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They are, but not the ones that involve her as a writer—a good editor would build in time with some padding that accounts for requested extensions (within reason) from the author. It’s possible that Kelley exhausted that last possible window for turning in the manuscript the very same week she happened to be in New Orleans, but she would have had sufficient warning before heading there.

Nah, not buying it (former book publishing editor here). At the writing stage, those deadlines are created with room for reasonable extensions, unless the manuscript is at a last pass that needs to get to the printer, which wouldn’t involve her at that point. Some writers end up having to give their advances back, but you would have had ample warning and time to reorganize with your editor before it came to that. She was there for *one week*—this was pure avoidance.

Ohhhh Beth! Gotta love how after all these years she and Veronica fell right back into their bickering even during their shared talking head about making nice, water under the bridge, etc 😹. Those two will just never vibe. Neither are saints, but I’m rooting way harder for Beth, who now appears to be in much better shape than V (I know that’s a super shallow observation, but Veronica can be so nasty toward her and never used to flinch at hitting below the belt during the gauntlet days with Rachel and Tina). I am also so sad to hear Tara and Dan were alternates! I need more true OGs!

That makes sense (blech). I still wish they’d just do it without Sean, but I guess if they had an agreement among them that all 7 had to be on board, it is what it is.. so yay…Miami? Some hard gets there too, as I don’t think Melissa has been seen since the show, or Mike, or Sarah…

Oh it’s completely uncomfortable and mortifying—but it is for everyone else there too. This whole week represents that cast bearing down harder than they’ve had to in a long while to get through Julie’s desperate machinations, I’d imagine. But Kelley isn’t wearing her life coach hat in the house and regardless isn’t responsible for the actions of Julie and Jamie, two grown adults.

Also, Helloooo everyone! I had to dust off my username and reset my password, it’s been that long, but I’ve been stoked to have so much new Real World, old school Bunim/Murray content and great insights from you all to dive into here. All three seasons of Homecoming have been cathartic in ways I never anticipated, despite becoming a regular watcher of RW somewhere around Miami/London. In fact I only watched the original NY and Los Angeles seasons in their entirety recently. I’m such a sap that I had tears streaming down my face for much of NY Homecoming. Their bond is just so special, and witnessing their continued affection really did feel like a warm hug from an old friend. With all 3 seasons there’s just something so gratifying about seeing these cast members not much older than me whose lives were captured during a brief window of their youth, yet still grappling with being defined by their actions and relationships from that time so many years later…and now also carrying the inevitable baggage that accompanies middle age and everything that transpired between then and now. We’re getting everything from transformation and evolved consciousness (NY’s Eric, Kevin, and Julie, Tokyo) to still savvily trading in on their names or connections (Heather Beth, Tami, Kelley) to a few who are clearly wrestling with demons or lacking emotional intelligence (Becky, David, Julie). But I would say the majority seem to have settled into their next chapters if not totally gracefully at least with self-awareness and calm perspective. All these years later, I’m still looking up to many of them for how I hope my next years will play out, but that admiration is no longer rooted in who’s the most glamorous or who has acquired fame or success—my priorities and benchmarks for happiness have changed right along with them. BOY HOWDY am I cheesed off about scrapped plans for a Boston reunion (my favorite cast) if it’s true that Sean is the only one holding up the works by ignoring public health measures. WE DON’T NEED HIM. Unfortunately I suspect the producers may disagree, thinking that both he and horrid Rachel would be the necessary fulcrums for instigating drama with their cast mates at reunions of both their seasons (aside from Puck). They can both drown in a bubbling vat of rancid Wisconsin cheddar.

