Chris B

Victoria Rowell's The Rich and the Ruthless premieres today on BET+! I just binged the last three episodes of season 3 and watched the first episode of season 4 and you can tell BET did give them a little bit of a budget. The show looks much better than it did previously and they seem to have resolved the issue of not having any sets. The directing and cinematography is much better and I feel the writing can breathe now. I'm kinda sad it'll only be 5 episodes now that they seem to have gotten it together. I hope it goes well enough that they do more seasons!

Looking forward to Bryton's guest appearance.

1 minute ago, Taoboi said:

 

 

You are seriously making me what to see if I can find that Bershan promo Bravo did when they started to drop NY promos. It was brief and she had a confessional in it if I remember correctly so she is absolutely right. I am surprised no one has posted it at all or seen it yet. 

I’d love to see it! I’m so curious about that part of the trailer with her and Sonja and Sonja breaking the glass! Sonja is giving us so much this season. 

@TaoboiI refuse to accept or believe Heather will be edited out. If they’re gonna have a long season they’ll need to use everything. My best guess is since this is a 5 day trip, the Hamptons will likely be another 3-4 episodes. These girls provide enough attention I feel they can get an episode out of one day. Next week we have the explosion with Sonja vs Ramona and I feel like episode 4 is when Heather will arrive and that will likely be episodes 4-5, maybe 6 and then Bershan will join them when they return to New York. She’s the one I hope they don’t edit out! She said she’s filming confessionals but it worries me that Bravo didn’t give her a cast photo or mention her in the season preview.  You never can tell what they’re gonna do with a Friend of the show. 

In an effort to prove they’ve learned absolutely nothing, Kameron is still accusing Tiffany of being racist (now against white people) and her husband Court is comparing Tiffany to nazis....

At this point I don’t know what to say. The season is over and they’re still doing this? I don’t know if I can handle another season with Kameron if she is still this ignorant about race. That would make three seasons in a row you have uneducated, bigoted white women trying to learn to be decent people. I’m tired. 

@TaoboiI totally agree about Dallas. I feel like Andy was out of his depth and although it was a lackluster season, they needed a third part (with a better moderator) to truly flesh everything out. Kameron really is dumb. It felt like she was so offended at the thought of coming off racist, when all Tiffany was doing was explaining why certain things offended her. It was like she was so shut off to actually hearing Tiffany. Her receipts all fell flat and felt desperate. 
 

I agree that the lack of accountability for Brandi was also disappointing. Stephanie didn’t even exist this reunion. If she survives again, they deserve to be canceled. 
 

Tiffany cleared Kam here!

RHOBH premiere clips:

Side Note: Sheree fits in *perfectly*! Why they didn’t give her a friend role is beyond me. 
 

RHONJ reunion trailer:

Okay so this episode of RHONY proved what I thought, that Leah started with Heather. Heather didn’t go to the press talking about anybody. Carole mentioned them during one episode of her Andy Cohen produced podcast. They didn’t seem mad so why is Leah? She is an idiot. Now I see why Heather said she felt like people were acting and trying to make a storyline. 

I think Days is more successful than we think. It’s ratings are on par with some of the primetime shows they have and add in good streaming numbers and it’s probably good for NBC. The issue is Sony. Sony needs to do more with the Days property in terms of selling it internationally and getting the past episodes streaming and they should’ve been doing DVD sets for years. That’s money that they’re just sitting on and why Corday sued them. 
 

With this two year renewal I hope Corday works with Peacock (which is looking for hits) to do affordable spin offs. Those things they did on the Days app could easily be expanded into 8-10 episode hour long spin offs and I’m sure they would cost a fraction of the shows they’re doing now. These soaps can still be profitable and relevant they just need to put a little effort in. 

I’m stunned Porsha is dating Falynn’s ex husband, but I still don’t want Falynn on the show lol. In fact I think this’ll put an end to that. They need strong new blood. 

With Crystal’s taglines she’s not saying she’s phony, she’s saying she calls out those who are. I’m assuming she’s referring to her feud with Sutton, unless she gets into it with someone else we don’t know about. 

