Faulkner

Memories of Phaedra’s “rental car” shade towards Kenya at one of the reunions. (Not that Phaedra could talk from her glass house...)

Oh sh!t! Now Les Moonves is in Ronan Farrow’s crosshairs. What will Julie Chen do? https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/amp/news/leslie-moonves-accused-sexual-misconduct-ronan-farrow-expose-1130268

Ah ok! It’s a funny pic. Was curious. I was like, “Is that Charlize Theron in a wig with James van der Beek?”

Lol. What is that from?

Yep. It’s sad. Bethenny is very funny and immediately brought energy to a flagging show with her return, but it’s not enjoyable to watch a bully constantly get away with it IMO, whether it’s Victor on Y&R or Frank Underwood on HoC or Queen B. We see it all the time in corporate America. It’s not something I like to see in my entertainment. She needs an equal, but it appears that she won’t allow that. If next season is Bethenny streamrolling over the other ladies, I’m out. Lol, yeah, I compared Bethenny to Frank Underwood, but her body count is getting up there.

That’s true. Nene is jealous of Kandi’s success. But they seem to have stayed out of each other’s ways for the most part and made a shaky peace.

Yeah, it’s not so much wanting Carole to stay, but there needs to be a check on Bethenny. I felt that same way when Nene’s ego grew to the size of an asteroid on ATL. There were always people who could get under Nene’s skin (Kim, Sheree, sometimes Phaedra), but they weren’t rootable figures at all. Kenya couldn’t really hang with Nene. Claudia could go toe to toe with Nene verbally, but that was *all* she brought to the show, and she came off as a one-note thirsty pest. I think Nene, since her return and some career ups and downs, is a less condescending, more likable presence now, so there isn’t as much need for a counterbalance. (That could change.) Bethenny, on the other hand, is more out of control than ever.

Those. Teeth.

The only times I’ve ever been Team Bethenny have been in her fights with Jill and Kelly (because they were both so awful and not just with B). Maaaaybe Ramona at moments. But Ms. Frankel is just so obnoxious and definitely uses tears strategically more than almost any HW, which Carole called out. I’ve always given Dorinda a lot of slack, but she needs an intervention badly. I missed the part where Dorinda did something and someone screamed. Did she throw a drink at Luann, and did she just knock something over?

This is crazy and scary.

I imagine a lot of longtime viewers may feel like they wasted time investing in these shows, especially after how callously they were treated in the last 20-30 years. They felt cheated so they are trying to reconcile that in some way. Maybe they are hoping for some long delayed justice that will never come.

Ugh. Bethenny is the Queen of Petty.

Yep. It’s frustrating and sours this whole season for me.

I can’t even imagine Kenya on NYC. Have they ever successfully transplanted or even attempted to move a HW to a new franchise?

Yep. Smart move. I love this line.

AMC has cleared Chris Hardwick to return to The Talking Dead in August after an investigation: https://deadline.com/2018/07/chris-hardwick-returning-talking-dead-amc-sexual-harassment-allegations-1202433461/

I’m a bit ambivalent towards Kenya, but she was the only ATL housewife who inspired any anticipation for next season for me. I suppose if she refused to film the good stuff, it’s all moot. But RHOA just doesn’t have any interesting dynamics at play for me anymore.

I dunno. I’m torn. An existing title will immediately break through the clutter of nearly 500 scripted shows. Folks have so many viewing options now... what’s another reboot? What would we get in its place, another Zach Braff sitcom that will come and go in a month?

I think that makes sense. An American legend of the sport (Venus) on a comeback trail. Federer is clearly famous, but no one thought that Cilic final would be much of anything (it wasn’t). If he’d been playing Nadal, at least there would be a narrative. If he’d been playing a healthy Djokovic or Murray or Delpo, at least there could have been a competitive match, since all have beaten Federer at the highest levels. Cilic? Not so much.

True. I admit I’ve never watched because the word of mouth on those shows was so dismal. @Chris B, the timing point is a good one. I almost feel like if soaps could have held on for 10 more years or if we had our current streaming moment 10 years earlier, things could have been different. Alas, that’s a lot of what ifs. I wish there were more classic TV and classic film options on streaming. Filmstruck’s partnership with TCM has been a godsend, but it’s not enough. Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon have pretty paltry classic (pre-1980) film offerings. M*A*S*H just got put on Hulu. These streaming services pull tons of data on what people are watching, so if these ventures are successful, we’d see more of them. I always wondered why the BBC hasn’t put EastEnders on streaming in full: they own it, it’s been a huge brand for over 30 years, they often post classic Christmas eps on iPlayer, and it’s still popular. But they might just have good reasons for not doing it. It wouldn’t surprise if there was some discussion around soap reboots/revivals now. After all, anything that is a recognized brand name from the “monoculture” era is going to cut through the glut of new content out there. But it also wouldn’t surprise me if those reboots weren’t five-days-a-week frequency. They could just turn them into 13 episode a year seasons like any other scripted drama on streaming. And would that be ok for fans?