Cat

I didn't recognize Simone in the middle! Honestly, Heavenly looks the best, followed by Toya and Jackie. Contessa's dress is nice, too, though very wedding-y. Quad has a lot going on, but it looks like she's back on the cast now.

Sutton's statement: -------------------------------------------------------------- And looks like Ramona is hosting her own, unofficial, mini-Real Housewives All-Stars, only with some less popular HWs. And Evan! I don't know if Kelly Dodd got some work done, but if she did, it must have been by the same guy who did Kimberly Guilfoyle and MelaniaBot. Ick.

@FrenchBug82 Thank you for your explanation. That whole scene felt fragmented, like it had been edited too sharply. I had a hard time figuring out the through-line and where it went left. One minute Kyle was talking about her and Garcelle's lunch, then Crystal started to say something and Sutton came out of nowhere, like "What we're not going to do is talk about race", and Crystal said "Tell me you're that girl" and then Sutton got super defensive, and I thought 'Wait, what just happened here?' Obviously Sutton was in the wrong. I imagine she may have been at a point circa late-Oct 2020 where she was still not fully processing what it means to be a PoC and at the knee-jerk defensive stage. Up until last year, many people (and I was probably guilty of that) insulated themselves from that reality. As Garcelle pointed out early in the episode, Beverly Hills is a bubble. Given their closeness, I am hopeful that Garcelle has opened Sutton's eyes and to not just fall back on 'oh, let's not bring color into it.' @DaytimeFan I think Sonja must have pre-spent some of the Century 21 money she thought she was going to get. When they went bust, I imagine her debt load got noticeably heavier and she was forced to camp out in her townhouse. Suze Orme would be a great idea! If Sonja would listen, be honest about the Nigerian football team not existing as an asset, and give herself over completely to Suze's advice, I think it would take a load of stress from her shoulders. When Sonja has lost the energy to fix up her hair nicely, you know she is going through some internal turmoil. I feel the same way as you about Teresa's Louie -- baby Brooks Ayers! Andy is ridiculously encouraging of this came-from-nowhere relationship, as if it somehow 'saved' Teresa, but I notice Joe & Melissa appear to have slightly cooled on him. Kyle purposely sat on the Garcelle info until reunion, and she knew G had moved because it was documented on the show, which was why she was 'unreachable'. It was very obviously a set-up and Kyle would never have done such a thing to Dorit, Erika, Rinna, etc. She would have had no excuse for not contacting them. That faux-shocked wide-eyed look she gave Garcelle at the lunch made me criiiinge. It's the same face-pulling as when she pretended not to know that Kim had brought the bunny to S7 reunion.

@Soaplovers I guess you're right re: Crystal, it is too early to call it. We have to see how the season pans out. Clearly she and Sutton do not get past their early contretemps. She isn't part of any friend group yet either: not really one with The Coven, nor close with Garcelle/Sutton. We didn't hear much from Dorit this episode, do I wonder if she's going to be a little 'left by the wayside.' I did spy her throwing herself at Kathy so I'm wondering if her angle is to get in good with the House of Hilton.

BH Through gritted teeth, I must confess that I am really, really enjoying the show. Perfectly sized group, and the visit to Lake Tahoe reminded me a little of the season 2 episode when they went to Camille's Aspen house. @Elsa said it best last week: Garcelle is a star and I can't take my eyes off her. She feels like 'the main character' -- she has that kind of presence. Her talk with Kyle was thoughtful and insightful. I still burn when I think back to Kyle trying to set Garcelle up at reunion! It was so loaded an accusation and you could see then and there it hit Garcelle hard. Kyle knows she f*cked up with that one. I am liking Crystal but I'm not sure I understood the disagreement with Sutton at the very end. Sutton came off awkward and a bit drunk in what she was trying to say. I wasn't sure about Kathy the first episode, but I totally get her kooky charm now! Unlike Erika who only pretends to, Kathy actually gives zero f*cls. She also makes the women relaxed, unguarded and open. I think she is going to be the glue that holds the cast together.

