Cat

Its too bad because Milania and Antonia got along like a house on fire, and so did Audriana and the Gorga boys. That trailer looks.... I want to say crazy and epic, but also really sad. I think this is it for Teresa and her brother. The parents are no longer there to beg them to reconcile. Also... whoever screenshot this, thank you. Oh man... just wait until next week and the dinner party at Julia's house! There will be lots to unpack! And re: Dubai and the lost BH/Melbourne crossover... how epic would that have been? It might have even saved BH from being a horribly toxic season! Gina and LVP were already friendly and regularly in touch.

I voted in yesterday's election (my mom is French). I've been hearing nothing but talk about Macron being a weakened figure and Le Pen on the cusp of taking power. The far-right, unfortunately, has been a mainstream movement in France for quite a while, and the last two elections should tell observers that. However, you are spot-on that Melenchon was within a whisker of stealing Le Pen's place in the second round. They are polar opposites when it comes to immigration, but the two do share some agreement on some economic policies. Both also side-eye the EU and NATO. And this kind of radicalism has attracted many. Many political trends at the moment across the world are heading in these radical, polarised streams, with people not so much wanting to fix the system, but break it and implement a new one. I think Melenchon definitely wants to be PM -- if only to listen to the sound of his own voice! I don't have quite the starry-eyed view of Melenchon as some in the media do. A sizeable youth vote aside, Melenchon hankers for the good old days of Soviet communism and IMO that does not work. But if a disaffected France votes for his Union Populaire in the legislative elections, he has a chance of forcing a coalition on Macron.

RHOMelbourne season 5: With Gina and Lydia gone, I initially was not sure about watching the latest season. Gina was one of those HWs that defines an entire show. But, with all the Melbourne talk on this thread recently, I found that I suddenly had the urge to check it out and give it a chance. Watched the first 4 episodes thus far and I'm firmly into it! Yes, Gina's presence is missed. Yes, there are FOUR new HWs -- Cherry, Kyla, Simone and Anjali -- alongside Jackie, Janet and Gamble. None of the newbies are going to be another lightening-strike Giner. Nevertheless, this is bubbling along better than expected. Episode 4 brought us to Queensland, and the shots of dramatic waterfalls in lush tropical settings on the other side of the world were truly spectacular. Melbourne also loves slo-mo shots of the women walking, dressed in their finery, Charlie's Angels style. Janet has assumed the Queen role of this franchise. Not only is she living an exceptionally fabulous life with her new partner, but she has longtime beef with newbie Kyla. She and Kyla knew each other when they were both in previous (unhappy) relationships, and reconnecting again, Janet feels Kyla has changed. Putting her cards on the table in episode 4, Janet goes even further -- Kyla is a liar, fibbing about her past in Paris, and who knows what else. Kyla is some snooty champagne expert (shades of cat lady Anne on RHOAuckland, except without the sense of humor) -- a clenched bossy-boots who absolutely must control the situation and insert herself into everything. An Alpha, in other words, and she's also a pot-stirrer. She's in this game to make an impression on the audience, and Janet knows this and wants to cut her off at the pass. Kyla is already close friends with Cherry and Anjali -- production was smart about bringing in an existing friend group to pit them against the OG friend group. Simone is the odd one out and leaning towards the OGs. She has already accused yoga queen Cherry of stealing the designer who is dressing Simone for the show! This is just the kind of petty fourth-wall-breaking nonsense that I live for. Cherry has countered by calling Simone superficial and a liar. Simone kept looking to the camera when she did that, and that's when I understood that Cherry may be Having Her Moment for the camera. Anjali used to work at CNN and speaks in a slightly contrived, posh British accent. The only time she perks up is when she can humble-brag about herself. I'm already finding her grating. Cherry -- the jury is out on her. I found her nice at first, but the outburst at Simone was OTT. Gamble -- hasn't been in the mix that much, although she had the line of the season when Kyla loudly boasted about having had a one night stand with her (female) hairdresser: "Jesus, I can't even get an appointment with mine." Jackie has changed. I found her irritable and resentful last season, and obsessed with her own business opportunities (remember La Mascara wine? And the Shine Tour?). This season, she has come back humbled in a way. Part of it is having gone through IVF and, devastatingly, suffered a miscarriage. IVF takes so much out of a woman physically and mentally. I know of relationships which have ended because IVF essentially broke up the couple. Anyway, Jackie has been through it and she's kinder, softer, more introspective so far.

