Cat

On 9/22/2023 at 7:38 AM, Antoyne said:

RHOC

The gang up on Heather is ridiculous and makes them all look so insecure. Tamra somehow continues to skate by all season without getting [!@#$%^&*] on her even after earlier in the season Gina was on to her.

The gang up, as Taylor rightly pointed out to Heather, was entirely because of jealousy regarding Heather's money. Now that Heather has sold her house for $55mn, this puts her in a stratospheric realm of wealth that none of these women will likely ever achieve. And they're bitter about it. Especially Emily, Gina, Tamra and Shannon.

Tamra has been angling to make Heather the target since she got back on the show. She never forgave Heather for returning to the show last season and not bringing her along then. The moment Tamra reconciled with Shannon in Montana, I knew Heather would become the target, and Heather knew it too. Do I think the Dubrows are obnoxious with their money? I do, but I also think Heather is a necessary component for the show. In fact, both Tamra and Heather are needed because I've never seen Heather so activated as she was this season. She's been front and centre in a lot of SLs. 

Judging by next week's trailer, Tamra is going to show her hand in the Get Heather plot. What's incredible to me is the way Gina is going to duck accountability yet again, playing the 'Poor me, I thought Heather was my friend' card. She's been waiting to play that card all season. If you rewatch the Mexico dinners, you will notice that Gina is the one who starts a lot of the initial, seemingly innocuous questions that put Heather on the spot and trigger the passive-aggressive attacks from others, but she hides it behind a bright, friendly smile. She's also been stirring her buddy Emily against Heather. I wonder if she and Tamra have had a quiet alliance all this time.

Given the recent DUI news with Shannon, watching these Mexico episodes have been illuminating. From her Tequila tagline, to her barely-hidden drinking, to her insecurities triggered by John, a lot of the signs point to what was to come off-screen.

I've been catching up on the last three episodes and this has been their best season RHOC has had in YEARS. Jenn Pedranti is a great addition, Heather is activated, Tamra is at Peak Season 7 ruthlessness, Shannon is Shannon, Vicki and Taylor are solid FOHs, Emily is finally settling into the cast... I have really been entertained by it all. A welcome return to form.

13 hours ago, DaytimeFan said:

The speed and sloppiness of that driving speaks volumes. She careened around the corner and was clearly wasted. 

Two things can be true at the time.

I can have empathy for the fact that Shannon is clearly an alcoholic whose life is out of control.

I can also believe that she is a total as$hole who deserves every unkind thing sent her way given 1) her reckless disregard for the lives of innocent people by driving drunk and 2) the sanctimonious attitude she's displayed towards Gina. 

Jeff Lewis was making comments yesterday saying that Shannon is not an alcoholic and that kind of enabling is only going to further destroy her. Shannon needs inpatient rehab. There is only one route for her and that is sobriety. If she does not choose that route, I fear a dark end for her.

I feel the same way you do. Empathy because this is something real she has been struggling with for years. Horror that she so cavalierly disregarded the lives of people around her, her own life and the dog's too.

You can see the way she careened around that corner that she was not in coherent control of the car. The crash itself was small, though, and for that, she is very lucky. It could have been so much worse.

Your point about Jeff Lewis is a good one. With the show and Bravo fame and Tres Amigos shenanigans and all that, Shannon is just not incentivized to tackle her drinking in any way. I hope this wakes her up and makes her see she has a drinking problem. She has to cone to that realisation, though. If she doesn't, she's going to keep self-soothing her loneliness and anxiety with alcohol.

14 hours ago, Soaplovers said:

Jessel stands up for herself..which I like...wish that could rub off on Jenna.

Jenna/Bynn thing is creepy.

Ubah should have kept her hands to herself...but Erin would have been furious if that had happened to her...and quite frankly Ubah was wrong to push Erin into the pool and also pressuring Jenna to get in the water.  Ubah has trouble with boundaries and Erin needs to leave the quirky humor to Jessel/Brynn

Ubah probably does have trouble pushing teasing too far, and Erin too. The nice thing, though, is that the two seem to have got past it all. It's actually nice to see that they're not dragging this out in some RH 'feud' :

The statement from Patricia Miller is heart-breaking in its quiet strength. I feel heartbroken for her, his entire family, and Kelly Monaco who must be bereft. 