Speaking of production, some RHOD news: 

They have a new casting director and officially have decided to hire Toni Grant. She’s a black, married mother of two who also is a fashion designer. She’s friends with Kary and Kameron. 

I hope a new casting director means they’ll also have a new producer. I’m pulling for them to finally get it right. 

5 hours ago, alwaysAMC said:

 

I haven't liked LaToya at all this season, but she finally started winning me over at the reunion.  She was more chill and honest.

I agree. I know LaToya brought drama, but I still found her thirsty and don’t think she fit in. I only enjoyed her at the reunion. She simply wasn’t strong enough for this franchise. When you look at what we’ve lost, you need to do better. Nene, Sheree, Phaedra, even Kim were all such huge and iconic personalities that had real impact and fit in. 
 

4 hours ago, FrenchBug82 said:

I just want to say for the record that I cannot fathom for the life of me why everyone is always like "Bring back Phaedra, Bring back Phaedra, Bring back Phaedra".

Hum, that's a very firm no for me.
Phaedra was detestable and worse yet she has been exposed as a complete and utter phony. 

I agree. I remember when it originally was airing I was ready for Phaedra to leave even before the stuff with Kandi. She got to the point where she was tired and once Apollo was gone her story was over. ATL could’ve benefitted from a cast revamp around season 8-9 so they wouldn’t be so dependent on old HWs now. They’ve done a horrible job building a next generation. 

Three episodes into season 2 and I understand why people say to skip season 1. I still think it's wrong, but for people revisiting the show I can see how off putting season one can be due to the look and feel of the show, which is a bit dated. Season one had a very realistic visual style, everything looked gritty and dirty and didn't have that Hollywood sheen. With season two it instantly looks like they got a huge influx of cash in the budget and all the doctors have makeovers, the set is cleaned up and less cluttered and the picture is now crisp and looks HD, which is a complete change from season one.

Despite all the changes, it still works. I like the new characters, especially a character called Kerry Weaver. She's very direct and likes things to be done her way, but she doesn't come off mean spirited as you can sometimes get with this type of character. An exciting surprise for me was Christine Elise from 90210 as a new intern. I didn't expect to see her on a show like this for some reason, but she's great. It's weird seeing Emily Valentine as a normal doctor, but she does a great job in the role. 

I'm excited to dig in and see what this season is all about! One last thing, I have to say I'm absolutely in love with Anthony Edwards. I now want to go find everything he's been in and watch it. 

With Falynn, I see so many wanting her to be a HW next season, but she didn't make much of an impression on me. Throw in her losing her rich husband and I don't see what she could offer to another season. It doesn't seem like she made good connections with the other ladies either. All I want for next season is Marlo to finally get a peach and at least ONE newbie that can generate the same excitement that Eboni, Garcelle, Sutton and Tiffany have for their respective cities. ATL is supposed to be the #1 face of Real Housewives. I'm tired of this dreadful production and low rent casting. I don't need names, but I DO need an All Star newbie. If everybody else can do it (even Dallas!) there is no excuse with how many interesting people live in ATL.

Right now I'm watching tonights Married to Medicine and it's making me even more mad about RHOA. Contessa got covid and due to their group filming, everybody had to quarantine for two weeks. RHOA shut down MULTIPLE times due to covid, including for another a month before the finale was filmed. This of course was never mentioned on the show and they had to act like it didn't happen. On Married To Medicine, they had each of the women film updates at home and they did multiple zoom calls to insert, that way the story continues and there are no awkward gaps. This stuff also didn't take up more than 5 minutes total, but it added so much to the episode. It's just another sign of their production being so much better than ATL. Covid was hard on every reality show, but RHOA is the only show where you can see it.

On 5/7/2021 at 10:08 AM, Vee said:

I don't know why people would say skip Season 1. It was certainly a critical and commercial hit out of the gate, IIRC.

