Cat

None of this is a surprise. The rumors in the US and UK have indicated a separate marriage for some time. PK basically spent most of 2020 in London while she was in LA with the kids. He loves the night-life, casinos, bars, booze, wheeling-and-dealing, and especially gambling. I don't think Dorit enjoys the precarity of a life one step ahead of creditors or the IRS. I had a feeling the Marriage Breakup SL was actually meant to be hers last season, until Kyle said "Hold my beer."

So now Dorit can discuss it this season. The only problem is, Dorit lies like she breathes. Even I believe elements of Kyle's story about her marriage. I rarely believe something Dorit says, unless Jagger and Phoenix say it first.

7 hours ago, NothinButAttitude said:

@DaytimeFan I think Jenn Fessler is playing LONG game. I think she doesn't care for Marge or Tre--she wants on the show; however, she realizes Teresa is a sure way to make her full-time.  

1,000%. Don't forget she dumped her buddy Siggy Flicker once she got canned from the show and moved onto befriending Marge.

Fessler is doing what's best for Fessler. On this show, it would be foolish to do otherwise.

Is this... the end?

Re: RHONJ, can't disagree with any of you. Like @Gray Bunny said, RHONJ is the Ultimate Survivor of Real Housewives. I'd go even further: RHOC is Ultimate Survivor; RHONJ is literal hand-to-hand gladiatorial combat with a cheering Roman coliseum baying for blood. And like @Gray Bunny, I get the stomach knots when I watch. Nevermind them hating each other -- I'm not sure I like many of them.

Dolores has long been my girl on this show, thanks to her sensible nature, and I hope and trust that she will continue to rise above the fray.

Jennifer and Teresa are openly involved in bringing the other team down these days. However, they aren't very good at retaining soldiers (Kim D, Jacqueline, Danielle Staub, Staten Island, associated Twitter pundits) and that spells badly for them.

Jen Fessler is on another level from most of these women in terms of intelligence. So why does she want to get involved with their drama? I liked Fessy a lot last season, but I am curious how she handles her blatant allegiance-shifting. I'm also curious how Marge will handle it.

The whiff of Hawaiian Tropic/red-hot heat of the tanning bed that emanates from Da Huzzbinds! Some of the steroid abuse is also crazy. One of them is literally growing moobs.

Grandma Fuda was funny and, boy, she had some poker face referring to Jennifer as 'Nose Job' while Rachel Fuda's elongated, purpose-built ski-jump was right there.

35 minutes ago, Gray Bunny said:

Funny you should ask, because I took a photo of the menu (I'm that kind of person, just as I kept a cocktail napkin as a souvenir, hehe): 

Checkmate Bitch:

Stoli Hot Vodka, Chacho Jalapeno, Fresh Pineapple, Grapefruit Liqueur, Vanilla Citrus Syrup, Angostura Bitters, and Pink Peppercorns. All this in a tall glass for a mere $23.95.  Cheers! 

Thank you @Gray Bunny ! That is a lot of strong flavors in one glass, but the beauty of a truly amazing cocktail is to be surprised by the fact that you can taste all the different ingredients in one gulp, and that they actual enhance one another. LVP has been in the bar game a long time, so she knows what she's doing. I imagine Checkmate Bitch contained exactly the kind of spicy kick that Adrienne, Rinna and Bland Spice (if you know, you know) got in the face whenever LVP walked into a room.

7 hours ago, NothinButAttitude said:

This isn't new though. Every housewife in every city leaks stories to their favorite bloggers. I don't get why the SLC women got mad at Monica, I never understood why Candiace spent all of season 5 whining about Monique getting ahead of the story, and I won't care if the NJ women try to come and Jenn and Tre for doing it. They all do it. It is just a pointless, stupid argument. 

This is what I mean about every RHONJ-adjacent's grandmother and her cat trying to scare up some coin by joining the RH ecosystem. They become gossip bloggers or podcasters and trade in leaks and information passed from the HWs. I scroll past them on Twitter at this point, but Melissa's Old Nose was quite obviously Teresa/Jennifer's mouthpiece for years. Behind the Velvet Rope used to get dirt from Marge until they fell out. Now that podcast is pro Teresa. It's a whole ecosystem out there built to push different HW narratives, as you say. It really got going in Atlanta when early RHOA took off. I don't see what all the fuss is about, except that I'm finding it an increasing distraction from the actual shows. They need to be careful it doesn't take away from the franchise itself, because all the contrived stuff on the shows are starting to pale in comparison with the Twitter dirt and surprise announcements. This past season of RHOBH is a prime example where Kyle's PR team and Netflix spinoffs have totally stolen BH's thunder.

