Soaplovers

I think when Reva first came back in 1995, that she didn't hog the show.. that she was part of an ensemble.. but I think after the Josh/Annie/Reva story kicked into high gear in 1997, with the climax causing the ratings to shoot up for a few weeks (I think it went up to like #4 during the final week of the story).. the show tried other story climaxes for the rest of 1997 (i.e. Vanessa/Matt reuniting, Abby's attack then her shooting her attacker in court after he is found not guilty and he mouths a threat to her, etc).. and the ratings didn't shoot up.

So I think the show felt that Josh/Reva were the reason for the ratings increase thus in 1998.. they started to dominate the show. What I don't think the show realized was that the story itself was so good that the ratings went up.. not because of Josh/Reva themselves. 1997 was a balanced year.. but 1998 became more Reva, which only got worse in 1999 and thereafter. I think the final year or so started to balance the show again.. but it was too late.

I agree that the girls should have made the best of it, but I think Heather was not the best person to help plan an event like that.

#1) She didn't plan for her audience (i.e. going to a dive bar is up Vicki/Tamra/Gretchen's alley more then an elegant restaurant).

#2) She didn't plan correctly (i.e. elegant restaurants like this work for date night, business meetings, etc.. not for a wild bachelorette weekend).

I did like Lydia stating that she was worried that it would be too wild/crazy, but instead was so boring LOL I totally am seeing that Lydia never watched the show, hence her attempts at talking during dinner were met with resistance from all the girls. Adding Lydia was a step in the right direction, but perhaps Bravo should reboot RHOC for season 9.

I don't recall the earlier seasons, but did all the women hang out together so much? I seem to recall they had their own lives focused on without constant chatter about the other women.

My favorite scene was the Jim/Katheryn scene. It was a long scene that detailed the tension and mutual disinterest between the two of them. A very clear portrait of their marriage... very Ingmar Bergman.. imho! Scenes from a Marriage type of material.

They were chemistry testing Josh and Jenna...and they were hot..(Its hard not to have chemistry with Newman, uh, oh yea, sorry Marcy Walker...there's the door..) and then she left. Never got the Jenna/Buzz as great loves thing..I can see a short thing with him but not anything longer then that, but of course, we were knee deep in 5th street at that time..I remember the endless Jenna and the what, face cream bullshit...gah...that made Peapack look stimulating.)

I remember they chemistry tested Josh/Jenna at some road-house that Tangie was working at. I seem to recall Jenna was getting trashed after Buzz/Nadine got back together and before she found out she was pregnant. Vanessa and Eve had a heart to heart, and of course, after all the players left the bar.. Alan entered and met Tangie.

It seemed like 1994 was a transition year of sorts. It was as if the show was throwing things at a wall to see what stuck. I like to think that the writers were throwing darts and where ever the darts landed, that was what they went with. How else could you explain Tangie/Alan/Alan Michael, Nadine/Buzz/Jenna, even Nick/Mindy getting back together. Although I did like Eve/Ed getting together.. even though Eve was no Maureen, she seemed good natured once she got help.

For me, the last good year of GL consistently was 1997. You had Josh/Reva/Annie going on, you had Blake/Ross, you had Holly/Fletcher acting like journalists at every event with Roger trying to get back with Holly as he was romancing Amanda to stick it to Alan.

You also had the community feel during that time with building the dream house that Matt/Vanessa reunited in, Dinah/Hart were good.. and early Cassie was bitchy and snarky.

It's hard to believe that 1998 was such a horrid year, and from the same writing/EP team. I always thought that B & E were great at turning around shows around, just not good at staying at said shows once they turned them around.

They did wonders for Loving's last year and GL during their first year of writing.. but anything further always seemed to go downhill.

It makes me think that some head-writers are great at turnarounds, others are good at keeping the ball rolling but not getting the ball rolling, some are just great writers all around, and others are just not good writers period.

It was like someone said hey, Nola used to be crazy and delusional, so let's go back to this. They never gave any reason for why she wanted Buzz, and the story was so cliched and joyless.

I would have seen Nola going for a mysterious guy, or a successful reporter/professional.. not someone blue collar like Buzz.. imho

Of course, I never understood why Jenna would go for Buzz either.

They changed RHONY filming, partly due to the cast strike.. and also cause they wanted to film during the summer in order to feature the Hamptons, etc.