Yes, Lydia has a cruel streak. I am entertained by her and give her a pass on some things, but that cruel streak was evident from S1 Ep1. She is just the kind of narcissistic Lydiot who might think calling someone gay is scandalous gossip. I don't think Lydia thought beyond that. Because she's a dumb-dumb. What surprised me was the lack of backlash from the Australian audience who would likely be pretty gay-friendly. Lydia was saved by the fact that the cease-and-desist prevented anyone from the show from talking about the rumor directly on the show or at reunion. All we heard was that Lydia said something which would have potentially cost Chyka and Bruce their business, and which was a lie. Chyka never spoke to Lydia again, and it was clear Jackie and Janet never forgave her either. They were furious. If the gossip had come out on the show, I think Lydia would have been eventually fired.

RHONJ Weirdly lacklustre episode. If you want to see how NJ might look without Teresa, there were certain scenes here which felt like a test run. Unfortunately for Bravo, those scenes (including an excruciatingly long sequence recording a terrible song called Lady Drama) harked back to RHODallas's flop trips during its final season. Interesting to see Budget Coven cosy up to Jennifer and Bill. Reminds me of the time OC Tamra, incredibly, managed to convince Gretchen that they were best buds for an entire season. After getting Gretchen to turn on Alexis and boot her off the show, Gretchen was left with no back-up, and the next season she became Vicki and Tamra's target practice again. This is where Jennifer might be heading, I fear: if the Budgets manage to get rid of Teresa (a big if), Jennifer will be next. Seaon finale next week: thank goodness.

You're right. I didn't appreciate just a hard it is for a black woman to speak out in a corporate environment, when this is her one shot, and very few other options are open to her. The sources I read focused on the frivolous aspects or hard to prove stuff, thereby making Nene look foolish in bringing this suit. I wonder why they didn't do a deep dive into the paperwork like Straight from the A?? Never mind, I know why. I also didn't hear about Kim using the N word which is shocking but at the same time not surprising. It might also explain Nene's growing resentment over the years, talking about feeling disrespected. I assumed she was referring to the cast, but it now makes sense as part of a larger grievance towards the network. Victoria Rowell is a good example. For over a decade she was gaslit as the Crazy Lady, and now we know it wasn't just talk.

I have questions about this suit, not least: Why now? For weeks there has been speculation that Nene might return to Bravo or Peacock for an OG RHOA reboot. For weeks, her RHOA greatest hits have been trending on Twitter (which might have been some kind of viral marketing campaign to assess fan reaction). Carlos King was interviewed recently saying he still kept in touch with Nene and was hopeful that she and Andy could meet and put bad blood behind them. When she recently guest-hosted The Real, Nene herself said she would be open to a return to RHOA. So what happened to change her mind? Did Bravo made her a lowball offer? Or is this a longtime suit which is finally ready to kick into gear? I wish I understood the timing better. Also timing from the perspective of: You were on RHOA (on and off) for well over a decade. You seemed ok with the show at the time. Some people might say you yourself have done things, including getting aggressive with crew members AND allegedly the one person on whom your case depends: Kim Zolciak Gambling-Debts! I cannot believe Kim Zolciak Gambling-Debts is going to be the lynchpin of this case. She is indeed highly problematic. But where Nene can point to evidence against her on the show, so can Kim (and Bravo) against Nene. I also have no doubt that Bravo protects racist HWs, has little understanding of its black talent, and uses them for ratings. But, like I said, Nene worked with them for over 10 years. What changed? Did she always feel this way? Also, is she suing the crew? I believe a majority of the RHOA crew under Carlos King's watch were African-American. Anyhoo, I hope people don't mind me asking these questions. I don't think she is entirely wrong with this lawsuit, but neither is her case air-tight. To say the least. As always with these cases, you need supporting evidence. I'm also a little sad as I was hoping for her eventual return to the franchise, as selfish as that sounds. Also, I think this kills her career outside of RHOA.

I'm inclined to agree, even though I've liked Ashley a lot more the last couple of seasons. She secured the bag, sure, but that doesn't mean she should get a medal for covering for the Cryptkeeper when that Bravo crew member raised a sexual harassment suit.

Huge losses, because Gina and Lydia entertained me the most. Personally I thought S4 was a great season, even better than S3. I loved it. I'm about to start S5 tonight, without G & L. I believe @DaytimeFan has already watched it and gave his thoughts a few months back.

Yes, I believe the gossip implied Bruce was gay, and Chyka and Bruce were doing projects in the Middle East where they felt the rumors would harm the business. So the company sent a cease and desist to Foxtel, and allegedly that is why Chyka did not appear in S4. And why Jackie and Janet hated Lydia in S3-S4 and tried to exclude her from certain events. Gina ended up being Lydia's wing-girl. Gina got onto all kinds of trouble with Sally in S4.

