Chris B

Andy said not to expect a RHONY trailer soon. My guess is, with RHOC delayed due to casting issues, they wanna hold Beverly Hills and RHONY longer so one can flow into OC when it does return. My guess is that Beverly Hills will replace Dallas in April, then RHONY will debut probably in May. Then OC and Salt Lake City can return in the fall.

I thought I knew all the major bullet points of Marlena but this completely slipped me by. Everything I learn about pre-Dimera Days is so interesting. I hope one day we have a chance to see it.

Color me stunned! I never knew Marlena had another child! Do they ever mention him?

Okay so Bravo is finally revisiting the Housewives All Stars spin off for Peacock. Here’s the rumored names they’re looking at. Pretty boring list IMO. No surprise names.

The live ratings are down across tv, you really have to look at the delayed ratings to get a true picture. I remember there was a report weeks ago that with delayed viewing Salt Lake City was getting around 1.5 million viewers per which which explains why Bravo said it was a hit and quickly renewed it. On the flip side, RHOC was averaging 1 million per episode but clearly wasn’t doing well in delayed viewers since it’s on hiatus. Bravo is also pushing their app for viewing and those episodes have full sets of commercials so it’s fully monetized.

@TaoboiIt still amazes me how Dallas keeps their stories under wraps even while airing. They have me pumped for this second half! That mid season trailer told us *nothing*! This needs to be the new normal. I know everybody is excited for RHOA tonight and while I will watch, we’ve known about this stripper gate since it happened! I want to be surprised! Salt Lake City was a surprise, Dallas has been a surprise, Jersey is a surprise! I like not knowing everything that is going to happen. This is why I’m so pumped for New York and Beverly Hills. It’s unheard of for BH not to go to the press, but for once we truly don’t know much of anything.

@TaoboiYeah...the baby rumors are probably coming. This sounds like she’s quitting mid season without even doing the reunion.

I’m not too crazy about them bringing Larsa back. Strong rumors suggest it’ll be more of a revival than a reboot with Larsa, Adriana, Alexia and Lisa returning. I’ll have to wait and see with this. It’ll be odd with then coming back after so many years. Now to the main event: The RHONJ premiere is one of the greatest premieres in Housewives history! The current ensemble is much stronger than the last time they had the same cast for 3 seasons. The chemistry simply cannot be matched! In general I feel like everybody was interesting in their solo scenes and of course the group scenes were FIRE! But this is why casting is so important. You can’t rely only on group scenes. I appreciate that they all have family to film with and interesting lives. Now Teresa? My GOODNESS! I feel like often times people pick on her and because she’s dumb she can’t defend herself. I was shocked to see her going out of her way to create this scandal! It was so soapy to see Jackie wishing Teresa well, trying to set her up, etc juxtaposed with Teresa trying to ruin Jackie’s marriage. On one hand I wish we could’ve seen them as friends, but as two alphas, this is going to be GOLDEN! The RHOD secret story is supposed to be as juicy as what happened last season. I love that we don’t know though. Every episode has been interesting so I am not even close to being worried about that quiet trailer. My best guess is that we will learn that Brandi’s adopted son is from her husbands affair. That checks with a blind item on Crazy Days and Nights. Also when it comes to Tiffany, I thought she came off very well. She was really making an effort with Kary and to loosen up in general and the fact that Kary KNEW she was defending her and still screamed in her face made Kary look SO bad. Now I do love Kary as y’all know, but what a bitch! Kary is also unique in that the majority of the cast really likes her so her behavior gets more of a pass than it normally would. I also feel like there is a reason these women hate Tiffany and I hate to say it, but I think it’s her race. White women hate to see minorities do better than them and nothing else explains why every little thing she does is so wrong and such a big deal. They are showing themselves to be the MAGA bitches they are.

That Kassie DePaiva rumor is a joke. I will say, I do think that she and many other soap vets could be valuable on primetime shows, but come on. I think the logical people we can expect are Susan Lucci, Eva Larue, possibly Sarah Michelle Gellar, Debbi Morgan and of course Kelly and Mark at some point. That’s the reason I feel ABC was willing to do this over say a “Llanview” which would likely be a total reboot due to their cast not having the same type of known primetime names u can cast. Plus, another thing with the Kassie rumor is that we don’t even know where they are in terms of a script or pilot so the timing for a rumor like that would make no sense. Until Susan Lucci is announced I wouldn’t expect any additional news for this pilot.

If Laura is dead, my biggest issue is that this is a character that has been around since 1966. With the various actresses that have played her (including JLB) she has had endless iconic moments. She’s also directly connected to the show and in her current stint proved she’s just as useful to regularly appear as Maggie or Julie. If she does die you KNOW she won’t get a proper send off so it feels like robbing fans of the chance to say a proper goodbye. On the flip side, long term soaps have a bad habit of taking well liked villains too far and still keeping them on. Just like an Adam Newman of Ben Weston (or Kristin) we are going to watch Laura’s death be justified and overlooked so they can justify keeping Gwen around. That is the part I hate the most! I actually enjoy Gwen and her classic soap schemes, but this takes it too far and makes me no longer want to see the eventual reconciliation with her family.

