Cat

So maybe it wasn't so much political activism for SB as not wanting to do something to assure the welfare of cast/crew. Nice.

The fact that nobody mentioned Part 3 of RHOP... we're all a bit over this long-ass thing. It wasn't as good as Part 2 and Andy was, weirdly, the standout of the episode. Which kind of says it all. Wendy thought she was flexing with the cardboard printoffs, and I'm just exhausted by anything Wendy now. She got bogged down in the minutia and lost track of her argument which was: the GEBs feed on lies/gossip about other people's marriages. I still feel like she's acting how she thinks a RH should act. Chris Bassett-Hound still coming on with a drink glued to his hand like he's a member of the Rat Pack. I wish Juan and Michael would make the effort to show up. Juan has the excuse of basketball season, but we all know he isn't showing up because he hates that Robyn is on the show. Michael, I assume, will never do reunion again after Season 3. Micky Ninja coming up in Part 4. I wonder how the 'Barbs' on the cast felt about her when it was all over!

Is he, though? He put his rent-paying career on the line in support of misinformation aimed at destabilizing the country. Is Fox News ready to vacuum up all these loyal soap stars and give them a show? There must be plenty of SB's ilk, not to mention a ton of D-list reality 'stars,' knocking on FN's door looking for a job. After all, they sabotaged their careers for Rupert! They did it for FREEDUMB! He looks and sounds a fool, and one day he may wonder WTF it was all for. Other than right-wing talk shows... he can come join the circus.

Wow, selfishness has consequences for once! Once again, I can't believe this is the hill he chose for his career to die on, but anyway, bye, Steve.

And Jen Shah is NOT finished with Ms. Lisa Barlow:

RHUGT: Watching the first four episodes have been a fun ride. I love how the RHs give us a peek behind the reality show curtain, especially with some of Luann"s questions at lunch. After a strong start being a pain in the ass and antagonising various people, Ramona secured the room she wanted and has kind of faded into the background. Cynthia has been a consistent performer throughout the four episodes. I'm starting to think letting her go from ATL will be a massive mistake. Her friendship with Kenya is on the rocks and it feels real. Kenya has found friendships with Kyle and Melissa and wants to play with her new friends a bit. Kenya is coming across softer and more relaxed in this environment. Meanwhile, I love Cynthia's burgeoning friendship with Teresa and ongoing relationship with Luann. Cynthia has a warm understanding with these women. It is this forging of different friendships which is the most watchable thing on the show. Teresa is unexpectedly sweethearted when she opens up to the others, or shows Ramona her cards from Louie. Lu still has an eye for a younger, taken man, lol. His mom was literally side-eyeing her as she cosied up to him in the kitchen. Melissa still thinks being a participating RH means modeling bikinis and summer pyjamas. That's it. Kyle does come across sweet on this show, but I can't help but feel like she lulls other women into confiding in her so she can use it against them at a later time! BH has ruined me, lol. And that is the reason I am so glad Toxic Rinna didn't come on this trip and mess up the dynamic. P.S.: The opening credits song, LOL...they weren't even trying with those lyrics were they.

Exactly my feeling. A 3 episode wedding special is enough, and sometimes I felt like they could have folded these 'special' scenes into the mothership show, especially Tamra's wedding which featured her family and some of the cast. Now, Porsha's new spinoff? Honestly, from the trailer, it looks like fire. 🔥 And i'm not even a Porsha fan! (I thought her cutesy baby special was a bore). Nevertheless, I cannot help but wish some of this 🔥 was on RHOA. Especially the cast's take on Porsha & Simon! And speaking of Porsha's spinoff...

Like the ABC News exposé on the Girardis, the one coming up about Jen Shah may harden attitudes towards Ms 'Shahmazing.' Up until now, fans might have felt some sympathy for her. We also have not heard from the victims and their specific stories. Jen wasn't just complicit; she was at or near the top of the pyramid. I wonder what Sharrief knew. Karen is my favourite RH across all the franchises, and I say this with the utmost love, but: NO. I do NOT need a Hugers spinoff. Her family seems lovely and way too normal for a standalone project! I also don't want Karen separate from the RHOP cast. The spinoff will stretch her thin and makes it seem like one foot on her way out the door. Her reads and shade only work in the context of the rest of the cast. Karen & Ray work great as a bulwark against Ashley & Michael. Ray shades Gizelle amazingly well, too! RHOP is where I need the Hugers, not bickering in their kitchen with Rayvin on Facetime for 6 episodes.