This has really hit hard,. So young, and struggling with bipolar disorder. I wish beyond the telling of it that he'd had access to the help and support he needed.

13 hours ago, Liberty City said:

RHONYC:

• I like seeing Brynn & Erin reconnect after the last episode.
• Jessel really liked the attention on her, and I'm happy Sai got annoyed with her.
• "Good morning, Jenna." Had that been Sonja, she would've been on her knees ready to go downtown Julie brown with Jenna.
• Not Ubah playing the audio IN the glass! That's hilarious!
• The budding friendship between Brynn & Jenna is so cute.
• Sai pushing Ubah in was BRILLIANT!!!!
• Ubah, darling, it's a JOKE! I understand the POV (I would be opposite of her), but... it was a joke. I guess I don't get the OBSESSION with being attached to your phone. Me? Take it, please! I don't want it.
• Who would have thought a f**king phone would've caused the drama to go UP!

I get why Ubah was miffed. It's not that she's addicted to her phone (a problem many in the world share). It's the fact that people have EVERYTHING on their phones. Credit card, bank details, personal info. If they lose it, they panic, thinking how the hell am I going to restore that information? Who has access to my stuff? So I can understand why Ubah didn't find it funny.

Erin is... one of those people who thinks she's hilarious and brays at you "IT'S FUNNY, HA-HA?, DO YOU NOT, LIKE, GET IT?" She's constantly demanding that the other women justify themselves to her and calls them liars if they don't conform to what she believes to be true. It's been an effective technique throughout the season, but now Ubah (flicking away Erin's Dior sunglasses) has essentially stood up to her. Erin was trying to pull the whole "Ubah is making me feel intimidated" spiel but Ubah cut that short. In next week's preview, I don't like the way Erin keeps telling Ubah to shut up. Erin is lowkey scared of Sai and would never talk to her the way she did Ubah or Brynn on this trip.

Brynn and Jenna are hilarious. Brynn is definitely leaning into that sugar-baby persona.

Thought Sai was out of line with Jessel (but not out of line with the pool-push, which was funny). Erin and Sai want everything complex explained in 120 characters or less -- in broad, simple, snappy strokes. If Sai cannot comprehend why Jessel was talking about her parents' experience and why that's imprinted on her, that's not Jessel's problem, that's Sai's. Sai was looking for a moment.

One thing I will say -- I've been looking forward to watching the show every week. I feel like Reunion is now around the corner.

23 hours ago, DaytimeFan said:

I have two distinct opinions on this:

1. How sad. She has been a mess for years and clearly has a problem with alcohol and has been in denial. She needs to go to long term inpatient rehab; and

2. Perhaps now Shannon can stop being so sanctimonious about Gina given she's topped her with a hit and run on top of the DUI. I hope she's held onto her lawyer's card.

In total denial. Shannon hasn't been right with her drinking since she joined RHOC, but it definitely intensified after the affair came out.

Neighborhood ring-cams have the footage. I really wish she had Ubered if she had been drinking.

17 hours ago, Taoboi said:

RHOA

On another note...there were so many times...while I enjoyed the episodes overall...it just felt like RHOP and I had to smh my head because what works for RHOP DOES NOT at all work with RHOA. Just le sigh.

You hit the nail on the head. This production team wants to Potomac RHOA and it's like shoving a square peg into a round hole. It just does not work.

Yikes -- Shannon booked for a DUI.

(And Archie was apparently in the car with her).

9 hours ago, DaytimeFan said:

Like @Cat I sometimes noticed the manic energy in his performance as Billy on Y&R. Life imitating art. He was way too young to go. I hope he found the peace that eluded him. 

This year has been truly awful for the daytime community: Jackie Zeman, Andrea Evans, and now Billy Miller. 

It's been truly devastating -- some ATWT greats have departed also. 

I'm still under the shock of the news this morning.

20 minutes ago, Faulkner said:

I wonder how Maurice Benard is taking it. 

I think we can imagine, given his own significant struggles. Just devastating all around.

I wonder if Billy Miller was ever on MB's State of Mind podcast. TBH I've always appreciated the actors telling their stories and journeys on that podcast. 

