Cat

This scene? Remember how that dinner party scene was edited to make Kathryn look absolutely awful and LVP not great either? And yet Tom snapping at Geishabot to pipe down was not worthy of inclusion back in S6. After that episode originally aired, we rarely if ever saw Tom interacting with Erika and the women again, and Erika made it sound like he was too busy and 'above' mere reality TV. Now we know why.

Maybe I'm overthinking the unexpected break we had this week, but I worry Bravo is giving RHONY the Dallas treatment. Dallas was a MESS and RHONY is really not in the same category of near-system fail. It is a transition season but with loads of potential, and the show is still a jewel in Bravo's crown as far as the quality of its cast and what they serve us. Following Below Deck would not be a bad idea. Also, I think Bershan will bring a breath of fresh to the show. It will leave Eboni less islanded, and I am interested to see what she's like.

This cannot be said enough! The 'Poor me' bungalow is to show the courts 'No money to see here.' Same as this week's gas station jaunt in sweats and no makeup. Look at how I suffer! Moreover, the BH scenes and her recent Twitter pronouncements are designed to keep the focus on Erika's divorce and NOT on the massive fraud. Interesting that 24 hours after Erika's lawyers publicly dumped her, they took up her case again. That says to me that she finally paid one of their invoices. So she's getting money from somewhere. Lawyers are not cheap. I haven't watched the episode yet but your review is great! This is an interesting point because yesterday's WWHL had Kathy and Crystal (and Kyle in the audience). Kyle has seriously never looked more relaxed, happy or confident. She is on top of the world right now. She has banished LVP and Ragamuffin from the show; meanwhile, Erika and Rinna, are on the outs with the audience. Kathy's presence has burnished Kyle's standing and she knows it. Kyle and the others were incredibly diplomatic about Erika (and Rinna's support of Erika) on WWHL. What happened to "OWN IT!" "Just tell the truth!" ? WWHL still trying to paint LVP as a villain last night, and all I could think was: Really? Lucy Lucy Apple Juicy and Denise allegedly sleeping with Brandi are worse than the Girardis stealing from burn victims to pay for Erika's overpriced glam?

@Liberty City Well that makes sense. The Below Deck franchises pull in higher ratings/demos. ETA: POTOMAC TRAILERRRRRRRRR errybody !!!!! Meanwhile in Melbourne... 😬

Sorry to dampen the fun of analysing B&B's utterly random twists and turns.

To have any kind of villain you need to write a credible character with backstory and motivation, even if that motivation is just "Hey, it's a dog-eat-dog world out there." What IS Justin other than Bill's ride or die? That's no diss on Aaron D. Spears who works hard to breathe life and dynamism into Justin in what little he is given. The problem is Bradley's horrific 'writing.' There is no such a thing as character on this show (ironically, given that character motivation defined B&B in its early years). Every character merely exists as a single plot point. And so it was with Vinny. And so it might be with Justin.

Ugh! She Who Shall Not Be Named infecting Europe with her 90s Ally McBeal aesthetic! Their soaps often look and sound better for a reason! When I saw that she scored that Locher podcast interview recently, I wondered if they were laying her groundwork for a return. Hopefully she's enjoying her retirement too much to contemplate a return! I mean, the show is horrific currently, but I'm not sure I could bear her brand of sub-ABCD-lite. Even if it was 'technically' more exciting than today's SLs, that 'exciting' was very alien, unbelievable, soap-writing-by-numbers.

Apologies -- don't mean to invoke her name! The show has never gotten over her disastrous tenure, and her fingerprints are still all over the joint -- and now we have Stitch popping back in. Am cringing at the thought of scenes between him and the Abbybot.

omg those Soap Opera Spirit awards Let's give everyone a medal for participating! Ron Carlivati wins Best HW 5 years in a row!

Is JFP returning also? He is the embodiment of her godforsaken era at Y&R. She loves a bland, generic-looking leading man.

In Erika news (apologies, I feel like I'm always the one mentioning Erika around here, please tell me if it's too much) -- After showing up at the gas station yesterday for a totally unstaged, unplanned, spontaneous pap shoot, Erika decided to jump on Twitter and toy with viewers. Erika = the human embodiment of Melania's I REALLY DON'T CARE DO U? jacket. She's trying so hard to deflect. But, hey, let's play. Who do you think is the snake? LVP? Mikey Minden? Justice Tricia Bigelow? Danielle Staub? Terri DiMarco?

