Cat

I'm sure somebody already posted the RHONJ charity calendar for 2023 some months back, but anyway, given Tuesday's episode, here it is (see the full thread for each month). December -- have a lookout for Frank.

For me, it was Say a Little Prayer (Aretha) and The Look of Love (Dusty Springfield). RIP. He was a giant.

No-one's mentioned that tacked-on cut-out of Anna over the "Hospital", lol S&B had a popularity that eclipsed other couples across the genre at that time. I don't believe any coupling since has come anywhere as close.

It was pretty much the same premiere as the past +5 seasons -- and usually, RHONJ fans are ok with that same-old, different-day dynamic (mindful of suffocatingly-toxic prior seasons). In return, they get a RH focus beyond the women alone to their extended families. As @Cheap21 mentioned, though, the focus on Melissa meant this premiere was strictly low-boil for me. No matter how many nose jobs & buccal-fat removals she gets to look like JLo, Melissa is incapable of providing much beyond a pretty face/body. For her, it's all about her posing in different settings wearing different outfits. If Teresa walks after this season, I honestly cannot see this vacuous person dominating the show. You need a personality like Marge, Jennifer and Dolores for that. Same-old Gorgas crying about Teresa being mean to them and how victimized they are. I think the audience are as over these two as Teresa is. @Gray Bunny you raised the possibility that this might be Teresa's farewell season. I can't help but get that impression also. It feels like she's finally tying up ends that have been loose for over a decade, ready to enter a new chapter in her life. Except for that Bravo paycheck... unless Luis is working again and able to support her? The two rookies are ok, but nothing mind-blowing. They are definitely playing up the Joisey/Staten Island aspect (and the Staten Island mention made me think back to Mob Wives and whether Drita D'Avanzo would work on RHONJ). Even though one is blonde and the other brunette, I found little to distinguish Janice from The Other One. Janice has a very hot husband in the Frankie/young Chris Laurita mould. The Other One gives me Carlton Gebbia vibes. That's not a good thing. The third FOH was Marge's off-screen BFF until the cameras came around and she tried to sell her out for a spot on the show (a recurring theme on RHONJ since Kim D and Kim G). I sure hope RHONJ shows that meltdown on-screen.

Surely this spells the end of Brandi's career on Bravo. Caroline Manzo is a toughie; for her to have left the trip, even after Brandi was escorted off the show first, showed how serious the assault must have been.

I was disappointed by the WWHL episode (and by the finale, but that's another story). I wanted Amdy to go IN on Robyn and Gizelle's tactics, but I understand why he kept it cool and asked some (for once) judicious questions. He didn't want to be accused of favoritism with, say, the Heather Gays of this world while holding Robyn's feet to the fire. Even though Andy and Robyn were playing nicey-nice, it was clear he wasn't into some of her answers. He did a very fake HAHAHA when Eboni congratulated Robyn on her pay wall. And the questions themselves were carefully put together by a team, so yeah, Bravo is pissed. Bottom line: this was stage-managed damage control for both Robyn and Bravo. Robyn laughing and smiling and acting like she really showed Bravo who is boss... And maybe she is boss. Because I got no inkling that Bravo plans to fire Robyn. At worst, maybe demote her. That says to me, as @j swiftindicated, that Production has been happy to turn a blind eye. They encourage this because it brings 'drama' and makes their work easier. But Robyn has set a precedent with this Patreon pay wall, and other HWs will be inclined to do the same unless Production speaks,sternly to their casts and Legal examines contracts to add a clause about talking about their life and not monetizing it elsewhere. I'm not sure where RHs go from here if Bravo can't take a stand and make an example of this, because first SLC and now Potomac have opened Pandora's Box. And viewers cannot unsee it. Maybe I'm viewing this too simplistically and it will blow over. Certainly this must be what Bravo is hoping will happen. Andy also didn't ask about Juan's court case and whether that was why he married Robyn.

@Taoboi @NothinButAttitude So there WILL be a coda at the end of RHOP Reunion. Robyn got rewarded with Jen Shah's a sit down with Andy:

"So you're insulting my attractive friend." Ashley is so disingenuous, always. What is this contrived nonsense about needing an apology from Chris?

