Cat

Catching up slowly on other RH franchises (sorry, I have been in a Japan-induced haze the past few weeks!): RH of Melbourne: I've just started watching this. OMG! My dreams of a resurrected RHoV are as close to coming true as possible with this new franchise! Admittedly I am in the early episodes so Andrea has not shown herself to be the evil witch she clearly becomes. But Gina is straight-out-of-the-blocks fab-u-LOUS! So diva, so bright, so collected. I adore everything about her (even if the eye-make up makes her look like Joan Cusack's character in Working Girl -- "six thousand dollars? It's not even leather"). I also believe that this Jackie person is a real medium. Janet and Chyka also seem pretty fab. Lydia seems a little lacklustre, though. RHoNY: I don't think I could love Carole and Heather any more than I already do, but I do (even though Heather should not have rescinded Aviva's invite to her anniversary party. She could easily have lost Aviva in the crowd at the event). The C+H friendship actually feels real. Carole is so tactile and fabulous with her. I also really like Kirsten because she presents herself as she is and doesn't try to front like she's Mrs. Perfection, or that her husband is, either. Pinot looks like she got a slight face-lift in Africahhhhhhh. Mario still looks fine as hell, the sly fox. RHoOC: I don't care if Heather is a snobby cow, I her and I double- Dr. Terry. Tamra once again playing both sides against the middle. She certainly dissed Gretchen enough. Even when Gretchen is gone, she isn't, if you see what I mean. I think Gretched will return further down the line. Mainly because I don't think these new girls are going to bring it for the franchise. I really liked Lydia and OC is missing her kooky lightness. Shannon is trying too hard. Newsflash, Shannon. Eating organic doesn't make you fun and crazy. Vicki and the Brooks denials are SO shady. Defending Brooks after he was caught on tape encouraging Ryan to hit Brianna -- ugh. Vicki at her worst (and she is actually a HW I usually don't mind watching).

I'm surprised they showed the altercation in this first Reunion episode but I'm glad they got it out of the way. IMO, the Pillow Party fallout and whatever the heck is going on with Apollo are the more important topics that the Reunion needs to address. I felt bad for Porsha screaming "I embarrassed myself!" on the floor of the studio, but I have to believe that here "impromptu" talk with Andy while she was sober and flawless in the make-up chair was done some time after the altercation itself. Like, another day. Because Porsha was a mess. And she shouldn't get violent with another person. And instead of apologizing to Phae and Nene, she needed to grow a pair and go see Kenya and apologize profusely to her for laying a hand on her. And Kenya should have accepted that apology (had it been forthcoming) because she was pecking at Porsha just as much as Porsha was lashing out at her. Nene is good with the comebacks but I wish she were more engaged in what is going on. I can't believe the death of Cynthia and Nene's friendship -- how? Why? Was it because Peter called Nene out on her Pillow Party behavior? P.S.: Valerie on 90210 4-EVA.

That video makes me really like Nene. Good questions, too.

RHoNY: I love Sonja but she is turning into Little Edie Beale of Grey Gardens with the crumbling townhouse, her wardrobe full of weird stuff she mixes and matches, and her crumbling dental health. Her body is SICK, though. Especially for a woman her age. Aviva, wow. I seesaw from hating to loving her. Hating her because she is so cavalier in the way she refuses to understand Carole's point. And because she clearly thinks she is incredibly saintly, gracious and benevolent to share her presence with the rest of the HWs. And then, she does a flip on me.I love the emotional maturity and kindness she showed to her childhood friend while visiting the "scene of the crime." All this adds up to a really interesting HW, IMO, and a key addition to the franchise. Heather has brass balls and I love that she defends her friends and doesn't back down from a fight. I also do not think she went overboard or was in any way involving herself in something that did not concern her. I like Kristen. I like that she is an observer, a voice of reason right now. She's not being too thirsty about getting up in each and every HW's face. She seems like the genuine article, and that is rare on the RH shows now. LuAnn! How I have missed your superciliousness and your cake diplomacy at times of high hysteria! So glad she is back. I could have done without the Coney Island mermaids tbh.

I hope Lea pops up on BH! I love RHoM, hope it returns with its Season 2 cast and structure.

lol thanks!

OMG, I am so far behind on all these episodes, about two weeks. Miss a day, miss a lot! I have no clue out of BH, Atl and Ny which to start first. My heart says NY. My head says Atl. My ulcer says BH.

