Bravo's The Real Housewives of....

[DaytimeFan]

Tonight's OC episode was really fun thanks to Shannon, Vicki and Tamra. They were hilarious and did seem to like each other.

 

Kelly had better watch out because she's an island unto herself. 

 

The other two feel like their scenes are edited in. They're irrelevant. 

 

Yesterday's Potomac was filler, but it was still enjoyable. It has been a great season. I want to see Karen gather and destroy all of these bitches. They aren't her friends - they are fiercely jealous of her. 

[Cat]

http://www.realitytea.com/2018/07/30/jim-bellino-suing-tamra-judge-shannon-beador-million-dollars/

 

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He must be REALLY Hard up for cash!

[Cat]

Oh Lizzie...

 

http://www.realitytea.com/2018/07/30/lizzie-rovsek-owes-over-108k-in-back-taxes/

 

And here is Dorinda on Jenny McCarthy's radio show:

 

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Edited July 31, 2018 by Cat

[Cheap21]

Kenya fans going after Bravo....LOL

 

 

[Gray Bunny]

Well, to their credit, when a Guiding Light viewer organized a protest over the show's cancellation, she was the only one who showed up 

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[Chris B]

 

This looks interested! Bravo is hit or miss airing international wives(im surprised we’re still waiting on the latest Melbourne season), but I could see them airing this and potentially in a decent time slot due to the black cast and seemingly easy accents. I’d put it on Friday with Married to Medicine. 

 

 

[alwaysAMC]

Have y'all noticed the Potomac ratings lately?  They've plummeted throughout the season, granted they don't have a strong lead-in like they did the first half of the season.  But this past week's episode went down to a 0.3 and they've been under a million in total viewers for a bit now:

 

REAL HOUSEWIVES OF POTOMAC

BRAVO

8:00 PM

856

0.3

 

Per TVbythenumbers.com

[Cheap21]

Thats too bad bc this season has been lit. Much better than the other franchises. Potomac really came into its own this year

[Chris B]

People say that with Potomac and Dallas but I don’t see it. I think Potomac started really hot but the expanded season hurt them. With three less episodes I think it would’ve been better. It’s just been dragging the past few weeks. The Cannes trip was nice but I feel all the good stuff was at the beginning. I’m ready for it to be over. 

[Soaplovers]

Is there anything to set Dallas and Potomac apart from the rest of the franchises?

 

I think in the earlier days of the franchise, the location played as big of character as the women did.  Atlanta showed itself off as the epicenter of the south in terms of production/wealth/entertainment (lots of things are filmed in Atlanta nowadays), Orange County was new money/Olive Garden esque tastes, Beverly Hills was what Orange County thought they were, New York was high end, and Jersey was all about family/loyalty, etc.

 

Dallas, from what I've seen, does seem to show the flashy over the top everything is larger than life.. but what is the main identity of the Potomac?

 

I think the problem with all the franchises is that they've become too alike.  Fighting, contrived gatherings, girls trips, spa days, etc... there isn't a lot of variety in these shows anymore.

 

I think the OC is so far repairing itself nicely showing more fun stuff.. and I do like that the two new girls have kids (though I'd love to see a train wreck teen like in the good old days... since Shannon/Tamra/Kelly/Vicki's blood seems even tempered compared to their moms.  

 

NY has pretty much given up being about married women.. or about their family lives.. so it's all the girls hanging together all the time... but that can be limiting.

 

I've never watched Potomac.. but why is the show on fire now vs in its previous seasons?  Has the focus changed on Potomac (more about shading/fighting than about their day to day lives, etc) this season?

[Faulkner]

I have had zero interest in any post-BH HW series. DC seemed cool because it might include politics. Miami just didn’t grab me, I’m not that interested in Dallas or Potomac as backdrops, and the older series becoming more hit-or-miss didn’t compel me to take on any other franchises. I only watch ATL, NY, sometimes BH, and sometimes OC because I like certain HWs. I gave up on NJ because I just had no one to root for anymore.

Edited August 1, 2018 by Faulkner

[j swift]

There's an inherent "fourth wall" problem with Potomac.  Given that all of the women tape their interviews in front of a green screen, Karen could live on Mars and the background of her confessionals would stay the same.

 

The BH lost footage episode this season confirmed what I have suspected for a long time; all interviews are now filmed in studio with a green screen shot of their homes.  Remember when Kyle shows up to do LVP's makeup touch-up and then later in the episode LVP pops into Kyle's interview?  They weren't at each other homes.  They were scheduled after each other to film interviews in the production studio.  That is why the time of day behind them never changes in the interviews.  It is also why the women look a little weird they wear reflective makeup because it messes with green screen.  Finally, if you look closely you'll notice that all of the ladies in every city sit on the same chair to be interviewed.

