Cat

Last season, the drinking was unchecked and the show was reliant on alcohol to move things. Once upon a time, Bethenny was that check -- she would publicly shame some of these women straight (when she wasn't mainlining them with Skinnycrack, of course). This season I am happy with less booze (and with Sonja, I actively wish it). But because the discussion cannot evolve organically against the usual backdrop of fast-paced NY life, and because the women are trapped in this filming bubble, there is no story progression. The season is not starting at Point A and ending at Point B; instead it seems to be circling Point A. Haven't watched this latest episode, though so -- I am prepared to eat my words if we've got new stuff going on. I SAW!! It was GLORIOUS seeing Kelly spit out that legally-sanctioned apology through gritted teeth! Couldn't happen to a more deserving loudmouth. Let's not forget: Kelly spent the better part of 15 months screaming 'SHEEP!' at mask-wearers and "Covid is NBD, losers!" Until her family got Covid, and then it's "Guys, my mom's in ICU, pray 4 her!" She has been photographed all over the bars/restaurants of Newport partying maskless, and suddenly we are supposed to believe that a 5-second "Hey There" with one of Heather Dubrow's kids gave her the corona? What a tool. An icon in an iconic season! T'Challa made Wendy happen. And this is why I rate the Potomac HWs -- because something unplanned happens in two seconds and we get: Robyn doing the drop & roll. Candiace forking food in her mouth as she runs. Wendy protecting the hair: "OMG my wig." Ashley showing up after the fact. Gizelle: "T'Challa has spoken. We cannot get to know you on a deeper level." Wendy: "No, you WILL get to know me on a deeper level." T'Challa was more than just a pet -- he was Monique's support animal when she was going through travails. She really identified with that bird and must be devastated.

I, too, am waiting to see how Teresa's man comes across on the show, but yeah, ITA. He's everywhere at once and it's all a little too much too soon. The Gorgas embraced this person two seconds after meeting him, mainly because he keeps Teresa 'satisfied' and happy. But what if Teresa starts lavishing him with expensive gifts? What if he, and not Joe, becomes Teresa's main go-to? Trust and believe that Joe and Melissa will have feelings about that. And then we could have another Joey vs Juicy 2.0 situation. Joey and Evan, lol. I don't know what's going on there (somewhere Frank is crying), but doesn't it seem like Melissa and Jackie are closer friends than Melissa and Marge are? Interesting tea about RHOA. The last few seasons all the ATL leaks sucked what few surprises there were out of the show. Will be interesting to see how Potomac's production team handles Atlanta which has become slow and stale. That's great that Kandi and Porsha got some spin-offs, but Bravo had an opportunity to have Falynn on the show -- and they swept that opportunity under the rug. A failed attempt to cover for Porsha and keep her rep pristine? Viewers are already MUCH more interested in what the real story is with Simon. And speaking of Brooks vibes.... I am getting A LOT of those from Simon.

Thanks! I'd forgotten the tea about The Joven (Jersey Coven) trying to exclude Jennifer and Hot Bill from events. Joey Gorga was also getting in on that mess and not inviting Bill to da guyz events. Seems like they started filming right after reunion wrapped. And I remember you posting about the new HW addition and her hubby. We also have Teresa and her new man who has a whiff of Brooks about him. RHONJ last year kept it locked tight, only leaking the tidbit about Jackie refusing to film because of infidelity allegations. As you say, just enough to whet our appetites, but no details. Jersey batted one of its most entertaining seasons in years as a result.

Oh Elyse! If only we'd known you were this messy! Ramona is going to go nuts! And Elyse needs another chance on RHONY.

