Cat

Dallas: I watched Just for Jabot and it was exactly as you guys described: perfect soapy goodness! When Dee Simmons handed over the keys to the company with a "as GAWWWWWD is mah witness" I almost cried. I called Dee Tammy Faye Bakker when the season first started, but Dee Simmons is SO much more than that! She is a true character. And D'Andra has achieved something most HWs don't on these shows: treat people decently, own up to your mistakes, don't try and play victim to get the audience on your side, and they will come. By putting her company and mother in the foreground, D'Andra made Jabot the breakout SL of the season as far as I am concerned. I hope we see more of her and it next season. I also buy her friendship with LeeAnne. Speaking of victim... Brandi illustrates all that is wrong with the premise that Victimhood makes you the show heroine. She and her coven of mean girls think that by targeting somebody in their friendship circle and then icing them out, that will put your clique at the top of the heap. They think that by making LeeAnne the enemy, it validates their friendship with each other and gives them power. I hope they get a walk-up call at Reunion. LeeAnne won me over this season. Last year she was too extra for me, wallowing too much in the pain of her charity cases. This year has been a revelation. She is much better at comedy and is a self-deprecating star. Hope they all come back next season though if Kameron ends up a FOH, I won't be mad about it. Now... bring on Atlanta, BH and MELBOURNE.

I saw that. I'm not a doctor but it looks more than just being overheated. Actually it looks like a very very minor stroke. I hope she gets checked out ASAP.

OC What the eff did I just watch? I had high hopes after last week's episode, but this one encapsulated everything that has driven me away this season. I hate all the women. I actually liked Peggy this episode, but I still think she should be kicked off the show. Lydia, too. Meghan is a monster and I hate to say this about anybody but... she doesn't deserve either that robot Jim Edmonds or the sweet baby. I can't stand her smug face. She should have been pink-slipped by Bravo two seasons ago. Kelly is a selfish twat who only stands by Vicki when Vicki happens to be in the room. The way she talked down to Peggy was really nasty. I wonder if she would use that tone of voice if Peggy was a WASP. I hate how this Trump-voting idiot was pretending like not going to the hospital was some kind of feminist issue. I wouldn't miss her if she was fired either. Tamra had the nerve to belittle Vicki when she was being carried down the stairs by medics, then later proceeded to submit her audition reel for the Razzies with that appallingly fake meltdown in front of Vicki. She needs to be fired too. Shannon is a crazy drama queen who thinks the world revolves around her Jupiterian ass. The only reason she was crying was because the focus was on Vicki and she couldn't outsquawk a potential heart attack. I hope when she gets fired, Bravo films her receiving her letter of dismissal. And finally the production team in charge of this year's OC all need to be fired for producing a third straight season of this one-issue sh*t, for choosing this boring line-up of HWs, and for tacking on that kooky 'funny' music to the scenes of the HWs stuffing their faces while a friend was being taken to hospital in a foreign country.

That's what troubled me too. The segue from "I was drunk! I don't remember. If I did do anything, I'm sorry. BTW, I'm gay! Hope that explains things." He is using the coming out story both as a way to distract from the allegation and also to suggest cause and effect.

The Annabella Sciorra story is particularly horrible. She was raped in her own home, in her own bedroom. She still sleeps with a baseball bat by her bed. And Harvey Wankstain spent 5 days in sex rehab, is now 'cured' and back in Hollywood, making preparations to get back to producing and take down all the people who spoke against him! Why is he not being charged? Why is there no class-action lawsuit being brought against him? The only good thing about this is that it is triggering a domino effect in other industries and other parts of the world, where people are seizing the momentum and speaking out about their experiences with attempted rape and sexual coercion. I hope peole do not stop exposing these bullies, rapists and abusers, and their accomplices.

