Cat

@Gray Bunny @AMCHistory @Taoboi @Faulkner @DaytimeFan CONFIRMED! So @AMCHistory sounds like Lu, Dorinda and Ramona were out celebrating the news. Glad Sonja's in it. Would have loved to see Heather, Carole, Aviva, Bethenny, Tinsley, Jules and/or Eboni join the cast, but beggars can't be choosers. I can take or leave Kelly and Kristen. ----------------------------- Meanwhile.... Trailer for the nu-RHONY (they threw Andy in there too):

I've been saying for +3 seasons that Teresa is over the Survivor-type nature of this show. She doesn't like Marge, and of course Melissa and Jackie. She feels islanded from most of the cast as she is not as social as Team MeMarge. On the other hand, she IS central to the show, because of her family/personal life, and her popularity. I think she'd be happiest doing a spin-off with just her, her dorters and Red-Flag Louie plus some extended family. No doubt Louie's sister would love a spot on that show! (I foresee that marriage not ending well, by the way). Thank you for the RHONY Legacy news. I have also noticed Luann, Dorinda and Ramona trying to make the show happen sans Jill. They may actually succeed -- I'd certainly rather watch them than Jill. But where is my Sonja in all this? Hopefully just on a yoga retreat in at Josh Flagg's house. I love my RHONY all-timers and would do anything to see them again in some format... but I've got to admit, they have reached desperate times. It's been +2 years since these women received seven-figure salaries -- or any salary. Desperate times call for desperate measures, and they know Andy has a soft spot for them. They are trying to ride this wave of "Where is my RHONY?" on social media whilst also maintaining their usual schedule of freebie VIP restaurant/bar dates, which in Manhattan these days must be drying up also. The Mark is VERY nice and chic -- right in the heart of the Upper East Side. It certainly cultivates a quietly luxurious, old-school, discreet vibe. Ramona must have had to pull some strings.

And soaps back in their glory days had a way of making these 'working mothers' rather glamorous (there was never not a time when Bobbie wasn't tossing her auburn hair or snapping off a clip-on earring to answer the phone) in that they dared to dream for bigger, better things, and work towards them. They weren't prepared to settle. It was relatable aspiration. What was so cool about Bobbie is the way she maintained that bridge between the show's name and the hospital/nurse's station. In that sense, she grounded the show like no other. And Jackie Zeman's natural loveliness really came through the screen, endearing the audience towards her. We sensed the warmth and the way other actors engaged with her. I remember watching summer 1988, and basically the show was split between Duke & Anna dismantling bombs here, there and everywhere, and drama between Bobbie & Jake in Port Charles. As someone mentioned, the spy stuff got the bulk of the headlines, but GH knew that it needed to mix it up with the Qs, the Lucy Coes and the Bobbies in order to maintain balance. “For 40 years, I was fortunate enough to play Jackie Zeman’s big brother on General Hospital. In all those years, I never heard her utter one disparaging word about any actor, crew member, or co-worker. In fact, I never heard Jackie express an unkind word about anyone, ever. In a highly competitive profession where ego, feelings, and emotions are bread and butter, I’ve found this quality to be extremely rare. I expect it will be even more rare now that dear Jackie is gone. “She was quite simply one of the kindest, sweetest people I have ever known. I will miss her laugh, and the deep, soulful look in her eyes whenever she expressed the love and pride she had in her two lovely daughters. Tonight, l already miss her, and feel a powerful ache where Jackie’s smile used to be.” Lovely words from Tony Geary, without a hint of snark or rancour. Jackie sounds like she was completely beloved by cast and crew. What a loss for them.

You have no idea how much that laugh was needed! On par with her brand, this is probably the cheapest promotional ad I have seen in quite some time. I thought she was going to say that she needed Psychics-R-Us because her personal life is a mess! LOL no. Robyn is trying to claim it's because she's got businesses. OK, girl. I'm sure Rupert Murdoch was calling Dial-a-Psychic on the daily when he was trying to launch News Corp. She shot herself in the foot big-time with Patreon-gate (egged on by her BFF) and I imagine those hat orders must dried up with a quickness. "A little bit" of tea?? That was an entire weeks worth of revelations! Some pretty good tea too. I heard that about Bethenny being two-faced but 'make me an offer' BTS. Luann and Sonja are the mega-leakers on RHONY. Sad to read that 'the door is closed' with him and Nene. I wish he wouldn't appropriate one of Nene's better lines as his own, though.

