Lately, I feel like I need a shower after watching an episode of any of the Real Housewives on Bravo. The franchise is getting progressively trashier, which probably doesn't bother Bravo because the ratings have continued to boom.
That image is diametrically opposite of the one presented on the show. Curtin's home was never revealed to be a rental for starters. Her domestic situation was also seemingly secure and stable, with no problems with her husband and children.
Those Real Housewives series are big business for Bravo. So the big question Fox Reality is asking is if America is ready for the real Househusbands of Hollywood? Jane first brought us news of the Househusbands last December. Now Fox Reality has set a premiere date of August 15th, and provided a little more details as to what these husbands do.
As Jane hoped, it looks like a full reversal of the traditional roles. These men take care of the kids, run errands and manage the household while their wives work as a psychologist, a celebrity makeup artist, a newscaster, an attorney and Tempestt Bledsoe (The Cosby Show). It's certainly an interesting idea that will challenge America's traditional views of gender roles in this country.
When a television show like Barney does a live tour, you automatically know two things: 1. Barney will sing and dance and somehow be entertaining on some level, and 2. The show is geared towards children. That being said, why the hell would anybody host any sort of live performance of The Real Housewives of New Jersey? Well, it's happening at the Wellmont Theatre in Montclair, NJ.
I mean, what are they going to do? Sing? Dance? Sit around and gossip about each other? Will it be some sort of round-robin discussion or interview where we learn even more things about these women that nobody except a very few give a damn about?
Only under very specific circumstances would I purchase tickets to this event. If the housewives were eaten by a bear onstage, I would pay to see that. But not just any bear ... a dancing circus bear that would perform after his meal. That would be cool.
I love these little mini-essay rants that Chelsea Handler does. It makes me want to watch her show, though I always always always forget that it's on and always miss it. Here she talks about how one of the Chelsea Lately panelists, Heather McDonald, is obsessed with the Real Housewives shows on Bravo. (Video also here.)
Oh, like 92% of everything Handler talks about, this is NSFW.
This news actually made my day. Apparently, in order to appear as "celebrities" on the television show The Real Housewives of New Jersey, the housewives themselves were not paid and in some cases owed the producers some of their non-television related income.
This is brilliant! This solves the issue of declining profits for television. Want your own reality show? Then pay for the privilege. It's like buying commercial time without anything definitive to promote. If any of them start their own business as a result of their undeserved fame (like a line of clothing or something), will they owe that income to the producers as well?
No matter how much I loathe reality television, I loathe The Real Housewives of New Jersey just a little bit more. I applaud any opportunity to stick them with a fine for having the viewer subjected to them. The punchline to this joke would be if they all signed the same contract for their upcoming second season.
If I go to Hell after I die, I'm quite certain that part of my eternal punishment would be sitting in a room with all the Real Housewives of New Jersey for all eternity. Therefore the following piece of news is about as close to Hell on Earth as I can get: popular rumor has it that Bravo has renewed The Real Housewives of New Jersey for a second season.
I was born and bred in New Jersey (those of you offering condolences can shut it right now. I like New Jersey). As a result of sharing my humble abode with someone of the female persuasion, I have been subjected to this program. I can personally attest that very few people in New Jersey actually act like these "housewives". If you're planning a vacation, please don't let the behaviors of these women put you off from visiting the Garden State.
However, to give credit, the program did lead to a funny sketch on Chelsea Lately. The video of that is after the jump.
The power of The Real Housewives of New Jersey is amazing to me. I normally can't stand the Real Housewives series. And, as a lifelong Jerseyan, the Sopranos-esque stereotypes of pampered Bergen County wives initially made me queasy. But dammit, the show hooked me and kept me watching the whole season; it even led me to write the hacky headline above. Why? Because this one had a plot.
The story of the creepily over-Botoxed Danielle Staub and how the rest of the Housewives found out about her sordid past was the thread that kept even Bravo-except-for-Top-Chef-averse people like myself tuning in. Oh, and the fact that they teased the "Last Supper" finale all season (showing matriarch Caroline saying "we're thick as thieves" about a thousand times) also kept me watching. And the finale didn't disappoint: people turning on each other, tables getting tipped over, exceedingly mature children horrified at their parents' behavior... it was great.
But if you thought it was over, think again. As the New York Post reports and Bravo has been promoting, the cable net will air four more episodes.
Considering how prevalent reality television is these days, it's got to be a pretty daunting task to try and put together a comprehensive list of the best and worst of all time. But Entertainment Weekly thinks they've done just that. They've compiled the top 20 reality shows of all time, but also the ten worst reality shows of all time. All in all, they did a pretty damned good job.
I completely agree with the top six, but they lose me with Jackass at number seven. I have never understood the appeal of filming morons doing stupid things on purpose just to be stupid. But there were some shows missing from the list completely, like Little People Big World, So You Think You Can Dance and Beauty and the Geek. Surely those shows are better than The Hills and The Real Housewives of Sesame Street, or whatever franchise they're spinning now.