20 minutes ago, Faulkner said:

Awww SMG!

He and Liz Hendrickson must have dated. She sounds absolutely devastated.

If the quote from his manager is true, saying he suffered from manic depression.... wow. I feel like that energy sometimes came through in his performance as Billy Abbott, a character struggling with self-esteem issues which were medicated with alcohol. I feel so sad that Miller's own struggle with depression ended abruptly and so young. 

I saw Michael Fairman's Tweet and came right here. I remember him on AMC, Y&R and GH and it was clear what a charismatic, talented actor he was -- too good for Daytime some said at the time. I was always surprised he never hit it big in Primetime TBH. I remember seeing him in a tiny role in a movie with Bradley Cooper, American Sniper?, and hoping it might lead him to other roles.

He reinvented the role of Billy Abbott on Y&R and brought it into adulthood, and as @DRW50 said, it was MAB's reviled run at the show which perhaps prevented me from giving him his props on Y&R at the time. He later went to GH and greatly impressed me there. In recent years, did it seem like he had left acting and moved back to Texas, or did I imagine that?

I believe he and Kelly Monaco were in a longtime relationship-- she especially seemed very much in love with him. I hope she is OK right now, this must be devastating for her.

32 minutes ago, Soaplovers said:

Jessel isn't a good storyteller... but from reading history books and also the fact that my mom's college friend went through something similiar, I understand what she was trying to say.

Up till the 60s or 70s, a lot of Indians lived in Africa and had a high degree of wealth.  However, due to coups, the new government kicked out all of the Indians living there and basically they all left with none of the money/possession they had while living in Africa.

And I think when she was talking about her relatives, she was talking about how a few relatives had left Africa with some of the money in order to start lives in new countries.. and I think when Jessel's family was kicked out of Africa, they were able to resettle in those places.  

There was (and still is in South Africa and parts of Kenya) a significant Indian population in Africa, courtesy of the expansive British Empire, and they were often in trade or commerce. Living in London, I've met many offspring of East African Asians. In fact, the current Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, his parents were born and raised in Tanzania and Kenya. I have a close acquaintance who was born in Uganda but had to leave with only the clothes on his back when Idi Amin came to.power. Amin came to power on promises of restoring Uganda to its native populations, and since the Indian communities in Africa had been rather successful financially, that had bred some resentment between groups. It must have been wrenching to leave and start anew with nothing. I can understand some of what Jessel was trying and failing to say. Sometimes it's hard to relate a more nuanced history to others who are used to brief, broad strokes. And maybe they are not as familiar with the painful intertwining of experiences under Empire and post-colonial breakup, when different groups were pitted against each other in the tumult that followed.

On 9/14/2023 at 9:08 PM, Soaplovers said:

I think Jessel has first seat because she's actually provided a lot of content in her individual vignettes (hubby, kids, mom, had fashion magazine big wigs at her event, and tends to insert foot in mouth)...she's a Ramona/Alex combo.

Erin has taken everything so personally that everyone jokes about her starving her guests, being offended by everything and caused some issues with some of the ladies.

According to Sai..she and Brynn fall out and it's due to Ubah.

And Jenna should be 1 and done...people are clutching their Pearl's over her going through typical housewife tropes.  She's an adult and she knew what she was getting into.

IA Jessel has featured family and is enough of an odd bunny to be watchable. The insert-foot aspect is real, and her competing with Sai, Brynn and Jenna in the Victim Olympics (and failing) was actually pretty funny. She is not the person I would have picked to have been the most entertaining of the pack when this show first started, but im glad an unlikely audience fave has nabbed that spot. (I tend to chafe against the official Bravo picks like Jen Shah and Gizelle).

Erin is probably the strongest personality in this whole group who always thinks she is right and won't try to sidestep a confrontation. I can see why she's seated where she is.

Disagree on Jenna! Her special privileges and Bravo favoritism rile the other women up, and that's a good thing.

On 9/14/2023 at 9:16 PM, Liberty City said:

Clearly, Erin & Jessel are next to Andy because of their on-going spat.... but I would've preferred Jenna next to Andy and, maybe Brynn, too. It'll be interesting to see what's going to come of this reunion. This season has been fun.

