Cat

@Chris B I love Kari too, since S1 Ep1. She was a good villainess. She and Mariah were friends for some years prior to the show. After S1, they reconciled, and I always appreciated that Kari and Toya stayed friends too. I never understood why Kari was never asked back for S2 as she was so good at stirring the pot, but at S1 reunion I recall Quad sucking allllllll the attention from everyone else and it seems production made a decision to run with her and reorient the show a bit. Bet Kari knows a LOT about what happened there, which is why I'm so pleased she, Lisa Nicole and Fraud will all be back this season. Unfinished business! Too bad Mariah will be missing. I didn't realise Bravo wouldn't hire Heavenly until she lost some weight! Shocked.

Agreed. Simply hiring Tamra back and putting it all on her shoulders to 'save RHOC' won't work. Tamra herself admitted in the Danny Pellegrino interview that OC has not felt right since Heather left after S11. Tamra seemed to imply it was due to Heather being the missing ingredient, but IMO it was more a case of OC was unable to coalesce in S12, S13, S14 and S15. If I'm being honest, OC has never fully gotten over the Brooks cancer scam. Having said that, IMO, S14 was the best the RHOC has been in a long while -- the chemistry clicked and there was not one filler episode the whole season. It was a fun ride! And it worked because Tamra pot-stirred like a champ throughout. Bravo was too hasty about getting rid of the OGs in its hunt for a younger demographic. Obviously the network had no idea a global pandemic was around the corner. The pandemic has definitely affected how I view Kelly and Braunwyn today versus what I 'tolerated' before (although I always thought Rage Monster Kelly was overhyped and a disaster waiting to happen without any checks on her behaviour). Honestly, they could have scrapped this season, we the audience would have been none the wiser! Then they could have launched a new S15 RHOC trying out a mix of current and new cast.

Regarding SLC. I, for one, am relieved that the finale is next week. I can't take another episode of no-neck Jen Shah having a screaming fit over contrived BS. It is literally turning me off the show. ETA: And this is exactly my point. I don't blame Living Mannequin (thanks @DaytimeFan !) Meredith Marks from disengaging yet again. Only 2 from RHONY is shocking. I thought Dorinda would be all over an event like this. I'm bummed Luann wasn't there to sing Feelin' Jovani and make Dorinda's head explode, but this might have coincided with Lu's Can't-Be-Seen-Drinking-In-Public era. I am not at all surprised Bethenny didn't show. She thinks she is bigger than Bravo so of course she didn't want to be seen associating with other HWs. The event wasn't about her, so no point in showing up. LVP wasn't there, either. I think was around the time she was being ousted from BH. What's interesting to me is that three-quarters of the RHOD and RHOP casts showed up! Also, the story goes that Danielle Staub showed up and wasn't on the guest list, but made such a stink that they let her in. Why isn't Teresa Giudice in the group picture, though? She deserves to be. Tamra looks damn amazing for her age here. It goes without saying that she is needed on OC. Some are saying that OC is so ruined now, there is just no reviving it (I think it still has potential, but Kelly and Braunwyn are poisonous for the franchise).

Why? Did you also spy Gizelle in the trailer? Singing a slightly different tune about cheating exes than on Potomac this season.

I am here for Toyah, my shady Kari and Lisa-Nicole and her brokedown marriage to Dr. Dickaround! That's a pretty great trailer, I must say. If Fraud is only a Friend Of, though, why are they giving her a talking head? Heavenly staying mostly below the radar in this trailer, hmmm.

RHONJ taglines! Not a stellar bunch. Margaret's is the best and possibly Melissa's.