ITA -- the feud is light and even funny at times (if those 'ugly leather pants' and Crystal's unexpectedly amused reaction is anything to go by). It can be summed up, as you say, as simply 'Crystal knows how to get under Sutton’s skin.' However, there are some more serious undercurrents -- is Sutton leaning into her own 'white fragility'? Is Crystal exploiting Sutton's perceived weakness and emotionality? Is Crystal right to define Doorgate as a violation, or was she blowing it out of proportion for the sake of the show? Crystal is a frosty, mysterious figure and I have not really warmed to her. Only in her home scenes does she seem more comfortable in her own skin. In her scenes with the women, she rarely smiles and looks stressed/has resting b!tch face. However, I appreciate that she's expert at needling. Also, Bravo have been releasing a lot of Cut Scenes lately, and Crystal comes across more well-rounded in those. The Cut Scenes in many instances add context and honestly should have been kept on the show. Like Garcelle and Rinna's first sit-down was more extensive than we saw in the first episode. In more recent Cut Scenes, we've seen Crystal and Sutton getting along at the dumpling-making, and we've seen a fun, dapper side to Rob Minkoff which blew my preconception of him as a reserved techie. We also had more of Harry Hamlin explaining his vegetable patch. IMO Bravo are making cuts of good scenes that build a fuller picture of the women in favor of Erika's stuff. Production is building the case both for and against her, and it's a move-the-plot decision. Interestingly, the Cut Scenes so far this season feature very little Rinna and zero Dorit. Someone on Twitter referred to Dorit as Terri Dietcamp drenched in labels! Where is the lie? Also you are so right -- BH is looking very luxurious and lush this season and is beautifully photographed. Most of the women are dressing better with less heavy makeup and OTT costumes (Dorit still hasn't got the memo on that one). Honestly, I forget Covid is even happening some episodes. Kyle's new nose still has me doing a double-take, though. ------ Meanwhile, as New Jersey prepares to film again, Teresa pulled a 'doing yoga with Danielle Staub on Instagram' move again -- this time with Jackie! Where does this leave my Jennifuh?? Sample comment on this post: "Teresa always has time for her fans" 💀

Indeed. Jill Zarin and Kelly Bensimon leaving RHONY after S4 was long overdue -- viewers kind of wanted them gone after S3 but Bravo made the right decision to keep them on for S4 so that viewers (and the network) could be sure. I remember after the RHONY reunion last year, they announced immediately that Dorinda was gone and it was such a shock. I believe that she did not want to go. We also forget that 9 months-to-a-year is a long time. In May 2020, we may have wanted her off our screen but by March 2021 we are starting to look forward to seeing her and the show again. That viewing break is important because it allows us to miss members of the cast. And a well-done trailer whets our appetite all over again. I honestly could have done with seeing Dorinda come to terms with big changes, and her drinking, her anger management, her widowhood, her broke-down relationship with many of the other women. We missed a chance seeing her with a new man and a new outlook during the pandemic (judging by her Instagram). She also reconnected with Bethenny and with Carole during her off-time. Having said all that... I don't really have anything to add about this week's RHONY episode beyond what you all mentioned here (which in of itself may not be a great sign). IA with @DaytimeFan in particular about production's positioning of Eboni on the canvas (perhaps to her detriment), and about how losing Dorinda really hurt the show. Again, that was a network (and not rabid viewers wanting her gone) decision.

The Rosales family was mishandled because they were seen as a tokenistic insta-family invented *to replace* another diverse family, the Winters (around this time we saw Lily go to jail/CK on recurring, KSJ also on recurring and the immensely popular Mishael Morgan later written off as Hilary). The Rosales had real potential to open up the show and the gene pool (Mia as an active troublemaker could have been part of that). Just not at the expense of the Winters who are largely beloved, especially Mishael Morgan. Lately, I keep thinking back to Y&R's very first episode, less than 30 minutes long and once widely available on YouTube. It zips by like it is 10 minutes. Many of the characters have few familial links with each other, and it is a mix of haves and have-nots, of all ages -- and yet it felt interlinked. The storytelling was easy and uncomplicated and like it was going somewhere. Not that Y&R would every go back to the first episode for inspiration, but given that the show back then was limited to a few sets every episode (and we essentially have 2-3 sets and a handful of characters treading water nowadays), it wouldn't be a bad place to start... Too bad MM is leaving, he is talented and very much established as a legacy character. I imagine salary + outs played a part in his and HK's decision. For anyone interested, members of Y&R's cast past and present read the script of the first episode:

