staub.

QUEER FRASIER
May 31, 2011

Victorkm posted:

I never really watched much Housewives. I mostly keep up with NYC and Atlanta, and idly pay attention when my mom is watching Potomac. I kind of kept up with the Giudice crime drama when it was happening I guess but havent ever been into NJ. I had to skip the latest season of Atlanta when it went immediately into COVID and BLM right at the start because I find that part of the last year really boring after every show covered it loving endlessly.

Also maybe a subheader in this thread for Southern Charm which is a very similar vibe and has like 5 white dudes who I find nearly indistinguishable from each other joined by 2 white girls who also blend into each other, and the most cringe inducing trashy woman I've seen on one of these shows in Katherine.

Anyway I really love RHONY but its been a bit of a down trend the last couple seasons with Luann having to stop drinking. I'm both sad and happy she's back to it again. I really miss Bethenny a lot as well as she was the funniest snarky presence on the show by far.

I would be down for making this a general Bravo chat thread, my bf put on Southern Charm (or Summer House? I think they're the same) on the other day and I didn't realize how similar in formula they were, right down to Andy hosting reunions where the most prolific castmembers get to sit next to him on the big couch lol

and it's funny you say that about RHONY because I just wrapped up season 2 and it is absolutely dynamite. Luann is not yet visibly alcoholic but she did go to the Boys & Girls Club in Brooklyn and explain her landed title to a group of baffled young girls, and then call one of them fat when she says she wants to be a model.

emo-ignorance posted:

I'm just going to say it. I miss Danielle Staub.
I do too, I love Danielle. we're on episode 2 and I'm already completely done with Dolores and her boring boyfriend and ex-husband storyline

QUEER FRASIER fucked around with this message at 04:57 on Feb 25, 2021

Victorkm
Nov 25, 2001

QUEER FRASIER posted:

and it's funny you say that about RHONY because I just wrapped up season 2 and it is absolutely dynamite. Luann is not yet visibly alcoholic but she did go to the Boys & Girls Club in Brooklyn and explain her landed title to a group of baffled young girls, and then call one of them fat when she says she wants to be a model.

The last season got a new cast member who pretty much blows Luann away at being drunk and rowdy so that was pretty decent at least. Shes the type who will I think quit drinking completely between seasons but drink for the show during the season.

I also have a super soft spot for all 3 Below Deck shows.

QUEER FRASIER
May 31, 2011

Tasty episode last night! Looks like next week is going to get real explosive with the Teresa/Jackie feud finally reigniting. I've enjoyed this season so far but jesus this cast really needs shaken up, I cannot deal with Dolores' love triangle b-plot or her complete lack of involvement in the drama anymore.

I think some of this is public knowledge but I have heard the following Bravo reality rumors:
- Melissa is going to be demoted to a Friend next season. They're actively casting new NJ ladies, and Dolores and Jackie are also potentially on the chopping block.

- Real Housewives All Stars is about to start taping, with two housewives from each of the 'legacy' series

- There's going to be a winter version of summer house, presumably called "winter house"

Also I rewatched some highlights of SLC's amazing first season and here's my rankings of the ladies:

RH of Salt lake City Season 1:
A Tier:
1. Jen Shah - She may not have gotten the DM from Rihanna, but Jen is my MVP of the season, and really close to an ideal housewife. I've said it before but the toughest balancing act of a Housewife is constantly bringing the drama without alienating everyone, and few have mastered that as quickly as Jen who spent the entire season melting down and winding everyone up, and yet they all still want to hang out with her. She also blessed us with Coach Shah, one of the best Real Husbands. She's so crazy I sometimes wondered if she was acting, but the subsequent leaks about her are making more clear that this is just a tornado of a human being.

2. Heather Gay - Heather is another model housewife, and only just ended up behind Jen thanks to a low-key early season where-aside from her Lisa feud- she mostly tried to de-escalate situations. She came on very strong with her late season drama with Jen and Lisa, and generally served as an excellent greek chorus. Her b-plot about wanting to shrug off Mormon-shaming and get some dick was also one of the better and more relatable RH b-plots I've seen.

B Tier:
3. Whitney Rose - Whitney put in a very strong performance for someone in the 'young wife lane.' I hated her b-plot about her father with a dead bird on his head trying to get sober, and I didn't really care for the way her swinger lifestyle is teased at but never really results in drama. But Whitney is a central poo poo-stirrer who glues this season together! She is the connecting piece who is continually bringing a feuding Jen/Heather/Lisa/Meredith back together to fight all over again, which is pretty much the pulse of this show. She also instigated arguably the most unhinged drama of the season- Jen's glass throwing meltdown at Coach Shah's bday.

C Tier:
4. Meredith Marks - Meredith is a bit useless when it comes to fighting (she frequently walks out which I can't stand) but I have to give her big props for putting her marital issues on display (I hate when Housewives conceal their personal struggles- hello? we're here to watch you be a mess?!) and also for just seeming really drunk and xanax'd out all the time, Meredith's affect in general is hilarious and I love the way she talks. Here's to hoping next season Brooks is away for fashion school or something, the annoying little twerp.

D Tier:
5. Lisa Barlow - This one pains me because Lisa individually cracks me up- she's kind of crazy, is super 'into' herself and self-love, in general I feel like I'm more interested in watching Lisa individually than I ever am in her with the Housewives. Aside from her brief and fairly flimsy feud with Heather she's pretty isolated this season, and her attempts to poo poo-stir at the reunion came so out of left field that they read less as genuine and more as someone who just got a whisper in their ear telling her to step it up.

F Tier:
6. Mary Cosby - On the plus side, she really winds up Jen, and "You smell like hospital" is a hilarious line. But Mary is almost completely uninvolved in the last 2/3rds of the season to the point where it's not very clear to me why she was designated a Housewife. Mary is crazy and abusive and racist, yet somehow she doesn't really pull off any of that in an amusing way. Mary Cosby was too cringey even for this cringe addict

Nihonniboku
Aug 11, 2004

YOU CAN FLY!!!
Oh hey, I didn't know this was a thread.