Haven't watched RHOD yet but I'm going to in a few hours! Excited to watch after your report @Taoboi ! Twitter kindly reminded me about this moment, exactly 2 years ago yesterday. Ahhh, the good ole days! A simpler time, etc., etc. Yes, it was Andy's baby shower, hosted by Kyle Richards so she could tunnel her way up his ass just that little bit more! I consider this a turning point in RH lore. Maybe this was when it all went to Andy's head. It feels like his Truman Capote moment, with the baby shower akin to Capote's 1966 black & white ball (only low budget), and the HWs his 'swans.' Truman Capote had a pretty steep fall from grace after that, so word of warning, Andy. The pics in this Tweet are making me laugh so hard. Look at how Lisa Rinna glommed onto Kyle and this baby shower, acting like she was the co-host -- even though Kyle put together and paid for the whole thing! And yes, there is Rinna photo-bombing the OG HWs pic -- even though she is neither. The thirst is oh so real! Is that Andy trying a lowkey twerk on Phaedra? Not going to lie, I miss Phaedra on RHOA. How is Cynthia and her hair looking so perfect? So much to say about this shot (below): First of all, it was after this very party that Giz, Robyn and Charrisse took out Candiace (but didn't invite Karen!) in order to plot against Monique and spread that Trainer Baby rumor. OOOOO. Was Ashley invited to dinner too? Karen, Sonja, Marlo (and possibly Dolores) within close proximity of one another makes me want to see a show with just the three four of them! Cynthia came with a wig which take 25% of the space and you know that was by design. I love her for it. She knew that the wig and yellow suit would pop in every shot! [!@#$%^&*] Rinna worming her way into the photo next to Andy! Look at Ramona's face! You know she is pissed about that. Vicki Gunvalson's face is also a picture, and that picture says to me 'I should be standing where [!@#$%^&*] Rinna is standing right now.' Leeanne and Kameron trying to get in there behind Vicki like 😬 Jon Mayer and Tamra look like they are 30 minutes away from possibly hooking up.

OC That finale episode was rough. The anti-chemistry between some of the women (Kelly with Braunwyn, Shannon with everybody, Elizabeth with everybody) was glaring. Reunion was better, mainly because Andy and Kelly went head-to-head. Kelly is gone next year IMO. She clearly believes that wearing a mask is a huge imposition on her social life. The only reason to keep her on would be for one final standoff between her and Tamra. I listened to Danny Pellegrino's interview with Tamra a few weeks ago. The thing about it was how consistent and open Tamra is in her opinions. It struck me that the reason Tamra was missed this season was not just for her villainy and pot-stirring; it's because she is the social glue between all these women. Shannon's co-dependent BFF, Kelly's enemy, Gina's mentor, Braunwyn's friend-with-benefits, Emily's frenemy. This isn't just a job to her -- she actively builds friendships and alliances on and off the show. That's why Tamra is so good at being a villain -- because she knows these women emotionally and what buttons to push. I disagree with her about one thing -- she HATES Emily. Braunwyn. Sigh. What more can you say about this woman's narcissism? Seeing her at home, surrounded by her 17 adoring children, playing dress up in Cavalli all day with Shari (who she has now dumped for a new GF, according to the closing credits), listening to Sean tell her how hot she is... It is literally a full-time job for all these people to keep this spoiled princess happy. Is she even present for her kids? 'I need Shari around. I need to be selfish now.' Just exhausting. There will never not be a time when that won't be funny LOL

@Taoboi I totally missed that! I am curious about Jen and would like to see more of her personality. So far, I've seen a lot of her bikini body, and I've clocked her kissing Brandi's ass big-time. So Jen is trying to make inroads with the group. Speaking of D'Andra, remember the last two seasons when she was desperate to be Brandi's BFF? This episode D'Andra was going IN on Brandi's vacation to Florida! (And not a word she said was wrong). Seems like a shifting of alliances all around. Court's daddy's place was pretty gorgeous and the backyard was heavenly. It looked like a fun party tbh. But Mama Dee's gazebo garden edges it because it is just so exquisite.