Or it could be as simple as Alexia let S4 go to her head, planned her strategy to go for Nicole and simply overreached. I do think she is stressed about something, and that is the situation with Peter. She has coddled and protected that manchild for too long. He beat up a homeless guy back in the day, and it was brushed off as He's a Triubled Teen. He still talks and acts like his 15, but he's 30 now. So her acting out could also be deflection. She's a strong personality, but Todd wears the pants in that relationship, and I wonder if subconsciously she's acting a fool because of the pressure that brings, too. I don't think she can easily sway him to do things her way generally.

I hope it felt good to write that post, because it sure was satisfying to read! Excellently put, and how I felt watching the trailer. I forgot about Chris Bassett caping for Gizelle at the S5 reunion. And that's how she repays loyalty. Nevertheless, I am still excited to see Chris reading Giz the riot act. I too thought Candiace was a little tame dealing with Gizelle. Its more than just fear of what Gizelle might hold over them: Gizelle and Robyn have re-created a sorority dynamic where they put recruits through hell and stay being the Queen bees. Seeing Chris. Candiace, Wendy, Mia and Ashley work overtime to try and be embraced by these two. It's very Pick Me, Pick Me! And sad. How long is it going to take before they run out of people to break down and turn on each other? Yes, BH and Potomac share a lot on common in terms of the elements you point out. This season, we started to see the seams pull and break, but Robyn's announcement was where we couldn't unsee the plotting anymore. BUT NOW WE'VE SAID IT. And like SLC, reunion was filmed before the audience had truly caught on, put the pieces together, and metaphorically threatened to throw in the towel. Andy Cohen is so dependent on the audience for his talking points that I worry he won't be prepared to sufficiently call it out. Yet call them out he must, which is why Robyn has been hurriedly booked for WWHL on Sunday. I'm hoping Bravo puts in a coda at the end of reunion citing Robyn's surprise announcement and try to link it up with the reunion fallout. They can't recut the reunion like they did with SLC in S2 to minimise Jennie's involvement, I don't think. And I wouldn't want them to. I want Robyn to be called out at the very least. I will of course be watching.

I will of course be watching this (!!!) but is it just me, or is the trailer oddly edited? It feels disjointed in some way? Loved Chris Bassett-Hound giving Gizelle (and hopefully Ashley) both barrels. The sad thing is I'm not sure even that will stop them. The Third King had a great thread on Twitter about RHOP and put blame at the door of production encouraging this. Everyone, including Jacqueline, looks amazing in blue. Mia-Jacqueline-Gordon is kind of sordid and so is Ashley's creepy relationship with her pre-nup daddy. My prediction? Ashley and Michael Darby don't really get divorced. Ray going to talk about Blue Eyes...? I'm ready. Bump-on-a-Log grunting. Like, that's the extent of her contribution to the reunion trailer.

Happy Valley (BBC -- season 3, its final one). Seasons 1-2 are great! This one is also compulsive viewing. Family Karma (season 3). The Crown (season 4).

IA this has been the case over the past two years, but as others have pointed out here, streaming is the big question-mark, because we don't know the streaming numbers. And we should! We don't know if there has been a straight switch from cable to streaming, and whether Bravo counts streaming +7 days for its assessment of whether a show is popular, viable, on the bubble, or dunzo. From my POV, because I live outside the US now, I am thrilled that my streaming views might be included for shows I actually watch. But you make a good point that the buzz around RH is not the same (of course), that the pandemic and BLM and other movements might have changed priorities and tastes, that RH will have to evolve to survive... and that SLC is the prime example of what NOT to do with a RH franchise. I found it fake and unwatchable this season and ducked out pretty early on. I just stopped caring. But that's not the case for all the RH franchises, and I still hold out hope for some of the ones going through rockier times. I am still ready to give them the chance of renewal in the season that follows. With Andy, there are times when I think 'He really doesn't get it, he's behind the curve.' S2 SLC and dealing with Jennie and Mary Cosby's departure was one such time that springs to mind. The problem is that AC is superficial, and some of the women try to cater to him and kiss up to him in order to stay on their shows. So they try to give him what he wants. But other times, I get pleasantly surprised when Andy does have his eye on the ball and addresses issues the audience might have. I do think Bravo mostly makes judicious choices when it comes to letting a HW go vs keeping them on the show. They got burned with the Tamra situation. I notice you mention Miami -- and I happen to agree with your assessment about Marysol and Alexia! Miami is hope for the future, a sign that a RH can be done right, with balance, a hark back to the glory days, and become a watercooler show.

