This past week has been pretty interesting in terms of Bravo's Real Housewives franchise with the season finale of The Real Housewives of Atlanta airing last Sunday, followed by the second half of the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills reunion airing two days later.
But Bravo threw a major curve-ball at Real Housewives fans last Thursday by yanking the fourth season premiere of the Real Housewives of New York off the schedule and suddenly throwing the latest installment of the franchise, The Real Housewives of Miami, in its place. The move was so quick and unexpected that I am seriously considering filing a lawsuit against Bravo for pain and suffering. My pain stems from severe whiplash in the neck and carpal tunnel in the fingers, while the suffering sustains from trying to make sense of Bravo's impromptu schedule change, which resulted in a brain hemorrhage the size of Taylor Armstrong's upper lip.
Sure we knew these ladies were coming, eventually, but when Bravo announced their upcoming slate of new shows for the year The Real Housewives of Miami was nowhere to be seen. Instinctively, the show sailed to the back of my mind afterwards, but still remained a curiosity to why Bravo was holding back amid reports of the show being shot and ready to go.
Now we have two weeks to guess, speculate, and research the Miami Housewives before their premiere, which is a sharp contrast on the wait period for The Real Housewives of D.C. and Beverly Hills, but to bluntly honest, I'm just not feeling the hype yet.
There are several factors for my inability to welcome the latest members of Bravo's sorority of Housewives, but none of them blame the actual Miami cast themselves. Out of all of those reasons, timing is the one that really comes to the forefront of my mind.
Maybe it's because of the so-called Real Housewives overkill that some people have mentioned (fresh episodes of all incarnations of the show has been on the air nonstop for awhile with no break) or maybe I've OD'd the opulence that was the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, but the timing for RHOM is decidedly off, at least to me that is. Again, when I say this, I'm not claiming that RHOM will be horrible, but I think that the show was not given the proper treatment it deserved in terms of promotion and word of mouth.
A new show like RHOM needs time for the anticipation and hype to grow. RHODC and RHOBH both had about a months time to gain interest in each show, and if memory serves correctly, RHODC's ads started to run in the middle of June 2010 and premiered on August 5th. RHOM has two weeks to generate buzz, which is a short amount of time to work with.
So along with other factors that would take up your time and mine trying to explain, the timing of the Real Housewives of Miami is one of the main reasons I'm not thrilled about the show as I was with RHODC and RHOBH. With the latter two shows, there was a sense of anticipation that probably was contributed by the fact that both casts had stories coming into them. D.C. had Michaele Salahi's Gate-crashing event and Beverly Hills had the Richards sisters and Camille Grammer's divorce to work with. Miami is a throw back to the first four shows of the franchise with practically unknown women, except Larsa Pippen, who are well known within their own social circles. Will they manage to become a mega hit like RHOBH or a major dud ala RHODC? Time will tell and we will get our answer on Tuesday,Feb. 22nd @10/9c on Bravo.
What is your take on the new brood of Real Housewives? Here's a sneek peak of what's to come:
What do you think?
Cut your losses Bravo and have pity on the viewers who tried to watch the Real
housewives of Miami. Just try other cities and see what works. Do not get rid
of Beverly Hills, but we would chuck New York while your at it. It is so obvious
that the women on Miami are just "trying to hard" for the cameras!
OK….The housewives of Miami was just very boring and very dull, I cannot remember any of their names. Maybe, Bravo should have selected another group of women. I loved the housewives from Atlanta, Beverly Hills and New Jersey.
PLEASE get rid of the RH of Miami…they were HORRIBLE especially Larsa Pippen and Christy they're too immature and totally self-absorbed….PLEASE keep the RH of Beverly Hills ABSOLUTELY LOVED them!!!!
I love love love all the housewives and never miss any of them. Of course some are better than others but because I am from Atlanta, I am not happy with the RHOA. They make all of us look like loose women interested only in money and ourselves which is so far from the truth. Kim makes all of us look bad. Beverly Hills is the best along with Orange County. I also love New York and Jersey. Miami was a bit of a snooze but has potential. DO NOT get rid of New York although Kelly is AWFUL and so OBNOXIOUS. She and Jill this year have shown their true selves which is NOT attractive. Their abuse of Bethany has made me HATE both of them. Bethany, well, she is just the best. Love her new show, her PERFECT Jason and Bryn!! They are adorable. Anyone not watching these shows is really missing out. I look forward to seeing them and sometimes watch them over several times!!! Way to go BRAVO!!!