 

If Karen was being filmed in her own home for interviews then production would know where she lives.  Thus, the Potomac women are left debating an issue that could be easily solved just by asking a producer.  This creates a fourth wall issue which is always frustrating as a viewer because they cannot address it directly.

[Cat]

 

Yeah, the OC episode felt like the old days. Even the two irrelevants on stroller duty felt like Early OC! It will be interesting to see if they gel with The Big Three as the season goes on. The Big Three are a force unto themselves and could quite easily carry a mini-season on their shoulders alone.

 

Kelly is becoming less relevant and interesting. I never really warmed to her except on the Bus Ride from Hell, but I know she has her fans here and elsewhere. She is definitely trying -- and failing -- to marshal Shannon and Tamra against Vicki, they were all like "Oh wow, how awful" -- and then they blithely made their way to Mexico with Vicki to whoop it up.

 

Who is in the right here? Well, maybe Vicki should not be double-dating with Michael and his new GFs. When a divorce happens, the friendship group usually splits, and it seems like Vicki is more Team Michael when she should be Team Kelly. Everything in Vicki's words and demeanour suggests that she likes hanging out with Michael more. Plus she sympathizes with his rejection by Kelly.

 

Kelly has every right to feel betrayed/hurt BUTTTTT -- she wanted to get rid of him. She went on camera saying she hated his guts. She filed for divorce, so she shouldn't be mad if he is dating again. As S3 Luann once said, "when men move on, they move FAST."

 

 

That's really too bad, although the past few weeks' episodes have had slightly less momentum. I'd be interested to know NYC's numbers as a comparison. As Cheap said, Potomac has been one of the best franchises this year, so it's a shame not as many viewers recognise.

 

@Soaplovers @j swift I wondered if location is a problem for Potomac. I didn't really know where Potomac was before the show. Contrast that with BH, OC, NYC, ATL, etc., all shows with a central sense of place. Potomac could be set in suburbia anywhere, and in fact most of the ladies don't actually live in Potomac the town -- Karen is in Great Falls God knows where, Gizelle's in Bethesda, Robyn in Hanover, Ashley looks like Arlington, VA. I have no clue where Monique or Candiace live. They should have just called it Real Housewives of DC 2.0 or Real Housewives of Maryland. The lack of sense of place is a problem because, as said here, the location needs to become a character in of itself.

 

I think Dallas this season may be Texing it up a bit more.

 

The thing I like about Potomac, though, is this uber-thin line between having money (or pretending to have money) and not having a dime. Ever since 2008, this has been a major anxiety of the squeezed middle-class, which found itself mired in massive debt. People had Champagne Tastes on a Beer Budget. This anxiety powers Potomac's women more than any franchise (with the exception of OC Lynne who was the first to show the financial lies underpinning her family's life).

 

The Potomac men once had money and now they are going broke or are leaving them. Suddenly these women are looking into the abyss of pennilessness, of having their mortgaged homes seized, of trying to scratch out some income for themselves (without actually getting a real job lol). Gizelle, Robyn, Ashley and Karen are all experiencing this predicament to different degrees. It's why Gizelle latched onto Sherman as an answer to her (financial) prayers. It's why Ashley latches onto Michael, even though their marriage is dead. 

Edited August 1, 2018 by Cat

[alwaysAMC]

 

NYC ratings have been pretty decent this season.  They've even been at the top of the Wed. night cable ratings a handful of weeks, so it's a success.  They're nowhere near their glory days of Season 3, but it's better than Seasons 5-7.  Here are the ratings from this past week:

 

REAL HOUSEWIVES OF NYC

BRAVO

9:00 PM

1,475

0.5

 

OC has started pretty low this season, which is a little lower than normal, but the OC always has a bigger buildup and end each season with pretty good ratings.  BH is usually the same - start slow/low in ratings but build up to higher ratings by end of the season.  Atlanta is always pretty consistent throughout the season.  

 

REAL HOUSEWIVES OF OC

BRAVO

9:00 PM

1,412

0.5

[Cat]

 

Thanks for all the info! That's great to know that NYC is pulling in some decent ratings! It's my favourite franchise. I'm willing to wait for OC to build its audience. The ratings here make me wonder whether Potomac would get a few more viewers if it was on at 9pm (ET) on a Sunday instead of 8pm. Sunday 8pm seems like such a Sunday-family-time/Murder She Wrote timeslot, lol.