Bravo's The Real Housewives of....

[Cat]

1,000%. I like her, and still cannot fathom why Bravo let her go for FOUR full seasons when it was clear how badly she was needed on the show.

[Antoyne]

Dumbest mistake OC made. I’ve had my periods where I absolutely loathed Tamra but she’s pretty much the reason Housewives is what it is today because of the Gretchen feud season 4.

[Gray Bunny]

Watching RHONJ and then coming here to read y'all's thoughts about who should do what to who next season... it's exhausting. And it's too much chess playing and strategizing. It's Beverly Hills all over again.

We've gone from the days of "I'm not gonna film with Bethenny / Danielle Staub / the new girl, etc." to temporary alliances and marriage takedowns and coverups and yada yada yada. It's taken the fun out of what made these shows fun in the first place. 

Make no mistake, I'll be watching this reunion from start to finish. But this current cast cannot go on as is. And I wouldn't even want them to, as a viewer. Season 5 was already a stretch with Teresa trying to play nice-nice with Caroline, Kathy, etc. 

Meanwhile, Jennifer Aydin is so far up Teresa's hole... Rachel vs. Danielle is the poor man's version of newbies Kenya and Porsha going at each other during Season 5 of Atlanta.... Marge vs. Aydin has gotten too ugly and they'll never recover... 

Can we just retool this show around Dolores and her funky family living arrangements?  I dunno... 

If the new RHONY proves to be a success, I can almost see Bravo starting from scratch in the Garden State. 

[Cat]

Agree with everything you said. I will watch to the bitter end, and bitter it will be. However, this is the end of the road for this cast.

I don't really like the majority of the players anymore. I find Marge smugly unwatchable and Jennifer is so thirsty as to be unpalatable. Melissa really thinks she's doing something by merely showing up as the wicked queen (voiced by JLo) from a Pixar movie.

Budget Porsha vs Budget Kenya does nothing for me. Though I did feel for Danielle when the opposing couch smirked, condescended to and scoffed at her. It was so mean girls. Like they have anything better to offer? Like Jackie does?

Dolores's interview was the only one I was fully invested in. I just enjoy how honest in herself and her story she is.

All the women looked fantastic though, and special shout out to Dolores and Teresa's respective hair styling teams.

Edited June 1, 2023 by Cat

[Soaplovers]

NJ this past season is what happens when producers don't pull a OC season 9 fix.

Season 8 of OC.was fun...but it was starting to feel played out by the end of the season...with a revived Gretchen vs Tamra..and Alexis basically being iced out of a lot of events by the cast.  Producers saw how season 9 would not work with the cast in tact..and they dropped Alexis/Gretchen...with Lydia quitting.   Doing that helped usher in Shannon and Lizzie...and season 9 felt fresh.

NJ needs to either drop Teresa or Melissa.....and Aydin or Margaret..before it comes back another season.  Don't ignore it like Potomac seems to do

[Cat]

A Rinna-free RHOBH is a ways away (November), but I am willing it to do well. I know Housewives Twitter will be decrying BH as 'boring' without her mean-spiritedness and dirty tricks, but I'm hoping for some light-heartedness and contentious Annemarie giving drama.

 

I think Marge & Jennifer have a bit more shelf-life than Melissa & Teresa. Melissa is a low-achiever who lucked out with +12 years on this show, thanks to her husband. 

I think Teresa would be far happier with a Bravo spin-off. I actually love watching Teresa and her family. If they ever wanted to reboot RHONJ with the kids -- Gia, Gabriella, Milania, Audriana, plus Antonia/Joey/Gio, plus Frankie, I'd be for it.

I'd keep Dolores because she knows everybody, past and present. Not that Dina would ever rejoin the show, but my God, what a rivalry that would be.

[Cat]

Speaking of the RHONJ kids...

looks like Antonia and Milania are close and went to each other's prom:

 

[Gray Bunny]

That's cute. I hope they don't feel compelled to transform their faces into funhouse mirrors like their mothers or Kim Zolciak's daughters. 

Re: RHOBH returning in November... Yeah, I'm excited to see what this new chapter brings. Of course I could be wrong, but I get the feeling the remaining Mean Girls club has been de-fanged without their lead hyena. I think Ozempic Kyle sees the audience favoring Garcelle and doesn't want to be on the receiving end of fans' ire. Meanwhile, play-out Dorit and Ozempic Erika are just happy to still be on the cast and collecting Bravo cheques. 