This is a complete shock. Jackie Zeman was a literal force of nature, I grew up watching her as Bobbie. One of those characters that becomes the unofficial heart of the show. I, too, often felt like the Bobbie-Carly SL was somehow cut short in order to shift Carly into the mob orbit. The decision taken to make that happen was so crazy to me, as Bobbie at that point had become one of GH's fortysomething matriarchs, and her work during BJ's Heart had solidified her status IMO as one of GH's most compelling actors. These type of female characters were what soaps had been built on for decades. I'm glad JFP did not manage to exile her completely from GH. Such a loss.

Oh no, Guerdy! All the best to her for a speedy recovery. Glad it was discovered early on, as it was with Martina.

The Kim & Kroy news is shocking from the point of view that I thought they would grow old together in Tampa. He has no-one but her and she only has him and the offspring. But from the POV of financials, it is not a surprise. When Don't Be Tardy got cancelled, that was huge, because that was their only cheque. And Kim is a horrendous spender. A year or so ago, there were gossip items saying that Kroy was upset at Kim's spending levels. They were in crazy debt, as Kim loves to gamble in casinos. Plus her drinking bill. She's been pushing Brielle and Ariana to land rich boyfriends and reality show gigs for years. Once the IRS started breathing down their necks, it was game over. Now she's suing him for spousal support, probably to the tune of millions. I don't know how he can pay for that, he has no job other than being her chauffeur. Sports broadcasts have kept their distance from him because Kim was considered a liability. She is lazy and asks for too much money. Either they are 'divorcing' for financial reasons, or they are really divorcing.... for debt reasons. Their McMansion is already in foreclosure. Bravo needs Andy and a camera over there, NOW.

It's ba-a-ack

RHONJ I can't bring myself to watch the last two episodes. I am spent. Melissa can barely close those new lips, and between her and Teresa, even the blind sister from Little House on the Prairie can see that those two are never, ever getting back together. Bravo needs to FFwd to the fight and the wedding (so we can see Chanel Ayan dance in the suit she wore on the plane over) and get to reunion. I don't need to watch yet another bridal party nor the Fudas attempt to adopt one of their offspring.

Congrats on having seen them! I love that they let their hair down and concentrated on just having fun.

Looks like her other songwriters didn't tell her what they were listening to when they bashed out Shake the Bottle at 3am over cigarettes and Red Bulls. Jessie Ware should be thrilled! Money Can't Buy You Class was and is a pop culture phenomenon. Also, Jessie looks very Countessy on her album cover. Lu right now: Honestly, Jennifer, Marge (yes, Marge) and possibly even Melissa actually look really great. And @Gray Bunny is right, that light lilac is a good color on Dolores. Fessluh and Fuda's gowns look sloppily made, and I am LMAO that self-appointed wannabe 'fashionista' Jackie looks by far the most basic.

I hope they are good! I am all for top-tier entertainment. OG RHONY at its best stood out to me because the women could be both whip-smart and insanely clueless at times. But the smartness and knowing quality was always there. And the sense of humor. So the rumor about RHUGT #5 is that it is basically the OG RHONY cast minus Jill (who was thought to have torpedoed the RHONY Legacy spinoff). So: Luann, Sonja, Dorinda, Kelly Bensimon, possibly Tinsley, possibly Alex, possibly Ramona. The other rumor is that they are going to Scary Island (aka US Virgin Islands). If that is the case, they need to invite Bethenny because, really. I remember Gizelle and Kal trying to get up Charrisse's Mount Everest steps to her house for some kind of champagne brunch in the S1 finale episode. Kal gave up halfway through. But S2 was so much better, and S3 was a dream. So it just goes to show. Maybe some of these RHONY newbies will surprise us. Maybe they're not all influencers and we will get some compelling stories following these women's work as well as their home lives. Listen -- and you know how I felt about Bethenny in her later years -- but at least she was truly hustling in a real-world context. Pushing muffins at a Short Hills NJ supermarket. Driving that walking billboard she called a car.