I'll just get out some general thoughts.

I've actually stopped watching several Housewives franchises. I had to cut off OC, Dallas, Beverly Hills and New Jersey. OC just had nobody likeable, Vicki and Tamra were just awful, and the show didn't improve with them gone. Dallas I was just exhausted after last season, I know Leanne is gone, but I don't know if I have the interest to get back into it. Beverly Hills, the show had been on the slow decline since Rinna and Erika joined the show, but season after season of manufactured drama, and everyone ganging up on just one of the ladies to try and take them down and take them out does not make interesting television. And Jersey, I just can't stand the sympathetic edit they gave Theresa for seasons due to her legal troubles, which she was completely guilty of.

But, New York and Potomac are god-tier franchises. Season 1 of SLC was great, although Jen was exhausting, and Mary is a monster. And I'm still sticking with Atlanta.

Below Deck was the best thing on Bravo for years, but after the Bru Crew 2 seasons ago leading Kate to quitting, the way Sandy did Hannah dirty on Below Deck Med, and the weak first season of Below Deck Sailing Yacht, I was tiring on the franchise. But, this past season of Below Deck OG was better, even if Francesca didn't leave a lasting impression (I had to look up her name just now), and season 2 of Sailing Yacht has been an improvement over season 1.

Bravo's biggest secret of course is Summer House, which has edged its way into a Bravo god tier series. I'm so glad they were able to arrange a way to film last summer even with everything going on, and in ways it's sort of feeling like old school Real World. Hannah is off her nutter this season, but she admitted on Andy Cohen that she was playing things up for the camera hoping to have a Theresa table flipping moment, and it's all just fallen flat.

Top Chef is coming back soon, although I think that has its own thread here in TVIV.

emo-ignorance
Jun 12, 2020

Just realized that Chet Hanks is what I wanted Caroline Manzo's sons to be.

Nihonniboku
Aug 11, 2004

YOU CAN FLY!!!
Jen Shah has been arrested on federal fraud and money laundering charges, and faces 30 years in prison.

https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/real-housewives-star-charged-in-massive-fraud-money-laundering-scheme/2972547/

QUEER FRASIER
May 31, 2011

holy gently caress @ the Jen Shah news. And the arrest happened while they were filming?? uhhhhh well at the risk of seeming insensitive I hope we get a few more good seasons out of her before she potentially disappears for multiple decades

I guess I don't fully get why people who are *doing crimes* continually shine a spotlight on themselves like this. Is it stupidity? A desperate grab for some actual legitimate income? The 'hide in plain sight' theory? Either way those videos of Jen attempting to describe what her supposed business does are absolute gold

Nihonniboku posted:

Oh hey, I didn't know this was a thread.

I'll just get out some general thoughts.

I've actually stopped watching several Housewives franchises. I had to cut off OC, Dallas, Beverly Hills and New Jersey. OC just had nobody likeable, Vicki and Tamra were just awful, and the show didn't improve with them gone. Dallas I was just exhausted after last season, I know Leanne is gone, but I don't know if I have the interest to get back into it. Beverly Hills, the show had been on the slow decline since Rinna and Erika joined the show, but season after season of manufactured drama, and everyone ganging up on just one of the ladies to try and take them down and take them out does not make interesting television. And Jersey, I just can't stand the sympathetic edit they gave Theresa for seasons due to her legal troubles, which she was completely guilty of.

But, New York and Potomac are god-tier franchises. Season 1 of SLC was great, although Jen was exhausting, and Mary is a monster. And I'm still sticking with Atlanta.

Below Deck was the best thing on Bravo for years, but after the Bru Crew 2 seasons ago leading Kate to quitting, the way Sandy did Hannah dirty on Below Deck Med, and the weak first season of Below Deck Sailing Yacht, I was tiring on the franchise. But, this past season of Below Deck OG was better, even if Francesca didn't leave a lasting impression (I had to look up her name just now), and season 2 of Sailing Yacht has been an improvement over season 1.

Bravo's biggest secret of course is Summer House, which has edged its way into a Bravo god tier series. I'm so glad they were able to arrange a way to film last summer even with everything going on, and in ways it's sort of feeling like old school Real World. Hannah is off her nutter this season, but she admitted on Andy Cohen that she was playing things up for the camera hoping to have a Theresa table flipping moment, and it's all just fallen flat.

Top Chef is coming back soon, although I think that has its own thread here in TVIV.
Yeah you and victorkm are right, this might as well be a general Bravo [non-cooking??] reality thread, I'll try to ask a mod to change the thread title when I get a chance. I'm also planning to get into 'winter house' because it sounds like that will be a good time to jump in for those unfamiliar with summer house lore

one reason why I'm a lovely contributor to this thread is that I have an idiosyncrasy where I can almost never jump in to a series midway through, even if I know it doesn't really matter (as with RH where some of the casts have entirely rotated out). So even though I watch RH literally every day I almost never have anything current to add lol, all I watch live is NJ and SLC. I'm binging through the Potomac backlog right now so I can watch live when it comes back and it is crazy how great these ladies are, basically every episode has a level of drama that most locations are lucky to get 4x a season. And Gizelle has to be in the running for GOAT housewife, right?

I will say I kind of disagree re: the Teresa edit on NJ, at least these days they seem to do her pretty dirty/fair. Last season production ratted her out to Margaret for telling Danielle to pull her hair and she melted down and threw poo poo at the cameras. And this season they keep immediately following up her claims about how if her husband was cheating she'd want to know (re: Jackie) with a giant compilation of her fighting people for telling her Joe was cheating. I guess the other thing is that if she did get a sympathetic edit I guess I was down with it because I (without having combed through the details of their case too much) really see Teresa as a victim of Joe, and incredibly stupid, rather than an outright criminal herself. We're talking about a woman who leaves signed blank checks laying around her house in case the girls might need anything. She's basically the perfect useful idiot for financial crimes

QUEER FRASIER fucked around with this message at 19:17 on Mar 31, 2021

Nihonniboku
Aug 11, 2004

YOU CAN FLY!!!