RHOD I love Kameron and her humor. But that petty, contrived fight with Tiffany about, yet again, chicken feet was some bullshit. Was she really coming after Tiffany for stereotyping Chinese people? I can't. Kam, leave the tits on an ant nonsense to Kary. Kary has an amazing body for 50. I can't get over the confidence this woman exudes generally, which is amazing because she was deeply unpopular last season. Apparently she and Kam have a podcast now, so they're an alliance. Kary seems to be strategically changing friends and getting her ducks (D'Andra, DTM) in a row. I feel like her interaction with Tiffany, fine as it was.... she doesn't really like her. And Tiffany was skittish and insecure in her interaction with Kary, Kameron and Brandi. She wants to win them over. She wants them to accept her as a friend. But underneath the air kisses and pleasantries, she senses the underlying iciness, and I think the audience senses it too. Stephanie and Travis. Whatever this SL is, I don't care. Did anyone miss Brandi? I didn't. She should have stayed in Florida. Her 'jokes' set my teeth on edge. In the preview, we see her carrying a mini-toilet. I am dreading the 'comedy' that will be foisted upon us.

@Antoyne speaking of Jen.... she's basically become her own meme for how how her season is going

Dame Joan is All of Us. https://www.celebitchy.com/697573/joan_collins_called_the_police_on_maskless_workers_on_her_balcony/ "Even the great and good are struggling during lockdown. I hear that Dame Joan Collins contacted the police yesterday after being confronted by the sight of scaffolders with no face coverings climbing all over her flat in London’s Belgravia. ‘Woke up to find two workmen on my balcony not wearing masks and several of them maskless all over the building putting scaffolding up,’ declared the startled Dynasty star. Their presence was particularly alarming because of the efforts she and her husband, producer Percy Gibson, had made to self-isolate during the present lockdown restrictions. ‘Being careful to quarantine and having no contact with people,’ she added. ‘Why should others invade my quarantine?’ Metropolitan Police officers wasted no time in heading over to the couple’s home. ‘They are talking to Joan outside now,’ said Percy as I spoke to him on the phone. ‘What is so annoying is that these works are unnecessary. Surely, they could have waited until lockdown is over. Are they really essential? ‘I can understand works taking place to repair gas mains or build houses, but not this, which is external redecoration to make a house pretty.’ " https://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-9161523/SEBASTIAN-SHAKESPEARE-Joan-Collins-calls-police-maskless-men-swarm-flat.html

A part of me has always wanted to like her because she seemed smart and insightful. Then she continuously pulls this sh*t. Fronting at all costs. I am fascinated to see how she will come across this season, but I feel like we won't get an authentic picture. If she copped to being frightened for her future, I could feel for her on a human level. But -- if her Insta is anything to go by -- she looks more likely to pull the usual, sneering, I REALLY DON'T CARE DO U? shtick. That is going to alienate pretty much everybody.

Caroline Stanbury would be an awesome addition to any franchise at this point. I always hoped it would have been RHONY as she and Dorinda are besties. BH would be very much within her comfort zone, but I am concerned that social-climber Kyle and Caroline may already be acquaintances (both are close with Andy). I have no idea if Stanbury and LVP even know each other. But hey, if anyone could eat The Coven alive, it is Caroline. Speaking of Erika, she seems to have dug up some coins to pay for a glam squad: https://www.instagram.com/p/CKMvQE7Bblj/ Yes, this is her doubling down on her 'haters'. Sigh. Erika is so obsessed with her 'too cool for school' persona. She was actually a smart, complex character back in S6 but now she's a cartoon and thinks the stank attitude is going to have people finger-snapping 'YASS KWEEN.' It doesn't help that Rinna jumps on her every post doing just that.

@Taoboi I am bummed Quad is only PT too. I don't like her and think she's a fake who uses and discards people to get where she wants to go. Nevertheless, she is good for drama, and especially with Lisa Nicole who knows just how shady she is! Yikes. I couldn't even watch that OC clip all the way to the end.

Hey! Thanks for confirming and debunking the gossip. I'm glad she and Travis do not have that kind of power behind the scenes as it messes with the whole dynamic of the show. I like that RHOD has some semblance of balance right now amongst the women.