@vetsoapfanBill’s death was pointless when you consider how long he’d been gone. You didn’t even have the pay off of him returning for a stint and there being an actual story with it. When it comes to David I feel that is because they only wanted to use Valerie as a token. Had he been brought back you would have to address their history. I will never understand the story benefit here. He’d been gone for ages so they have a blank canvas. Such a waste!

This return proved Laura should be in town more often, not dead. If they kill her off I’m going to be furious. Not only for Laura, but once again it would be taking a villain too far. I don’t want to see Gwen kill a beloved vet them have to deal with them telling us it doesn’t matter when they want to keep her around.

I had gotten bored and took a break from watching. I recently got back in and have watched about 30 episodes which has taken me around episode 150. The Peter story is finally winding down and people are finally discovering that Sophia is alive. I feel like this Sophia story has gone on FOREVER! I’m excited to see where the show goes with these two stories resolved. The Joe recast is horrible, so I can’t wait for him to die so Kelly can move onto something else. I’m also excited for Julia who I believe will arrive in another 30 episodes or so. I feel like so many characters (like Gina) are treading water as this Peter story wraps up. I can’t wait for the reactions from everyone once they know Sophia is alive. The Eden/Sophia scenes were fantastic. I love how they played Eden’s love for her mother and excitement for her return only for it to hit her that her mother had abandoned her. Marcy Walker is a little powerhouse. Im also excited for the final CC and Robin Mattson as Gina, but I think I have a longer wait for those two. Another thing I’ve loved is that they seem to keep the location footage going pretty regularly. I hope that never stops. The show films in California and is set there, so it’s nice to get to see them outside of the studio. It certainly added a lot to the conclusion of the Peter story.

Salt Lake City had a first season like Potomac where expectations were low and they came out guns blazing. I’m still shocked at how strong it was and how well produced. The chemistry was also excellent and like Potomac I could see this same overall ensemble carrying them for years. I feel like SLC is what people have tried to make Dallas out to be. I stand by my feeling that the first 3 seasons were overrated and the ensemble was a combination of being dull and toxic. Leanne wasn’t a good long term villain and I’m so sick of seeing people ask for Cary to come back when she was boring herself. I feel like with seasons four and five it’s finally becoming a solid HWs franchise and I need them to keep pushing for their breakout season. If they make the right changes for season 6, that could be their year. And by right changes I mean it’s time for Stephanie and Brandi to go and bring in strong new housewives like they’ve found in Kary and Tiffany who can drive story, create conflict and show wealth. To me it’s crazy that Stephanie and Brandi are still around when they bring so little to the show.

Jamey Gideons tweeted that he heard she’d be too busy when someone suggested her as the next Vivian on Days. I think Lucci is a 100% given more than anybody for this to get picked up. I hope it’s a good balance as well. People like Susan Lucci, Eva Larue and Debbi Morgan should still be driving story. Because it’s on ABC I have more hope that when she says next generation she means characters in their 30s-40s for the primary cast.

You are correct about the taping schedule vs scripts, but I would imagine you’d have to have scripts in order to give a taping schedule and we know the shows are written months in advance, as we see whenever there is a HW swap. Also insiders are saying the mass firing he’s speaking of isn’t happening.

I think he was let go due to his social media stuff. He said he was given scripts through the end of March. For this to happen it was obviously sudden and they timed it with his contract cycle. He was trying to save face so he can get another job.

I love her regular Bill updates. He seems to be the main cast member she meets with regularly. I wonder if he still has his restaurant in California.

Sutton and Garcelle joined the ladies on day two. Sutton is in a wheelchair after hurting her foot, but she’s there lol. In other BH news, things go from bad to worse for Tom Girardi.

Me contract clause rumored is that Eric Braeden has to have the last word in scenes and can’t lose to Jack in a story.

I love Jaime Lyn Bauer so Monday was a treat! It’s funny how much I’m in love with this show, but hate aspects of it so much. Thursday and Friday’s episodes were PAINFUL with the heavy focus on the rape and Ben/Ciara who put me to sleep. Then you switch to the Devereaux story or Kiriakas drama of even Rafe/Nicole and I’m invested. I will say, for someone who hasn’t liked Rafe OR Nicole in years, they surprisingly work well together. Going back to the Gwen story, I am shocked we still don’t know the truth. They’ve done such a good job keeping this a secret. It’s unheard of that we’re watching a story unfold in real time like this. I can’t wait for today’s episode to see what exactly Laura’s involvement in. I’m still not sold on Gwen’s mom being dead.

God is good! If it’s true there won’t be a recast, then send him and Abby off screen. They are both boring and terrible actors.

As someone who has never seen her as Laura, I can’t picture her in that role *ever* lol. I’ve never seen Flannery as a heroine so I can’t picture it, although I’d love to see some of her in the role. The ironic thing is that for as much as people complain with Bauer pops in, I bet they would’ve have liked her in the role in the 90s or 00s.

They really looked good together and Jamie has such a soothing voice that I love on soaps. I know many hate her as Laura but I’m such a fan.

That’s why this franchise is special because this is a real circle and these girls are long term friends, not acquaintances. Mariah gets hell, but in terms of casting you can’t say she’s not a genius when going into the 8th season the entire original cast (except her) is there. I include Heavenly when I say original because Mariah did cast her and got her into Weight Watchers so Bravo would allow her on.