@DRW50 @DaytimeFan @Nothin'ButAttitude IA about Andy, and the misogyny has worsened in recent times. I'm not going to get holier than thou about the HW shows as we all know exactly what they are, and still watch and love them. But the shows do milk women's worst, most irrational instincts. I am reminded of Andy giggling behind his question cards as Bethenny went after Luann again and again and again on that Season 8 Reunion, or the amusement he has for Erika Jayne refering to the other HWs as c-u-next-Tuesdays. He loves that mess. As a self-confessed 'superficial' person, his understanding of women can be boiled down to AMC and Erica Kane having a catfight with Maria. All of this kind of goes against the stereotype surrounding the bond between females and gay men. On TV, gay men of the "yas kween" finger-snapping variety are meant to be women's confidants, 'her gays' who understand her in a way the straight male doesn't. And who do her hair & makeup & wardrobe because all gays have unerringly great style, right? The bond is reduced to the purely superficial, like she is their living doll and they are her pets. It is perhaps long overdue for that stereotype to be put to the wayside because it feels very SATC circa 2003-ish. People currently seem to be trying to push against archetypes and start treating people on individual terms. I think that Kathy bought into the stereotype of 'my gays will always have my back.' It is her target demo after all, and maybe she felt she would have a long career because of that fanbase. Unfortunately for her, nobody conforms to a stereotype all of the time. And most people won't have your back when they don't necessarily agree with something you did. Anderson and Andy distanced themselves from her after the Trump's Head debacle. KG made a decision to do that all on her own. I understand she is desperate over losing a lot of her livelihood. I understand she is hurt about Anderson Cooper, as she felt he was her friend. However, if he didn't like what he saw from her, why shouldn't he say so? Even the stuff against Andy, while probably true, seems petty -- his shade of her at LAX was infantile and imo not worth getting into a tizz about. Let's not forget that when they were copacetic, she was pretty supportive of him, Bravo and the RH shows. Andy has let his own fame go to his head, though. I sometimes feel like his own implosion is imminent.

Yes, I found it odd, because my first instinct when my dog is in convulsions is not to film it for social media. My first instinct would be to either go on Google Maps and type in "vet", or call the local operator. However, once when i had a kitchen leak, i did jump on a WhatsApp chat i am on and asked the participants what to do, lol. I also do not live my entire life on social media. Bethenny is on there multiple times a day; part of it is cultivating her own personal brand, but part of it is actually living a life there, interacting with people constantly. I am going to give Bethenny the benefit of the doubt even though I don't quite understand her actions. She is very volatile emotionally, and super dramatic. Social media is her platform, akin to opening her front door and interacting with passers by on the street. She was in a stressful, panic stricken moment and went with her first instinct (social media! My followers!) in the hope that somebody would reach out and give the right advice. I wouldn't know what I would do if the dog I loved for almost 20 years was dying like this. I also don't know what I would do if I didn't have close family or friends, which Bethenny does not seem to have. Only paid employees. So in a way, social media is her only way of having some kind of 'friendship circle.'

Wow. This piping hot tea! KG has nothing to lose. She feels her career has been destroyed, and her former friends did not stand up for her. This includes her former bestie Anderson Cooper, and Andy Cohen. Does anybody doubt this about Andy? I don't. And right now with Harvey Weinstein having been momentarily toppled from his perch, KG perhaps feels she has momentum on her side when it comes to naming names in the business. But this may make her unhireable, sadly. Hollywood as we know has a creepy code of silence. Moreover, Bravo are so invested in Andy (for all intents and purposes he is the face of Bravo) that I'm not sure they will dismiss him for this coke allegation. Not unless he has powerful enemies within Bravo and NBC/Universal. Still, this should give Andy some pause for thought. The only reason Kathy went gonzo on social media was because TMZ posted Andy coming out of LAX today and being asked about Kathy Griffin. He was shady and pulled an "I don't know ha" and that is what triggered KG's ire. Hell hath no fury... I read a comment somewhere wishing that Joan Rivers was alive in order to counsel and guide Kathy with all this. I wish for Kathy's sake she was.

I'm sure Shannon will manage to blame Vicki for the dissolution of her marriage, too. "It couldn't withstand all the lies and vicious rumours that Vicki Gunvalson put out there!" Seriously tho all the juicy RH news is coming out late Friday! It kind of makes me wish Atl was starting this Sunday and a one-episode OC reunion (because that is all it deserves) was this Monday.

Yep. Shannon and the divorce and the weight loss has virtually guaranteed her a slot next season, I think.

IA @alwaysAMC except possible Shannon and Tamra might switch places. Andy loves him some Shannon. I hope Kenya is going to be portrayed ok this year. I am looking forward to Atl more than ever this season but I am worried about the setup to get Kenya.