RHONY! They got right in there with Ghostwritergate! And Sonja slipped in some snark about smoking some doobies and writing on the LES. Wasn't that the gossip about Carole? Regardless what Carole does while writing, I am Team Carole on this. She completely refutes having a ghostwriter on screen and in the VTs and I believe her. Because it would be an easy thing to prove. Aviva is very shady inferring otherwise, but then Aviva is someone who thinks she knows everything. "All writers have ghost writers, right? I don't care what anybody says, they all have help writing. All except me, of course! Plus writing is so easy. It's like writing an e-mail. I almost fell asleep doing it." Also, as Ramona rightly pointed out, Carole doesn't have a husband to fall back on. Writing is all she has (I mean, I'm sure she got some money but still needs to work to support herself). It's her livelihood and Aviva's snide comments could threaten that livelihood. But then, Aviva is married to somebody so rich, they can afford to buy a second UES duplex just for the purposes of filming RHoNY, so she's not equipped to understand what struggling with one's livelihood means. Harry Dubin is growing on me. At first I was all "Him?" looking at the receding hair and short stature, but now I get why Sonja is after him. He has a wicked sense of humor. In a lot of ways, they make a very well-matched couple. God knows how he ended up married to Aviva! Their son Harrison seems sweet and thoughtful, though. Check out Ramona, stirring that pot with Aviva about Carole and then sending Carole to confront Aviva. She's so shady! Bravo must send her royalty cheques for pulling this stunt again and again. This is why Aviva is sucking up to her. Because Ramona outwits them all (well, except maybe for Mario) while making everybody think she is a crazy drunken fool. Crazy like a fox! I don't have much to say about Kristen except that she seems pleasingly genuine and is not afraid to show things are less-than-perfect at home. Kudos to her. It makes a change from Boyce, Jesus Jugs and a couple others. ETA: I love Heather, and her talking about her son's organ donation was so moving. But whoever did her clown makeup for Aviva's event should be shot. I also can't figure out WTH she was wearing.

We are never going to agree on this "attack" in the final episode which I thought she made a big deal out of and tried to infer that Ken attacked her physically. Plus Ken is Lisa's husband so did she expect him not to be overly protective of his wife? If she and David had been in Lisa and Ken's position in those last three episodes, would she have expected David to drop back and not bother defending her? Maybe that's how it is with that marriage -- certainly David went to lunch with Lisa and Ken a month and a half ago. Maybe it was to defend his wife there! IA that Yol felt ignored and abandoned, and Lisa is not one for confrontations or listening to the other side. She gets very defensive when confronted, even for minor stuff. OTOH, Yolanda does tend to present herself as the moral beacon, and she can sound lecture-y. We haven't really seen her get in a situation yet where people come at her about things she has said and done (except at last year's reunion, where she struggled with Kim and Kyle, but part of that was said to be the lyme disease) so it will be interesting to see how she would react another time around. I'd bet she would defend her corner vociferously. Yol and Lisa are both quite alike in a lot of ways. Both enjoy being treated like goddesses, a friendship for them means coming to their rose swing/lemon grove to be worshiped by the mere mortals.

I get Yolanda's argument. The Hollywood friend is a mantra she has stuck to this season. It's probably one we will hear once again in the next few episodes. I don't disagree with her wanting to have real friends versus fake ones. It is interesting she is holding Lisa to this higher standard, though, when we could easily classify her newly found friendship with Kim and Kyle (who threw her under the bus last reunion) as the definition of "Hollywood friends." Or at the very least, a practical alliance. She also basically called Brandi a friend "until filming is over" on WWHL which certainly didn't please Brandi very much. So maybe Yol should practice a little of what she preaches. I haven't seen too many instances of Yolanda prioritising her friendship with Lisa, especially in the last few episodes where she was all fake with her, then when she saw the others going for Lisa, she went in there, too. Even before that, there weren't a whole lot of concrete examples of the wonderful deeds these two supposed BFFs did for each other (or maybe she expects to receive a lot of BFF goodwill herself without really giving?), but ok. She needs a reason to attack Lisa, now she has one. Lisa and Brandi... you could be right. Except that Brandi went very far with some of the personal attacks, and Ken as well as Lisa told her to cease and desist with the bankruptcy crap.

Oh, I understand that. My issue is not that she's turned up or consistent about what she is saying as much as how rehearsed she sounds. She delivered her lines so awkwardly. It sounded super fake.