Ringer had a 50's film noir look to it... very dark and cold. I'm not sure quite what Tyler Perry has in mind for The Haves and the Have Nots. I wish someone other then Oprah would interview him and ask him what his intentions are for this particular show.. and why he has such stark views of good and evil..

Something was happening. P&G had passed down a mandate to then-HW's Pam Long and Jeff Ryder to de-emphasize Quint and Nola (and most of Doug Marland's characters) on the show.

I did read an interview with Pam Long stating that she loved writing for the Reardons especially Tony & Nola.

I could see the mandate handed down in 1984 for her to shift the focus from them, even though she wrote some good episodes for the Reardons (there was one from Feb. 1985 where the whole family went bowling right before Jim was due to leave to go on a think tank.).

Soaplover that is funny, but I always saw Nola with a Fletcher type character, investigating things, etc. Quint after the mystery was solved was boring. I also thought it so odd that she wasnt invovled in the Cabin Mystery as that was right up Nola's alley. Something had to be happening backstage with that.

I agree, considering how involved she was in the Annabelle Sims mystery. She was funny, quirky and intelligent during that mystery.. even Quint said it was eerie how logical she was being LOL

With her being involved with the cabin mystery, it would have bought up character based conflict with Quint.

You know, I'd have to agree. As despicable as Jill was, she was a prominent face of the NYC brand. Without her stooges by her side, it would've been interesting to see her as the odd man out against the blondes and the newbies. Would love to see the Jewish gals Jill and Heather meet, cuz Heather and Carole don't take too kindly to b.s. and high school alliances. Oh well. What could've been.

That's true.. I remember after the Jill interview where she basically slammed Carole and Heather.. Carole was asked by Andy Cohen her thoughts on what Jill said.. and she basically asked 'Whose Jill Zarin?' and then moved on LOL

I know that Heather would have had a field day with Jill... didn't Jill also have a shapewear line she was trying to launch? I know Heather is an acclaimed designer (she designed Sean John's men's line when it first came out) so I could see Jill trying to suck up to her while Heather wouldn't have any of it.. sort of like what happened with Ramona.

Season 4 of NY gets a bad rap IMO, it was actually pretty good up until Jill and her crew started up with that Ramona's an alcoholic campaign and went on about mean tweeting as a way to "ice out" Alex (man Kelly was so stupid she couldn't even be subtle about the fact they were trying to get Alex kicked off the show, remember that awkward breakfast scene?).

Cindy was a terrible addition too, and then that reunion which I consider to be one of, if not the nastiest I've seen from any reality show. Honestly though all they really had to do for season 5 was fire Kelly, Cindy, and LouMan so Jill wouldn't have her minions, bring in Carole, Heather, and Aviva as newbies/friends and you could have had a much better season.

Season 4 started out well.. I still laugh at Luann on the camel to this day LOL

What is weird is that when the season started, Jill and Alex were on the outs but made up. Alex was getting along with everyone it appears.. but then I remember cracks starting to form when Kelly/Cindy went to Alex's party and they were being all snooty about going to Brooklyn.. and then leaving a minute after getting there.

By the time of the Africa trip, Luann and company were torturing Alex. They saw her as the weaker of the trio of Ramona/Sonja/Alex, imho.

Though I still remember the scene where Kelly was slamming Sonja's house and stating how in disrepair the house was and that Sonja was not dealing with a full deck. The only person to defend her was Luann... but once season 5 rolled around, viewers were treated to Sonja in the Grey Garden variety. How eerie that cray cray Kelly was on the mark for once and no one believed her LOL

However, I think Jill was the lead in her group of mean girls and even if Kelly/Cindy/Luann were axed.. Jill would have easily recruited Aviva/Carole/Heather against Ramona. With Luann being left alone, she wasn't able to be effective in recruiting people against Ramona and by the reunion, everyone was dumping on Luann at the reunion.. it was wonderful

With that said, with Luann signing on this late.. will she have a slightly smaller part then the other housewives? Perhaps be downgraded to friend of?

I think the Nola/Quint break-up was realistic.. but I always thought Nola would have been the one to leave him.. not vice versa. It was like the show was trying to turn Nola into Iva. Nola always seemed restless and wanting to try new things instead of being satisfied with what she had.

I think she loved Quint because of the mystery and excitement that she had always dreamed of.. but once they had married and had the two children, she became bored. While I think Pam Long was able to write Nola decently, I don't think she was able to read her 100 %. Nola always was bored and wanted to try new things, but I don't think opening up an aerobics studio was the way to go. Nola was a snoop and a curious cat so I would have seen her mixing it up with Fletcher (hence she would have been involved in the haunted cottage story with Tony/Annabelle).. and being an annoying tagalong on his capers.