LOL the contrast. I wonder if I'm going to hate-watch it, too @Antoyne. Most are Instagram influencers. Watching Influencers 'at work' is going to get repetitive fast -- basically it's Kim Kardashian sitting in her make-up chair droning "I am working, like, so hard." We also have not heard much about the show since they posed onstage at Bravo Con (October 2022), and that kind of worries me. I do like what I've seen of Jenna Lyons, though. I'm going to give this a chance. After all, Real Housewives of Dubai had trouble getting off the ground, but saved itself with a slow build and watchable reunion. I also think the RHUGT #5 news has pacified me a little bit.

Days has moved from the main network to streaming, and what few coins were there for Days have surely been whittled down to practically nothing. Certainly I have to imagine that the lack of payment for generating this content on streaming is what prompted Jamey Giddens to depart the writing team last week. This could well be a financial decision for Banus, too. She's obviously a beauty and there is still TV work out there to be had for somebody like her. I remember there was basically a death watch out for both Gabi and Rafe back in the day, LOL. Like, there would be a serial killer on the loose, and we on the Days thread would be asking "How is Gabi still alive??" When Days decided to stop writing her like a milk-sop and turned her scheming and naughty, a Young Sami-esque character if you will, that's when viewers began rooting for the character.

New RHONY is in its way

Beverlee McKinsey who played Irish. I have never read this lady's soap column, but I feel like I must now, just to see the mistakes. Fuenella Hughes! Who plays Ms Divine! Did she have an editor? In her creators.com blog post, she says that with the daily blog, she "will offer eye roles." So I'm starting to think there was no editor there and these were all her typos. And that's ok because I do fat-finger typos all the time. I'm utterly dependent on spelling algorithms to pick these up.

I love Eileen. She is not just a great actress, but a wise, empathetic and lovely human being. I could listen to her talk all day.

Yeah, the RH social media ecosystem is,so big now, I actually need to check Twitter to understand what is going on in its full context. It's light for Miami, which is why I think the reboot has flourished -- the important drama is on the show. But for NJ, everything, every allegation, is happening OFF the show and on social media. And I believe the ebbing show,ratings reflect why that's not working for NJ. Although reunion will likely see an influx of viewers. Everyone is waiting for reunion so that all threads are brought together, perhaps for one final time. So do you think RH is fast approaching its 2010 burnout era? I hope (foolishly perhaps) it can turn it around.

Sheree keeps making poor decisions, part 55. I thought last year's jailbird was a low, but Martell is giving me Ralph vibes with an extra helping of Grumpy Narcissism. I've just looked him up and he was on Love & Marriage Huntsville. I believe the phrase "narcissist manchild" was used to describe him, so I guess my take wasn't completely wrong. Sheree... you keep making bad decisions in business, the bedroom, and friendship. Why the hell is she roping this stranger in to go after Kandi? Kandi is going to annihilate her and him. That rolling see-through staircase in Sheree's intro is straight out of the Disney channel, and it's also making me dizzy, lol. At least intros got an upgrade, though.

Amen. I believe Eric Braeden is true to himself, and cares about people and fans generally. His Twitter reminds me of that often. He stands up for his political views but respectfully, and fans who may be of a different political side seem to respect him for that, which we all know is incredibly rare in these charged, polarised times. He embodies Y&R totally, IMO, and I wish him the very best for a fulsome and speedy recovery. And he's still his feisty self on Twitter:

James Kennedy clearly indulged in some downhill skiing before walking onstage, but my God, is he entertaining.