What a snooze of a BH reunion. Three parts? Really, Bravo? Just FFed 20 minutes of Kim's Story This Season. Gee, hope I didn't miss anything important. Who wouldn't want to relieve drag-car racing, Kingsley (ok, I like Kingsley. Don't hate), every fart bubble and werebaby gift? Kyle looks fantastic. The glossy hair and skin, the newly plumped lips, the dress. Kyle is in her element and it shows. She is playing her best role, that of put-upon victim! It is making her glow from within. I noticed Kyle, Brandi and Yolanda are pulling their punches from going full Attack Dog on Lisa. It's like they realize that going Full Hate is not conducive to their argument. Hmmmm, interesting that Yolanda makes no mention of Ken's "attack" upon her person in the last episode. No shaking like a leaf? No tearful cries of abuse and intimidation? Yolanda explains her argument very slowly and clearly. At first it comes across very rationally, and Lisa counters by pointing out the times she did go over to see Yolanda when she was poorly. However, Yolanda then starts sounding like a condescending schoolteacher talking to her class, and she over-eggs the pudding by throwing in that "18 months" fakery. Girl, you've only been on this show a year! Didn't you start getting really sick towards the end of last season? Also, I doubt Gigi is shedding tears at night because Lisa's tile is not included on her Wall of Love Tiles by Bravo. © Lisa is avoiding answering a question about something. Andy is trying to get her to focus. LOL, Lisa talks about her hypertension during DWTS. Work it, Lisa! it's so blatant and yet I can't hate. She's showing up Yolanda's "18 months" by saying "Hey, YoFo. Two can play that game." Brandi's lips sure are... noticeable. That clip where she disses women with lots of surgery -- Lisa gives her an amused little look. Referring to me, are you? It may not be outright surgery, but Brandi is turning into a blowfish with all those fillers. RHoV's Ronnie, Brandi. Look her up! Brandi and Lisa seem very amused with each other, but I know this is going downhill fast. Brandi is still bleating about how she believes a website that scammed her $10 over Lisa and, presumably, the LA county office of records? What a loon. Loved the way she turned to Kyle for backup and Kyle just let her twist in the wind. I think Kyle knows exactly who she is dealing with where Brandi's concerned. Most definitely an alliance of convenience. Lisa's muted silence says it all. Despite everything, she is beyond hurt and humiliated by what she sees as betrayal. The others saw a chink of weakness in her armour and went for it on TV. She is sort of letting them do the speaking and jumping in when she needs to. It is probably the smartest gameplan of all because Kyle is doing pretty much the same thing. I am not invested in Brandi and Lisa making up as much as I am in Kyle and Lisa making up. There is a clip showing Ken responding to Brandi's tears in the next episode. No "bullying," no "intimidation," just a quiet admission that Brandi says she cares but why would she say all those hurtful things? This is why I am Team Vanderpump. It was never that Brandi, Yol et al did not have a case against Lisa. It's the way they went about it -- viciously, smirking, reveling in that viciousness. It is why I can never support them fully because their reaction/gameplan seems to be way out of proportion with the issues themselves. Boyce is trying WAY too hard. Gosh, I hope the next few episodes are a little more dynamic.

BH reunion part 1 has already aired? I assumed it would be on Monday evenings like the show itself.

I didn't it take it is one! None of us will know for sure until RHOBH starts filming again (in 3 months time by my watch, but Bravo could always delay filming). I just think she in her blog sounds over it. She still has VPR in her back pocket, too. I am curious to know how Brandi handles the fundraising part of CA now that she's burnt some bridges. That's not a dig either. Well, ok, maybe it is. A little one.

It is exceedingly good and cathartic to read you, DF, that's for sure! I swear Lisa is done with this whole mess. Her blog practically comes out and says so. I hope you get a chance to watch RHONY this season.

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Oh! I liked the way Ramona did not back down to Aviva's charm offensive and told her why she did not trust her in a clear, direct but calm way. I also loved the way Aviva shaded Ramona with kindness by seeing she needed advice from Ramona because Ramona was older than her. That naughty glint in her eye, lol. The LEG!!!