Perhaps Quint could have gotten the job in that faraway land and presented that to Nola, who would gladly jump at the chance to go with him because it would be a new adventure. That is how I would have written them off with Nola willing to go.

Then jump several years in the future, Nola is restless again and leaves Quint while taking the kids with her. She becomes restless with her travels and decides to come back to Springfield to regroup. She wouldn't be so bitter and Iva-like, but still Nola wanting adventure..but a more mature version of Nola, if that make sense.

He and Lyla were engaged, but split up because he wanted to drill on Native American land and she disagreed with him.

Mark and Lily didn't do anything for me, but I did wonder at the time why the story changed. I don't think it could have been because of Lily/Mike, as he was still with Rosanna and Carly at the time.

I think the show realized Mark and Lily didn't have chemistry.. and I think this was before Damian had announced he was leaving the show so I think Damian/Lily became seen as end game. I guess Mark had some chemistry with Connor.. but then the show writers changed and they were rushed together.. I think.

I think Hannah came across too judgmental and unlikable to me. If the show softened her a little bit, then I might want to side with her. It seems as though she has done some transference of her dislike/hatred of Candice's dad toward Candice throughout her life.. so I can see why Candice is the way she is. Sadly, with this being a Tyler Perry show.. Candice will be punished and Hannah will be proven right.. ugh.

I actually thought Kathryn was written to reflect a woman who is wealthy and living in denial over her husband's infidelity.. plus trying to put on a perfect facade regarding her children.

While Wyatt and Benny have hot bodies, it would have been nice if Tyler Perry cast actors that could act in those parts.

So far so good... Def remember Tika from OLTL.. ironic that she is given more to do and act in the 1st episode of this show then she ever got during her entire stint on OLTL.

Connor was great with Cal, they were both very headstrong, independent characters that worked great as a couple but also as individual characters as well.

Connor was friends with Lily, Damian, Emily, and Rosanna while sharing a love/hate relationship with Lucinda. I liked that Lucinda/Connor never were as close after the Walsh takeover. Nowadays, the two would have become soul sisters within a year.. but back then, characters with bad history would normally never be close.

Kristen Davis was amazing as Brooke but I hated how the character was written. She was written as so weak and so much in need of having to have Billy that it was almost pathetic to me. I liked Brooke when she was at D&D scheming with Amanda against Alison but then it fell apart for me.

I think Brooke and Amanda scheming against Alison was during season 3 (when Darren Starr was still showrunner), but Brooke becoming so weak/pathetic came in season 4. Plus, it didn't help in season 4 where the characters were all isolated in their own story island. I think Brooke and Sydney would have been interesting to interact, etc.

they better not splice her in at the end like did with Alexis. I say drop the ho as well

Alexis was bought back right before filming was to start.

If anything, I can imagine Aviva making her grand entrance during the kick-off to the summer season at the Hamptons.

You're welcome!

And apparently Lauri's grandchild via Ryan was born with heroin withdrawal and is now a ward of the state until both parents enter rehabilition programs. Lauri didn't take the baby in. SMDH.

http://absurdtosublime.net/2013/05/19/where-is-lauri-waring-petersons-grandchild/

I remember watching the season 3 marathon that played some weeks back, and there was an episode where lauri and her son had a therapy session. You could tell Lauri was trying to paint some sort of picture that didn't correlate with reality. I could tell when her son was speaking that he wasn't going by a script.. but was basically crying out for help. I don't remember exactly what he had said, but didn't it have to do with having trouble living up to an image of some sort?

Either way, I remember thinking that I wanted to just hug him while Lauri just seemed to be there hoping for an easy fix.. but if you are trying to present to the world that everything is perfect.. you will have difficulty if your son is a drug addict and is on your reality show.. just saying.

OC is just wretched this season. Everyone is SO separated and I CAN'T, for the life of me, figure out WHY they brought Alexis back to interact with..... NOBODY! I'd much rather they had left it at 5, seeing as how Lydia seems to be integrating well with the rest of the women.

I don't need constant drama, but this group is SO played out. They should either end OC or re-launch with a BRAND NEW cast (maybe save Lydia and/or Heather). Everyone is just constantly amping things up and mugging for the camera. It's pathetic and annoying.