Well @Antoyne I don't know how far you have gotten with S3, but Lydia was definitely given the villain edit that season. Part of it was her own fault -- Lydia is a terrible gossip who passes around a lot of rumors, some of them damaging. But Production was keen to bring her down that season, hence the hiring of Susie (who, yes, is kind of dull but I've seen worse HWs). She had a long history with Lydia and was determined to destroy her. I believe she even hired one of Lydia's housekeepers away from her?? In Rich People's World, that is equivalent to a declaration of war. I won't give anything away, but one of Lydia's rumors earned her AND Foxtel a cease-and-desist letter from some lawyers. The rumor is inferred, though not directly, on the show, at a big showdown in Dubai. We can talk about it when you've seen the episodes in question, LOL. Honestly, Pettifleur was so exhausting to watch. I much preferred her replacement, Venus, in S4. An underappreciated newbie.

RHOC I've not been keeping up with this season, so I don't quite understand the context... but I don't hate it either??

I feel the same way, i don't know how the other women can hold it together without Teresa. She IS their entire SL. What are they going to talk about without her? Marge's knockoff plastic handbags? Tiki's Mistress?

Well, isn't that interesting. I don't know how legit the Twitter source is, but just from watching NJ i feel like production and Tre are kind of over each other. It's not as bad as it was with Nene, when bridges were burned big-time. And seeing Gia with her own VT, I wonder if Bravo is holding out for her and her sisters to be the future of NJ. But it also feels like production is less desperate to keep her. Not sure reorienting the show around Jennifer's Turkish SIL and Jackie's estranged sister is the way to go, though. And no mention in the Blind Item of Melissa, Marge, Dolores. Or the Husbands. Hmmm.

I have now caught up with NJ. ITA with you -- production is trying to pull a Denise Richards, or maybe even a Nene Leakes Special? Teresa is being islanded. Louie is her only life raft. She's clearly most comfortable filming with her family. The connection with the other women is rapidly deteriorating. Dolores is Switzerland and, as Marge let slip, Marge talks with her about 5 times a day, they are that close. Jennifer-Tre is an alliance, and Team Marge targeted her expertly this season, to the point where Jennifer begged Marge to back off and told her Teresa was the one digging dirt on Evan. Of course MeHo isn't backing Teresa up, even if she makes a half-hearted show of going back to the house with her. After hearing about a particularly toxic reunion, I feel like Bravo's end-game is to transition Teresa out of RHONJ and reorient the show around much of the remaining cast. The only problem is, I think Teresa is still popular among many the viewers. She and her life are still a ratings draw. Marge and co., just are not. And the dumbest of the dumb, Joe & Melissa, are especially blinkered. They think Tre leaving might give them more screen time on the show, but if the 5-second flashback of Antonia's sweet 16 is any indication, Bravo won't hesitate to drop them from any RHONJ revamp as well. The Giudice girls leaving the McMansion was moving -- the end of an era. That insanely constructed house was not just another character on the show -- it was a linchpin for a decade of SLs! This was the house that Joe and Teresa built with defrauded money. They built it to get on the show in the first place. They spent crazy cash furnishing it. They both went to jail for it, and fractured their families. It is crazy how much drama and trauma this house spawned. Gizelle who dismissed Monique as "I'm glad you've been doing some bindering." Gizelle is so bad at coming up with on-the-spot reads at reunions! She can only do rehearsed ones. Of course she knows Monique's binder holds the real tea on everybody! And while she would love to get her hands on that book, I also don’t believe Monique would ever give it to her. Because Monique hates Gizelle more than she does Candiace. Good call on Ashley perhaps passing her the dirty details.

'Donn' also does the Lee Radziwill Twitter parody which foe a long while I thought was actually LR. But yeah I believe both Vicki and Bethenny went off on him thinking it was the real Donn. It is never not funny.

Rumors about the fight on one of our fave upcoming franchises. Take with a pinch of salt!

What is this hunny??? [/Nene]

