Bravo's The Real Housewives of....

[alwaysAMC]

I've always said it, but there's something about Luann that draws me in.. even S4 Luann. She's just my type, if I were into women. So I'm happy she got to stay!

I think dropping Cindy and Kelly was absolutely the right choice. I struggle with dropping Jill and Alex, but I still love the new ladies, so who knows... The one thing S5 dropped the ball with is not showing the familes of Heather and Aviva. We barely got to see their husbands, kids, and homes. It was weird. All other housewives series heavily show their personal life, and not doing this for Heather and Aviva was a mistake. Aviva's nasty father doesn't count... haha.

Anyone else think that Sonja is like NYC's version of Kim Richards?

[Faulkner]

Never understood the love for Alex McCord. She was always annoying and abrasive and only became semi-likable when she hitched her wagon to Bethenny to go up against Jill. Her appearance on Couples Therapy only further proved how obnoxious she was.

She can stay gone.

[Cheap21]

I don't know. I felt as if we got to see Heather with her husband and kids. It didn't seem any less than others. IDA about the other HW's heavily featuring their families. Sheree on ATL didn't do that until she had no story and they brought in her daughter in her last season. Adrienne never showed her kids on BH (ditto with Brandi, although she was prevented from doing so). Until this season, we barely saw much of Kim's. I think it all depends.

well that's when I started liking her. Alex did nothing for me in season 1 and 2 but she won me over in 3 and kept it up in 4

[Chris B]

Alex initially was only interesting for the freakshow with Simon. I found them to be harmless social climbers and they were very likable IMO. Unlike other social climbers, I felt they were living within their means and I began to LOVE them when I saw the others constantly making fun of them. They were blasted for living in Brooklyn, but good on them finding a nice place there instead of paying more to stay in Manhattan just to keep up with the others. Or how they went to St. Barth's in the off season, that's another thing they were criticized for. To this day they came off very hard working so I never minded them. Alex is still in the public eye and doing very well with her business and this is WITHOUT the nasty press articles that are keeping Jill in the media. I hated that they did Couples Therapy, but other than that they're golden IMO.

I recently did my re-watch of NYC season 5 and there was a scene at the end of the season with Aviva and Heather's husband and I had NO IDEA who Aviva was talking to lol.

[Soaplovers]

We saw Kim's kids in season 1, but not in season 2 nor 3. I still remember Kim and Kyle's trip to the grocery store where Kyle was making fun of Kim buying I can't Believe It's not Butter while Lisa in a TH was questioning what it was LOL Then it turned out that Kyle's favorite dish that Kim made had I can't Believe It's Not butter.. and her face was priceless LOL

I'm glad that Kim's private life is being shown, though too much of the dog was shown. I know Kim used to go to Disney functions, perhaps the show can't film when she goes to Disney get togethers or something. That could be why we've seen little of Kim's adventures in autograph and Disney land.

[Faulkner]

I just don't see what Alex brings to the table. Simon is a hoot, yes, but she's humorless. She's not fabulous, which is fine, but she's not witty either. And if we're wanting a more grounded contrast to the more larger-than-life personalities (LuAnn, Ramona, Sonja), I think Heather (who I love) more than fills that role. Heather can shut bitches down with one cutting line, including loudmouth Ramoma, and that's without getting nasty and unhinged like Aviva. Alex often struggled to defend herself even when she had the upper hand (the hives when she confronted Jill, the silly "You're a mean girl/I'm in Brooklyn" speech, the insane arguments where even Kelly came across as more lucid).

Edited February 2, 2014 by Faulkner

[Chris B]

Oh I totally disagree. I LOVED Alex's awkward confrontations and I feel like in season 4 she finally found her voice and was on equal footing with the other ladies. I LOVED her feud with LuAnn. That is one of my all-time favorite Real Housewives feuds. And on top of her scenes with the ladies, she had an interesting homelife so they definitely got their money's worth with her.

[JackPeyton]

I should have been clearer, it grew in the ratings as it went on, I believe.

I just don't think bravo was as disappointed in it as people seem to think. Not only did they bring it back it wasn't easy and they dropped another original to a friend of status and added a new wife.

[Soaplovers]

Do you guys think that the lower ratings during season 5 was one of the reasons the show was hesitant to revamp Jersey? I think the producers could have added one new housewife to Jersey, in order to keeps things somewhat fresh.. like how they added Lydia during season 8 of RHOC.

[Antoyne]

To be fair OC always adds at least one new housewife each season. And I'm not sure if Jersey and NY have the same production company.

[Gray Bunny]

YES!!!!

I'm glad I'm not the only one. Sonja's harmless, but she IS messy. I think what I notice most about her messiness is that she tries WAY too hard to make everything into a sexual innuendo or to perceive herself as this huge sexual being. I noticed this a lot while recently rewatching some of season 4. It was much cuter and natural in her first year (S3).

When I first started watching NYC and only saw Season 4, I thought Alex's tagline of, "To a certain group of people in NY, status is everything," I thought she was speaking ironically, almost to poke fun at others. And then I saw the first two seasons and I was SHOCKED, haha, at their uppity wannabe ways. I think my favorite was when they were looking through the society pages and they saw themselves, and Alex is all nonchalant saying, "It's always nice to be photographed".

I liked watching her because you could always tell that she LOVED whenever she was actually being included in something or finding herself in the middle of controversy (being the messenger for Bethenny to Jill, Ramona being upset with Jill in Morocco). Alex always entertained me in a "point-and-laugh" kinda way.

Edited February 2, 2014 by Gray Bunny

[Eric83]

No. I think New Jersey was doing well and they thought if it ain't broke don't fix it, but when it comes to these shows a little maintenance is always needed. I wonder if next season ratings will plunge to where the other franchises are. They used to be neck and neck with Atlanta but fell off last year. Season 6 of Atlanta is averaging nearly 1.5 million more than the last of New Jersey compared to a couple seasons ago where they were separated by mere thousands.

[Chris B]

With New Jersey I think the high ratings had them feeling like they didn't need to change anything, but that show was more toxic than NYC EVER was. I don't understand why they didn't even bring on ONE new housewife. When season 5 was filming there were rumors of like 5 new housewives and not one ended up with decent screentime. I can't wait to see how their new season fares.

[Eric83]

I also wonder once Teresa goes to jail what they'll do. They need to drop Melissa and focus on expanding the show around the new wives if they are successful.

[AMCHistory]

Charlton wanted to pick a fight with Kyle, and she walked right into her trap. Had Kyle said nothing about her religion or anti-semitism, it would have been Charlton who left egg on her face. Instead, Kyle looked equally foolish.

That's why we need Faye. Fays is calculating and cunning, and would not hav made such a sloppy mistake when on the attack.