I read that when I found the gif! This utterly confounds me because the gif makes me laugh so hard -- but in a good way. Like, it actually makes me feel warmly towards Jill. I like Ramona but I can't fault Jill for this! I don't know why Zarin blocked the creator of a gif that people use to denote their own Are you kidding? moments. +1 to your entire post! I really enjoyed the episode, the lightness, the fun, especially after a toxic run of RH franchises. I had almost forgotten the LOL moments we could have watching these shows. And the patented NY background music whenever we see Ramonja pottering around Sonja's increasingly decrepit house! I swear, Sonja is turning into Little Edie Beale of Grey Gardens fame, only with toyboys and dates. Even when somebody like Sonja and Ramona are down, they push through, carry on, continue living life to the fullest. They don't get any perverse enjoyment from moping or sinking into their sadness, it seems. Heather and Carole's friendship is made of so much WIN and it is probably my favourite thing about the show. Also, it is so nice to see two women without their faces having been pulled and injected to puffy heaven. I'm sure they have some help but their foreheads move! They have wrinkles! Both still rock their original noses. Obviously work is being done on some, if not all, of these women, but it is good work for the most part and they retain their individuality. Ramona looks like she had an eye-lift, and that's why she is coming her bangs over them until it settles. Whatever Sonja had done is INSANELY good because she still looks like her, only better. Her body is banging. And catching the preview of LuAnn -- that woman never ages, damn. And I know he's a dog, but Mario just seems to get hotter as he ages. Aviva's lips are definitely plumper but they can't hide the crazy! And IA with Chris that she isn't sorry at all. Making amends is part of a wider agenda for staying on the show (BTW, Sonja pointing out that Aviva's mom drank herself to an early grave after living with her father was an unexpectedly lucid moment from Sonja).

Might they be moved to Mondays once BH ends?

I am SO excited to see the first episode! Actually, it's all I can do to not start LMAO at work! And I'm posting the gif below because, well, it's a spectacular photobomb by Jill Zarin.

Apparently, Yolanda and Lisa talked a lot of stuff out before going into dinner in PR. they hashed out a lot of their differences, and Bravo filmed it but didn't use it. I'm not sure why. I would have liked to see it. Not that it changes the grand scheme of things now.

More than that, Brandi felt used to generate some buzz and ratings for VPR. Honestly, I think Lisa cared for Brandi more than just to help boost her spinoff. But as they grew apart, that spinoff became more important in Lisa's life and she threw herself into it, probably to get away from the tension with the BH HWs. VPR is probably the thing that irks the other HWs a lot because Lisa got a spinoff and they didn't, and it is spilling over into BH sometimes. Purposely spilling over into it. Lisa seems more invested in it than BH this season. The Scheana thing... sigh. I don't know what to make of it. I don't think Lisa is an evil mastermind, out to get Brandi three years before they even met. She is friendly with Scheana because of Pandora, and for the sake of VPR. Honestly, I'm not a huge fan of VPR, though I haven't finished S2 yet. I find Lisa thirsty on that show. She's always involved in these kids' trivial lives and I'm all, haven't you guys got jobs to do?! I can't understand what on earth she and that boring bimbo have in common. I could see her liking Stassi because Stassi is more dynamic, a doer, but what do I know? VPR feels totally scripted, like The Hills before it, and so I can't take anything as truly real, just have to treat it like a scripted soap. I can't buy Lisa's concern or involvement in their lives. It will come as no surprise to you that I don't think Lisa is being fake with 'accepting an apology but not really,' lol. She tries to keep it relatively civil but it was clear that with Kyle, later with Adrienne, the apology, while accepted, was tempered with "I am still hurt about it and it is going to take time for me to trust in you again." Lisa is entitled to feel that way. Lord knows I would feel hurt. She is even entitled to move on and never trust them again. Come to think about it, I never heard or saw an outright apology from Kyle after S2. We did see lots of Kyle whining about "I've apologized again and again and I can't do it anymore!" (but which we never saw). In Paris, we got Kyle tears and "I'm sorry you took it wrong" which is sort of a non-apology. Kim's apology coming after the glee she went after Lisa and Ken in the past two episodes was laughable, and Ken treated it with the polite contempt it deserved. OK, thanks. Bye. Tabloidgate... eh. I think it is made up but that's because Brandi has been saying a bunch of things and then backtracking heavily, so... These issues, sigh. They really are just a cover to nail Lisa to the wall by any means necessary. IA that Lisa sees her pain as outweighing others but a lot of us are guilty of that, lol. She feels betrayed by a bunch of women all at once. She feels they are looking for any excuse to attack her and now Ken, too. Yolanda was going full Emmy with her self-righteous act. Kyle's hurt has kind of got lost next to all that. Brandi's issue has gotten mixed up with I hate you/I love you/I want to be with you/you are so toxic I don't want to be near you, and it loses impetus with the mood swings which are approaching Ronnie of RHoV levels. Like when she snapped at Ken about David Foster having a job. It was so petty and ridiculous (it's not like Ken doesn't work) but later she's all "I love that man, I want him in my life so much." I don't know if her last WWHL addressed any of this in a more balanced, focus way, but given the Twitter war which appears to have broken out between Lisa, Yolanda, Kyle and Brandi, clearly nothing was resolved at reunion.

