Faulkner

I saw Karen on WWHL last night. She said they were both on various boards in the area, and that when Karen saw Wendy speak at a board meeting, she wasn’t impressed. There’s obviously a story that we’re not hearing. Ashley certainly needed an image-rehab season, and I think she’s doing it well. I watched her IG Live after last night’s episode, and while she always has been smart, she feels a lot more mature and thoughtful. I know a lot of black parents are trying to instill a strong sense of ownership being passed on to their children, but I’m like Cheap... a restaurant? I don’t know anything about the place, but that’s a tricky prospect even in the best of times. Those scenes with Gizelle, Jamal, and their kids are some of the most awkward I’ve seen.

From Rome, Italy 🇮🇹

I think Bashioum was such a singular presence. It’s hard to really capture what she brought to the role. And the character got so watered-down with all the recasts. But I think she’s been off the canvas long enough (aside from the KK short-term return) to reboot the character a bit if they wanted to. We’d probably not enjoy the end result.

I didn’t enjoy the Mac recasts either, but I saw a lot of growth with KK as an actress with her return, and it made me think of what she could do with a real story. Of course, the bigger issue is whether or not a modern-day Y&R is even capable of that.

One of the (few) good things Mal Young did was bring Raul, Brittany, and KK’s Mac back. (Raul was only back briefly.) Of course, it was in service of that character-assassinating JT mess, but they all lit a spark under that show.

Yeah, I had a slightly more positive feeling about Bethenny until I watched S8. Dorinda’s S8 was pretty bad as well, but I was happy that Dorinda held Bethenny’s feet to the fire at the reunion. Thank you! I love getting people’s perspectives here. I just wish there was more available HW series on streaming (I want to see Melbourne or Jo’burg) for me to dig into.

Am I dreaming this, but didn’t they have a flirtation around the time Marcy Rylan started playing Abby as the “Naked Heiress”? I vaguely remember them sharing a scene around that time. But I could have it completely wrong. OK I didn’t dream it: they made out: https://michaelfairmantv.com/yrs-lauralee-bell-on-todays-shocking-kiss-between-christine-nick-newman/2010/08/19/

Oh dear.

From Virginia

They were so lovely together. And genuinely love each other off screen.

From Amsterdam, Netherlands

I skipped S8 because work stuff had consumed my life around then (2016 - what a year that was), so I missed a lot of the discussion that obviously happened here in real time. Forgive me the rehash. Bethenny can kick rocks. I think she makes great reality TV (her Berkshires rant was sh!tty behavior but spellbinding to watch) and can be genuinely hilarious and fiercely perceptive. But nope... I could only tolerate her if she could accept not always being the (hypocritical) voice of God on the show. Which would mean a personality transplant. Carole....pffft, lint. It’s just funny that sweet little Jules was the one who sent B over the edge, but I guess her presence (beautiful, younger, dark-haired, rich Jewish girl who was thin) triggered her. She wasn’t an unsympathetic Kelly Bensimon whom Bethenny could just steamroll. And Bethenny saying Jules reminded her of her mother was such a diversion. Bethenny deploys her fücked-up childhood so manipulatively.

It’s so interesting to see Bethenny transparently throwing her weight around. This was the nastiest Bethenny ever (her behavior in the Berkshires was sooo out of line—and she DID steal Luann’s hairdo lol), and I know she was dealing with GYN health issues at the time. But when Bethenny told Sonja that “I want nothing to do with you” over TipsyGirl-gate, you knew it was to jeopardize Sonja’s position on the show, which Dorinda actually sort of aided and abetted by cutting Sonja out of the Berkshires trip. Jules *really* got under Bethenny’s skin. Bethenny even admitted that she isn’t usually affected by what people say, but when Jules said Bethenny uses humor to hurt people, that really hit her in the gut. It’s funny: I saw that Bethenny was angry on Twitter that Jules called Carole “irrelevant,” but Jules nailed it there too. All Carole did that season was nuzzle her twentysomething bf and ice out Luann. And she had zero impact at the reunion, aside from being Bethenny’s loyal yes-man. There was no way Bravo was cutting ties with Luann with the juicy Tom drama ready to explode.

Well, in tribute to the old, more fun Dorinda... If you had to guess, who do you think will go? I think there are arguments for keeping or getting rid of all of them, save for maybe Luann and Leah. Dorinda has had a rough season and is doubling down on her bad behavior on social media, which isn’t endearing her to fans. She seems particularly vulnerable for the ax and deservedly so. Ramona has had a reckoning coming for years, but there’s a sense that she IS RHONY. Her relationships with the others define the show. It just depends on how deep the producers feel the problem lies. If they want a full reboot, she’s the one to go. Sonja’s a fan favorite (her “I have an unstoppable pusssaaaay” was hilarious), but all the talk of her mixing of pills and booze is scary. But I think she’s the least expendable of the older ladies other than Luann. To me, it’s either Dorinda or Ramona (or both) going, a return of a veteran HW (Jill or maybe Heather), and 1-2 new younger HWs (and more ethnically diverse) coming on.

From Texas