QUEER FRASIER posted:

I guess I don't fully get why people who are *doing crimes* continually shine a spotlight on themselves like this. Is it stupidity? A desperate grab for some actual legitimate income? The 'hide in plain sight' theory? Either way those videos of Jen attempting to describe what her supposed business does are absolute gold

Right? My guess, she was getting away with the crime for so long she thought she was invincible.

quote:

Yeah you and victorkm are right, this might as well be a general Bravo [non-cooking??] reality thread, I'll try to ask a mod to change the thread title when I get a chance. I'm also planning to get into 'winter house' because it sounds like that will be a good time to jump in for those unfamiliar with summer house lore

I would actually watch all of Summer House first. It sounds like Winter House is just most of the Summer House cast plus a couple of the guys from Southern Charm. Seasons 1 and 2 were a little tedious at time when most of the drama surrounded Carl and Lauren; however, the Werkus twins were fired after season 2, because according to Bravo insiders, viewers neither found them aspirational or likeable. The show got significantly better after that, but seasons 1 and 2 are still required viewing for Summer House Lore.

quote:

I'm binging through the Potomac backlog right now so I can watch live when it comes back and it is crazy how great these ladies are, basically every episode has a level of drama that most locations are lucky to get 4x a season. And Gizelle has to be in the running for GOAT housewife, right?

I really like Gizelle, but the most recent season Karen finally got a read on Gizelle that Gizelle has no comeback for, and it's regarding her fashion choices. Not that Karen has great fashion (or wigs for that matter), but she started coming in hard on Gizelle this past season for her fashion, and her seemingly fake rekindled romance with her ex-husband (who as it turns out is Phaedra's Mr Chocolate). The fans over on reddit whose views are everchanging currently despise Gizelle. Side note, my favorite thing I've noticed about Karen is that whenever she gets caught in a lie, she starts to shift her wig around. And let's just say, she shifts her wig a lot.

quote:

I will say I kind of disagree re: the Teresa edit on NJ, at least these days they seem to do her pretty dirty/fair. Last season production ratted her out to Margaret for telling Danielle to pull her hair and she melted down and threw poo poo at the cameras. And this season they keep immediately following up her claims about how if her husband was cheating she'd want to know (re: Jackie) with a giant compilation of her fighting people for telling her Joe was cheating. I guess the other thing is that if she did get a sympathetic edit I guess I was down with it because I (without having combed through the details of their case too much) really see Teresa as a victim of Joe, and incredibly stupid, rather than an outright criminal herself. We're talking about a woman who leaves signed blank checks laying around her house in case the girls might need anything. She's basically the perfect useful idiot for financial crimes

I hear you, I do keep up with what's going on in these franchises even though I don't watch them. But it seems like Jersey is still centered completely around Theresa. Everything is always about what Theresa is doing, and how she is reacting. Even if the other ladies are at least finally admitting that Theresa is dumb as a rock, and incredibly mean. Dumb and mean are two things that are a terrible combination. I just find her so unlikable, that I have no interest in watching Jersey anymore.

QUEER FRASIER
May 31, 2011

Nihonniboku posted:

I really like Gizelle, but the most recent season Karen finally got a read on Gizelle that Gizelle has no comeback for, and it's regarding her fashion choices. Not that Karen has great fashion (or wigs for that matter), but she started coming in hard on Gizelle this past season for her fashion, and her seemingly fake rekindled romance with her ex-husband (who as it turns out is Phaedra's Mr Chocolate). The fans over on reddit whose views are everchanging currently despise Gizelle. Side note, my favorite thing I've noticed about Karen is that whenever she gets caught in a lie, she starts to shift her wig around. And let's just say, she shifts her wig a lot.
That's hilarious, I can't wait to catch up to that. Karen's wig situation is completely out of control lol. I love what a great 'heel' she is through s3 where I am, everyone takes such joy in exposing her various lies.

Does Candiace ever get more interesting? She's the only one so far who I kind of tune out when she's on.

Nihonniboku posted:

I hear you, I do keep up with what's going on in these franchises even though I don't watch them. But it seems like Jersey is still centered completely around Theresa. Everything is always about what Theresa is doing, and how she is reacting. Even if the other ladies are at least finally admitting that Theresa is dumb as a rock, and incredibly mean. Dumb and mean are two things that are a terrible combination. I just find her so unlikable, that I have no interest in watching Jersey anymore.
Yeah I pretty much agree with this, I'm kind of hopeful that the re-casting will shake up that dynamic. Watching back the early NJ seasons, Teresa was at her best when she was an outsider or on the defensive: it still amazes me that she basically won her war with the Manzo clan. Now the show is Teresa+friends and any time she behaves atrociously she's got the automatic support of Jennifer, Dolores, and Melissa so we basically never get to see Teresa on the defensive, and anytime someone has a major problem with Teresa (Jackie this season) they pretty much need to just get over it if they want to remain part of the group.

Replace Melissa and Dolores with two housewives more in the Margaret/Jackie lane and then let's see how much Teresa can get away with

Nihonniboku
Aug 11, 2004

YOU CAN FLY!!!

QUEER FRASIER posted:

Does Candiace ever get more interesting? She's the only one so far who I kind of tune out when she's on.