ETA: your point about SLC is especially interesting, because while the whole reveal involved the fact that Monica was a SLC gossip bloggers, the drama was played out entirely on the show. Entirely! RH Twitter went nuts (in a good way) and it helped drive viewership to the show itself.

22 hours ago, DaytimeFan said:

That Jessica Fletcher meme has me laughing out loud - Marge would totally be the weekly victim on an episode of MSW. 

That's such a great look for LVP. How I miss her on BH!

Seriously. In NJ? Marge needs to watch her back. She's going to threaten to spill on the wrong person one of these days. And I think that blackmailing/intimidatory nastiness has weighed on her. There's no joy in her RH game anymore. 

LVP looked absolutely glorious, that light, bubblegum pink complements her very well. Back in the early days of RHOBH, LVP was literally the physical cross of (at their peak) Liz Hurley, Jackie Collins and Jacqueline Bissett. Truly spectacular looks.

21 hours ago, NothinButAttitude said:

22 hours ago, Gray Bunny said:

RHONJ: 

I actually kinda like the taglines. Meanwhile, time to gear up for another dark ugly season full of women paid to hang out together. I mean, that's the majority of them these days, but these ladies legit hate one another. One final year before we get a big overhaul, as Andy hinted. 

I'll give the NJ opener this -- it has actually made me want to watch the first episode of the new season. One reason is the Lack of Marge. I just can't stomach the woman anymore. The other is Dolores looking like a mob queen and trying to bring the famb'lies togethuh.

I simply do not care about Whoville Fuda and Staten Island (aka the defanged chihuahua -- all bark and no bite). I'd much rather have Jackie Goldschneider and Jess Fessler take their places.

Jennifer has always been about the alliance that keeps her on the show. Why she's trying to save Melissa's job now is beyond me.

Yes, the hate is real for real. It seems like half of Northern New Jersey is personally invested in the show -- in being a part of it, in collecting a paycheck from it, in making a living in the RH ecosystem off of it (podcasts, etc). The cast themselves are highly invested in remaining on the show and will literally destroy family relationships to stay. Marge has apparently accrued serious dirt on everybody, to the point where if this were Murder, She Wrote, she'd be in danger, girl.

I'm not sure this season should even have happened. But I will see how long it can hold me. Last season was an almighty chore.

What was in this Checkmate Bitch cocktail? I love a tasty cocktail! 

1 hour ago, Jdee43 said:

I'm all for it, but didn't they try to do Lane & Nancy on GH back in 2003, 2004? Why did it not work then? 

I felt that it didn't quite have the 'it' factor until the end of his run, by which time Lane's time on GH was already marked. And the end felt rushed, with GH desperate to squeeze some of the old chemistry out one last time before his character Cameron was bumped off.

Lane had great chemistry with Chad Bannon who played his son.

It was a disappointment because HW Bob Guza was part of the Santa Barbara brain trust (a breakdown writer at one time), and Mulcahey was a breakdown writer for GH and had penned Julia & Mason's greatest scenes on SB. 2003/2004 was deep in Sonny/Jason/Carly era, though, and Guza was obsessed with The Good Mob. Everything else was just a peripheral illustration of how hard 'love in wartime' is when you are Sonny Corinthos and Jason "box of pain" Morgan.

13 hours ago, Taoboi said:

NY

 

Well, putting my words where my mouth is. I did start over with NuNY. So I figured that I would do a first impression. Again. Since I did watch the first episode originally. I might even go and see if I can find my first impression again from then lol.

 

Oh, one more thing...OH MY GOD!!!! THE CITY!!! It is making me miss New York City something fierce. Whoever was behind the photography is giving me so much life. And the fact the ladies are housed all over Manhattan and beyond was a clever choice and giving me so much to verbally devour. 

 

UBAH. I find her light and breezy and I don't mind that. And she's beautiful. And I like her location around Columbus Circle...more or less my stalking grounds.

 

JENNA. The icon!!! lol. But I find her quirky and fascinating. She's very...cute messy in the same vein as Julia was this past season on RHOM. And I don't think I liked her apartment the first time around. That has since changed. lol. 

 

ERIN. Type A personality. But it is nice to see a little bit of a different kind of life through her religious family. And clearly in love with her husband given how many kids they have a la they have the sex. lol. I do think I found this cheese drama petty, but fun petty the first time around. This time around...it was just silly. Not bad silly, but hopefully not something that keeps going as the season goes on. I liked that her and Brynn resolved it quickly.

 

SAI. I like her start-forwardness. I might have found it icy the first time around. Now...I MIGHT stan. I find it appealing. Perhaps it has to do with a lot of my life over this year, but it feels 'right place, right time' for me given some of the internal changes I've gone through. So I might observe her for pointers. Unless she is a bitca and then NO. 