Count me in as a big Brenda fan and IA -- Brenda is (or was) the only GH character capable of meaningfully boosting the ratings by her presence alone. She also has that It factor where she exudes energy and glows whenever the camera is on her. As an actress, Vanessa Marcil had that ability to connect with whichever screen partners (male or female) she was assigned. Kelly Monaco, by contrast, is more whispery and downbeat as an actress -- and yes, part of that is probably laziness after playing an under-written character for almost two decades. Brenda Barrett's character was strongly established early on. Sam has few truly distinctive personality traits aside from who is her love interest. The SL which IMO cemented Sam McCall on the show was when she found out she was Alexis's daughter. That bloodline gives Sam a lot of Cassadinesque potential but the show has yet to tap that to its fullest extent. Back in the PC days, KeMo was a great Livvie, and the character played to her strengths. It wasn't about big monologue exposition (which KeMo's whispery delivery is not built for), it was about what anti-heroine misfit Livvie expressed with her eyes, her face, her physicality. KeMo exuded a strong natural sexiness without really trying. She still has that earthy sexiness outside of the show, but GH doesn't quite know what to do with it, so it is kept somewhat under wraps. LOL get out of my head! I was like: Oh Carly, stop with the crocodile tears. You've been wanting to move into Jason's pants since 1996. Now you have the perfect (and by perfect, I mean ridiculous) excuse to tie him to you. I totally picture Carly loving being the Suburban Mom Mob Boss of Port Charles and being married to Jaysin a little too much. In next to no time, she'll be pushing him to have a few glasses of wine with her in front of the fireplace after a hard day's extortioning. Then, one day, she gets word that someone looking like Sonny is spotted. She heads over, sees him playing happy couple with Nina.... and decides to leave him there because she prefers this set up with Jason and the mob. Of course, when Sonny gets his memory back and returns to Port Charles, the sh!t hits the fans because everyone realizes Carly knew and didn't say anything. I'm not missing Sonny either. I'm hoping that Maurice is enjoying the lesser workload and doing his YouTube podcast because....

Ashley's and Karen's were the best! "The Grahhhhnde Dahhhhme can never be duplicated, imitated OR intimidated!" 😍 It's almost as if Ashley peeped this thread last weekend when some of us were talking about her being a messy-ass. And Thank You Jesus -- they finally retired "Word on the street" from Gizelle's tagline! (Now they need to retire anything related to "Beverly Hills is My Town" from Kyle's).

I appreciate so much these loving tributes from those that acted with him for years ❤️

In addition to Bershan on Wendy W yesterday, Sonja and Leah were on WWHL last night, and I've seen some clips (they are readily available on YouTube). Honestly, it was a fun, upbeat show, and I could listen to Sonja talk about her slightly embellished past all day long. Sonja is a social creature and natural born storyteller. If this had been on the last few episodes of RHONY itself, we would have definitely been feeling it. Sonja said she was pals with Ivana Trump (the ex, not the daughter), Joan Collins and Naomi Campbell. Bring 'em on the show, Sonja! Leah waxed lyrical about how great Dolores Catania is, and I'm all about that life, so I was pleased, lol. Haven't watched the actual RHONY episode yet but will later. I am looking forward to some NYC scenes and Bershan, but dreading the Eboni-forcing-a-political-convo-from-Ramona scene. I am not a fan of Ramona's politics (I am pretty sure I know where they lie), but I'm not sure she should be forced to discuss them in depth if she doesn't want to.