I don’t care much for Kelley, never have. I had forgotten about her incredulity that Jamie wasn’t jumping all over her when they first met simply because they were both attractive, (cringey entitlement later echoed by Cara to Kyle in the Chicago season). Prior to homecoming, two super random memories of Kelley before and after her RW season live rent-free in my head: The first was during the NOLA casting special when she held up a pinky finger with an impish grin to insinuate why she and her last boyfriend didn’t last. I think with that move the casting directors were hopeful that beyond the pretty face she’d be an unexpected firecracker, which wasn’t the case. The second was in an interview after her season where she talked about Scott Wolf courting her. In the days before TiVo or DVR, he tried to call her when she was watching Oprah and eating her strawberries and chocolate milk, and she chewed him out. I think that anecdote was also meant to deliver proof of her spunkiness and relatability—“I don’t care if you’re some hotshot celeb—don’t interrupt my favorite show!” Beyond the scolding, it was her snack choice that irked me and was also just a little too holier-than-thou—like, strawberries and chocolate milk are your indulgence? Had she said Doritos and Diet Coke I would have been All In (yes, yes, I know I’ve reached the summit of Mt. Petty here! 😹) But that’s also Kelley on this reunion: inaccessible and not particularly relatable. She seems to genuinely have a fantastic marriage and family life, but I wonder about her capacity to be a warm, impactful life coach (a title that already heralds all sorts red flags) when she still seems to be withholding so much of herself from the others. She missed the drag show to work on her book—is that why she was also absent for the second airboat ride? By the way, her book, Flow, isn’t self-published, but the publisher also isn’t a well-known nonfiction imprint or Canadian extension of one of the big houses (Random/Penguin, Hachette, Harper, etc.) So why was this deadline so imperative? Who’s waiting with baited breath for this book? And sure, Julie’s thirsty BS is creeping them all out, but putting up with one week of her shenanigans for a 200k payout or whatever shouldn’t be so rattling for someone who identifies as a “transcendental meditation” expert. Ha, evidently there are sparks flying everywhere from me grinding my ax so hard, but I think there has always been a stark contrast in this cast between Matt and Kelley—the pale boring ones who continue to just sort of coast—and the rest of them. Their skin looks great though, I’ll give them that!

I watched. Disappointed, though I'm not sure what I was expecting. The saying "water seeks its own level" kept coming to mind when they introduced her vapid friends and their pitifully thirsty boyfriends (sidenote, KC must have retained at least a couple of friends from her Laguna/LA days that simply don't want to film--right? I still find it odd and kind of sad that both on The Hills and here we've never seen evidence of any meaningful longstanding childhood friendships, except I guess for Heidi Pratt...yay?) And sorry, but Jay is the walking epitome of "UGH." I'm sure both of them are doing alright for themselves and she has made a nice little sum from her Chinese Laundry deal, books, and other endorsements. But there's never been much love lost between him and football fans, and his scowling and puttering around that garish house between bouts of checkin the deer cam certainly isn't going to endear him to anyone. She will one day tire of his rudeness and of carefully kowtowing to his mood swings, I predict. And I hope that day comes sooner than later.

YESSS! I was yelling some choice words at the TV. God, these people were socially obtuse jerks. I felt badly for the agent. I believe the guy mentioned something about his friend who had already opened a nearby resort being the one to encourage them to build another resort to be ahead of the supposed tourism boom (better hope he's right). If the comforts of western living are so important to them, why not just make an arrangement for the family to stay at his buddy's resort for a few months while the other is being built? Or wait to to move the family out until the new one is nearly finished (it looked like they had barely broken ground)? "So I would have to fix this thing MYSELF? So I'm paying over our budget and there's no oven or hot water?" These are not unreasonable complaints for the average renter, obviously, but when you are moving someplace where so many people clearly live MUCH simpler, you can shut your pie hole about a leak in the ceiling and having to dump some chemicals in your backyard pool.

Welp, finally a pair of house hunters that melted this cold, black heart: the Omaha couple was adorable. Sure, their initial budget expectations for Barcelona were naive, but what a great twist at the end that instead of going under budget far outside the city center, the husband was insistent on putting his wife's happiness first--but her first vocalizing that she would be happy in the place in the suburbs was awesome, and I wish we saw more of that on this show rather than those couples with one partner who brags about always getting his or her way at the end. But don't worry--cold black heart was perfectly intact for the woman moving to Australia and her delusional mother. Super mean, but I kept squinting at her hair wondering, "is she wearing a Bumpit? Is that a requisite for cruise directors?" And speaking from experience, making friends roommates or trying to force friendship from roommates is a great way for cohabitation to get real messy real fast. I also wanted to hide under the table when Poland guy was spinning for the dancing "friends" he was entertaining at the end of the episode. I get the feeling most of these "new friends" magically generated in just two or three months' time are people pulled off the street or hustled up via the Craigslist "gigs" section for $100 a pop and a signed waiver...