NOOOO. I adore Jenna too much, and hope she's given another go.

Same re: Jenna. There's something endearing about her, but she also uses that endearment to curry favor and get her way. As a viewer, I can appreciate watching both contradictions in this woman.

The show has been an entertaining watch, and I pretty much like all the cast. I haven't warmed to Sai and have this knee-jerk bias against all things influencer. I just don't think clothes should be a filler for personality (see Erika Jayne). However, this last episode, Sai was winning me over with her talking about her mom, and her generally confidently running this trip like it's her show.

I like Ubah too and hope we get more of her before the season wraps up. She is gorgeous and brings energy to a table which often leans into petty complaints and competitive personal stories.

Brynn is a classic teller of tales and over-exaggerater, and is bound to come up against Erin who parses every detail you say and uses them to come back at you.

On 9/11/2023 at 9:53 PM, DaytimeFan said:

Absolutely. I really found Courtney hard to stomach.

The BravBros podcast has a theory about Courtney and Ralph: they hooked up. I can see it. 

Also, Drew's dress had to be the least flattering thing I've seen a housewife wear in a long time. Her singing *at* him was cringe and hilarious and tough to watch and just...all of it. They should absolutely divorce because it's an unhealthy marriage that will never, ever, recover. 

Drew singing a breakup song *at* Ralph to end the show was truly one of the most insane and cringe things I have ever seen. Drew as a RH is almost proudly cringeworthy: the mix of tall tales/lies, her mana's religiousity, her trying to keep up with the cool kids in the cast but still singing a song with the word 'poop' in it.... I can't. In some ways, Drew doesn't quite belong on this cast, and I'm.not sure the audience fully embraces someone they know is lying on some things. On the other hand, this was the only crazy drama this season had and it culminated perfectly into a surprisingly compelling reunion. 

Courtney is awful, and from Tampa apparently, and I can totally see her being Ralph's sidechick. She tried to get on the show; I hope she didn't succeed.

Ralph is a soulless individual out for himself. Drew and Kenya are 100% right: instead of supporting his wife, he sides with all her enemies and attempts to sell her down the river for a spot on the reunion couch. Just trash.

Kandi actually did a lot of work this,season to bring Drew's marriage and affair to the fore. The fact that Drew didn't really seem bothered by that makes me wonder how much she wanted to embrace this leading-damsal role and what exactly was seld-scripted and what wasn't.

Next season needs a partial retool but not a full reboot. I'd like to see the left couch return KKD) but maybe not the right couch (SMS).

Nu-RHONY Reunion seating chart!

I'd say this is fair. Would have possibly swapped Erin for Jenna. Erin tries to make the drama, but Jenna kind of *is* the drama.

Jessel is where she should be. Brynn and Sai must be seething.

2 hours ago, Gray Bunny said:

LOL... forget Jill Zarin, Terri DeMarco is the thirstiest ex-Housewife by far! 

 

Not just thirsty. She's one of those people who thinks she is inherently fascinating and 'in the know.' I can't bear the podcast where she's all "Here's the thing, guys" and bragging about her WhatsApp group with The Coven.

56 minutes ago, Taoboi said:

SLC

 

Honestly...meh.  AKA TAGLINES...

 

 

@Cheap21 is going to be thrilled about Meredith leaning into that bathtub 'SL.'  

18 hours ago, Taoboi said:

They gave her a whooooooooole promo?????????

 

 

First of all, November 5th? This promo is about a month too early!

Secondly, if I were Toya, Simone, Jackie, Heavenly, etc., I would be pissed that Phaedra gets a stand-alone promo. What are they, chopped liver? They helped make M2M great, and now some RHOA transplant sashays in?? LOL, I exaggerate. I am looking forward to the season promo, though.

15 hours ago, Cheap21 said:

We dont want her. Id rather have LuAnn and/or Sonja make some cameos and film with Jenna

We really don't! I'm hoping this is unsubstantiated rumor. I've been enjoying how light and uncomplicated the show's first season has been. And I don't want that rageful, entitled narcissist to stomp in (with her scrawny ass hanging out of a g-string) throwing toddler tantrums.