 

JESSEL. Hiding behind a mask. I like her. But there's something...off. I look forward to seeing what pops out.

 

BRYNN. Hehe. She was my favorite the first time around. STILL is my favorite. She just screams Brooke Davis from ONE TREE HILL for me and her voice is Rachel's from the same show. 

 

 

OMG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

I'm serious! I'm getting JFP vibes from this guy -- look at his cast pets. His bland filming 'aesthetic.' His stunt-SL-whenever-my-job-is-in-danger moments. Hey Mia girl! Thanks for the finale-episode lift!

Your impression of the first few episodes on nuRHONY is interesting in that it highlights how things changed over the course of the season regarding audience reaction.

Sai, Erin, Ubah and Jessel saw the biggest 180s. (I'd even argue that Sai saw a 360 because in a weird way, audience estimation of her, which was at rock bottom by the finale, edged up a bit after reunion because she acquitted herself pretty well and did a few Mea Culpas).

Ubah imploded at reunion and I'm not even sure why and whether we got the whole story on that, but I liked her during the season.

Jenna is an icon but... I'm wondering, by the time you get to the end of your viewing, whether you will feel that the bloom is coming off the rose?

Jessel in the early days, I thought, would be a one-season wonder. I felt she was contrived, trying to be someone she was not (New York important fashionista) and hiding a strained marriage. Then, somewhere along the way, Jessel changed her mind and revealed that she was actually a slightly quirky, eccentric nerd, and she was OK with talking about her marriage (and so was her husband!). Her star rose very quickly indeed after that shift. Her personality infuriated Sai and Erin and made them look worse.

It's total bait-casting, of course, but Mason/Julia on SB meant an awful lot to this nerdy kid back in the day. And with Patrick Mulcahey writing? I'm already intrigued. 

@Taoboi @DaytimeFan Eric Fullner is the Notorious JFP after she killed AW and before she elbowed her way onto GH.... i can see that now!

4 hours ago, NothinButAttitude said:

 

Granny Fuda referring to "Nose-job Jennifuh" when Rachel Fuda's Plasticine nose-work is sitting right there.  

Remind me why this uninteresting couple has beef with Tre & Louie again?

2 hours ago, NothinButAttitude said:

Why doesn't Bravo see that production is the issue. Not necessarily the casts. I feel like we're watching daytime TV all over again b/c Bravo shifts producers between shows. There was already the rumor that Eric Fuller might be producing RHONY this season on Twitter. 

I think Bravo feels like BH is the darling show now. Personally, I think BH is passable at best. The last time I fully enjoyed a season was season 5. Seasons 7, 11, and 12 were good (too), but they had dips where it got monotonous. 

How they treat RHOA supports Nene's claims about how they get treated versus shows that have a predominately white cast. RHOA gets sh*tty promotion. Their intro credits are rarely updated (Potomac, Miami, and Jersey are right on bar with them). Bravo just needs an overhaul behind the scenes. Out with the old and in with the new. These shows need a fresh pair of eyes. 

My personal litmus test is, are the seasons watchable on repeat? With BH, S6 and S7 are watchable, though difficult if you are an LVP fan. But S11-13 are almost completely interchangeable to me and a bore. And very self-produced. BH gets by on the frisson of LA's dark secrets threatening to emerge. However, viewers' patience are wearing thin.

Totally agree that RHOA barely gets a fraction of the budget and promotion that BH gets, and that a root-and-branch overhaul behind the scenes is sorely needed. 

39 minutes ago, Soaplovers said:

Julia is the best kind of pot stirrer.. because she is a sweet person.. yet also asks questions in a way that could be viewed as pot stirring.. or just curious about what had happened.

Guerdy.. only reason I could see dropping her is if her cancer battle isn't going well.   Despite what she proclaims, stress is actually a bad thing when going through cancer.

Only person I think should be dropped is Larsa... only because the money from this show is most likely going to all that bad plastic surgery and why enable that.

Your thoughts on Julia echo mine. It is rare to have a pot-stirrer who isn't an out-and-out b!tch trying to gaslight somebody.

I hope that isn't the case with Guerdy and that she's in a love bubble with Russell and her boys.

18 minutes ago, NothinButAttitude said:

@Taoboi plz don't get me started on the debacle that is RHOA. I am so livid with Bravo with how they are handling the crown jewel (RHOA). Without the success of RHOA, there would be no other cities. RHOA put Housewives on the map. I think it should be top priority of Bravo to get this show up, running, and filming in time to air by November/December. It is criminal that we have no cast outside of Kenya & Porsha. Meanwhile, Porsha's world is going belly-up and we are missing it. 