No. I still can't stand Candiace. Things escalated this past season. Candiace began spreading a rumor that Monique's baby was not her husband's, but rather her trainer. They started bickering all season, and it escalated to a physical altercation where they filed criminal charges against each other. Candiace maintained that she was attacked all season, and Gizelle and Robyn took her side because they've always hated Monique. The new lady Wendy also took her side. Karen and Ashley claimed to be neutral, but were clearly secretly team Monique, with Ashley even giving a statement on Monique's behalf regarding Candiace's character. Prosecutors eventually encouraged they both drop the charges as there were no injuries, and they were both clearly guilty. While it was edited to look like Monique struck first, apparently her lawyers got the raw footage and broke it down frame by frame to prove that Candiace struck Monique with her wine glass first. But in the end, Wendy, Candiace, Gizelle, and Robyn made it clear they refused to film with Monique again, so Bravo fired her, and Candiace stood victorious. I'm not a violent person, I've never been in a fight, never would encourage someone to. And I'm not necessarily defending Monique. But the things Candiace says, the only thing surprising about the situation is that she hasn't been attacked sooner, because there are people out there who aren't shy about physical altercations.

quote:

Now the show is Teresa+friends and any time she behaves atrociously she's got the automatic support of Jennifer, Dolores, and Melissa so we basically never get to see Teresa on the defensive, and anytime someone has a major problem with Teresa (Jackie this season) they pretty much need to just get over it if they want to remain part of the group.

Replace Melissa and Dolores with two housewives more in the Margaret/Jackie lane and then let's see how much Teresa can get away with

I've long called the show "Theresa 'n Friends! But yeah, maybe you're right they should sack Melissa and Dolores, and find someone to be the new queen bee.

Victorkm
Nov 25, 2001

Nihonniboku posted:

I would actually watch all of Summer House first. It sounds like Winter House is just most of the Summer House cast plus a couple of the guys from Southern Charm. Seasons 1 and 2 were a little tedious at time when most of the drama surrounded Carl and Lauren; however, the Werkus twins were fired after season 2, because according to Bravo insiders, viewers neither found them aspirational or likeable. The show got significantly better after that, but seasons 1 and 2 are still required viewing for Summer House Lore.

Wait which of the 4(5?) interchangeable indistinguishable white guys are gonna be on it? The one who makes beer, the one who sews pillows, the one who is a total dick to everyone, the one who is basically stealing beer guy's girl, or the one who is so rich his mom has a live in butler?

Nihonniboku
Aug 11, 2004

YOU CAN FLY!!!

Victorkm posted:

Wait which of the 4(5?) interchangeable indistinguishable white guys are gonna be on it? The one who makes beer, the one who sews pillows, the one who is a total dick to everyone, the one who is basically stealing beer guy's girl, or the one who is so rich his mom has a live in butler?

I don't watch Summer House, but I think Craig and Austin? I can't remember if Shep ever visited Summer House. I'm just devastated that Carl isn't in Winter House apparently.

xbilkis
Apr 11, 2005

god qb
me
jay hova

Nihonniboku posted:

No. I still can't stand Candiace. Things escalated this past season. Candiace began spreading a rumor that Monique's baby was not her husband's, but rather her trainer. They started bickering all season, and it escalated to a physical altercation where they filed criminal charges against each other. Candiace maintained that she was attacked all season, and Gizelle and Robyn took her side because they've always hated Monique. The new lady Wendy also took her side. Karen and Ashley claimed to be neutral, but were clearly secretly team Monique, with Ashley even giving a statement on Monique's behalf regarding Candiace's character. Prosecutors eventually encouraged they both drop the charges as there were no injuries, and they were both clearly guilty. While it was edited to look like Monique struck first, apparently her lawyers got the raw footage and broke it down frame by frame to prove that Candiace struck Monique with her wine glass first. But in the end, Wendy, Candiace, Gizelle, and Robyn made it clear they refused to film with Monique again, so Bravo fired her, and Candiace stood victorious. I'm not a violent person, I've never been in a fight, never would encourage someone to. And I'm not necessarily defending Monique. But the things Candiace says, the only thing surprising about the situation is that she hasn't been attacked sooner, because there are people out there who aren't shy about physical altercations.

This is an...interesting description of an event in which Monique slammed down Candiace's head on a table and held a death grip on her hair as people tried to pull her off, then she needed to be physically restrained and instructed not to continue to attack her coworker by production staff for like 10+ minutes, then she escaped and tried to chase Candiace down via an alternate route. Anyway I think Candiace is very funny and can't really understand why so many people harbor such a specific resentment toward one Real Housewives cast member for being 1) spoiled and 2) verbally aggressive; it kind of comes with the territory.

If the OP already loves Potomac, you're in for a treat, because everything really clicks in S4 imo. The franchise gets elevated by Gizelle transitioning from the normie main character housewife into someone who just immediately gossips about everything she hears at the first opportunity; it's great for conflict.

QUEER FRASIER posted:

F Tier:
6. Mary Cosby - On the plus side, she really winds up Jen, and "You smell like hospital" is a hilarious line. But Mary is almost completely uninvolved in the last 2/3rds of the season to the point where it's not very clear to me why she was designated a Housewife. Mary is crazy and abusive and racist, yet somehow she doesn't really pull off any of that in an amusing way. Mary Cosby was too cringey even for this cringe addict

Also as a point of clarification on this — I'm pretty sure Mary was originally just supposed to be a "friend of" and then they bumped her up to a main cast member later in production, which is why the vast majority of her footage is just her in her house having strange conversations with her son and housekeeper. Based on her wacko reunion performance I have high hopes for how she plays off the rest of the cast in S2 as a full-timer.

SLC in general is the best first season of an American housewives franchise ever, imo. It's a perfectly balanced cast to me and they all deliver something out of the gate, even zonked-out conflict-averse Meredith

xbilkis fucked around with this message at 07:46 on Apr 4, 2021

Nihonniboku
Aug 11, 2004

YOU CAN FLY!!!

xbilkis posted:

This is an...interesting description of an event in which Monique slammed down Candiace's head on a table and held a death grip on her hair as people tried to pull her off, then she needed to be physically restrained and instructed not to continue to attack her coworker by production staff for like 10+ minutes, then she escaped and tried to chase Candiace down via an alternate route. Anyway I think Candiace is very funny and can't really understand why so many people harbor such a specific resentment toward one Real Housewives cast member for being 1) spoiled and 2) verbally aggressive; it kind of comes with the territory.