15 hours ago, Cheap21 said:

Whats the OC route bc all they did this season is get rid of 2 housewives and replaced them with 2 more, 1 new and 1 old. I feel like ATL has been doing that for years now

Retool vs completely Reboot. Would you do a complete revamp?

There is also the RHONY S5 option: fire 50% of the cast, hire a new 50%. Personally I liked it, but it all depends on cast chemistry. Currently ATL is half OG, half relative newbies, but that mix isn't gelling.

8 hours ago, Liberty City said:

I'm so thankful it wasn't Miami. I'm over Miami. The last good NYC cast trip was Tequila, Mexico.

Nah. I liked her the first season but not the second. I'd rather see Eboni Williams make a return; I think she'd gel well with the current ladies.

I never want to see Miami on OG RHONY again! Terribly dull episodes. I only want to see it on RHOMiami where it has been lovingly showcased in all its glory.

I always wanted Eboni for the reboot rather than Leah, but im.not sure how she would fit with this group of (largely) millennials who can't get over how achingly trendy (they think) they are. She's a Gen X newsy broadcaster who would fit perfectly with The View. 

On 9/4/2023 at 11:46 PM, Soaplovers said:

RHONY:

I watched the episode.. and I have some thoughts...

1) This show is called Real Housewives of New York City not the vacationing Real Housewives.  I wish more of the city was seen and there was maybe just one vacation near the end of the season like in the old days of the franchise.

2) I was hearing about a pile up in past posts.. and what I saw wasn't a pile up at all.  Shannon Beador, Lisa Vanderpump, Denise Richards etc.. they were ganged up on... but Jenna was not in this episode in my opinion.

3) I like the Jenna solo scene with her brother... as well as Brynn's solo scene with her brother... plus the brief vignettes of Jessel and hubby and Erin and hubby.   More of this please (and I seem to prefer watching the flashback scenes that are shown that we haven't seen vs the actual scene we're seeing in person.

4) Erin repeated the coach comment to the group... no different then Jenna repeating Jessel's comment to Erin or repeating Erin's comment to Sai.  This is housewife 101.

5) Brynn is 100 % on the money about Jenna in terms of the baby voice, using her condition for sympathy, etc... probably because Brynn does the same thing... and Jenna does come off as elitist.. just as much as Jessel does yet she gets a pass by viewers.  Double standard at work..imho.

I like Jenna.. but I'm not drinking the kool aid and will call out her shady behavior just as much as the other women.

Lastly, we were deprived of Ubah for 2 episodes due to her having Covid.. can we please get another solo scene of Ubah without the other women because I feel we've not gotten as much time with her and she seems fun.

1. I don't count the Hamptons as it feels like an extension of NYC. I actually loved that the cast went to Anguilla, it reminded me of the glorious proper vacations the RHs used to have before they went budget and settled on Miami or San Diego.

However, I get your point about Where is NYC? I feel like a lot of scenes have occurred either in apartments or in places without much NY character. The exception was Jenna walking her brother around Rockefeller Center which looked gorgeous.

2. It was mini-pile-up. Not a full take-down but just letting Jenna know that they can see through some of her excuses.

I can see both sides -- if I had a chance to take business class and stay at the Four Seasons? I'd take it! An anxious control freak like Jenna wants mastery of her surroundings first. At the same time, she got a lot of outs in her contract (not having to show her GF or her child, for example), and the other women are clearly resentful about that and want to knock her off her pedestal a little. Jenna does have physical issues that she feels she must manage but I agree also that she uses them to get sympathy, favors, etc., too.

3. I loved all those individual vignettes, and shout-out to Brynn's ex-fiancé Gideon last week who seemed totally in love with her. All those individual scenes rounded out the character of these women individually. I'm starting to think that Jessel & Parvitt actually work as a couple! LOL. Jessel and her mom also was a great scene where she revealed her IVF trauma.

I love Ubah too and feel like she brings a certain element of joy to the proceedings. I worry that she's not as embedded as much in the drama as others and that will mean one-season wonder.

Erin is a walking 'force multiplier' as Carlos King likes to call them -- someone who will always look for drama with someone.

I'm still not feeling Sai. I'm sorry, I'm just not.