That's random. You think they needed a break to retool/re-edit?

Vinny threw himself in front of Liam's car because he was in love with Thomas? Or because he wanted Thomas & Hope together? IDGI. Please tell me this isn't what Brad calls his 'gay SL' ? 🤯

Cynthia really opened her life to the cameras -- and that included the stuff she probably wished was private. The loss of her funds which she put into Peter's restaurant; the fact that her mom and sister tried to obstruct the wedding; the other women criticizing Peter being in 'women's business.' Rumors of Peter's infidelity! She really showed the good with the bad, and the fact that others put conditions on what can and cannot be shown (Porsha), and then in the next breath fans are like "uhhh Cynthia is boring" ? Like I said before, we need balance and complementary personalities. Cynthia is a go-to for many a RHOA cast member. Also she made possible this sweet moment between Noelle and fine-ass Leon: I can't imagine her on BH with all the cold alliances and snipers from the side -- I associate her so much with ATL. However, Cynthia is one of the most-liked RHs out there among her peers. She is friends with a lot of them, including Ramona, Luann, Melissa Gorga, Jill Zarin (!!) and others. I know she lives in LA right now but I feel like an East Coast franchise like NY would be a good fit for her. Or... Potomac?

No offense to KKL who is still a fine-looking lady, but Naomi Matsuda looks so beautiful, elegant and glowy in the press shot! I would love if B&B actually wrote for an Asian-American character like an actual, you know, human being, but Brad doesn't even do that for his existing cast, so that may be too much to ask. As for Ted King, he has always exuded a very sexy and cerebral presence. Honestly, he was too good for the second-fiddle role they gave him on GH, so I'm not sure if I want to see his character play second fiddle to Bill and Ridge (which he will inevitably do).

OOOO Ted King 😍 Loved him as Lorenzo Alcazar on GH.

I applaud CLB and others for coming out, because even in this day and age, that takes courage. It's not like we didn't 'know,' of course, and it makes me sad that CLB doesn't hold his husband's hand in public. I am confident that CLB's general popularity among Y&R fans will mean he will get a lot of support on his social media. As for Susan Flannery, it is entirely up to her whether she decides to come out publicly or not. She's got to do what's comfortable for her. She seems a private person generally.

Gizelle's 'villainess' role reminds me a little of Kenya on RHOA. Interestingly, fans aren't calling for her to leave the show, even if they might hate what she's doing or are Team Monique (fans being more savvy than Bravo gives them credit). This is in contrast to HWs like Erika Girardi on BH or Leah McSweeney on NY, where the calls to get rid of them are deafening. I have to agree with you. I've always had a soft spot for the nice ones, lol. We've been with Cynthia since before her first marriage (what a great season that was -- early season Cynthia was very watchable and she really did show us all of her life), and have been invested in her journey. Pretty sure plugging in actor newbies like Drew will not fill the Cynthia void, especially since ATL has struck out with its newbie additions in recent years. Also, these RH shows are ensemble casts which need complementary characters to give them variety and balance. It's one reason why I thought Jules on RHONY needed another season (and Kathryn on RHOBH) -- they softened the abrasiveness of some of the other women. We can't realistically have a cast of five Bethennys, you know? That's one reason why Tinsley was liked and missed when she left, even though I can't really recall any breakout SLs of her's, apart from pining after the Coupon King.

Only D'Andra and Tiffany should return, IMO, though I would entertain Cary Deuber coming back and even -- sigh -- LeeAnne. As for production companies, as @Liberty City said, I think some of RHOD's troubles in building up a fanbase has been because of its production team. Would love if Carlos King and an experienced team would take the show over. I say Carlos King because he ran another southern franchise, ATL, back in the day. He also did New Jersey's first season, which was epic. He understands personalities that have spark, capturing the essence of a place and weaving interesting threads.