Yes, that all did happen. Maybe I should have gone into more detail about what was shown on screen instead of going into the meta drama and talk about the reasons why they were both encouraged to drop the charges by the prosecutor, and who took whose side in the aftermath. I think it's more than just Candiace being spoiled and verbally aggressive. She's more than just standard housewives aggressive, which is usually just catty, or argumentative. She's goes for a lot of really ugly low blows that take things further than most housewives would be willing to go. She's a level of mean that we only see in housewives like Theresa or Porsha (in her middle seasons). And let's not forget when she threw a knife at Ashley, and since has had to be restrained 2 or 3 times and have an object taken out of her hand as she started waving it around while in an argument


xbilkis posted:

Also as a point of clarification on this — I'm pretty sure Mary was originally just supposed to be a "friend of" and then they bumped her up to a main cast member later in production, which is why the vast majority of her footage is just her in her house having strange conversations with her son and housekeeper. Based on her wacko reunion performance I have high hopes for how she plays off the rest of the cast in S2 as a full-timer.

I'm curious how they're going to handle Mary as well in season 2. Because she filmed as just a friend of, they never really went into how shady her church is, or how she gets all of her money. Since the show has started airing, a lot has come out, including reports of how she and her grandpa-husband have their church convinced that they are God, how she used donations from her parishioners get get extensive plastic surgery in the belief that they were donating towards some mysterious illness, and audio of her berating her parishioners for not giving her enough gifts for her birthday.

Nihonniboku fucked around with this message at 15:05 on Apr 4, 2021

Sarcopenia
May 14, 2014

QUEER FRASIER posted:

Luann is not yet visibly alcoholic but she did go to the Boys & Girls Club in Brooklyn and explain her landed title to a group of baffled young girls, and then call one of them fat when she says she wants to be a model.
I just stumbled upon this thread and I know that this post was a while back, but apparently the girl asked Luann if her weight would be a problem and they just showed Luann's answer without the question make her seem like more of an out of touch piece of poo poo than she is. :eng101:

Nihonniboku
Aug 11, 2004

YOU CAN FLY!!!

Sarcopenia posted:

I just stumbled upon this thread and I know that this post was a while back, but apparently the girl asked Luann if her weight would be a problem and they just showed Luann's answer without the question make her seem like more of an out of touch piece of poo poo than she is. :eng101:

Luann is out of touch, but I'm also not surprised at the idea that it would be producer interference. On the final part of the Summer House reunion last week, Luke revealed that he was never interested in Hannah, and it was something that he was asked to do by production.

Sarcopenia
May 14, 2014

Nihonniboku posted:

Luann is out of touch, but I'm also not surprised at the idea that it would be producer interference. On the final part of the Summer House reunion last week, Luke revealed that he was never interested in Hannah, and it was something that he was asked to do by production.
Editing is scary, and I actually think that Bravo production teams are some of the more skilled people in the business. Like, take one look at whatever Australian or New Zealand reality programs are doing with editing. It is pure early 2000s Frankenbite-hell. Not even trying to hide it.
Though I think some Bravo editor got fired last year for giving a podcast interview. In it she was bragging about taking joy in making Scheana from Vanderpump Rules look pathetic. That season there was a scene that was edited to make it seem like she was hitting on a 14 year old boy, meant to be read as her being "desperate". :whitewater: I wonder what has been edited to make people look worse, but even more so, what they've edited out to protect their most popular employees.

Nihonniboku
Aug 11, 2004

YOU CAN FLY!!!

Sarcopenia posted:

Though I think some Bravo editor got fired last year for giving a podcast interview. In it she was bragging about taking joy in making Scheana from Vanderpump Rules look pathetic. That season there was a scene that was edited to make it seem like she was hitting on a 14 year old boy, meant to be read as her being "desperate". :whitewater:

I remember that. I don't know if reality tv audiences have become more sophisticated, or if the production overreach has become more obvious. People really soured on the latest seasons of VPR, Below Deck, and Below Deck Med because of the obvious production interference. Which, surprisingly, the new season of Below Deck Sailing Yacht has been fantastic, which considering how bad the first season was. Tonight the boat crashed into the dock! you can't make this poo poo up

Sarcopenia
May 14, 2014

Nihonniboku posted:

I remember that. I don't know if reality tv audiences have become more sophisticated, or if the production overreach has become more obvious. People really soured on the latest seasons of VPR, Below Deck, and Below Deck Med because of the obvious production interference. Which, surprisingly, the new season of Below Deck Sailing Yacht has been fantastic, which considering how bad the first season was. Tonight the boat crashed into the dock! you can't make this poo poo up
I think the internet exposure and sleuthing is making it very hard for them to get one over on the audience. I also think that Bravo have become more wise to the fact that they will look like poo poo if they ever sue anyone for breaking NDAs for exposing any -isms or -phobias now.
I completely dropped anything Below Deck after that incredibly misogynist and sexual harassment ridden season ended with a reunion where Andy just victimblamed all the women while coddling all the lovely men for some baffling reason. And when I heard that Med apparently tried to portray someone as an addict for taking medication for anxiety I just never picked that one up. Is it worth watching now?

Nihonniboku
Aug 11, 2004

YOU CAN FLY!!!

Sarcopenia posted:

I think the internet exposure and sleuthing is making it very hard for them to get one over on the audience. I also think that Bravo have become more wise to the fact that they will look like poo poo if they ever sue anyone for breaking NDAs for exposing any -isms or -phobias now.
I completely dropped anything Below Deck after that incredibly misogynist and sexual harassment ridden season ended with a reunion where Andy just victimblamed all the women while coddling all the lovely men for some baffling reason. And when I heard that Med apparently tried to portray someone as an addict for taking medication for anxiety I just never picked that one up. Is it worth watching now?