Of course Kim and Troy went as a Playboy Bunny & that pimp Hugh Hefner. OF COURSE THEY DID. But Nene and Greg as exterminator & roach?? OMG this is making me want to root for Nene this season! I wish I could get a better read on Kenya's outfit. IS that Eva as Cleopatra? She looks incredible. By contrast, Sheree looks like Mama Joyce pretending to be Nefertiti. Michael Beck is doing everything to make his precious blowupdoll princess the star of RHOA and come out on top. It is driving me nuts.

Finally caught up on Dallas: I really love this show. I love how it has real housewives. I love how it has a good mix of the HWs doing their own stuff or interacting with their family each episode, and not just fighting with each other. I loved D'Andra with the Lab Technicians scene. I love that D'Andra is a genuinely accomplished woman and and doesn't get into the crazy drama is much, but she is no less interesting for it. Like @Cheap21 I wonder sometimes if Kameron would have been better as an eccentric FOH (a bit like Marie was. Remember pot-stirring Marie?). I am SO OVER hearing about the damn pink dog food. Oh, and her way of speakinggggg? Is totally annoyinggg? However, whenever she calmly goes toe-to-toe with Brandi I always enjoy it. Brandi may not be fancy and educated but she has shown all season that she is no dummy, by getting away with talking behind everybody's back. But Kameron has her pegged, and Brandi is unsettled by that. Brandi has been great for story this season but I hope she gets exposed at Reunion. Though somehow I have a feeling the Reunion will be all about tearing Cary down. Brandi and Stephanie really are the kind of mean girls who thrive on isolating somebody from their friendship group for the most arbitrary of reasons, and then tearing her to pieces. Even though she is a cold, hard-nosed, homewrecking bitch (nurse or nanny -- does it matter? We know what went down), I still root for Cary when it comes to her and the other women. I hate the way they have turned on her when she has actually been a good friend to most. Damn, that was some Southern smooth talking from LeeAnne with Mark! Gotta applaud her for turning that all around -- even though she says she was just retaliating as a result of Cary's comments about Little Rich. Girl, that was weeks after you brought up The Round-Up! Hopefully LeeAnne will finally see Brandi's true colors next week.

Too bad. He seemed the perfect fit for her after getting burned so many times. Also, selfishly, I was hoping he would marry her and whisk her off to Chicago. I don't think Tinsley is interesting enough to warrant a second season on NY. Heck, at least Jules stood up for herself! Or bring back Aviva. But I'm just not invested in Curls.

@DaytimeFan yep, I saw this somewhere: HEPPP -- Hot Exhausted Pain Pale and Puke. Call an ambulance. Vicki looked in a really bad way too. (Btw Kelly really hates Peggy huh. It was obvious even in that scene). @Nothin'ButAttitude Absolutely they should be shorter. NY should have been cut down this season. OC definitely -- Bravo should have wielded the editing scissors the moment they saw what awful footage they had pre-Iceland. Even Atl earlier this year could have withstood seeing 4 or 5 episodes dropped off the total count. And man you really delivered the receipts on Shannon! She's been throwing dramatic tantrums against Vicki for kicks! Shame. She was actually growing on me this episode. That ridiculous comment about the text group apart, she was actually empathetic with Lydia (probably because she would be able to relate if Tamra left her off the text chain).

@Nothin'ButAttitude YES that clip of D'Andra at the research lab was straight of Y&R and Jabot 15-20 years ago (sniff... so long ago already). It made me want to purchase this damn product tbh. And did you notice that all the experts in the lab are ladies of a certain age? I love that detail! OC: OK, so this episode finally felt like the OC of old. They should have condensed the first 15 episodes into 3 or 4 episodes and just gone straight into Iceland (P.S.: In answer to Vicki and Lydia's question, Iceland was the name given by the Vikings to the country; it means Island. Similarly, Greenland is actually Groenland which means 'Great Land' because of its large land mass. #TheThingsYouKnow). Even Lydia's little tantrum about being left off the text group was relatable. Though Shannon saying she would never have a meltdown about being left off a text group Uh huh. And then the edit showing her throwing a wobbly when Heather sat in her chair a few seasons back was Also Shannon making it all about her on the walk down the iceberg was TYPICAL. You'll notice Vicki didn''t say a peep even though she looked under some pressure -- that says to me that her heart pains were real. Otherwise she would have wanted everybody to make a fuss of her. Vicki was great this episode, from the Good Old Times drink with Tamra in her room to talking Lydia on a walk and reasoning with her about letting the text stuff go. And it ended with a pretty great cliffhanger! Hope she is ok. Iceland looked stunning, especially from the aerial shots. Sad to know that in 20 years the glacier will be no more. It's good for these ladies to see completely different parts of the world -- not everything should and can be like their McMansions in the OC.

