Is Bravo's The Housewives SERIES the NEW SOAPS?

[JONNYSBRO]

Bravo is having a record breaking year in ratings as the Housewives Series have become cash cows. Even Kim Zimmer has said the Housewives shows are the soaps of today. IMO this is what the new generation of soaps will be is reality TV semi scripted shows. IMO the Housewives shows keep getting bigger. As the stars are always on the covers of In Touch, Star, Us Weekly and OK Magazine. Andy Cohen who helped develop the Housewives is giving Bravo its record breaking year. This has allowed NBC to have more money to spend on their primetime lineup. Some people think soaps look dated compared to these shows. First they are cheaper to produce, second the ratings are sky high on some of these shows and they create huge buzz. I do believe the Housewives genre also killed the SOAPS as they show younger viewers tuning into them. Honestly I don't think these soaps online will work as the demographic for soap watchers are 50 plus.

[R Sinclair]

Just one question... ARE ANY OF THESE HEFFAS "HOUSEWIVES?!"

[DRW50]

Real Housewives is more like Big Brother and other shows in that they are presented as freak shows. It's mostly about manufacturing drama, to the point where you can see people reading cards and reciting lines. They also have a high turnover rate and are already bleeding viewers (two shows canceled, including one - DC - which was hugely hyped).

I enjoy these shows sometimes but I rarely feel any emotional connection, which for me is what soaps are about.

I also think magazine covers are more about trends. The Kardashians dominate, and they are basically just more of the same media processed names than have been around for generations. So is Jennifer Aniston. If her story was on a soap, it would have been canceled 3-4 years ago.

Most of the shows that get the covers, like Teen Mom, seem to be more about gawking at stupid people. Oh look, ____ beat up their boyfriend/had a baby taken into care again. Ha ha ha.

I guess this might be why some people watched soaps but generally I think it's just more of the same fix people have always had outside of soaps.

[DRW50]

About half or less...usually they are more known for foreclosures.

[JONNYSBRO]

Unless you are Bethanny Frankel. Bethanny IMO is the biggest success story of the HOusewives. She went from being broke to be over a 100 million dollars for creating her own brand and selling it to Jim Bean for ridiculous amounts of money, plus talk show in the works and I so appreciate her. Shes the one housewive who didn't marry a rich husband or inheriated money, she EARNED IT ALL HERSELF.

[Cheap21]

To answer your question....yes

[R Sinclair]

Okay, then what I know to be a "housewife" must have changed drastically. I love how Kandi Burris, a chart topping record producer and former girl group member, is considered a "housewife."

[aMLCproduction]

Amen to that. She has not been a house wife since she was on the show. TO the OP THe housewives francchises has peaked, It's no growing. In fact they had to cancel a few of the series. There are too many "Housewives" on

^^^ FOr that matter how about Shereee? She is not married.

Unless these folks are not watching ATL House Wives

[Cheap21]

When she was picked to be on the show, she was engaged and set to be a wife. Her first season focused alot on her family. Her wedding most likely would have been featured as a storyline. Unfortunately her fiance was killed.

[SFK]

I don't think the Housewives have killed the soaps at all, I think the soaps themselves are most guilty of their own slow demise. To me, it's less a matter of the Housewives (or reality in general) encroaching upon the soaps' territory so much as the soaps doing a poor job of holding down their spot. I think back on those first three exciting seasons of The Real World during Intermediate school summers (almost 20 years ago!), and while *soapy* may be a fitting adjective, I didn't even once compare that show or my viewing experience to soaps. The Real World was its thing, All My Children (still strong) was its thing. Both held their own and I never wanted one to be more like the other. And just as the soaps led themselves astray, The Real World lost its charm, became less and less organic with more and more obnoxious cast members who knew they were on The Real World, and we are seeing all of this with the Housewives and Jersey Shore... and my God, does anyone else watch Tru TV or G4? Blatantly scripted reality has become a sub-genre of its own. So, in this case I actually DO think we should *hate* the players and not the game. Soaps and reality shows alike start chasing waterfalls and fall into self-parody and disarray and pretty much self destruct with their competition and audience having very little to do with it.

[aMLCproduction]

I agree SFK Soaps have failed to modernize to compete with Twitter, Face Book, Reality shows, Mobile phone devices, internets, etc. That's the issue.

[JONNYSBRO]

Soaps IMO kind of appear dated next to these reality shows. They don't really fit in the world of new technology. With these reality shows they also can syndicate them and make huge profits off DVD sales.

[DRW50]

Have they made huge profits off DVD sales?

I think these shows are also pretty dated. It's a stereotype of a stereotype of a stereotype, reading lines for the camera. I don't know how that involves new technology - implant queens who can't move their faces don't exactly inspire multi-platform. It's a cable niche franchise.

Soaps are the genre that can be most progressive and the least dated, if someone gave a damn.

[Eric83]

In response to the thread title.... No.

[All My Shadows]

IMO, soaps lost sight of their purpose (and individual purposes) and a slew of reality shows have come in to take those spots. I wouldn't call it stealing from soaps because soaps gave it up and no longer claim it, so the reality shows picked it up. If I had to choose between a good soap version of a storyline and a good reality show version of the same story, I'd most likely go with the soap every time, but the soaps have failed over and over again to give me stories that are better than the reality show versions, so I really have no choice. If both the soap and the reality show suck, I look for something else to do.

And plus, reality shows aren't afraid to look for human drama in strange/weird/odd places. Agnes Nixon, in her heyday, could have written an incredible storyline about the psychological aspects of compulsive hoarding and how it affects families. But that's not glamorous, so soaps would never ever go there.