A rumor doing that rounds that sent cold chills down my spine: Leah McSweeney has apparently (in the mind of someone on Twitter X whateveritscalled) been asked to join the next season of the RHONY reboot. 

-------------

RHOBH AmsterDAMN episode with Barbies

Why is it that RHOA reunions are often better than the seasons themselves? The cast feels more interactive and coherent in real time. Like, obviously Kenya despises Marlo, and Kandi has fallen out with both Drew and Sheree. But sometimes the way they interact... there is a long-time understanding there. These women know each other very well, and we get throw-backs to Marc Daly and Marlo tried to sidle up to him. Or we get the acknowledgement that Drew is not honest about herself on camera and everybody knows it. 

Speaking of Marc... it is crazy how that divorce is not final and he is still suing Kenya for every little thing he can think of. I cannot get over how much he hates Kenya. It is approaching Jason Hoppy-hates-Bethenny levels.

Sheree should never have touched her proud, distinctive nose. OTOH, she made an attempt to come and play this reunion. The She News thing is so budget-word-doc-on-Kairo's-14-year-old-laptop... but it is so her. I cackled.

Neither Monyetta nor Courtney do anything for me.

Gotta agree with all of you, that was a great premiere for RHOSLC. The fact that Jen Shah is mo longer on the show has liberated the cast who, in previous seasons, were forced to centre their entire story around her -- while at the same time trying to distract from talking about her trial. It made for a schizophrenic, dissonant show. This premiere could finally discuss Jen at liberty (thanks, Monica), without taking away from the core of the show, which is now going to be these women's stories. Even Martyr Heather is moving onwards and upwards in her life. Even boohooing about her BFF ( @Taoboi we called it!), she seems hugely relieved that Jailbird isn't around to suck the oxygen out of the room.

Lisa Barlow remains as narcissistic as ever (cool to see her in work mode at Sundance), and her hubby is over it. I actively giggled when LB started sobbing about her son telling her that he wasn't like her. She simply cannot fathom anyone not being like her, or relating themselves to her.

Mary is a sight for sore eyes! Her puncturing the other women's made-for-TV fakery is very welcome on this show.

Meredith seems more upbeat, in control, energized, and out of her valium haze.

Little Girl is still the same. It's weird how she hasn't really evolved since S1.

6 hours ago, Taoboi said:

BUT there's the thing about RHOA (which I admit I'm behind on)...

 

...if Production is playing favorites a la how Production is with RHOP, how can we pick on some of the cast? Kandi STAYS busy, but we see NONE of it. Kenya had to go on the record to reveal how much she DID film (like her spa opening drama I heard about), but Production DOESN'T SHOW it, given the impression to viewers that she did nothing, BUT she did A LOT more than what is being shown. 

 

Sounds like (I will be caught up by the reunion) Production wants to be like ABC (since we all use that allegory here) and focus on who they like/newbies a la Frons, making it sound like there are no more stories to tell when there are plenty still. 

The playing of favourites by Truly Original is a problem. It's not quite as egregious as Frons was with ABC Daytime, but RHOA should have just let Porsha and Marlo show us who they are, as it did with Nene, Phaedra, Kim, Kenya and the others.

It's a complete misreading (and assumption of stupidity) of the audience that viewers only want perfect heroines. We do not. We value complexity and honesty in a Real Housewife.

Porsha isn't dishonest per se, but she is extremely controlled with her image and only wants to be America's Sweetheart. Marlo is no saintly aunt, and she wants the show to rehabilitate her image in return for doing production's bidding. It's always been about transactional relationships with her (hmm, can't think why!).

RHOBH has long pulled this ish, and it drives me insane. LVP, Kyle, the Coven, Sutton, Garcelle all want (or wanted) to be beloved by the audience and never be seen on camera doing wrong. 

One franchise which has allowed the audience to make up its mind is the glorious RHOMiami. Last season Adriana said some awful things, but she also showed that she has a heart and soul and isn't uniformly the villain. Similarly, Princess Alexia gave us her finest telenovela suffering-heroine, but also showed her mean-girl, cliquey side. Again, the audience took this for what these women are and enjoyed the ride to a highly entertaining conclusion. I think Purveyors of Pop produce Miami, and the difference in how story is paced and the cast is represented is noticeable. 