Porsha is big mad! And Donovan (below) responded with a BURN

I love Adriana but IA her feud with Lea was a massive mistake and she did it solely for the show. Was it even worth it? The show got cancelled and it ended a longtime friendship. I wonder if Bravo blames Adriana for the demise of RHOMi and that's why she only got FOH status on the Peacock reboot. Lea no longer f***s with the RH -- she is a Democratic Party donor and fundraiser, and her Twitter is entirely concerned with politics and has been for years. The Duelling Weddings bored me to tears. I never have gotten Bravo's fascination with weddings which, apparently, seem to warrant special spin-offs. I know it's the fairy-tale Happily Ever After element, but... I guess I didn't buy into Joanna or Adriana's supposed 'fairy tales.' Adriana was already married to her dude, and Joanna didn't seem that into Romain -- she just wanted a big TV moment. I'm biased because I have never been into Joanna and always hated how much camera-time she got. I found her to be an unlikeable dullard. Lisa got off to a good start but S3 she had started to grate on me. And Marysol's desperation in S3 was a huge turn-off. Ana Quincoces said that Marysol never got over being downgraded to FOH and basically did all she could to get her mother to appear, as that was her ticket to staying on the show. Unfortunately, Mama Elsa was completely incapacitated by a massive stroke and it came off as cruel and calculating. I also recall Marysol pulling her iPad out at reunion and trying to get her very sick father to accuse Lea of something or other! Mess. One factor to consider is that Andy never really 'got' Miami (I don't think he is into Latina cultures generally) and was clearly grumpy and bored out of his brain during S3 reunion. Without Mama Elsa to give him impromptu readings, he was very disinterested. Nobody at the network was fighting for RHOMi to stay on the air.

Real Housewives choose their favourite RH across the franchises. Kenya's choice was unexpected, in a good way! https://www.vulture.com/article/the-real-housewives-ultimate-girls-trip-survey.html LOL no surprise there. Melissa doesn't really bother to offer anything beyond modeling her wardrobe and throwing cheese in the air. Unlike most RHs, she's never had to hustle for her spot on NJ -- she's there because of Joe and because her presence alone gets under Teresa's skin. She and Kyle are Bravo pets, but at least Kyle actually shapes and influences her show over the years with sister relationships, events, pot-stirring. How has Melissa meaningfully influenced the NJ canvas? She hasn't. And that's why she isn't contributing anything to RHUGT. She thinks that just showing up and looking cute is enough to earn a medal. Lord! The grace shown to Erika while LVP, Denise and others were gaslighted for far lesser transgressions! We been knew.

My streaming service finally posted the first 3 episodes of RHUGT! I was so excited to watch the first epi, and it didn't disappoint. As @Cheap21 said, Ramona is the star of the show, and that's because she is naturally an a-hole Ramona was earning her spot this entire episode. And more than just Ramona, but the location harks right back to the classic RHONY vacations in tropical locales. The fighting over the rooms, the men, with barely a whiff of Covid to remind us of what we've all been living through.... this show is not so much a reboot as a reset to back-to-basics RH interactions. Cynthia stood out much more than she does on ATL. Overall, I think the mix of women is well judged, even though I don't think Melissa's overrated ass should be there. The reason she is there is to set Teresa's grumpy lips on edge. And she is Ramona's girl crush, so I guess it makes sense. I'm not a Kenya fan, but I've been loving her thus far. Kenya feels like the audience proxy, and stuff is happening TO her. Also, the Ramona-Kenya anticipated stand-off is the one the audience is waiting for and the other women sense is coming. Did we notice both Melissa and Kyle attempt to stir the pot early on by getting Teresa riled up about the scarecrow comment and Kenya upset at Ramona? Yes we did. Bring on the episodes! I can't wait. I only wish there was a short reunion at the end of this.

I won't get access to the first episode of RHUGraT 1 until Friday. Honestly, after reading your posts here, I CANNOT WAIT! It feels like RH back-to-basics with this trip, which is a good thing. And Ramona sounds like she is actually doing something for a change -- the last few season on RHONY, she seemed checked out and evasive. Ramona was the only one who didn't show for the RHUGT premiere party. Apparently she 'couldn't travel.' What? That does not sound like Ramona at all! She's always jetting off to Boca or Mar-a-Lago! Anywhere she can score a free trip off a rich friend. I have to wonder what is going on and why she missed an opportunity to get photographed. 🤔 SLC As others said here, this was arguably one of the best all-time Real Housewives episodes and tense as any murder mystery. First BH, now SLC, are going all-in on the tense Columboesque Whodunnit -- or Whydunnit. A good move, in my view. Whitney knows WAY too much about multi-level marketing, and the looks the other women exchanged told me that this was not so much a shock as a confirmation. So, here's what we know and can speculate -- Whitney and her husband are allegedly running a MLM pyramid scheme. Apparently, Utah is rife with MLM schemes, perhaps because of a lack of regulation in that state. And then we have Lisa Barlow, who apparently said on WWHL that she used to work as a marketer back in the day. Moreover, like @Gray Bunny, I have to wonder if Lisa put money in Jen's escapade and is now worried that the Feds will follow the money all the way to her. Last reunion, Lisa seemed so proud of Jen's work in this opaque world, I felt Ms Self-Centered would never be this proud of someone else unless her ass was involved. When I wasn't side-eyeing Whitney's detailing Jen Shah's business model, or side-eyeing Lisa calling one of her lawyers 'on payroll' to ask "So the Feds can't come to us on anything, can they?", I was side-eyeing Mary Ramona-Eyes talking about how awful it is that Jen scams old people out of their money! Oh Mary, honey. There are SO MANY LAYERS to all this with these women. And who knows? Meredith may have been the one to call the Feds! (Although I still say it was production). She was positively giddy at the news. I misjudged Meredith last year. Revenge is a dish best served COLD as the snow on those Rockies, and Meredith is lapping it up. Jennie was great. In fact, she was all of us. She knows no fear and says it like she sees it. After her life experiences, she is not going to be left quaking by the likes of Jen Shah, Mary Cosby or even Erika Jayne. She earned her snowflake this episode.

