Cat

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.

I love playing Photo Assumption! What struck me was how quietly dominant Kathy's body language is. She is used to calling all the shots in her life and thats just the way it is. She's smirking and got her hands on Dorit who looks happy to be Kathy's pet for now. Dorit is an interesting shape-shifter, and that makes for an effective RH. She slides in and out of alliances as easily as she does sticky situations. That's talent. Last year she poked at Kyle but it slipped under the radar with all the Denise stuff. And now Kyle-Mo are her dearest couple friends! She's slippery and untrustworthy, but also light, charming and fun. Garcelle has queen aura. She also has her arm around Dorit, like Kathy. She is smiling but I imagine Queen G might be a bit guarded. She knows how viciously the long-timers operate. I'm guessing they're on civil terms but she's keeping them at arms length and has Crystal between her and them. She also has her feet angled away from them and towards Kathy, Dorit, Sutton, even though the rest of her is angled face-on to camera. Sutton seems comfortable with herself, it almost seems like she is the one who suggested the photo. Crystal also seems comfortable with herself and confident. Love her jumpsuit. I'm guessing Crystal isn't there for drama with people. The three on the right, oy. In contrast with her sister's strong stance, Kyle looks a little diminished. I know she's standing down-wind but it accentuates her lack of height. I can't get over the overly filled face and new teeth, but she looks in a good space. I wonder if Kathy's presence keeps her in check. She's a little afraid of her. The rictus grins on Rinna and Erika! Smile as if your life depends in it! Don't show any weakness! Rinna looks like she is literally holding Erika upright. In some ways she must relish being the strong support in that relationship this year. Power! Erika's hand is almost a fist compared with some of the others. She is leaning back onto Rinna. I may be projecting, but The Fall of the House of Girardi is written all over her, including the worry lines peeking over the top of her sunglasses. She prides herself on keeping it together but this is exacting a cost.

omg!!!!

I can't believe what i am seeing!

S7 was pretty damn good. It also was Dorinda's first year. S8 was when Face of Fibroids started obsessively hogging the limelight. Rumor was that she had planned a 'Bethenny gets engaged' SL and got mad when Luann got there first. It's an exciting season, though. S9 was full-on The Bethenny Show. S10 might have been, too, except that Luann got arrested and Carole bit back. Thank god. All this is making me want to rewatch RHONY from S2 onwards!

Bigger than the show? Bravo worship her ass, and even they refused to give her another production deal after B&F flopped. I know she's got the Apprentice rip-off The Big Shot coming up ('behind-the-scenes plagued with problems' according to a few recent headlines) -- but does anybody have good vibes about an Apprentice rip-off after the last 4 years we just had? Yes, she has a podcast (if you can stand to listen to that voice talking over her guests) -- so does everybody in reality TV. D'Andra & Mama Dee have a podcast, for crying out loud. I should have seem this coming in S7. She basically gaslit Heather right off the show. At Reunion, she'd constantly interrupt Heather, as if H was too long-winded or something. She'd be all: "Can you not? You're... A Lot right now." Total narcissist. I was so afraid after this season that her stans would be crowing for either Bethenny to return or cancel the show immediately.

The Tweet I posted a few days from S5 RHONY is everything about why Heather made such a great, non-toxic addition to the show. The way she and the 'sane' women bounced off of Sonja and Ramona -- I just loved the dynamic. And the interaction was mostly good-natured and rarely cruel. Posting this clip again because it is SO good: Bethenny was all about being superior to other people and putting them down so she could rise. RHONY was *thisclose* to turning into The Bethenny Show in S8 and S9 because of this (thank god for Luann's scandals, eh!). It was all about Bethenny's Anxieties, Bethenny's Properties she got for a STEAL at $5 million, Bethenny's Flop Show w/ Fredrik, Bethenny's Business Ventures. No one else was allowed to succeed at life. If they even dared show a little pride at their own accomplishments, well... --------------------- Speaking of Tweets, this one imagining Erika's tagline for S11 is *chef's kiss*

omg that's uncanny Clearly, Jill was the villain of S3 and S4 RHONY. She admitted to purposely starting the fight with Bethenny for SL; she was horrific to Alex and eventually so villified that Bravo fired her forever. However, the more I have seen of Bethenny since S3 (on her spin-off; her second stint on RHONY), the more I realise that she, too, was playing us and hiding the Real Bethenny -- far, far more effectively than Jill Zarin (who is a poor actress and bad liar). Not saying Zarin wasn't the villain we saw on our screens, but Bethenny was perhaps not the innocent victim in all this either. She partook of Jill's generosity until she landed the Skinnygirl deal and an upwardly-mobile boyfriend. And then it was See Ya. Too bad the BF turned out to be Jason 'Psycho Eyes' Hoppy. Damn, I can't believe I wrote that about Jill. I really wanted her gone back in the day.