@Cat Bravo is stupid if they don't have the cameras up for Miami. And they are already pissing me off with regards to that show b/c they are rumblings that they want to get rid of Julia and Guerdy. That's stupid. Miami is the best cast on Bravo. The only casting alterations they need to do is bump Kiki, Marysol, and Adriana to full-time and get rid of the "friends" aspect of the show. Messing up this group of 9 women will cause Miami to spiral into the depths once again. Did they not learn from last time when they messed with the season 2 cast?! 

12 minutes ago, Taoboi said:

LOL. I feel you on that. There is no reason...NONE...RHOA isn't filming with the twists and turns to Porsha's divorce. They should at least be test filming newbies with her and Kenya. It makes no sense.

 

And I was just about to ask if you heard the Julia/Guerdy rumor. Make THAT make sense because Julia was THE pot-stirrer last season. Boring...WHERE??? If Guerdy leaves, it better be by her choice because she is over it. 

Why is Bravo is letting RHOA tank? Is it because Bravo cannot forgive Nene for the lawsuit and cannot get past the RHOA/Nene association? The show feels like a giant after-thought, and last season was dry and unwatchable. Everything about the production team is mediocre, and their lack of caring oozes from the screen. It's a RH show done by sleepy box-ticking. They f***ed RHOP up, too, but unlike RHOA, I feel like Truly Original somewhat cared about that show in a weird, toxic way. 

As for Miami, the Guerdy/Julia rumor makes me sad. As you know, I have a real fondness for Julia and her backstory. Guerdy is a force of nature who built her own, highly watchable events business from scratch, and who is the only one to call out that sloth Larsa. Both are necessary to the show IMO. 

I will say, though, that the RHOM cast don't seem to care that much about rumored cast cuts, because Julia, Alexia, Lisa and Marysol were partying it up in NYC yesterday. Larsa who??

And in RHOBH (aka the one franchise Bravo cares about) news:

11 hours ago, NothinButAttitude said:

First of all, they should be filming all this ASAP.

Secondly, while I don't think the marriage was shaping up to be rainbows and unicorns, I do think Alexia was blindsided by Todd filing.

Carlos King recently speculated on his podcast that Todd, a financial planner, probably had a pre-nup in place where the two-year mark represented an uplift in any payout going to Alexia in the event of a divorce. Todd was likely aware that the two-year anniversary was bearing down on them. He reviewed the marriage coolly, like it was an investment, decided it wasn't going to last in the medium-term, and then moved to divest himself quickly in order to avoid a bigger payout.

It's a shame because his first season on the show, I thought Todd was an interesting RH husband, and spoke a lot of sense to Alexia and Peter about Frankie and his care.

I'm sure Alexia will land on her feet, but she's been used to expensive lifestyles under Herman and Todd (and probably when she was married to the cocaine cowboy). As Adriana pointed out in S5, Alexia is used to living off the money of her husbands. Having to fend for herself will be hard, unless she is already independently wealthy (from her mom and Herman) and has money in trust.

In other news... How long until we get a RH franchise back on the air?!

I've been watching The Valley and it's fine, but I'm just not a VPR uberfan so it's not hitting the spot for me like the RHs do.

On 4/26/2024 at 6:10 PM, DynamiteKiddo said:

The RoHNY residences were so central to the show in a way I haven't seen on other cities, except maybe BH.  Like, sure, everyone thinks about the McMansions on Jersey and the early days of OC in Coto, but the NY women's properties were truly extensions of them.  The aesthetics or lack thereof almost always reflected where they were in their lives and how they perceived themselves and wanted others to.  Just like New York was always the other housewife on the show, so was Sonja's townhouse, Bluestone Manor (and Dorinda's underwhelming apartment, which starkly contrasted her pre and post-Richard life), Carole's downtown apartment, Kelly's loft in the Police Building with the horse, Ramona's ever-changing Park Ave. apartment and Hamptons McMansion, BOTH of LuAnn's incredible Hamptons homes and taking it all the way back Bethenny's IKEA apartment and Alex's Brooklyn townhouse.  It's why we missed so much with 'wives like Heather, Aviva and Tinsley--they didn't have proper home scenes . . .  Heather wasn't allowed to film in her apartment (but her Berkshires house was an amazing contrast to the other wives' vacation homes) and neither was Aviva, so she staged a rental as her home in s6 and it did not land . . . the only thing that landed worse was Tinsley's stupid residence hotel that she used to fake living in NY.