On the plus side with Truly Original, they also produce RHODubai and Family Karma, two shows I love. They've done good jobs with those. With Dubai, Caroline Stanbury said they brought in the same crew which did Ladies of London. Family Karma seems to have a tight relationship between cast (especially aunties) and producers.

7 hours ago, GLATWT88 said:

The rumor going around about a complete ATL reboot is interesting. While I have struggled to follow ATL the past two seasons, it used to be one of my favorite franchises. I don't know if a complete reboot is necessary. I think a Miami style reboot would be better. I honestly think Kandi should go. She doesn't bring anything new IMO. I do like her but she's expensive and I don't think she adds that value back into the show. She had a good run, but I believe her time is up. I haven't been drawn in by Drew or Sanya, but tbf I haven't really watched faithfully these two seasons. I think the cast needs to be refocused around two or three of the girls with a few newbies. 

I doubt there is much truth to this rumor yet as casting decisions don't happen until after the reunion but the show is definitely in need of a refresh. 

ITA that a refresh rather than a reboot is needed. What most fans are clamoring for is not a rejection of the old guard, but rather a return to the old cast magic and dynamic. This current mix does not work and feels forced. Personally, I think production just does not click with the cast and does not know how to manage them. Ever since Season 10, RHOA has felt very off to me -- superficially entering these women's lives, but not really. Glam filler notched up. Perfectly good HWs kicked to the curb when they 'aged out' (Cynthia). Lazy, made-up SLs. And PR makeovers for certain cast members (Potsha, Marlo). The Carlos King years engaged us with the cast on a deeper and more honest (and funnier) level.

The Twitter activity around a RHOA reboot represents either (1) Truly Original throwing the cast under the bus to save its own skin, or (2) Bravo sniffing around social media to sense what appetite there is for a complete reboot. So far, I'd say the idea of a full reboot is not connecting as much as Truly Original might have hoped.

Eric Fuller, the EP, is trying to absolve himself of responsibility for this season's disappointment. Which begs the question: what on earth does this EP of multiple RH franchises DO, if not these items he says he has no power over?

It's clear Moonves is a horrible misogynist who couldn't bear to give a woman, an older woman at that, her due for keeping CBS ticking along for over a decade. Murder She Wrote was popular and he couldn't stand that. As we know, he was particularly active in dismantling CBS's most popular women-centric shows, and pushing bro-centric 'dead hooker of the week' television. I think he had a real problem with women with power and star appeal generally, and wanted to put them down a peg or 5. He didn't have the balls to cancel MSW outright, the complaints would have drowned the CBS call center, and so cowardly moved it to Thursdays so that he could hide behind an 'excuse.'

As for the show itself, I often meet my parents for lunch on Sundays, and we are blessed with MSW reruns most of the day. I personally love the earlier seasons, and the middle seasons are when MSW were at their most classic and as I remember it. I understand why they moved Jessica to a NYC setting for the final season or so -- more organic story, because how many more people could get murdered in Cabot Cove?? But I missed the Cabot Cove setting and some of the regulars, and I'm glad the show dipped back to CC from time to time in that final year.

@DaytimeFan I remember that Parker Stevens episode and how ambiguous they left it, and how creepy his character was at some points. There was the suggestion that he was trying to befriend her on purpose, for similar reasons as with his paramours. MSW played outside the box with that one and kept the viewers on their toes. 

BTW echoing the M2M love here. Its a phenomenal show and probably the #1 Atlanta show. It has been for a while, and Phaedra should thank her lucky stars she got asked to join it.

Meanwhile in OC. I -- 

4 hours ago, Taoboi said:

RHOA

 

REUNION TRAILER AND FINALE ALREADY??? I need to call up.

 

Here for Kandi vs Drew though. Been coming since Season 13...

 

 

The production filler 'jokey" set-piece at the beginning of that trailer is really indicative of how little material this season had. 

Another sign is Kenya uttering only one line, Marlo uttering almost zero, and Sanya not even getting a close up shot in the trailer.

Not sure what to say about Drew. On the one hand, her marriage implosion is DRAMA. On the other hand, sometimes I wonder how real that implosion is.