@Chris B @Taoboi NJ's production company is Sirens, so-called because it was founded by all-women producers. Lucilla D'Agostino has been NJ's EP since the first season and IMO has trod a pretty good line in terms of balance, giving everybody enough rope to hang themselves with. I imagine there must be a comfort level between her and the cast that enabled Teresa to stay even after they brought on Melissa, Joe and Kathy. There was talk recently that Marge benefitted from production favoritism; I'm not sure how far that goes as I don't think Marge came across an innocent angel last season. Bethenny also nabbed D'Agostino to EP her Big Shot show for HBO Max. RHONY has had the same production team for a long time (unsure if they've been around since S1 though it wouldn't surprise me). You cannot fake that level of comfort. Even as the cast gets refreshed, I hope this production team stays because it is the gold standard. Their editing team is top-notch, too. Since we are talking about production, was it someone on this thread who mentioned that Travis owns shares in Goodbye Pictures, which produces RHOD? The gossip is that's why Stephanie often gets a good edit, and that's also why Brandi stayed while Leeanne was fired, because Stephanie went to bat for Brandi. Ooooooo! Speaking of M2M, @Taoboi mentioned that the same producer who broke up Lisa Nicole and Quad's drag-out fight on M2M (god, that was amazing) was the same one who went ORF on Denise in BH last season -- Chris Cullen. "DENISE! WE KNOW IT! OK? GET BACK TO REALITY!" lol. I don't know why that makes me laugh.

Not a fan of Gizelle on Potomac, but lord, she was the most stunning beauty when she was young -- and she is still a looker. All this potential -- family background, stunning looks, college education, smarts. So why Jamal? I feel like Gizelle was destined for better somehow.

Interestingly, BH and ATL got rid of their long-time production people around S9/S10. And it shows. Evolution has always produced BH (it also produces OC) but EP/crew changed in S9. 'Sources' at the time *cough*Kyle/Rinna*cough* claimed that this was a fabulous change because the previous crew on seasons 1-8 'favored' LVP. Well, they may have favored LVP, but look at S6 under the old production team -- Eileen and Rinna exposed LVP's machinations and no-one could say LVP was edited in a favorable way. They showed it all. By contrast, S9 and S10 felt like there was a lot more to the story than we were seeing, and a lot more production interference and re-editing. Similarly, I feel like ever since Carlos King and co were shown the door (and to be clear, Carlos was messy, had faves and likely overstepped), the Don't Be Tardy crew that replaced them has leaned heavily on scripted, surface content. That's possibly because DBT is a highly scripted, surfacy, 20 minute show in the Chrisley Knows Best mold. But RHOA is not a Chrisley Knows Best and you can tell that when there is a reunion -- the women are quick on their feet, firing shots and bringing stuff out production didn't necessarily flesh out during the season. I will always remember the highly epic S10 reunion which followed a lacklustre, Kim Zolciak-friendly season. When the women were left to their own devices, they were on fire. I'm not sure if the DBT crew stayed on with ATL -- right now it looks like Truly Original are in charge of production, and that's the same company that produces Potomac and DBT. It feels like the same DBT vibe: surface, scripted, reshaped seasons. The team based in DC seem to be producing a little differently and pointing a camera at the drama. Which is working up til now.

Covid (those face shields are useless) isn't helping, and neither is Cynthia wanting to host a potential super-spreader event for her third wedding. But IMO production is the true culprit. I probably shouldn't comment because I haven't watched since episode 2 of the current season. However, I have long felt ATL is badly done by this current production team. Everything feels very surface and by-the-book. Rehearsed shade? Check. Outfit/glam watch? Check. That's about it. Cast members appear to be going through the self-produced motions. It feels jarringly edited at times, too. I re-watched S6 and S7 a few months back. Woooo! What a breeze those were to watch. Not a wasted moment or comment. The show was fire, and it showed us EVERYTHING. Even the stuff Nene or Phaedra did not want us to see. With ATL the last little while, I'm not feeling the fire. I feel like this is a clock-in/clock-out job for everybody involved. Maybe I just need to catch up when we get to the 'sex party' episode LOL

Why not? Her life is basically a soap opera at this point. I worry Bravo wants to generify the reboot and take it away from its Cuban-American core, but WW is so messy, and at least she's not Larsa Pippen or Joanna Krupa.