RHONY: Insightful remarks here regarding Leah's annoying attention-seeking. That vow of silence mess I used to pull with my mom -- when I was seven. The scene in the van was Leah very purposefully read her book while the other ladies (including Eboni) laughed, fought and bitched with each other. It was like she wasn't even there. Right after the van ride, Leah quickly retired the silent treatment. Having said that... I still like Leah more than Bethenny. Big Shot sucked the oxygen out of the room. She constantly pulled needy/attention-hogging sh!t, too -- when she wasn't waterboarding us with Skinnygirl. The difference with Leah, though, was that Bethenny was an uncredited producer with power to approve/fire cast members (she tried to get Luann fired after S8 and it was the one firing the network blocked her on. Bravo had to up Bethenny's salary and give her Bethenny & Fredrik to sweeten the deal for S9). Leah does not have that kind of power, so her actions represent a different kind of desperation. It also means the OGs are not scared of her. I don't mind that dynamic because there is less imbalance. Let's not forget that Leah + Luann were a tag-team at that dinner with Heather. You know I love my Lu, but #Countess knows how to play the game and 'light the match.' Can we blame Leah alone for the gang-up on Heather? Not entirely. The others are 100% in on it, although it seems like Ramona and Eboni felt bad for Heather and jumped to her defence a few times. Not that Heather needed the back-up as she seemed very relaxed and able to handle it all. I don't think this is the incident which sent Heather bailing. I can see from next week's previews that Leah is going to be A LOT. Maybe I will change my mind about her pot-stirring next episode.

IA. Given the amount of chatter around BH's premiere last week and how well-received it was (after pretty much 4 dud seasons), I imagine that with DVR + streaming numbers, RHOBH climbed over the 1 million-mark, easy. RHONY too (I'm noticing on social media many RHONY reactions are sometimes delayed 1-2 days -- people save up these episodes for a time they can veg out and enjoy them). Let's not forget RHONJ, the little show that could, seeing +1 mil in live ratings alone last week (!), and undoubtedly more in streaming. It's been a consistent big-hitter all season, and Andy immediately responded to fan complaints that the season was too short, so Bravo knows this one is popular.

Awww, no problem, Errol! You are going in the right direction! Good information is a precious commodity these days. It's far less work to gossip, speculate and editorialize rather than doing the groundwork, reaching out to people, and preparing questions which aim to find answers. However, that work pays off in dividends because little by little people start to rely on your work for quality and facts. The interesting thing about your interview with Corday is how open and matter-of-fact he seemed talking about the business end. It is very different from when TPTB talk about upcoming story -- they don't want to give much away, and they are scared the fans will hate it, so they stay guarded. I think it is fascinating to see how these people/companies put in the work behind the scenes. Corday envisions a future for Days and has some strategies in place with regards to that. That is a good sign because it shows he is committed to keeping the show going.

I don't know what's going on with these ratings recently, and it coud be that a significant number of people have iindeed dropped the RH franchises completely. However, I would also love to see the ratings plus DVR and streaming (as someone mentioned in that Twitter thread). I think more and more people are watching these shows in the latter ways. I know lots who stream it (as I do!), and the BH premiere was also put on YouTube by Bravo in its entirety. Bravo also leaked a bunch of scenes from the episode in advance (maybe too many), so there's also that.

@Cheap21 Totally unforgiveable. It is one thing to be caught between your sister and your husband's family, which Caroline probably was when Dina and her ex decided to separate. But the assault....! I don't know if you saw pics of Dina after the break-in, but she and her fiancé were very brutally beaten. That would have been enough for me to side with Dina if I were Caroline, but the fact that the Brownstone then hosted some kind of wedding party for the perpetrator in lieu payment for the assault? And Al Manzo wasn't aware? Yeah, right. Truly disgusting that she STILL sided with the BIL instead of her flesh and blood. He could have had her sister killed.

RHONJ. If anybody was wondering why Dina and Caroline Manzo never reconciled, this may be one reason:

It's called Nordstream 2. I can't believe Ryanair allowed the secret police to take this activist and his girlfriend away. Apparently four members of the KGB were also on the plane and left with them, so they were being closely surveilled. He has now appeared on Belarus TV with his face looking slightly bruised, while saying that the police has treated him wonderfully, nothing to see here. Just awful. Will we ever see Raman Pratasevich or Alexei Navalny again? 😥