@Soaplovers With Rugrats 2 in the can, I assumed Bravo could already make their decision but they are probably waiting for audience reaction and how you solve a problem like Ramona! They have time to think about final casting. @alwaysAMC NO thanks to Kelly Dodd! Some HWs are irredemible, and she lost any goodwill with her sheep/God's way of thinning the herd Tweets. Then pleading with followers for thoughts & prayers after she infected her mom and Jolie with Covid. No, don't want to see her smug, coked-up face anymore.

It's a bomb but an entertaining one! The filming of this mv was by far the best episode of the past season. I see Leah finally got her 'contract' to appear in this mess. Billy Strich was dying a thousand embarrassed deaths throughout. What surprised me was that in the long 12 months since they filmed this, no-one thought to apply some Daft Punk-level autotune to the voices? Sonja croaking out something about a Gulfstream? Ramona sounding truly horrendous? Lu straining to hit a baritone's high note? As Carole once famously said "I woke up to two mens' voices. One of them was Luann." I wondered what you guys thought about Dorinda possibly coming back to RHONY next season. Have you missed her? Has she been away long enough? Obviously her return is speculation, but I suspect she will be back.

I think you can tell in that OC trailer where the not-good bits are. I'm specifically thinking of that blow-up-doll-faced person telling Emily (also unrecognizable BTW) "Sit. Your as$. DOWN" and Emily tells her she's already sitting. A rehearsed read by Blow-Up-Doll if ever I saw one. Speaking of unrecognizable -- I don't know what Shannon had done to her face, but it is not quite coming together. Also: I cannot believe I am saying this because I put Gina down as a one-and-done back in S14, but she looks incredible and I am looking forward to seeing her this season. OK, so now we know why Erika is sticking with RHOBH throughout this entire legal trial! I would too for $1.6 mil! I was starting to believe this Kemsley break-in was legit after the LAPD report. However, seeing footage of the break-in (and the Extra interview) raises more questions. The Home Alone burglars stroll across the lawn and break a glass sliding door to attract more attention? They obviously did not care about the cameras.

It's too bad about the technical issues, because Patrick Mulcahey knows how to tell a compelling story about his life experience. I loved his soap writing for the most part and dearly wish he was still on soaps. But Daytime is actively NOT looking for talent, so... Looking forward to the Santa Barbara and GH parts (still on Guiding Light and Marland). I'd really like to know how he felt about Guza. Bob Guza was reviled by a large portion of the GH fandom by the end, for many reasons, but a lot of his core team of writers, including Michelle Val Jean, have always defended him loyally. Also interested to hear what he thinks about Bradley Bell's 'talents' (!).

Heather brings back the old familiarity and it is really nice to watch! I am digging her friendship with Gina and how jealous Shannon is about it. No real comment yet about the newbies, but I still feel like the trailer is missing a little something, and by something, I mean Tamra. I know. It was spooky how calmly and easily it came out of her mouth. She didn't trip up or stutter. Was smart enough not to embellish the story with too much detail. She was eerily unflappable, which is very unlike the Jen we have seen thus far. It felt like a peek behind the mask for a second. That and when she looked directly to camera when Sharrief first called her.