I remember seeing reruns in syndication of The Champions from the late 60s, and Stuart Damon was a dapper babe on that show. However, his Alan Quartermaine was something else! A strong, powerful, complex anti-hero. He should have become the scallywagish pillar of GH, but as we've all been discussing on other threads lately, TPTB at that time had other ideas about what they thought soaps were about. Stuart Damon would have been a loyal lifer to GH, and his character of Alan Quartermaine should never have been killed off, period. However, an actor of Stuart Damon's calibre and charisma is so much greater than the untimely end of one of his best-known characters! A true talent and, by many accounts, a warm and funny person. May he RIP.

On the podcast Hot takes & Deep Dives, there is a really good interview with Taylor of BH fame. She was a really good HW in hindsight. She lives in the OC now and is friends with some of the OC ladies. Taylor wouldn't be a bad addition to that show IMO.

This literally hurt my soul to hear. As a child, it was the haunting, continuous background music of shows as different in style as Y&R, AMC, GH, Santa Barbara and Days which drew me in! Y&R's music was cinematic, orchestral, moving, and it did an incredible job of adding psychological dimension to the characters onscreen. Bill Bell had an enduring fascination with psychology (especially women's) and why people desire the things they do (which stemmed from his days as an advertising executive when the ad agencies hired Freudian psychiatrists to help sharpen their campaigns). And the music used for Y&R and B&B was there specifically to heighten non-verbal, illogical shifts in a character's mood or emotions. It's been so long, but i still boil when i think that JFP had the *arrogance* to smear her bland, generic, crappy taste in music, furnishings and costume all over this #1 show. She effectively turned it into a standardised amalgam of the past shows she worked on. She sucked the oxygen out of it, and it has never recovered since.

Bershan! Vocally, she sounds a bit like Garcelle imo.

They got Bickmatized!

It's almost a shame that it has to be the presence of her BF which keeps KM invested. She's been playing Sam a long time and I can see how you'd get burnt out on playing a character who is not really well-defined. However, she's popular with fans and been there so long that basically Sam and Kelly are practically indivisible. When Billy Miller was on the show, I felt like KM stepped it up as an actress, and she had some good SLs where Sam wasn't acting like herself and became rather tough and enigmatic for a moment. I wouldn't mind if BM came back and Sam returned to that grey-area characterisation. Alternatively -- Lindsay Hartley gave the character a shot in the arm briefly last year.

They made Contessa look like a giantess here with Anila and Heavenly standing on some plinths.

.... ....Thomas in a cage? Is this meant to be throwback to Y&R when Lisa Mansfield locked Brad Carlton in a cage in her house?

Absolutely. These people harbored a lot of shame about working in the soap genre, precisely because it was what they sneeringly referred to as a 'woman's genre.' The misogyny was rampant. They were obsessed with focusing the show on unappetizing anti-heroes (as opposed to making an ensemble) because they thought they were The Moment and it made them edgy writers. JFP in last week's Locher podcast was still waxing lyrical about wanting to be a producer like Steve Bochco (talk about 80s throwback). They all wanted to be on Primetime or premium cable and were highly resentful that their 'talents' were not recognized and limited to this so-called girly genre. And when TPTB despise the project they are working on, it seeps out of the pores of the show. Pretty soon that disdain for the show, and its fans, trickles down to the cast who feel low down the acting totem-pole and start to resent it, too. I appreciate that some of the soaps have calmed down on the 'Men with balls' stuff a little bit these days. However, the funding on these shows is so severely curtailed that it is hard for crew and cast to feel valued by their network and therefore confident about the genre.