This is an aspect of Potomac I like. BH is of course super aspirational with glam squads, bling and houses. But BH relies too heavily on these in lieu of showing their lives. I like variety across the franchises, and they don't all need to be standardized in the BH mould. They don't all need to be 'aspirational' when 'aspirational' actually means 'You will never get a chance to live this lifestyle, b!tches.' What fascinates me about Potomac is the precariousness of middle-class life, and that's very relatable. I mean, Robyn is always 'dealing' with the IRS over something. As are Karen & Ray. Michael & Ashley's restaurant flopped and she signed a binding pre-nup. Gizelle is purportedly living in a bungalow (a long way from the mega-church life). Candiace & Chris have her mother 'helping them out.' Wendy & Eddie have accrued significant student loan debt. They are anxious to stay within that socio-economic class, but it's a struggle, and I always appreciated Potomac showing that. It certainly has not limited the show's excitement or potential but, instead, added to it. I can see the lack of sense of place. Maybe they need to bring DC into it more, after all some of these women do go to political and social events. Or maybe they need to do a better job of selling Maryland/the DMV. She looks very Ethiopian/East African, with that mix of African and Arabian sleekness! It's cool that Potomac has been showing the African diaspora lately. I wish we didn't know that her time on RHONY was cut short! 😥 IA with @DaytimeFan that Sonja, Ramona and Luann would probably have confronted Heather over a meal, got it all out on the table, and then moved on, which is the beauty of RHONY's fights (excluding Dorinda and Bethenny). Heather would be cool with that. She can handle them. But they've kind of tangled Leah up in this now, and she's going to grab an opportunity to suck the oxygen out of the room. The wonderful thing about Heather is that she can take her. Because Leah is sloppy and Heather definitely is NOT. Do you think Karen is being kind and empathizing with Gizelle? Or just being elegantly shady? I honestly did not know!

I'M HERE [finds CapsLock button] for Wendy Vs Gizelle too. I'm not sure Wendy is the pushover Giz thinks she is. Loved seeing Cal in the trailer. Karen to Gizelle: "Honey, you got dragged. Then you let him back in.... and he dragged you again." Giz: "I want Ray to pay his bills!" *thumps table* Karen: "Are you talking to me?" Mia and Candiace throwing salad leaves at each other. Here's the trailer for anyone who cannot see it in the People article:

REAL HOUSEWIVES OF POTOMAC TRAILER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! POTOMAC FANS BETTER GET IN HERE! I thought that was Monique's voiceover right at the beginning! https://people.com/tv/rhop-season-6-supertease-exclusive/

Oh definitely somebody on the writing staff loves the Real Housewives (and Daytime soaps, judging by The Californians and Sands of Modesto, both of which gave me Sunset Beach vibes). Here are some of the RH parodies (barely a parody, just straight remakes in some cases).

LOL you mean this? I think Long Island should name a boulevard after her!

Hey @Errol this was an incisive and well-researched interview. Soap 'journalism' such as it is, is not always great, as it rarely treats the genre seriously, as the bread-and-butter business that it is. This article gave context, asked serious questions about getting renewed (which I'm sure Corday must have appreciated), production, and Days' streaming potential. It is as factual as any news I've read on Reuters or Bloomberg, and I hope some of the wire services end up using your article to reference. Congrats on landing the interview!

Uhhhhh if I were Shamea, I would never leave Porsha alone with Shamea's husband ever again. That engagement between Porsha and her current hobbit might not work out. 💅 She's never been the brightest spark, that one. Tweedledumber to Porsha's Tweedledumb.

CNN to Porsha: "So, Porsha, what first attracted you to millionaire Simon Guobadia?"

L❤️VE HER I think The Coven must be feeling seriously threatened by Garcelle and Sutton's popularity at the moment. Hence the sudden flurry of Fox News Five/BFFs 4Eva pics we just got.

Because this whole moment is worth reposting. Multi-tasking!

I don't know! Is it Denise? Season 7 Dorit? Eden Sassoon? Kyle's personal trainer? I think her name is Tessy Meddling Avocado...?

Uh oh. The Coven seems to be pushing for one of their minions to be allowed back into the fold. Maybe as a replacement if Garcelle leaves? (FYI "Dorritt" seems to be part of this mess, too). Tessy Meddling-Avocado: "We're going to best friends forever and ever, right, guys? You won't forget me when I'm no longer on the show, right?" The good thing about Kathy is that she is eccentric and isn't thirsty about getting a diamond. The bad thing is that she is going to keep personal sh!t locked up TIGHT. There is a reason she chose to be a FOH -- reality TV at arm's length. She was sharp with Kyle in earlier seasons because Kyle spilled on camera about Kim's drinking (not that it wouldn't have come out anyway), and Mauricio left the Hiltons to start up his own agency. That is water under the bridge now, and she is here to back Kyle in the filler scenes. Any animosity between them will be dealt with away from the cameras. Or swept under the rug. Kim didn't like her personal stuff laid out there either. The difference with Kathy is that Kim's defense mechanism is to threaten Kyle with spilling her secrets. That is why Kim was an unpredictable watch in seasons 1-5. We never knew what she was going to pull out of her hat.

Another good bit at NJ reunion was Jennifer handling Melissa and Marge, and then turning to Jackie and saying "MERRIAM WEBSTER WHERE YOU AT?" I died! Jackie looked legit shocked at the callback.