I thought Kathy Hilton was Sonja Morgan for a minute. Apparently Erika said it was $40K a month for glam! When they went to France in S9, she didn't take her GS with her and it was the best she's ever looked. Fresh and young. Here, you can see The Fall of the House of Girardi is taking a toll. If I were Dorit, I would look at the Girardis and cut back on 99% of her entourage ASAP. Garcelle and the new housewife look phenomenal. Sutton looks warm and cosy! Uh... what's going on with Rinna and Kyle's faces ?

I... don't think Adriana alone should be the HW that NuRHOM is built around. She's a firecracker, but I don't think she can hold up an entire show by herself (as S3 proved). I think adding Alexia and Marysol alongside Adriana is needed. Alexia's life is pure soap opera and so is her family. Marysol is thirsty AF and knows how this RH game is played. Both are connected to the Miami party scene and the Cuban community. I'd welcome Lea Black also. At least they aren't building the cast around Joanna Krupa, Lisa Hochstein (sorry, not really a fan) or Lost Kardashian Larsa Pippen. He is purposely ducking the reason why people are angry at him. It's not that he didn't question or criticise Candiace -- he made an attempt from what I saw. It's the fact that he shielded Gizelle from the truly tough questions like his life depended on it. He also attempted to gaslight and talk over Monique & Chris in collusion with Robyn and others. But gee I guess Bravo purposely edited out all your good parts on purpose LMAO. Just like they edited out Gizelle's crazy meltdown -- because it might have sealed her fate.

Lord. I forgot about the last bit. I also remember thr passive aggressive way she acted with her mom before the vow renewal. Her mother is pretty monstrous but the PA stuff from Braunwyn... just tell her why you're pissed, instead of this cold-shoulder-cant-even-look-at-you-while-hubby-holds-me-protectively chat. I don't think she realises what a pampered bubble she resides in. And she had lots of children... to feel loved? To lay off the booze? The way she expressed that was so Braunwyn-centered. ---------‐-------- Ok, RHONY was brought up in a previous post, and by coincidence i discovered this amazing flashback tweet from S5 NYC. I just watched it and haven't laughed like that in a LONG time:

I saw this this morning and found it an incredibly plausible explanation for the fallout. At reunion, Bethenny mentioned Cassandra Grey in a jealous but vague manner and I wondered why she'd bother namechecking Carole's friendship with a woman not on the show. The only thing we knew of CG (via Bethenny) was how well-connected and wealthy she was. She kind of zeroed in on that particular aspect. I also remember that flop of a Bethenny & Fredrik show. I am dying to know what she said to him to piss him off and refuse to film any more. B&F was trailed extensively throughout S8 and S9 of RHONY (yawn!), which coincided with Bethenny at her most rage-full and vicious. She had the fibroids and was making a point of attacking Jules and Luann continuously around this time. And of course Dorinda and John. Interesting that Bravo decided not to offer her any other production deals and felt she couldn't carry a show by herself. That may have been clear to them as early as Bethenny Ever After.

@Taoboi I had the same opinion of the last episode of OC. It is starting to get interesting actually. My view of some of these women has flipped too, especially Elizabeth whose life story give so much context to the way she is. She is a people pleaser and sometimes smudges the truth to give them what they want to hear. I appreciated the scene between her and Braunwyn, and credit to B that she listened to Elizabeth and made her feel supported. IA with you about Braunwyn though. When she talks about herself, she is ALL IN about herself. She is very self-absorbed. Lol, I sort of love Gina's reactions to everybody. Kelly saying a group of Marines told them that blood type O was "bulletproof" against Covid -- and Gina was all 'Waiiiiiiit, wuuuuuut.' Love Emily and Shane. Their kids with the signs! Those boys are little mini Shane's. Emily was recently on a Juicy Scoop podcast and I enjoyed hearing her story. There is no pretension with her. She is not a fan of Tammy Sue either, so that's another reason to bring Tamra (and Lizzie) back. Tamra is currently hating on both Shannon and Emily. Not that Emily entirely trusts Shannon either... which is a good thing. Shannon is untrustworthy and all the women are starting to understand that it wasn't just all Tamra and Vicki's fault back in the day. To think, Emily got the story Shannon envisioned for herself! Oy. On the one hand, Shannon's daughters are way too cocky with their mother, rolling their eyes and bringing Covid into the house. I find them hella spoiled. They act like David Beador used to act around Shannon: "Yes dear" while f*cking around behind her back. On the other hand, can you imagine Shannon as your mother? Drama queen sucking all the energy out of the room? Must be almost as suffocating as being around Bethenny Frankel! And her obsession with the boyfriend is going to drive his ass away, if it hasn't already. I have nothing to say about Kelly, except that she's an oblivious fool. Oh Wendy basically lay back and uncrossed her legs when it came to Gizelle, Robyn and Candiace. She was hired to be Candiace's 'friend' and to beef with Karen, and Dr. Wannabe fulfilled that brief. I can only hope any new hires don't fall in line the same way. I still say bring back Katie Rost. She actually had a mind of her own.

You are probably right. After what she went through on The View, Star is very protective of herself on these kind of projects.