Losing the townhouse is losing a character in the story--I am very sad from that perspective.  But omg Sonja has needed to free herself of this for sooo long.  Realistically, Sonja can't ever fully let go of her past . . . but the townhouse literally had her living in it.  I, too, pray that she realizes enough from it to give her a future.

Totally agree, each of the residences you cite had a unique personality, just like New York City itself which was literally another character on RHONY. It denoted status within the group, too, and that status was finely calibrated. Like Bethenny obviously bought and sold apartments with big pricetags, but they all looked like suites at a business hotel, and in a way her status wasn't truly Top Dog as a result (much as she hustled to be Top Dog in front of camera and behind the scenes).

Personally, I thought Dorinda's second (rented) apartment in the city had a great living room and view of the city. Luann's homes in the Hamptons were both incredible, especially her first one, but Ramona's Hamptons abode is definitive RHONY for me. More definitive than Bethenny's or Jill's Hamptons homes. I can pick out her kitchen or the green-and-white bedroom from memory.

3 hours ago, DaytimeFan said:

I sincerely hope it sells and that she makes at least some money off of it so that she can have a fresh start.

That townhouse is a true burden on Sonja and she needs to be free from it. It is too much house for her, too much maintenance, and there are too many memories attached to it. 

It has long been an albatross around her neck, especially in terms of maintenance. So for that reason, I hope a burden will be lifted for Sonja. I also hope that she is not in such terrible financial straits that she absolutely must sell the place for a song. It is in an amazing location, and with the right renovations, it will become an absolutely stunning, Gilded Age-esque residence.

And truthfully, I will miss it a little bit. That townhouse was RH folklore. It defined almost an entire franchise.

Hope Sonja's already got a place lined up somewhere in Manhattan. 

No doubt a financial decision -- and another reason why Sonja needs a job on the nuRHONY!

42 minutes ago, Gray Bunny said:

Add me to the list of folks disappointed Keiarna isn't returning, even in a friend capacity. She had great potential. Besides, since they're keeping perennial outsider Wendy, she needs someone besides Karen on her side. 

Co-sign on this, too. Honestly, Keiarna was a small puff of freah air and for that reason alone should have been asked back this season. It's not often you get a FOH that naturally clicks with the cast. Honestly, I would have given Nneka a second season, too. 

Wendy has run her course, and so has Ashley, I'm afraid. But I can understand why Bravo is hesitant about an aggressive cast overhaul.

14 hours ago, Cheap21 said:

Excatly why is Curtis holding Heavenly inappropriately like she's his wife and Jackie's just a friend?

 

He stays embarassing Jackie

The look on Heavenly's face!

I saw on Twitter a week ago Heavenly referred to as 'Jackie's security detail.'

Angela Lansbury's wardrobe was an inspiration for ladies of a certain age -- and even in the repeats 3 decades later, her style has translated well because she stuck with the classics. Aquascutum tweed/houdstooth blazers (which Talbots would copy for her fanbase at the time), pencil skirts, a sensible heel, silk patterned scarves, beautiful gold broaches and earrings. She knew what would look good but wouldn't detract from the story. 

My mom noticed something years ago on MSW which was, in addition to her conservative, judicious face-lift, Lansbury also utilized a 'veil' or special filter in her close-ups in the early seasons of the show. It is not so apparent in the later New York seasons, but the fuzzier filter was noticeable in many episodes when the show would cut from her close-up to another person's close-up. I think some of the special guest stars who had been female movie stars in the 1950s (like Celeste Holm, for example) also utilized the 'veil' when they appeared on the show.

55 minutes ago, NothinButAttitude said:

@Cat @DaytimeFan, why is our girl out here acting like a menace?! 

 

 

Voice of the people.

Bethenny's mother has passed away. I post about it here because during her RHONY seasons, that relationship with her mother seemed to indelibly shape Bethenny and the way she interacted with other women, including her intense, all-consuming friendships with Jill and later Carole which later went scorched earth. The way her mother looked in middle age also resembles Ramona -- which may also explain their love-hate relationship.

https://www.instagram.com/p/C5_4_qbSxcI/?igsh=MTFwNWl1b3FiZHpuaw==

30 minutes ago, Cheap21 said:

Its Monique setting Karen up for the alley-oop and Karen getting the slam dunk on Gizelle's neck for me

Oh and btw, Marcus and Larsa are back together

It was PERFECTION.

Karen: "Is Jamal coming?"

Giz: (pauses) "No, he--"

Karen: (quickly) "Of course not." 

Monique: *cackling *

-----

As for Larsa & Larsus, sounds like their break-up/make-up was in order to secure a mojito for S7. He's as thirsty as she is.

Also where did her feet go in that picture?