That season of Below Deck OG was rough. I actually only partially blame Andy for that one. He's not Mr Bravo, he generally only watches shows that he is a producer for, which he is not for Below Deck. It's been very clear for a long time that he doesn't watch Below Deck, and when he has cast members on WWHL or does reunion, he is just being fed lines by production. So I blame Andy for not watching the show and not knowing better, but I also blame production trying to cover their own asses and not taking responsibility for production's fuckups. The most recent season of Below Deck OG WAS better, although the new Chief Stew was no Kate, or Hannah.

On the other hand, it was clear during the recent Summer House reunion that he actually did watch the whole thing, and was able to make his own observations about what went down without having been fed anything by production, even though he is not involved with that show at all.

Last season of Below Deck Med, that was absolutely horrible what went down. Captain Sandy and Malia are monsters, and I can't believe they've invited both of them back to film the new season. I'll have a hard time watching it, although I probably still will.

And as I said above, Below Deck Sailing Yacht has been a breath of fresh air.

Apparently we're getting two new additions to the Below Deck family, Iceland and Down Under.

Nihonniboku
Aug 11, 2004

YOU CAN FLY!!!
Atlanta news. Friend of Falynn separated from her husband Simon, who was rich and much older, about a month ago.

Apparently Porsha is now engaged to Simon, and rumor is she is pregnant with his baby.

Sarcopenia
May 14, 2014

Nihonniboku posted:

That season of Below Deck OG was rough. I actually only partially blame Andy for that one. He's not Mr Bravo, he generally only watches shows that he is a producer for, which he is not for Below Deck. It's been very clear for a long time that he doesn't watch Below Deck, and when he has cast members on WWHL or does reunion, he is just being fed lines by production. So I blame Andy for not watching the show and not knowing better, but I also blame production trying to cover their own asses and not taking responsibility for production's fuckups. The most recent season of Below Deck OG WAS better, although the new Chief Stew was no Kate, or Hannah.

On the other hand, it was clear during the recent Summer House reunion that he actually did watch the whole thing, and was able to make his own observations about what went down without having been fed anything by production, even though he is not involved with that show at all.

Last season of Below Deck Med, that was absolutely horrible what went down. Captain Sandy and Malia are monsters, and I can't believe they've invited both of them back to film the new season. I'll have a hard time watching it, although I probably still will.

And as I said above, Below Deck Sailing Yacht has been a breath of fresh air.

Apparently we're getting two new additions to the Below Deck family, Iceland and Down Under.
Yeah, it was very clear that he hadn't watched it. But it was still a super weird direction to go. You would think that production would be interested in trying to smooth out Andy's misogyny. What century did they think we were in?

Maybe I'll give the OG and SY a try then!

Nihonniboku posted:

Atlanta news. Friend of Falynn separated from her husband Simon, who was rich and much older, about a month ago.

Apparently Porsha is now engaged to Simon, and rumor is she is pregnant with his baby.
What on earth

Victorkm
Nov 25, 2001

Wait what happened with Malia and Sandy? I already forgot that season.

Nihonniboku
Aug 11, 2004

YOU CAN FLY!!!

Victorkm posted:

Wait what happened with Malia and Sandy? I already forgot that season.

I'll do this in two steps: 1) the direct cause of drama, and then 2) all the background, including theories.

Part 1:

Malia's then boyfriend (they have since broken up due to cheating) was hired on as the new Chef. Malia and Hannah were bunking together, and Malia insisted Hannah switch so that Hannah would be bunk with Bugsy. Hannah didn't want to because Hannah and Bugsy do not like each other. Malia pitched a fit, and went to Sandy. Even though Sandy had put Hannah in charge of assigning bunks, she went over her head and announced that Malia and her boyfriend would be bunking together, and Bugsy and Hannah would be bunking together.

After Hannah moved out, Malia, still pissed at Hannah for not agreeing with her demands right away, broke into Hannah and Bugsy's bunk to dig through Hannah's things to find anxiety medication and a CBD vape pen that she knew Hannah had, took photos, and took it to Sandy. Sandy, citing maritime law, fired Hannah immediately.

Malia and Sandy were heavily criticized online, and they constantly defend their actions saying that what Hannah did was illegal and was an offense worthy of immediate termination. Only, Hannah had a prescription, and the CBD vape pen wasn't illegal where they were. Captain Lee handled an identical situation in season 1, and just asked the crew member to verify the prescription and keep the prescription with him. Captain Glenn also criticized Sandy's handling of the situation and said he wouldn't have fired her.

Part 2:

Season 1, Hannah was the breakout star of the show, known for her professionalism, cool head, and funny confessionals. Season 2, Captain Sandy came in and was immediately overbearing, and micromanaged the interior team. Hannah kept things professional while working, but griped about how overbearing Sandy was in her confessionals. After the season aired, Sandy was furious with Hannah for talking about her that way in confessionals, and just could not understand that it's normal for subordinates to vent about their boss, especially in a reality tv setting. She obviously resented Hannah, especially after Chef Adam went out of his way to suck up to Sandy after also not being good on Sandy's side in season 2. Over the next few seasons Sandy repeatedly threatened to fire Hannah for all very minor offenses, mostly related to Hannah's issues related to anxiety.

Season 2 also saw the introduction of Malia and Bugsy. Malia was quickly caught in a love triangle, having come in with a pre-season romance with Chef Adam that she immediately tried to hide when she met Bosun Wes. Wes ultimately chose Malia to be Lead Deck Hand, over the more experienced Bobby (who is a douche in his own right). She continued to play both Adam and Wes throughout the season before Adam revealed to everyone about their relationship the entire time. Malia did not like that Hannah took Adam's side in this drama.