I'm not sure either! I was reading the Primetimer forum for ER and in the rewatch thread so many people were saying they just started with season 2. Yes there were some clunky early episodes, but I think they quickly figured out what type of show they wanted and I haven't noticed any bad episodes after maybe the first 5-6. I had heard Love's Labor Lost was on a lost of "Best of" lists and it definitely lived up to it's hype. I was on edge the entire episode and it was a great showcase for Anthony Edwards who is easily the star of this season.

It's interesting watching this now and seeing how supporting Julianna Margulies is and George Clooney to a lesser extent. I expected them to dominate the show just based on how big their names are today. I imagine their characters will grow as time goes on. In addition to Anthony Edwards, I feel Eric La Salle and Sherry Stringfield carry much of the emotional weight since they have the biggest personal stories. The show is very well balanced considering how huge the cast is. They have so many recurring characters, but it doesn't distract and only makes it feel like a real workplace. So many shows ignore those background characters and treat those roles more as dayplayers. It would benefit them to look at how ER did it. 

I truly don't understand why this is still around. They can never get the cast right, it's had endless behind the scenes drama, the co-hosts are expensive and ratings have been declining for years. I know it wouldn't happen, but I'd love to see them try a soap again. You can make it financially viable by filming in Atlanta and soaps are reliable fall back entertainment. Of course in reality they'd just replace it with another generic talk show or game show.

Queen Bershan hasn’t even debuted on RHONY yet and she’s filming Karen’s renewal vows for RHOP! This is the second time she’s posted with Karen this week so I wonder if she filmed more. 
 

Bershan is from DC which is how she became friends with Karen. 
 

@FrenchBug82I wasn’t speaking of you specifically, but the fanbase at large. In this thread we all have different opinions. I wouldn’t assume that it’s a personal attack against yours. 

@FrenchBug82Shes obviously a Republican and Trump supporter, but I don’t recall her saying anything problematic in the way a Kelly Dodd has. I try to ignore their politics because the majority of housewives are Republican so i hate when fans pick and choose who to yell at for that. 

I have always loved Ramona from day one. I know it’s wrong but I just can’t quit that woman. Not only is she tv good, but I really don’t think she’s mean spirited like some of the other HWs. I truly think she just has issues with understanding social cues. I wouldn’t be surprised to find out she has a form of Autism. I understand with her age she won’t last forever, but I still think she fits in perfectly and is important to the show. The day Ramona leaves will be very sad. I hope when that comes they give her heads up so she can have a proper send off. 

@CatFor me, WWHL was fine as a general special, but since not much happened in the premiere they didn’t comment in the episode as you typically would and instead spoke generally. It seemed like they were trying to be vague and not reveal stuff so it came off awkward. Everybody was trying to act like they’re getting along so great but we know that isn’t the case. I’m certainly glad they didn’t spoil the entire show, but I think this would’ve been better as a preview special aired the week prior. 

1 hour ago, Faulkner said:

I will say: they were probably told to keep mum so as not to spoil the season, but the NY ladies’ WWHL appearance was off-putting. It would have probably been good to only have Eboni and Leah on first.

Ramona has said this season will be longer than the last one which tells me there's lots of drama we don't know about. It seems like the season trailer is mostly the first few episodes since a lot of the drama featured comes from the Hampton's trip that starts next week. I thought they did their best of hiding things on WWHL, but I'm not buying this kumbaya stuff. I think we're in for a very good, dramatic season and I LOVE that New York doesn't reveal everything like most series. I feel like last season although not the best, had endless surprises throughout the season we had no idea about. Hell, we didn't even know Elyse existed and she ended up playing a big role in the second half of the season. Eboni also mentioned in Vanity Fair that she has a big upcoming issue

which spins off into a major issue. Little nuggets like that and Sonja saying she *still* doesn't speak to Ramona and Luann have me super excited for whats to come. We have some little teasers, but nothing that would ruin the show. I dread when RHOA starts filming again because we'll have to hear the entire storyline play-by-play in the media as usual. That's so boring to me!