So cool that you remain intrigued each week! I was hooked week after week, waiting impatiently for Friday to come and Peacock to upload. Peacock had me acting like it was 1990s Appointment TV! Listen, Guerdy's fashion is EXQUISITE. It is not the Bling Clown Circus like with Erika, Dorit and Rinna on BH. It is just simply the most beautiful couture and all of it suits Guerdy to a T. She knows how to showcase herself at her best. It all looks gloriously luxurious and fresh. Kiki is the same way. And Garcelle can do gorgeous fashions too, so there must be something in the water in Haiti. They are literally fashion inspo. Alexia said, we have this one chance so I'm going to throw 10 years worth of personal drama into this one season! And that's exactly what she did! Nicole and Larsa, I agree, are not major players in these early episodes, but, oh, just you wait because it is a slow burn with them. By the end of the season, my appreciation of both had changed. Julia is intriguing, and I cannot wait for you to watch the Martina episodes which should be coming very soon, if Martina hasn't popped up already for her gallery show. I am hearing and seeing things about RHONJ, and my knee-jerk reaction is to defend Tre always, even though I haven't watched the episode yet. I will be watching tonight, but I'm a little scared LOL. What I am re-watching lately (as I wait for ATL, BH and Potomac to grace my life) is RHONY Season 10. THE Top Tier season from beginning to end. But watching it in hindsight, you can also see the seeds of RHONY's premature destruction (well, I hope it isn't completely destroyed -- I am hankering for RHONY Legacy to return with a Dream Team of beloved HWs). Those seeds were: -Building the show around Bethenny. While she did make the show's narrative cohesive, when she pulled out, the show shook like a building about to sink. -The breakup of Bethenny and Carole was authentic, but also painful and toxic. -S10 was when Bethenny knew the cast were against her and would no longer put up with her lording it over them anymore. While she won her toxic battle against Carole, it was at this moment that B started looking for the exit. In S9, the cast came together and it was a cohesive friendship group, but the S10 fallout between her and Carole fractured everybody, and Bethenny felt she couldn't trust anyone on the cast. -Carole got mouthier and meaner, but she was the only one to call Bethenny on her BS. She should not have been fired. Indeed, I've long advocated for her, Heather and Aviva to return. They offset the OG crazies nicely -- both groups balanced each other out. -Tinsley was so charming and her SLs were light and fluffy and necessary. -Ramona started to go into cruise control. -Dorinda came off very mean at this reunion (for the first time, really) and stayed mean through the next two reunions and her eventual exit. In S10, the question was asked whether Dorinda was drinking (and drugging) too much. The answer was clearly yes. However, Dorinda couldn't deal with this being said about her, because she was using the same smear to hit Sonja and Luann. To sneer at Luann (who wasn't even at reunion) about going to rehab a second time while she never had to go to rehab was insane hubris. In later seasons, she started going after Tinsley for no real reason, except that maybe Tinsley got to see a side of Dorinda the audience didn't, and she got scared. Nevertheless, after all that, I loved the season and it has made me miss the show all the more.

It fascinates me, too. Part of her choice to date Sherman was because he had money (it certainly wasn't for his looks). Maybe she put up with his being a d!ck because she thought she was going to clinch the bag. Status and keeping up appearances seem important to Gizelle -- and she probably wants to give her three intelligent daughters as many opportunities as possible. I believe with Jamal it was crazy love, because she put up with SO MUCH and went through a lot of pain. She kept up appearances as a First Lady for a long time. I can only put that down to thinking they would have a great future together. I don't believe that they reconciled in 2019, that was just a SL for the show and Jamal owed her big-time. Monique (and Jamal's actual girlfriend) said as much at S4 reunion. Is Gizelle even dating now? Even her kids don't think she'll find somebody, and I wonder if that's because they recognize that she closes herself off and will have trust issues with most men. As for Candiace vs Gizelle, it's only been a WEEK since they filmed the premiere event! Nevertheless:

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SSH looks aghast! I swear, her facial expressions are sometimes the best part of the show.

Oooo re: RHONJ reunion. As usual, Melissa didn't do a damn thing. I don't think she is even mentioned in the article. https://pagesix.com/2022/04/09/joe-gorga-storms-off-rhonj-reunion-set-over-fight-with-gia/

A very interesting time period for the BRF, that's for sure. If Peter Morgan is writing it, I will definitely be tuning in.

Yes, and she played a character who was initially a troublemaker, but who was sensitive, who had kindness in her soul, who learned to consider other people's feelings. That is an emotional journey few soaps choose to take these days because they consider it 'boring,' but I imagine Hays would have made that transformation quietly compelling. Out of all the soaps I watched growing up (the NBC soaps, the Bell shows, GH), there was some top talent. But ATWT was the show were I truly felt the talent was consistently another level and across the board. So many of these actors could (and some did) transition flawlessly to great Primetime, cable, theatre and film roles. They were just so skilled and comfortable in their craft without being showy about it -- the best kind of talent IMO. Even in those latter years you reference, the level of acting was strong, even as the writing was not. Found this quote from KH on her Wikipedia page which is very moving: On filming her final episode in 2010, Hays said the last day was incredibly "poignant". “The last day was poignant, and what was so incredible about it was how we shot pretty much in order that day. As each group finished with a scene, that would be the end of their involvement. But it wasn’t like tomorrow was another show, so the studio got really full. By the time they got to our scenes with Don and myself, there was hardly any room for cameras or the boom. In a way, it felt like being in a theater. We don’t normally have an audience. The stage manager asked if it was going to be a problem for us, but we both said no. It was like everybody’s arm was around us. It was absolutely incredible, there was not a sound. It was like everyone was holding their breath. In a way, we were all doing it together. When we finished, Don and I both spoke a little bit to everybody, and the whole As the World Turns family moved to the other end of big studio where they had the world’s longest table set up, covered with champagne glasses."