I can see that. Kary is doing the most to poke people and she obviously doesn't care if that makes her unlikeable. Sometimes we may not want them, but we do need HWs who are ok with being villains. I suspect Kary won't be be getting a free pass for her messiness, so that kind of makes her villainy ok. As the now-greatly-missed Tamra Judge is supposed to have once said, "If you're gonna talk sh!t, you gotta learn to take sh!t." Hope Leah recovers soon, but you know Ramona has got to be feeling smug right about now.

The looks when Kelly kept coughing

@Gray Bunny I know, it's been hard. After what happened (and this feeling of a thugocracy closing in on us), I couldn't think of much else. Little by little, though, I am opening up to some RH silliness and hopefully you will, too, eventually, because I love reading your posts. It was the RHONJ trailer which did it for me. When I saw Joe Gorga banging his fists on the table, I felt strangely comforted. We been here before, Baby Joe! And now I cannot wait for this mess of a season to start. Which will probably be in, like, March. @alwaysAMC Soapy, entertaining, and it looks so beautiful! It is shot so gorgeously, the houses are insane, and many of these women look put together and stunning. Tiffany's closet was a DREAM. @Cheap21 Chicken feet are tasty! I love them. They're not even all that gross to eat.

OMG! I have been waiting for RHONJ to start for over a month now! If its another 12 episode-season then this is going to be jam-packed. That trailer threw everything in there. And Joe Gorga is earning EVERY PENNY of his paycheck! Every penny! Months ago I heard a rumor about the season, that Jackie's husband Evan was cheating on her and it was all coming out during filming. Jackie had a fit about the affairs even being mentioned and refused to film with anybody except Melissa for a while. ☕ The cast pic is... something. Jackie looks by far the best. Dolores has been hitting the spray booth hard and is giving Luann's Diana Ross moment a run for its money. Teresa's face looks (badly) Photoshoped onto someone else's body. Jennifuh = living Bratz Doll. Melissa got another nose jawb. I don't know who that person masquerading as Marge is -- is that Kim D in a silver wig? So, I haven't watched a RH show in over a week. For the obvious political reasons we've all been glued to the TV lately. 😰 I just didn't have the capacity to concentrate on it. Well, my anxiety finally reached a peak and I decided it was time to reintroduce fluff back into my life, and RHOD was it. I am enjoying this season so far and glad that it's a whole lot of nothing wrapped in architecture porn. I heard Ep1 got horrific ratings, but I'm choosing to believe that this is because Bravo released it online a week early. Hopefully the ratings firm up a little because IMO RHOD is a bit underrated. The Good: -Dr. Tiffany Moon. That voice is still channelling major Valley Girl, but I love that she mixes the superficial with the brainy. She's smart and energetic and an inspired choice for RHOD. -Stephanie's True Face. Hmmm maybe LeeAnne back in S2 was right? Stephanie does not need to be starting something with DTM. -LeeAndra's Soap Opera Life. God, I can't help but love this fool even though I hate her sometimes. Yes, she's needy, weak, lazy, a spendthrift, insanely jealous of anyone trying to outshine her... but god she attracts soaptastic drama into her life. Also, her face has finally attained LeeAnne Likeness, so that's one thing off her To-Do list. -Brandi only appeared for 2 minutes. And that's how I like it. She wasn't missed. -Kameron & Court generally. The Bad: -Let's all poke fun at Chinese food! Who the hell thought this was a good idea? I'm sure they sold this to DTM as 'introducing her culture to the other women,' but I did not need to see a litany of barf faces (Kam's was the best, just saying). That joke was old in the 80s. This better not be RHOD's season-long Pantygate. -Kary. How is she still on the show? She really thinks she's got some special sh!t to contribute, huh. Girl. No. Highly annoying during the restaurant scenes. She's trying everyone's last nerve, including mine. I can't believe she is going to drown DTM next week.