Well encapsulated. This is very much how I feel regarding RHs currently (and in the past, Daytime). Because essentially they have become my soaps. At this moment in time, I am torn between my enjoyment of, and loyalty to, these RH franchises -- but it comes alongside a feeling of diminishing returns. I do hold out hope that the RHs can turn things around, because in Daytime terms, this is a young set of franchises. And Daytime in the past was able to pivot and reinvent itself. Well, until the last 15 years or so. The long-time cast members issue is a conundrum. For example, I love and miss Nene A LOT -- the old Nene. Because I have a feeling that if Current Nene were to return now, I'm not sure she'd give us what we are craving. She has a complicated relationship with Bravo and RHOA, one marred by bitterness. Personally, I am looking forward to Tamra. Tamra looks like she has been highly activated, and that burning need to Bring It may blow up in her face. However, she also has history with a bulk of the existing cast -- history we have seen play out on the show. I don't dislike Gina either, and think she has somewhat unfairly become the poster child for 'all that is wrong with RHs currently.' Gina is, as you say, a B player, not an A player, and maybe there is a slight millennial aloofness to her that does not translate in terms of personality. However, RHOC, to its credit, used to show more so-called 'normal' lifestyles (and not necessarily the hyper-aspirational ones built on fake money and a Bravo cheque). I don't want to jump on the culture wars pitting us against different generations (!), but do you think it is a case of Baby Boomers and Gen Xers giving RH a certain life-well-lived specialness, as opposed to Millennials and Gen Zers? (Clearly this is not a hard-and-fast rule: Rinna and Erika are Boomer and Gen Xer, respectively, and their arrival drove BH in a vastly more toxic and manufactured direction. By the same token, Teresa's brood of Gen Z dorters are giving me more history & authenticity than some actual cast members). I will add one more thing: the RH social media behometh. So much of RH now plays out off the show. On social media, in podcast interviews, on the After Shows. It's like, the show is the core brand. Bravo needs to show what happens ON THE SHOW + REUNION and keep the cast in line when it comes to leaking and giving everything away. Eventually, no one is going to want to buy the cow if they're getting the milk for free (to paraphrase a nasty old saying with regards to women). Or maybe I've got it wrong, and the RH ecosystem actually helps to drum up viewership for the core show. I guess one good example (for Bravo) has been VPR. That Affair happened in secret, but as soon as it came out, VPR rushed over with a camera crew and told the cast they were filming again to get their real-time reactions. Reunion was delayed, and Editing poured over the season's footage to edit it 'in hindsight.' This was a great pivot from Bravo, understanding that it needed to bring immediacy to a product which had been filmed prior to more recent events.

Yes, it's too bad about Taylor who is an underrated HW. Great to see her, tho. I'm not sure I registered much in that trailer other than the LOL end. I was expecting to see a lot more Tamra vs Heather, that's for sure. Noella! I kind of miss your crazy ass.

100%. The grudges are built into the Sopranos-lite DNA of the show. No forgiveness, ever. Even Dolores refuses to talk about Dina, ever. S5 RHONJ nearly died a death because of the famb'ly grudges running in circles. We are near that point again with this second cycle of grudge matches. Bravo will have to do a reset and hopefully avoid another S6. My view on Teresa vs the Gorgas is that what the Gorgas did to get on the show and throw the famb'ly under the bus was practically unforgiveable. Practically. There was a moment during S7-10 where I thought all three could finally put this behind them and present a united famb'ly front. Personally, I loved those seasons of RHONJ! Unfortunately, both sides live to grudge and to one-up each other to the detriment of the other. Teresa turned near-monstrous in trying to preserve the fakery of her 'perfect' life during S3-5. The Gorgas realised in the last few seasons that conflict with Teresa ensures their place on the show. Baby-hankering and fake secret sisters don't cut it. When Louie got caught in their crosshairs last season, that was the final straw for Teresa who is basically in love with her Love Story that she gets to present to the world. A word about Louie: the Brooks Ayres of RHONJ. I'll keep saying it, too. Teresa is his mark: she's not bright and she has money. He's already making decisions on her endorsement deals. Plus there is no pre-nup. I'd say watch this space, except that Teresa is 1,000% invested in making this relationship look like perfection. It took years for her to publicly disentangle herself from Juicy Joe, even though that marriage was probably over way before the FBI even indicted them. I really like Danielle, but Staten Island has to grow a pair. The reputation of her home turf depends on it! This is the same place that spawned Mob Wives, for goodness sake! Seriously, though, I like that Danielle has a sensitive side, but when it comes to Margaret and Jackie, she needs to woman up and realise that their judgment does not matter. They're hardly all that. Rachel is level headed and I like that the best about her. However, there are entire episodes where she's quiet and then she appears on screen and I'm like "Oh! It's you. Yes, of course, you're on the show." The Gorga parents are spinning in the family grave. Teresa, Joe, Melissa and Kathy basically destroyed that family for a Bravo cheque and reality TV. And yeah, one side is going to leave after this season. My money right now is on the Gorgas, but Teresa has been known to flub a reunion.