The more I think about it, the more I can see why Brandi has a point about the Scheana stuff (if we put aside the likelihood of Bravo's meddling hand in that mess). Lisa should never have pushed it. Even last season, you could tell Brandi was hurt by it. But then why does Brandi muddy the waters with the bankruptcy allegations she got from a pay-as-you-go website? It's like she sabotages her argument by bringing all this other silliness into it, then says 'I don't want you in my life anyway.' But then keeps saying how much she misses Lisa and Ken. Her emotions are all over the place. I don't feel hate for that, but it is messy. I also think Lisa and some of the HWs have a totally opposite cultural approach to apology. Kyle Kim et al think an apology suffices to move on, even an insincere one. For Ken and Lisa, apology is losing face, a humiliation. And once something is done, so is the damage, they lose trust and don't go back. Kyle and Lisa's relationship has never been the same since S2.

I can't wait to watch (god knows when)! I am ready to love my Carole again (she disappointed me at Reunion for some reason). I want funny, sharp Carole! And Heather is love. Goes without saying. She ended up being my favorite last season. Her lack of patience with bullshit is the BEST. I also like how human she can be, too. It's not all "I'm perfect my marriage is perfect! Fake smile! Aspire to be me!"

Yolanda was a tool at that party. We saw a thousand Yolanda VTs where she talks about how Lisa acts like a Hollywood friend, not a real one, but what does she do at the BH celebration? Goes up to Lisa with air kisses and "How are you?" Like nothing even happened. Kim pulled the same trick after badmouthing Lisa and Ken. She apologized, Ken accepted it and walked off. OMG how dare he treat the star of Return to Witch Mountain in such an inconscionable way?! EVIL Ken! Then we had Yols inserting herself in Ken and Mauricio's conversation (which Ken had to take Mo elsewhere to properly finish), then had the nerve to jump all over him again for 'butting into the womens' conversation.' Worse, she tried to make Ken grazing her hand seem like a violent attack upon her person. She was bending over backwards to make Ken and Lisa look like the bad guys. It was clear that nothing Ken or Lisa would say or do was going to satisfy anybody, especially Yolanda, revolutionary leader of the peasants' uprising. At first I wondered why Lisa didn't just come out and say "I wasn't involved in Tabloidgate." Maybe because she couldn't get a word in edgewise. The others didn't want to hear it. Brandi told her to shut up, she didn't care how Lisa was feeling. And just when she started to get warmed up about Scheana, before Lisa can explain her side, she's all "I'm a stronger, happier person without you in my life so this falling out is the best thing to happen to me." Well, ok, then. Good for you. In that case, as Lisa pointed out, there was no point in Lisa defending herself. More importantly, Bravo doesn't want to hear it. Lisa already told Kyle she wasn't involved in Tabloidgate in PR. I kept hoping they would cut to that clip of her saying it, but they did not. Why should they? Because that would end the argument right there and this waste of a season would be exposed for what it is -- a whole bunch of nothing. The taglines at the end showed that no woman has any story going. OMG Kingsley hasn't passed dog obedience school! Portia wants to be a child star! Yay the Hilton gene! Brandi hates Boyce! Boyce is still trying to make her budget pageant happen! Carlton is doing nothing in particular! Kyle running after Lisa sort of made me want them to patch things up again, but at the same time, her constant need to paint herself the victim, to have Lisa acknowledge that victimhood and flatter her accordingly was exhausting. And why would she want such an awful person in her life if she was so hurt by Tabloidgate? it kind of undermines her whole argument. Lisa was so quiet and muted in this episode, she is well and truly over all of it. And this Reunion is going to be more of the same [!@#$%^&*], different day. I wonder if anyone will call Yolanda out on her [!@#$%^&*]-stirring. It certainly does not seem so in the previews. Finally, Brandi's "Checkmate, BITCH!" line was nowhere to be seen. Maybe because production realised that after the way it all went down, "Theckmate, bith" would look a damn fool. P.s.: Yol's hair at that party was the best I have ever seen it. Lisa's ass looked phenomenal in her dress. God knows what Motorboating Kyle was wearing. Kim and Carlton looked like hot messes. God help me but I am really starting to enjoy Boyce's husband.