It is unfortunate that the two franchises performing the most poorly are on the air at the same time. Well, I am being harsh on NJ, which hasn't felt this light and silly in years. But there is no way to come back intact after five (FIVE!) seasons trying our loyalty to death. Meanwhile OC is in a REALLY bad place. It needs serious life support. If Bravo execs are not worried about OC, they all need to be fired. NJ: In some ways, I understand Soggy (legit typo, but it stays) is miffed that she brought Margaret into the group, and Margaret, recognizing who is Queen Bee around here, basically made a beeline for Teresa. Siggy is taking it all WAY too seriously, though. She bitterly hates Margaret, and it makes no sense. That sad, pathetic pigtails pajama party with Delores? Arguing over who knew Joan Rivers? C'mon now. The obsession over the cake-throwing makes no sense either. I see in the previews Saggy is bringing it up again. OMG please [!@#$%^&*] stop. Please don't let the cake thing be 'the' issue that dominates the rest of the season. Either Sigs wants badly to be relevant -- or she believes her own hype that she is the new queen of NJ (and god knows it must be her own hype because I have never seen that view expressed anywhere!). She has literally become Jaqueline who never got the memo that she wasn't the central HW. Well, Siggy has not got the memo that she is deeply annoying and unfunny. Margaret by contrast is coming across cool, calm, collected and fun.

The View feels so old-fashioned to me. Like it is representing old-time politics circa 2005, the usual Dems vs Reps. But it is not business as usual. The two-party set-up has fractured. Really, there should be at least four parties, or representative voices, on this panel. The Dems are torn by factional infighting between the Bernie Sanders lot and the Democrat establishment as exemplified by Hilary Clinton. The Republicans, meanwhile, have almost entirely sold their soul to the evangelical Christians and mega business, trying to reconcile the tax-cuts Reps with the Trumpians, who are much more hands-on/interventionist than the classic Republican would ever usually tolerate. And then we have the Libertarians, which consist of a few tax-cuts/no government ex-Republican voters and is a growing political voice out there. In some ways, Jedediah Bila's inclusion was a nod to these wider fractures, as I would class her a mostly Libertarian voice. I am a Democrat-leaning female voter (who lives outside the US but still pays taxes and votes in elections), I voted for HRC, but I found Bila's departure murky in the extreme. She asked two mildly pressing questions after Hilary had had a cosy chat with everybody else, and it almost seems like TPTB punished her for it. If that's the case, then we must assume TPTB are beholden to the Democrat establishment in some way. And the fact that Megan McCain is now representing the Republican voice when her father and her are NOT toeing the Republican line, the Trump line, makes her defense of his presidency sounds like dialogue she memorised two minutes before walking on set. Just as Fox News feels like a mouthpiece for the current White House, deliberately burying stories or misleading its viewers, so too has a show like The View become ossified in its Democratic establishment voice. It does not feel like it is representative of swathes of US society, with a multitude of differing opinions, ideas and yes ideologies (as scary as I find that last word). It feels like it is just pretending that we are still in this two-party system where Democrat represents one broad view and Republicans another. Maybe it's just me who feels this way. As a voter upset with the election of Trump, I have a lot of questions about what is going on in the world right now, in the US. I don't always find these questions discussed on The View, however, and I am pretty sure some Rep-leaning people I know would feel the same way. Maybe these questions are just too far beyond the remit of a panel of 'women' (because we know how TV and the media feels about women in general!) who have been instructed to keep things simple and at a certain low level of discussion. Wow, I wrote too much. Sorry for the rant.