Robyn AND Eboni K. Eboni's pushing a book, apparently. I hope Andy lays into Robyn TBH. Love Isaac Mizrahi (and will love seeing him interact with my girl Dolores) and wish he would land a project. I also recall the few times André Leon Talley (may he RIP) would appear on WWHL. I could have listened to him talk about fashion and the OG jet-set and Real Housewives all night long.

Lol Julia is going to read your palm and tell your fortune! Actually, Julia still pulls that OTT outfit off well. She's giving full supermodel Blue Steel. @Taoboi I'm so happy you noticed that Adtiana got her fashion mojo back this season because ITA. Last season she looked lost and unironed. This season, its like we got the old Adriana back. I LIVED for her dress sense back in the OG Miami days. So she and Guerdy are my favorites, along with Marysol who looks very Oscar de la Renta. Dare I say it, Larsa understoodthe chain-mail assignment, and Nicole looks very true to her fashion style, if not as overtly flamboyant as everyone else. I'm disappointed by Alexia's look and especially Lisa's. What in the black bedroom lingerie....?

Thank you for these. I see Melissa & Joe are leaning heavily into yet another round of TeReSa ViCtImIzEd Us BuT ShEs My SiStUh. I trust viewers are finally seeing this decade-long gaslighting for what it is. If that clip from RHOP reunion is indicative of the kind of soft-balling we are going to get from Andy, then Oh Boy.

I remember Tony/Andre (I forget which one! Probably Tony) filmed himself killing himself so he could frame John for his 'murder.' And may have still come BFTD some time later. Who knows? It's the DiMera curse: very few deaths that they plan actually succeed. Even their own. I really loved Marlena's return in the early 90s which basically kicked off the R-M-J triangle and a decade worth of story. Back when shows had time to lay all the groundwork and could do so because they already had a number of other 'A' stories they could juggle. Days really felt like Must-See TV around this time. One BFTD story I enjoyed was B&B's Taylor, whose plane crashed in Morocco, was rescued by Prince Omar, and had temporary amnesia for a hot second. Prince Omar renamed her Laila. But then she got her memory back. And this coincided with Ridge (who mourned her all of 3 days) coincidentally showing up in 'Morocco' with Brooke on their honeymoon. There was a whole host of near-misses and plot twists for many months. It was cheesy but actually pretty involving and not beyond the realms of possibility. It wasn't lazy writing, either. We knew Taylor was alive pretty much every step of the way. Also, Prince Omar could have been a contender for Taylor's affections, but Taylor had already been dickmatized by Ridge and at the time, Ridge's D was where it was at for B&B. I was so excited by Brenda's return on GH, but I felt like it was set up for Brenda to witness the slo-mo Amazing Grace shooting of Sonny. Like, her return was all about creating another 4-minute Click Boom moment. I was still thrilled that she was back, though, and after that, they put her in Jason's orbit which was actually a pretty good move chemistry-wise. It's too bad they couldn't get her on the show for longer than a limited return.

I hate myself for saying this but... I need Ramona on RHONY Legacy. I don't know why, but I cannot visualize the show without her involvement.

Or the most devastated.

I believe it too. She is so effing stupid. Bravo had been waiting years for Robyn & Juan to sh!t or get off the pot. Well, they did both in one go, and now it's a mess. Just to recap (and as Chris Bassett tweeted yesterday): It has been a full season of lies perpetrated by her and her buddy. And now she's told the audience that if they want 'the truth,' that is going to be monetised behind a paywall. A non-Bravo paywall. Yeah, I bet Bravo is pissed. Viewers are pissed, too, because we expect 'the truth' to show up on the main, and only, platform -- RHOP. Not on Robyn's budget Patreon account.