When, oh WHEN are my Miami Hos coming back?

ETA: If anyone could PM me a link where I can watch S2 Miami online, I sure would appreciate it. I'm having serious withdrawals- I was actually re-reading all their blogs last night. JuniorZ needs his crack!

I kind of like seeing the scenes of the wives on their own, I think the early seasons of OC was more like that. Granted, the housewives then were more interesting... thank gosh for Vicki LOL

The reason they bought Alexis back was because her replacement backed out right before filming was to start so Bravo called Alexis to come back. Judging by how early filming was going, I think they rightly realized that they needed a new person, hence how Lydia ended up being cast.

At least Lydia seems interesting so far, but I do think that OC should do a more drastic revamp if it returns for a 9th season.

The one strength OC always had was the constant revolving door of housewives, it always kept things from getting too stale. The housewives, with the exception of Vicki and Jeana, were there for like two or three seasons before they left and new housewives took over. I think that Tamra and Gretchen have overstayed their welcome and it's time for them to leave. Alexis should stay on as a friend of housewives since I think she gets along with Vicki and Lydia. Of the three witches, Heather seems the less meaner of the three.. with her trying to tell Tamra/Gretchen that Lydia was nice, and trying to convince Tamra that perhaps Alexis is trying to make things better.

I'm glad you shared that information. I've been trying to find any information on Paul Roberts, but all I could uncover was that he worked on ONE LIFE TO LIVE with Agnes Nixon and Don Wallace.

Does anyone know anything at all about K.C. Collier or John Saffron? Both worked as HW's on ATWT during the early '80s.

I googled John Saffron.. and I guess he was a writer briefly on Ryan's Hope.. and All my Children in the late 70s/early 80s. According to a few sites, he was the one who created Lucinda.

I couldn't find anything on K.C. Collier whatsoever.

I'd love to have an asian housewife.

What I'm questioning is why an attractive person such as Carla is doing with a sleazy loser such as Peter?

I'm guessing that Leanne is now married to Nick, who owns a decent place and thinks she's moved beyond her humble/meager beginnings. It is said that those that 'move' up always seem to look their noses down at those they've left behind. Plus, she seems too accepting/close to Stella and I'd assumed that this story of Stella/Leanne reuniting was done years ago.. not less then two years ago.

Jfung, I'm not sure if I have any favorite characters or not, but I can tell you that I don't much care for Fiz (the annoying red headed girl) and that wimpy dude she is with now (I'm assuming that's the guy who had the abusive girlfriend). I guess the UK and US have different morals and rules.. but I did view the December/January episodes and couldn't muster any sympathy for the lad. Yes, it sucks that Kirsty was abusing him, but he was carrying on behind her back with the red headed lady while pretending to still be interested in Kirsty.

I'm intrigued with the Sally character that was on recently.. when she was being judgmental toward Kylie. I happened upon her early episodes on youtube (from 1986).. and she was quite fetching, plus loved the boots she was wearing as well She seemed very similar to Kylie in terms of personality and dress style (i.e. youthful/slightly punk looks.. at least the trends of the 1980s and early 2010s). Plus, she seemed to have the same type of interaction with her hubby like Kylie has with her hubby. Am I off base with the similarities?

Aviva has caved and signed on. LuAnn is the last one holding out. Bravo fire this ho! Didn't they give them a deadline.WTF?

LuAnn is furious she has to take a pay cut, and she thinks she is by far the most recognizable face of the franchise. x 10

http://radaronline.com/exclusives/2013/05/aviva-drescher-end-real-housewives-salary-dispute-luann-de-lesseps/

Luann really didn't fit in with the group.. the other 5 seemed to get along/bicker with each other.. while Luann seemed the odd man out. She should be fired for holding out past the deadline.

^

I was just about to post that article (http://www.realitytea.com/2013/05/16/luann-de-lesseps-says-no-one-can-replace-her-on-rhony-plus-sonja-morgan-attempts-to-settle-bankruptcy-real-housewives-new-york/). LuMan is delusional. That heffa brings nothing to the show. The only season that Luann was relevant was S4 and that's because she was vicious to Alex the entire season (since Jill had moved on to bigger fish--Ramona).

I'm sorry.. I don't think it's fair that Luann and Aviva can hold out and still be allowed back on the show when the other 4 signed up before the deadline given by Bravo. If Bravo does have new girls lined up, then they don't need Luann/Aviva imho.