I thought she was referring to TRav and Landon (when a caller asked if she thought they hooked up)? But neither pair has chemistry. And I don't think Whitney would even have chemistry with a liter of Coke and Mentos. When people say "he's/she's straight out of central casting" I think Daisy's appearance is literally the result of a production casting notice posted on Craigslist. Hope the pay isn't too crappy!

oooh, putting a dozen bottles of Rosé in a bucket! Landon is practically the next Barefoot Contessa, you guys! Hope all of that toiling in the kitchen doesn't take its toll, though--Thomas "GQ" Ravenel won't tolerate hips or cankles!

There is so much resentfulness and malaise between Cait and Kris that it's extremely uncomfortable to watch. Those two need to go No Contact for a long time, until they've individually had a lot more therapy. Those "lighthearted" memories Kris shared about Cait stealing her makeup and sitting down to pee went over like a ton of bricks. It's way too soon and inappropriate to frame such anecdotes as wacky hijinks when they represent many years of stressful identity conflict for Cait. Kris's instinct to smooth this all over is to treat Cait like poor, baffled Bruce from the KUWTK days of yore, and I don't blame Cait for refusing to play along...but then don't call Kris up for facials and wine! They may have mastered cordiality for the cameras, but they are a long way from being able to enjoy each other's company again; maybe they never will.

Yeah, I should be so lucky to look like Cameron BEFORE vowing to "get in shape"!!! We're the same age, and my kingdom for that metabolism and figure, if it really is just genetics. I do, however, think a lot of these Bravo women simply don't...eat, or at least when the cameras aren't rolling in preparation for their upcoming filming. Don't know about Cameron, but I think I once Read Lisa Rinna admitting "I'm hungry all the time!" which I found refreshing. You do what you gotta to be "camera ready," but I know for me it would be a giant sacrifice and so, so much work; I suspect for the vast majority of them it is too. Working out only gets you so far.

As the scene opened, I was sure it was a bachelor party and he was was wearing a wig forced on him by the others. Now I can only conclude that the poor guy must have taken a wrong turn somewhere in Bushwick and just kept walking south. Do they want to follow him around for a few episodes?? I'm cool with that! I also see potential in a Craig and Gizmo spinoff, which is really the only potential he has going for him at the moment. "I don't stress," as Naomi astutely pointed out, is so insulting, as it's always code for "not my problem" and "someone else will deal with it" with people like Craig, the language of coasters blithely gliding behind others' Type A tendencies (or you know, acting like adults). Unlike his law career or JD's mentorship, he clearly doesn't yet realize that pissing away his shot with Naomi will have far worse emotional consequences for him. I see "too blessed to be stressed" Craig being stunned when she leaves him, when in fact she'll have already been done with him for awhile and was simply waiting for the right time to bail. Not here AT ALL for the Landon/T-Rav barf-a-thon. The bar gymnastics are also so cringe-worthy, as others noted. I wonder if it will take these guys seeing themselves on camera to realize how pathetic they look trolling for women ten, fifteen, even thirty years their junior and what an empty, desperate charade the whole scene is. Nah.

I'm so happy Southern Charm is back! "Thom-asssss!" "Oh GORSH, Craig!" (TM Watch What Crappens guys). Austen seems like he will be a nice means to putting Shep in his place while being more confrontational about Shep's classism and snobbery that Craig is too weak to fully call him on (well and also because Craig IS a poseur). What's so wrong with being a beer rep? I don't get his parents' disapproval, unless he's not making much money and they are subsidizing his rent. My understanding of those jobs is that you can make a decent living but actually have to hustle quite a bit to make your commissions, be very knowledgable about the beverages, and target lots of merchants and bars to shmooze prospective buyers while keeping them all happy and orders organized. It's not a desk job, but you're not off getting soused every day. It wouldn't be for me, but it strikes me as a perfectly valid way for someone outgoing and personable to earn a paycheck. He seems to be doing okay for himself. One episode in, but already far too much Landon. Go away, Landon!