Right. Sunday's episode elicited 1, maybe 2 posts here? Robyn's social media dumpster fire has elicited 2 pages. Plus, her announcement exposes the contrivance around which this season (and past ones) have been based. Lies and fake stories thrown at the wall in order to deflect from embarrassing revelations. Robyn exposed her husband. Viewers have now concluded that she's been lying about her own situation for a number of seasons. The jig is up. This is not good for RHOP in terms of carrying on as per usual in S8.

She's a fraud who exposed herself. That's the crazy thing. Egged on by her equally-foolish BFF on their (free) podcast. And she took a page from the Jen Shah Playbook (because that worked so well for Jen Shah) with "Subscribe to my Patreon to hear more gory details of Juan's philandering da troof!" She really thought she flexed. A couple of things: 1. This could all have been done with Bravo's knowledge and blessing. The only way Bravo would give its blessing is if this came out on the show first. So it is always possible that Robyn spilled the beans at reunion. However, there are no rumors that this actually happened (and you know production loves to leak ahead of a reunion). The rumors we got is that it was everybody vs Karen in an effort to get Karen off the show and Charrisse on. (WHY these women are still caping for Bump on a Log is beyond me). Moreover, the absolute shock expressed yesterday by Karen, Candiace, Chris Bassett-Hound, Wendy and Carlos King (who would have insider intel) says to me that they were blindsided. (Gizelle/Ashley/Mia have been ominously quiet). 2. Robyn thought this would guarantee her a S8 spot, a plan co-signed by her BFF. 3. Yet another deflection tactic by the two liars: throw out tawdry details of an affair in order to distract from the legal case in which Juan has been implicated. 4. Juan no longer wants in on the show. He married Robyn (did Bravo even get to televise it?) so that she won't testify at any upcoming legal proceedings. He cannot risk anymore salacious stuff coming out, and he & Robyn have agreed that S7 will be their last. Consequently, Ms. Work-shy is trying to establish a money-spinning, post-RHOP career on Patreon.

It gets a little weirder: Chris Bassett says it's not Robyn he's mad at, it's Gizelle and Ashley: So it seems to me that both the Bassetts are trying not to burn all their bridges, mindful of how Robyn took up for them when Gizelle was spreading the lies about Chris. HOWEVER. Now I'm starting to wonder whether Robyn reached out to Candiace & Chris as 'good cop' with Gizelle as 'bad cop.' Maybe she didn't want to make an enemy of Candiace per se, and didn't want to get her hands dirty when it came to this particular falsehood. (She focused instead on trying to rile up Wendy and jumping on the Charrisse-is-the-OG train in order to irritate Karen). I wonder if Bravo is pissed about Robyn selling details of this affair on Patreon. It's like she's... monetizing Juan's infidelities...? Honestly, I don't understand Robyn sometimes. Candiace name-checking "our boss" after being on WWHL Sunday night even though he's not the focus of her exasperation. She really does not care for him.

Ugh this is why i dislike Robyn so much. A Reasonably Lying announcement purposely timed AFTER reunion, so Robyn could duck any follow-up questions. I bet most of the women, led by Robyn and Gizelle, went after Karen for bringing up Juan. When are THEY getting called out for peddling seasons of lies and deflection? We had Juan on bended knee at a surprise engagement party at the end of S4 for crying out loud. Seems like Candiace isn't happy about this announcement and Bravo allowing this (see her thread, too):

We can agree to disagree. 😊 I don't think any of Dubai's first-season cast should be jettisoned, because we have only gotten a glimpse of their potential. The season was a total slow burn and it wasn't until the end (with a very decent reunion) that these women warmed up -- and we warmed up to them. Is Nina a RH for the ages? No, and she stuck her landing at the reunion. But she had more to offer, including drama and tension with Lesa, Ayan, Brooks and Stanbury. In some ways, she gave more than Stanbury herself over the course of the season. We still haven't quite uncovered whether Nina is a sniper from the side. She is also gorgeous, rich and Muslim-Lebanese by way of Texas. Not someone you see on RHs every day. RHODubai should, of course, add to the cast to see if anybody new brings something interesting to the table. RHODubai still needs to find its feet -- and an audience. It is like a baby gazelle struggling to walk. I haven't seen Dubai Bling. Is it popular?