Thank you for bringing up the non--disclosure agreements. Do people seriously think that Harvey Weinstein was some kind of legal superbrain who was able to bash out a bunch of these on his computer, and legal counsel at TWC never knew? The Board of Directors were never informed? An expensive law firm was never consulted every step of the way? PAs were never asked to receive delivery of the NDAs from the law firms? Staffers close to the situation were never asked to go over their contents with a fine-tooth comb and make sure there were no loopholes that victims could take advantage of? Everybody was involved, staffers KNEW FULL WELL about 'the fat one' as he was nicknamed and his 'rapacious appetites' (see Peter Biskind's best-selling book about Miramax). They also knew about Bob Weinstein and who knows how many other execs. This was par for the course and their job was not just to cover it up, but to facilitate it. As far as I'm concerned, a bunch of these long-time staffers are accessories to the crimes. And it wasn't just within TWC -- all of establishment Hollywood knew, covered up and in some cases made it happen. For Weinstain and for others.

Her hair looked good in the Luann interview though. Before she went on summer hiatus, Wendy was in a really bad way the last few episodes. She was off, emotional (she snapped at her producer Suzanne on air) and darting from thought to thought in an unstable way. I was actually worried she might have slipped back into some bad habits but now that the news has broken about her and her 'man,' I wonder if it wasn't the emotion. She sounds a bit more stable now but god knows how she is going to untangle herself from his grasp. He is her manager and is probably elbows-deep in all her business affairs -- and her money.

Let me dig into my database of treasured Luann gifs... And don't forget

She looks stunning! IA it kind of crept up on me, but ever since The Pirate (and maybe even before, when she got camel-tossed and laughed it off?), I've been rooting for her to have a good ole time and dismiss the slut-shamers. It is inspiring! She's had some knocks but she always gets back up with a smile on her face, a positive attitude, and relatively few recriminations. Even in yesterday's Wendy Williams interview, when asked about the HWs she enjoys the most, she mentioned Dorinda, Sonja... and Bethenny. She really has let bygones be bygones. That did not go as I expected! I thought it was going to be a messy ass mess of screaming and make-up running down one's face (and that's just with Mark! I kid, I kid). Actually, I enjoyed how upfront, direct but relatively unvicious it was. LeeAnne could debate her way out of a Trump cabinet meeting. I guess this is how Southern ladies do it. By the end, Mark had stated his respect for Rich, squeezed her arm and offered her congratulations for her engagement! #Impressed Cary is probably gonna be hearing it when he gets home though.

PREACH

ITA it wasn't the same after Joan died. However, after Kathy Griffin and Kelly Osbourne departed, I felt the show was sort of hitting its stride -- or at least in a more comfortable place. Though, like you, I never understand why Nene and Margaret Cho were part of the panel. Both should have been replaced by Tim Gunn who lit up the place every time he was a guest. Also, one reason why I started warming towards Erika Girardi was because she made an appearance on the last episode and spoke knowledgeably about the designers. She also would have made an interesting panel member. Anyhoo, it's all moot now. Too bad for Melissa, who wanted her mother's legacy to carry on (I truly believe this, and not money, was her motivating factor), but she didn't pick a strong enough panel. Nene better know which side her bread is buttered, but she's bit the hand that fed her before: during her first time on Fashion Police, she put Brad and Giuliana on blast on social media for being a bit cliquey. From then on in, Brad and Giuliana made concerted efforts on screen to agree with her 'fashion insights' -- when she wasn't gurning like a fool. I suspect they were a little afraid of her -- as Andy seems to be sometimes. Maybe that's the secret to her burgeoning TV career? Lu is one of the few HWs on any franchise I am actively rooting for. I am personally relieved she has dumped that press-hungry albatross and moved on, and I cannot wait to see where the Countess takes her brand next! Hopefully we get to see it next years and not just Bethenny's VTs moaning about the other women.

Wow. That's too bad. I've watched that show for years and hung on Brad's every word! Apart from her Queen Latifah comment, which went down like a lead balloon with the audience, Luann was great. Resilient and pragmatic. I sense her sadness too, but this is a lady who is rarely going to let the blues get her down.. Onwards and upwards, Lu! Bravo would be fools not to bring her back next season. She made headlines for NY this year and kept people talking about the show.