[Soaplovers]

Agree to disagree about Aydin and Margaret having more shelf life.  Aydin is just unwatchable to me...If I had money I'd pay for Bill's divorce lawyer so he doesn't have to be married to her.

[Cat]

I hope not either! That pic takes me right back to when Milania and Antonia were 8-year old munchkins, squealing when the other showed up for a playdate.

The Coven De-Fanged is definitely the vibe I'm getting now that two malevolent spirits have been banished from the sister circle. (I have no proof to support this, but I still feel Rinna and Diana had a hand in Jax getting abused by bots on social media).

Kyle will rest a bit easier without Rinna breathing down her neck. At reunion, Garcelle & Sutton had Kyle's back the whole time. I have to imagine that Kyle will want to get closer to the incredibly popular Garcelle. She already has Sutton in her pocket.

Dorit has darkened her hair to look more like Natasha of Boris & Natasha fame. 

The real question will be Erika: can she move on without her co-enforcer, Hyena? Can she make it copacetic with everybody and join in some light-hearted nonsense? Or will she remain a miserable thug? The choice is hers. She has been hitting the Ozempic hard and found herself another absolutely ancient sugar daddy with a criminal record, so she must be in a better mood these days.... right?

Edited June 2, 2023 by Cat

[DaytimeFan]

ATL

This season is rough and production knows it. When we see them doing editing tricks to give Kenya demon eyes, and editing the footage of the women packing up their bags and getting Uber Eats like it’s a late 90s R&B video you know they’re in big trouble.

Kenya’s non storyline with that halftime show was such a flop. I’d have respect for her if she powered through and did it, but no she went off and got a chest X Ray that showed she’s fine. At least when Vicki Gunvalson melodramatically goes to the ER it has comedic value. 

Speaking of tired storyline, Kandi should be careful because I cannot imagine anyone gives a f*ck about Mama Joyce continuing to hate Todd for the last decade, plus.

Time to get cameras on Wigs & Cigs and Nene to try and save this franchise.

 

[Antoyne]

This cast truly lacks chemistry and it’s hurting the show. It feels like they barely tolerate each other. 

[DaytimeFan]

Absolutely. This applies to the cast as a whole, much as they’d like to pin it on Marlo, it’s the entire cast who lack chemistry and it all feels so produced. 

[Cat]

 

RHOA has lost the humor that took it to the top of the RH franchises. The ones who understood comedy either got grumpy (Nene), fired (Phaedra) or left of their own accord (Porsha).

Kenya and Kandi are not natural comedians. Sheree's comedy was her obliviousness. The shade is now about jabbing each other, not having a belly laugh. Editing is trying to fill the humor gap but failing. There is also no cohesion: everyone comes across as a work hire.

I've been waiting for my streaming service to upload last week's AND yesterday's episode. It claims there is a 'technical issue' but has no problem uploading RHONJ, VPR and other Bravo content. I don't know what's going on, but it happened with last season's RHOA, too. It's symbolic of the way Bravo has checked out of this franchise. They need to bring back Nene, Porsha, Phaedra, Cynthia, even KZB (though I really don't like her). Just throw everything at this show, and if Kandi or Kenya are unhappy about those returns, welp... 

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Edited June 5, 2023 by Cat

[Gray Bunny]

I echo everyone's sentiments that RHOA is missing that wow factor that used to set them apart from the others. They're in a real slump now and the current cast just doesn't gel.  While the Mama Joyce dilemma is a tired rehash, Kandi is still the glue that holds this team together. They need to bring back Porsha and Cynthia. And hell, to ante up the drama for Kandi, bring back Phaedra if they can. Nene will never return to Bravo and I'd sooner welcome back Kim Fields before Zolciak. 

Sanya just doesn't have that star factor (for the Olympics, yeah, but in Housewivesland? Meh... ) I like Monyetta, but she just seems like the perennial supporting friend-of. Courtney is a clown. Drew's only appeal is getting mocked by production or other castmembers. 

Something major needs to shift for next season, or it'll become permanently irrelevant.