RHOD:

This reunion I felt moved so fast. They had more going on than RHOA. I actually am disappointed it's not 3 parts if they going at it like that! My perception of Kameron vs Tiffany is that Kam (and Stephanie) is jealous of the fact that you have an Asian girl coming on who is incredibly rich and not intimidated by her. They all show off their wealth, but only Tiffany was knocked for doing the same. She came guns blazing, but I feel like nothing she said stuck because Tiffany was willing to double down. Tiffany STILL is tweeting that Kameron is a dumb ass lol.

I'm not surprised by Kary's divorce and I love that D'Andra didn't let her slide by. She still dug in her ass while showing an appropriate amount of sympathy. I know many don't like Kary, but I think she is fantastic. I feel this show came alive when she joined in season 4 and after this season I think they finally have a way forward. I just hope they get rid of Brandi and Stephanie and I'm hoping the rumors of multiple diverse newbies is true. This show is in such dire need of a reboot before Bravo gives up. If you get rid of the dead weight and keep adding strong newbies I do think they have a shot.

I've watched 13 episodes and I'm all in. In my research I see lots of comments that the first season isn't great and many saying to skip it, but as a soap fan I always need to see from the beginning if possible. I do see the problems with this season, but I feel it's valuable to be introduced to the characters the way it was intended. I'm not sure if they had a lot of freelancers, but the stories are very hit or miss. What works is that the cast is fantastic, both contract and the recurring people at the hospital. Everybody has enough of a personality that you instantly get a sense of place when the episodes start. The biggest miss for me is the story with Dr. Lewis' sister, but I'm enjoying most of the personal stories so far. In the most recent episode I watched I was introduced to Ming Na's character and was shocked that she seems to be so unexperienced and clunky. I'm used to seeing Asians as the perfect and smartest person in the room, so it's nice that they decided to defy stereotypes and allow her to be more human. I'm curious to see her evolution knowing that she'll disappear after this season and return later. That is another reason I'm glad I didn't skip this season! 

As much as I've been enjoying GH, their casting never ceases to amaze me. You have Sasha who looks like Lynn Herring's daughter, but she's not. You have Willow who is connected to nobody, but Serena and Christina are out there. Elizabeth is a long term tentpole character, but her sister is off screen, her parents are off screen and her biggest love interest is off screen. Then they keep casting these new actors would could fit old roles, but they almost always are some new random character.

Of course they may surprise us, but I'm expecting all of these new roles to be a waste of these actors talents. Roger Howarth could be a great Tommy Hardy, but he won't be. Kimberly Brown could be Serena, Christina, Sarah Webber or Lulu, but she'll likely be Willow's third cousin. Cameron Mathison could be Ryan or Steven Webber, but he will most likely be a recast of Casey the Alien. I've never seen a soap like GH that ignores their legacy characters even though they have cast members directly related on the canvas.

11 hours ago, DaytimeFan said:

Unless they're returning to film the series finale?

 

This renewal has been handled so bizarrely I'm at a loss as to what NBC/Sony/Corday are thinking. 

That's what I'm thinking...this has been handled in such an odd way. I also wouldn't be surprised if they did a surprise Peacock announcement.

Okay I just finished RHONY, which was excellent, and I want to apologize for always overlooking Sonja Morgan! Much like people with Cynthia on ATL, every off season I wish they’d finally let her go and then the show premieres and I’m in love again. Sonja was her most delightful nutty self tonight! I also got the sense from seeing the flash forwards and trailer again that she’s about to give us a VERY strong performance this year! Even from WWHL the tension was thick. Whatever is going on with Ramona and Luann must be big because Sonja said she still doesn’t speak to them. 
 

Eboni’s debut was flawless. RHONY is like finding the rhythm to a song, either you can keep up or you can’t and there is no room for error. She instantly seemed to fit in with the fast paced nature of the group. I also love that despite fitting in so well she still felt fresh. She didn’t seem like she was trying to be another housewife, nor did she feel phony like she was trying too hard like a Leah. Speaking of Leah, she didn’t bother me too much because the other four are so strong. 
 

I feel like we are about to get fed. The big Hamptons trip starts next week and we know it’s endless drama. I can’t imagine what they have in store for us if that’s how they’re gonna kick things off! I’m glad we have the always reliable RHONY back and I’m glad Queen Ramona still has her Apple!