Bugsy had been working as Chief Stew for several charters before joining the boat, and was resentful that she was made 2nd stew. She hated having to go back to doing what she considered "bitch work", and that Hannah was asking her to train the 3rd stew who was entirely inexperienced. She butted heads with Hannah throughout the season, including showing a text conversation between Hannah and a guest to the rest of the crew, and culminating in the season finale where she told Hannah that she wished Sandy had fired her and she could be chief stew. Bugsy said she would never return to the show unless she was coming back as Chief Stew. During all this, Malia and Bugsy had become quite close.

Neither Malia or Bugsy returned the next couple of seasons. Season 5 came around, and Malia was asked to join the show as Bosun. Malia and Hannah agreed to put their past differences aside, and even seemed to become friends. But when the second stew was fired for just being an awful human being after just 2 episodes, Bugsy was conveniently available to return to the show as second stew. Hannah was visibly uncomfortable. After all, Bugsy had previously said she would only return to the show if she was getting the Chief Stew title, and Hannah and Sandy hadn't ever gotten along. She began to withdraw, and was having obvious anxiety symptoms.

Sandy began pestering Hannah throughout the season, picking on her for the smallest things, meanwhile playing obvious favorites with Malia and Bugsy. Hannah's really only one ally that season was Chef Kiko, who admittedly was very talented as presenting Brazilian food to the guests, but he floundered when he was out of his comfort zone. Sandy began hanging out in the kitchen, criticizing everything he did, and after every meal would explicitly ask the guests for negative feedback about the meal. The guests often would struggle to come up with something even minor, and Sandy would go back and berate Kiko for loving up the meal. She was clearly trying to undermine him, and Hannah's only support, because she and production had a plan in place.

Halfway through the season, she fired Kiko. Also just so happened that the very same day, Malia's boyfriend who had experience as a yacht chef was traveling through to visit Malia quickly as he was on his way home to England to visit his dying uncle who was on his death bed. He pulled up in his car already with a microphone on, and went to Sandy's cabin where she immediately offered him the role as chef, which he immediately accepted. Suddenly, his urgent trip home to visit his dying uncle suddenly wasn't so urgent all because rich assholes needed to eat.

Essentially, within 24 hours of Kiko being fired and Malia's boyfriend joining the crew, Hannah was fired.

It was planned all along by production, and Sandy and Malia were more than glad to help out. Bugsy became Chief Stew, Malia got her boyfriend as Chef, and Sandy was finally rid of Hannah in a way that she thought would seem justified. That backfired horribly as Sandy and Malia were criticized widely online. Admittedly, Bugsy did end up being a good chief stew, although she lacks the personality and natural star power of Chief Stews Kate or Hannah. Malia's boyfriend on the other hand was used to working on larger yachts where he had sous chefs, and could not handle the pressure of having to do everything on his own. He sent out raw chicken, and frequently underwhelmed the guests with his meals. He had major temper tantrums, throwing things around in the kitchen, and Malia ended up neglecting her own duties as Bosun to help him out in the kitchen, something that Sandy was surprisingly okay with happening, and was never happy with when Hannah would try to help Kiko. After all, Sandy plays favorites.


I should have been putting this energy into work...

Sarcopenia
May 14, 2014

Nihonniboku posted:

I'll do this in two steps: 1) the direct cause of drama, and then 2) all the background, including theories.
drat. Thank you for the write up.

Victorkm
Nov 25, 2001

Of course I remember all of that now lol. I wasn't too mad about it all because I rather like Bugsy.

QUEER FRASIER
May 31, 2011

Rumors going around that Aikisha Holly Colon is joining the Jersey cast next season? Idk anything about her but based on Chris Samuels I'm going to say I'm extremely down for another NFL husband

Very curious to see who (if anyone, I guess) she'll replace. I get the sense from Andy on WWHL that Jackie brought it at the reunion and is safe (I guess we'll see). Everyone love Dolores and she's definitely the most 'jersey' of them all, but she just brings so little of interest. I'd love for it to be Melissa so I don't have to ever watch one of her completely fake b-plots again, but I guess it would be strange if they fired her right after sending her to the Real Housewives All Stars thing

Nihonniboku
Aug 11, 2004

YOU CAN FLY!!!

QUEER FRASIER posted:

Rumors going around that Aikisha Holly Colon is joining the Jersey cast next season? Idk anything about her but based on Chris Samuels I'm going to say I'm extremely down for another NFL husband

Very curious to see who (if anyone, I guess) she'll replace. I get the sense from Andy on WWHL that Jackie brought it at the reunion and is safe (I guess we'll see). Everyone love Dolores and she's definitely the most 'jersey' of them all, but she just brings so little of interest. I'd love for it to be Melissa so I don't have to ever watch one of her completely fake b-plots again, but I guess it would be strange if they fired her right after sending her to the Real Housewives All Stars thing

Granted, I don't watch Jersey anymore, but I'll still weigh in. I don't see any reason why they have to cut anyone in order to add another cast member. We're seeing this season with New York that having too few cast members can also be detrimental to a series. I think some series were at their best when they had upwards of 8 or 9 women in the cast, since there is more opportunity for hijinks, and less opportunity for boring episodes.

QUEER FRASIER
May 31, 2011

Nihonniboku posted:

Granted, I don't watch Jersey anymore, but I'll still weigh in. I don't see any reason why they have to cut anyone in order to add another cast member. We're seeing this season with New York that having too few cast members can also be detrimental to a series. I think some series were at their best when they had upwards of 8 or 9 women in the cast, since there is more opportunity for hijinks, and less opportunity for boring episodes.

That’s true, and the word is that she has no pre-existing ties to the cast so keeping everyone = more potential “ins” into the group.

However I will submit the absolutely inspiring work put in by Danielle/Teresa/Jacqueline/Caroline pulling the entire weight of a legendary season 2 as a four woman crew after Dina quit as proof that a small cast can still deliver. You need good “friends” for that though, and NJ seems to miss the Kims

Nihonniboku
Aug 11, 2004

YOU CAN FLY!!!