DListed used to refer to Kourtney as The Slow One, a name that lives rent-free in my mind! You hit the nail on the head regarding TSO. For someone who claims to be a clean-living, children-first, wellness aficionado, her lack of emotional growth over 15 years is astounding. I would say she has regressed. When she had the Dash store, Kourtney seemed to be level-headed and invested, but when life became easy and boring and lounging around those big, empty mansions, Kourtney's reason for living became Snapchat and harping on the ultra-petty. Even having her kids didn't give her additional maturity. This reunion is far more interesting than the season which has been a CHORE to get through, testing my desire to be a completist. KUWTK has not ever been the same since Kourtney & Khloe Take the Hamptons and Scott went into a drug-fuelled spiral. After that, the family made a conscious decision to (A) wear colour-coordinated greige Yeezy sweats at all times, along with 20 pounds of makeup, (B ) never leave their McMansions for scenes, (C ) no more real stuff unless they absolutely have to show it (i.e.: Bruce becomes Caitlyn; tabloids expose Tristan cheating, etc). Consequently, this show became very dull with lots of filler like made-for-TV pranks on Kris. The reunion is good because it touches on the stuff PRIOR to that pulling-in-the-drawbridge moment. Like Kim talking about Kris Humphries (and her decision to include the family because she knew she was too dull to carry the show on her own. I admire Kim for owning that. I like how clear-sighted and goals-oriented she always is). That whole Kris Humphries season of Kim and Kourtney Take New York was gripping TV back in the day and remains very watchable. As far as the other sisters (since Rob clearly does not want to do this), I thought Kylie came across well, mainly because of her decision to pull back from the show. I'm not sure the two Jenner girls are all that interesting, however. Kendall's voice could lull me to sleep. I've always appreciated that Khloe understood the assignment and put her life on main street -- even if she hasn't always come out of that smelling like roses.

Oh she thinks she's Lady Gaga. 😆 You know who her 'real voice' reminded me of? Mikey Minden. I watched her TED Talk for some context -- the subject is embracing personas and the 'real' you. Which is ironic, because TEDTalkErika was meant to be the 'real Erika' talking about her stage persona Erika Jayne / wife persona Erika Girardi, but TEDTalkErika felt like a stage persona as well. IMO Erika harbors a lot of self-loathing which she covers up with bragging. She'd rather play a one-dimensional showgirl archetype than herself. No wonder the Erika we've known on BH always felt hollow and empty. It also influenced the other women to imitate her, to the absolute detriment of the show.

I remember this from back in the day. NB dined out on this story for a long time -- he made people try and guess who it was for days. Not sure what set DD off in the end (if indeed he did assault Branco), but there was some implication that DD interpreted NB asking if CLB should have won the Best Supporting Actor Emmy instead of him. This was back when the Baldwin Fishers were the big thing on Y&R and CLB was popular and somewhat pushed by TPTB.

Erika did a TED Talk? Do they give those out to anybody who wants one? She really thought the audience was dumb AF. "I was nailing it." "It's the greatest bamboozlement I've ever accomplished." Uhhhh. From her very first season, people on this thread already had her number. I don't think anyone had trouble differentiating between EJ and EG. It wasn't that deep. EJ was clearly the campy, lash-out persona she and Bravo preferred using, because she couldn't stand playing submissive wifey EG anymore.

AC is losing his supposed touch if he thinks BH viewers are in any way ambivalent about Erika. Even before TH&TH, all of social media and even this thread has been one voice. That she must have known something (especially after TG transfered $20mn to her, a detail which came out 6 months ago), that the scale of the fraud was staggering and disgusting, and that her position on the show is untenable as a result. Andy tried to distract by harping on about Danielle Staub and Dana Wilkey (the disgust he has for those two women literally dripping from his voice) but that caller said it loud and clear. She feels icky watching Erika on the show luxuriating in the opulence stolen from those victims. There is no getting away from that.

For sure mainland China is a bigger threat to HK, because it is already there, encircling the city-state with its 'National Security' Law which now allows China to detain any HK resident for as long as it wants, with no recourse to legal representation. It also allows the country to spirit detainees across the border to be 'tried' under mainland law. Which is a very different legal system than what HK has been used to until recently. Having visited HK in 2014, it breaks my heart to see this thriving, dynamic place have its identity and spirit broken like this -- handed over lock, stock and barrel by the British, and with the blessing of the local HK establishment. To see so many unarmed, young kids protest, despite the threat to their lives, and be arrested by masses of militarized police as 'terrorists' is laughable -- obscene actually. Taiwan's preference for independence has only grown after seeing what is going on in Hong Kong. Maybe, as you say, China will hesitate before invading Taiwan (as well it should). However, as the Tweet I was responding to suggests, Xi is surrounded by military advisers -- who, I imagine, are keen to tell Xi what he wants to hear, and not what he needs to hear to make informed decisions. The guy is so paranoid, he is practically micro-chipping the few Uighurs he hasn't forced into slave labor.