SLC Finally caught up. The last 12 minutes of the most recent episode was so tensely edited and produced, as Whitney would say, 'I got the [!@#$%^&*] chills.' Just seeing Homeland Security wander into view with that scary serial killer music was INSANE. 😄 Also interesting: how deeply unsurprised Heather, Lisa and Whitney all were. When Lisa said "This isn't about Sharrief" and Whitney smiled and nodded at her -- they literally dropped the fake scripted fight right then and there. Watching 7 episodes of SLC at a rapid clip was hallucinatory. Honestly, SLC's ratings would be higher if it was on a weeknight at 8 or 9pm. Thoughts on the season thus far: -The scripted drama has ramped up. I don't even mind, although Whitney and Lisa are getting tiresomely obvious at it. -Lisa Barlow has been in it to win it since S1 reunion. And you know what? I can't keep my eyes off her. I am fully entertained. However, this chick is no LVP -- she is more like RHOMelbourne's Lydia, the dumbest villainess that ever villained. Mistake after mistake in her attempts to ice out Whitney from the friendship group, or to bring down Mary. Even Meredith is like, girl, I can spot your machinations a mile away! -Meredith is so much more engaged this season. I really enjoy the clarity with which she portrays and stands up for herself. She still dresses all wrong for her frame. But make no mistake. Meredith is a big dog among these women and they pretty much all want to be on the right side of her. Even Mary. -Still can't shake the feeling that Seth is more into Meredith than she is into him. -Whitney's baby voice drives me bananas. Nevertheless, I recognize that Whitney is an expert pot-stirrer/tea-spiller and her contribution would be sorely missed if she wasn't on the show. In addition, there are rumors that her hubby may also be running his own Ponzi scheme, so let's cue up another filmed SWAT team moment in a few seasons' time. -I was ready to hate on Heather after her reunion performance but, god help me, I have really been enjoying her lately. She is fundamentally a kindly, self-deprecating traveling companion human. -Jen Shah really worked on her public meltdowns and almost won me over, but then I remember the audio of her tearing that designer to shreds. Whitney and Lisa as her paid explainers of that audio? No thanks. -Mary. So, Mary is amazing for this franchise. A kooky cult leader, you couldn't make it up. She just says whatever with literally zero filter. On the other hand, I'm not sure Mary is 100% well. And she's RUNNING A CULT. The way she treats the other women can veer towards master-servant. And the way the other women treat her is... with kid gloves. She is like a child, to be gently handled. I think Mary scares them. -Freshwolf makes me giggle every time I hear the name.

Unlike Ingo, GH is way more invested in keeping Steve Burton. And Burton knows it. The radio silence makes me wonder if they are trying to reach a compromise, like 'Go on and get the J&J, Steve, and we can forget this ever happened.' The problem will be if SB is so wedded to Tucker Carlson's brand of anti-vax ideology that he falls on his sword. And I'm not sure SB is actually an ideologue to that extent? But I've been wrong before. There have been people in RL I thought were just trolling, but no, it turned out they really were all-in with that mess.

Sad news. Jerry Douglas had old-school movie-star presence on a show like Y&R and his character was an anchor. LML killing him off and then bringing back a kooky lookalike as a sop to fans was a terribly short-sighted move. It was a JFP move, done to provide an Emmy reel for Y&R that year. No more, no less. May he RIP. He was obviously beloved by members of the cast.

Teddi and Brandi are good ones. Why does Kyle keep wanting to sic them on us? I'm leaving out the Never Wases like Yovanna, Cookie Lady and Shame on ATL, and Kim's daughter Brielle whom she longs to get picked as a RH. Oh and half of northern New Jersey who wanted to be part of NJ in the early days (Kim D, Kim G, Ashlee Laurita, the real estate chick, Penny, Melissa's older sister, etc). Jacqueline? Honorable mention must go to Charrisse and the dogged S5 cameramen who moved their camera line away every time she stepped into shot. ETA: i forgot about Jill Zarin!

I miss Edumacated Wendy from last year. Even though I hated what a *womp womp* she was with Karen, constantly hammering her week after week for something or other. Wendy had no lightness, no fun, no self-deprecation. But there were moments when she let a little wry humor shine through. Or when she spoke to that group of women about local elections? That was some good stuff, and she was 100% in her element. She didn't need to lose the education. She just needed to acquire a little perspective and some humor. But it feels like someone got in her ear, or maybe the social media onslaught got the better of her. Whatever happened, she is now more insecure and seems to have decided that being educated will lose her fans. It makes me sad. As crazy as this fandom can be, most viewers appreciate a bright, knowledgeable HW who has achieved something on the back of their work (Gina Liano of Melbourne comes to mind). And yes, the love for Micky Ninja baffles me, too. If she were starting out her career on RHOP, you know Wendy, Gizelle, Candiace et al., would be lobbying Bravo to get rid of her, saying she brings the franchise down.

"You guysssss! OMG. How great that we are STILL besties after all this time! The Fox Force Five. Reunited again and it feels so good! Hey! Erika! Erika? Eri-- Oh, she must not have seen me. Oh, hey, Rinna! Notice anything different about me? Anything? Anything? No, not the top... YES. The hair! Pretty cool, huh! Uhh--- sure, Kyle, I can stay outside the boutique. No, I totally understand. You guys need to film. Guess what, I'm filming too! No.... not with Bravo... Extra made me a Special Correspondent! I have a mic and camera and everything. So, come on out, guys, and say hi when you're done! 'Kay?"