QUEER FRASIER posted:

However I will submit the absolutely inspiring work put in by Danielle/Teresa/Jacqueline/Caroline pulling the entire weight of a legendary season 2 as a four woman crew after Dina quit as proof that a small cast can still deliver. You need good “friends” for that though, and NJ seems to miss the Kims

Yeah, that's probably the only exception, and there was so much drama that season that the show couldn't have handled anymore people in the cast really.

Regarding Aikisha, I hope Bravo handles adding her to the cast better than they did Tiffany (and that disastrous Dallas season), and Eboni (so far). I'm glad they're finally trying to diversify the housewives, but throwing them into a groups of women who are openly or passively racist without any support is not great.

QUEER FRASIER
May 31, 2011

lol you know those jersey ladies have to be right up there with the Dallas ladies for racism. They’re all definitely lowkey antisemitic to Jackie but they’ve thus far avoided turning it into an actual plotline, instead it’s just this weird undercurrent in the show

Nihonniboku
Aug 11, 2004

YOU CAN FLY!!!

QUEER FRASIER posted:

lol you know those jersey ladies have to be right up there with the Dallas ladies for racism. They’re all definitely lowkey antisemitic to Jackie but they’ve thus far avoided turning it into an actual plotline, instead it’s just this weird undercurrent in the show

Oh, I've seen Brian Moylan talk about that. Basically how they're always saying about her, "She's not like us"

Sarcopenia
May 14, 2014

Nihonniboku posted:

Yeah, that's probably the only exception, and there was so much drama that season that the show couldn't have handled anymore people in the cast really.

Regarding Aikisha, I hope Bravo handles adding her to the cast better than they did Tiffany (and that disastrous Dallas season), and Eboni (so far). I'm glad they're finally trying to diversify the housewives, but throwing them into a groups of women who are openly or passively racist without any support is not great.
Bravo just throwing POC women into casts of low-key racist women as some sort of band aid on their issues with race makes me super uncomfortable. It makes them feel like one-noted props for Bravo and other cast mates to use for brownie points. Most of the Dallas women were too loving racist, out of touch and stupid to understand what a gift Tiffany could have been to them if they had just treated her with a modicum of respect and kindness. Instead they're out here liking tweets about how Asian Americans aren't allowed to talk about racism because they are the "Model Minority".... during a giant surge in hatecrimes committed against them. The way the New York women are acting around Eboni makes me cringe so hard and I'm just clenching my butthole waiting for someone to say something beyond offensive. It makes me ill to think about a black woman being on New Jersey. I do not get a good vibe from that group. I foresee hair touching.

Nihonniboku
Aug 11, 2004

YOU CAN FLY!!!

Sarcopenia posted:

Bravo just throwing POC women into casts of low-key racist women as some sort of band aid on their issues with race makes me super uncomfortable. It makes them feel like one-noted props for Bravo and other cast mates to use for brownie points. Most of the Dallas women were too loving racist, out of touch and stupid to understand what a gift Tiffany could have been to them if they had just treated her with a modicum of respect and kindness. Instead they're out here liking tweets about how Asian Americans aren't allowed to talk about racism because they are the "Model Minority".... during a giant surge in hatecrimes committed against them. The way the New York women are acting around Eboni makes me cringe so hard and I'm just clenching my butthole waiting for someone to say something beyond offensive. It makes me ill to think about a black woman being on New Jersey. I do not get a good vibe from that group. I foresee hair touching.

New York so far this season has been rough to watch. Ramona, Sonja, and Luann are all clearly walking on eggshells trying to make sure they don't say something racist around Eboni, and Eboni is mostly trying to keep her mouth shut outside of confessionals to talk about the racist stuff they're saying. She did confront Ramona on something she said, but they both were extra apologetic to each other about it, which is a first for Ramona. Then they all got drunk, and Sonja started rambling about not wanting to get canceled by saying something dumb in front of Eboni.

It's not fun to watch.

Heather returns next week, and it looks like she's going to finally get the much needed takedown that she deserved to get years ago, although it doesn't look like it's for all the racist stuff she's done on the show, just the nasty stuff she's said about the other cast members since she was fired.

Chedranian Girl
Sep 15, 2008

IS THAT A WEAPON?
Oh I am HERE for this thread. I've just started watching Real Housewives of Beverly Hills and I am obsessed. Admittedly I'm skipping most the posts here because I've not seen the others yet and I'm only on s03e13 as we speak so I'm way behind, but so glad there's so much to enjoy once I'm done with this one. Going through a bad breakup at the moment and this trashy TV (featuring women older than me dealing with divorce and breakups and such too!) eases the pain a little!

I love the og BH crew and where I am right now I don't like Brandi or Yolanda at all! Faves are Lisa, Camille and Kyle! Let's see where my mind changes as the seasons go on I guess haha

Adbot
ADBOT LOVES YOU

Sarcopenia
May 14, 2014

Chedranian Girl posted:

Oh I am HERE for this thread. I've just started watching Real Housewives of Beverly Hills and I am obsessed. Admittedly I'm skipping most the posts here because I've not seen the others yet and I'm only on s03e13 as we speak so I'm way behind, but so glad there's so much to enjoy once I'm done with this one. Going through a bad breakup at the moment and this trashy TV (featuring women older than me dealing with divorce and breakups and such too!) eases the pain a little!

I love the og BH crew and where I am right now I don't like Brandi or Yolanda at all! Faves are Lisa, Camille and Kyle! Let's see where my mind changes as the seasons go on I guess haha
I wish that was me. Beverly Hills used to be soooo good. But you have a lot of good years left. When you inevitably start hating it, do New York and Atlanta next. When that starts going downhill too, watch the beautiful orchestration that is Potomac.

  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
  • Post
  • Reply