Well, this is whetting my appetite! Bershan sounds like she is here to play. I wonder why she only got FOH? I notice these episodes are July 13 and 20. I'm assuming we also get episodes on June 29 and July 6 also. 🤞

Porsha's private life is still messy omg You know, I feel like Potomac's cast is such a complementary ensemble that even changing one person risks shaking the incredible dynamic. Still miss Katie, and I'm not sure how it's going to be without Monique (and with Mia). Ashley was our opening SL coming into the show -- the young trophy wife coming into this snooty, established group of wannabe charity socialites. We didn't see all that much of Michael Darby in that first season, and Ashley is an expert pot-stirrer. I know last season it felt less like Ashley's story and more like The Darby's, but in some ways I'm ok with that? Michael is the sloppiest, most drama-seeking husband since Peter Thomas. I don't know how things will pan out this year with Ashley. But her ability to hold a grudge and stir the pot with Candiace (or even Karen) should not be underestimated. She is a born messy-ass. She also gives a lot of her life. I don't think we will see much of Michael Darby this year, which is a crying shame, because watching Ashley and Robyn stoically ignore Michael's raging hard-on for Juan is peak RHOP.

I hear ya. Bravo hyped Leah too hard and too fast, crowning her the Second (third?) Coming of Bethenny. Losing three women (Bethenny, Tinsley, Dorinda) within a season did not help, so it feels like Bravo pinned ALL their hopes on Leah while trying to gradually reduce coverage of the OGs. And NOBODY can carry an entire RH show, not even Bethenny, let alone Leah. Leah also fell back on predictable SJW soundbites she culled from Twitter and figured would play well. Rich white girl in Manhattan threatens another 'Karen' with cancellation? Yeah, I see enough of that on my timeline. ITA that The Hamptons episodes should have been cut by at least one episode. We jumped straight in without the usual NYC-setting scenes (difficult during the pandemic, although not impossible. Cuomo/DeBlasio by that point had lifted some restrictions and encouraged outdoor dining in a bid to relaunch the restaurants). NYC has such a uniqueness. We forget that, on RHONY (just like with SATC), the city is like another character. I would add that the reduced size of the cast is... a challenge. I would have loved Heather to get full HW status -- despite her protestations, I think she wanted to be a fulltime HW, and it would also have made it more difficult for her to stop filming from one day to the next. I also think they should have kept Dorinda (this season could have been a re-set, redeem and rebuild for her) and had Carole as a FOH. All these women have history with us. ----------------------------------------- Cynthia on Wendy Williams yesterday. She didn't say one way or another if she's gone, however, Wendy was adamant that she should no longer be on the show! Too bad Cynthia doesn't want to move back to the city (whisper it *RHONY*). She is friendly with Ramona and Luann.

That's... not good news. I feel bad for RHONY as we still have a long way to go with this season. I mean, if not much is going on, maybe they should reduce it to 15? Dallas was stretched out too much with three unnecessary episodes in Oklahoma. Leah's fall from grace is major. And in some ways I don't quite understand the degree of disillusionment. Yes, she's deeply annoying but... I don't think she's that bad...? 😬 I suspect people were really looking forward to Heather being around the whole season and Leah stopped that from happening, so now they want her out because of that.

Kelly Dodd is doing the MOST this week. It's like she thinks Bravo will rethink their decision to fire her and ask her back! Not only did she call Golnesa 'Ghoulash,' 💀 and blames Braunwyn's 'wokeness' for getting them fired, but she also announced that she and Fox News 🍆 [(c) GG] got Lyme Disease! (Yolanda: "Who is Kelly Dodd in dis vorld? I mean, really." Sigh. I miss Yol sometimes!) She also said that she and Fox News 🍆 got Covid in January from (wait for it) HEATHER DUBROW'S KIDS! I mean, how? How are Kelly Dodd and the Dubrows even hanging out? It couldn't possibly because QAnon Dodd said masks were a hoax and that people who wore them were sheep?? Truly, the OC is the Florida of California. Speaking of Florida... Are you serious? NYC really shut down hardcore this winter huh. Tell me RHONY didn't head to Florida! Oh wait, it's Salem next, yes? Also, we have someone in the cast (Leah? Sonja? Ramona?) getting Covid and shut down filming for a bit. I'm also hoping Production use some pap shots of Ramona running around Mar-a-Lago in her macramé beach cover-up as a guest of Douchebag Jr.