Awww, man! I completely cosign what you guys are saying in regards to SHO being a refreshing change from Bravo's usual "plasticky women pitted against plasticky women" fare. I also like the devoted friendships, the real talk about financial woes and past mistakes, the funny interstitials from locals. I get so tired of the forced melodrama and frequent darkness on the Real Housewives franchises... but I don't think this show belongs on Bravo. I'm actually kind of surprised Oxygen or TLC didn't snap it up, since I think it would have a much easier time winning an audience there. My crippling laziness has prevented me from looking up ratings, but does anyone know how it's doing? Maybe it's also as simple as not having enough pretty scenery to covet a la Southern Charm. It just left me underwhelmed. I get the sense that Bravo is in an exploratory "let's throw EVERYTHING at the wall at see what sticks!" phase, which must explain why I am also seeing previews for shows specifically encouraging fighting over who's a "real best friend" on a trip to Cabo (WTF???), but there's only so much diversifying you can do as a network without alienating your viewers. Do you want your offerings to be more relatable, like this show? Or to veer into Bad Girl's Club territory? Pick a damn lane!

Not about to get overly precious about Jonathan Cheban's well being, but if ever there was a "look at your life/look at your choices" come to Jesus moment for this sad barnacle, I can't think of a better one than having to feign interest in Kim Kardashian's pee bag. THIS is how you're earning your paycheck? Have we reached rock bottom yet??

I'm watching via On Demand, why I have no idea. The biggest thing that pisses me off about this show and others of its ilk (House of DVF, Running in Heels) is all the hard working, boring normal staff members not shown, and no, not just the beleaguered yet ever camera ready interns in the fashion closets. I assume they have to do the majority of office taping after regular work hours--or else where are they hiding the rest of the Cosmo staff? The copyeditors, the photo researches, the marketing and sales teams, the administrative and executive assistants who don't get to jet off to Miami to "location scout" with Evan. So many people in the magazine industry work long and hard hours closing monthly issues, and most of them for very little pay and recognition. Kell on Earth was the only show that I feel came close to capturing the drudgery of day-to-day office work in this too often glamorized industry. I guess until they find a way to sex up Excel spreadsheets and jammed printers we'll have to pacify ourselves with Steven's tired barbs at Deandra and laying awake at night anticipating the next long-lasting, bold lip color (TM L'oreal)!

Growing up Stassi must have been the NOLA-adjacent equivalent of the North East's bridge & tunnel kids bragging about NYC being "their city" and cutting class to take the train in and heading straight to Times Square. She's from New Orleans and her first time on Bourbon street wasn't until after prom?! We know those thirsty parents of hers were unlikely to be super protective, so I wonder what the real story was. I really did want to see some hidden gems! Silly me.

She can cram her bigotry and her pink lemonade hued lipstick up her thirsty hoo-haw--I also don't buy that schtick for a second. A true Pentecostal, while not exactly like Fundamentalist and Evangelical Christians, and strictness varies from church to church, would condemn this entire show outright as full of sinners to be avoided at all costs--false idol worshipping, pre-marital sex and co-habitation, divorce, alcohol and substance abuse, etc, etc--homosexuality would be only one slice of the Satan SUR pie. She would have long ago dragged Brittany back home (or even cut off contact) and would never have agreed to be on camera in the first place, much less giggling over anecdotes about Brittany throwing a kegger with a "ho" theme in high school. BULL. SHIT, lady. If you're going to suddenly play the holier-than-thou card, at least convincingly commit to the part.

Random question/musing, are they allowed pens and paper in the house to keep journals? I would think from a production standpoint that wouldn't be allowed because then they could all have a record of who did what on which day to memorize as an obvious advantage for comps. It would be much harder to keep all of the goings-on straight if you had only your memory to rely on; then again, Paul, Nicole, and Cory had minimal trouble coming up with the days and most of the house guests from other seasons seem to fare okay in this comp too... all this is to say, I stopped rooting for James after this episode. COME ON, dude. There's zero hustle in him anymore, and the "aww, shucks, I've got a memory like a fish!" schtick is so lame this late in the season. This contest should come down to Paul and Nicole.

"Well BUMMER!" hahaha. Another phone call I'll always remember from this season is Genesis on the phone with her mom, and her mom, struggling with depression, reveals that she hasn't eaten in a week. Genesis asks why and her mom in her thick Mississippi accent announces, "I don't deserve to eat." It was a very sad situation, but I'll cop to still borrowing that phrase in place of "I'm not hungry" every once in awhile for melodramatic flourish. See you all in hell, I guess. I'll bet it's all reality TV down there 24/7 anyway. ;)

THANK YOU! So good. "I'm not gonna walk around catering to your attitude an-y-more!!!"

I too am selfish. I want all of the seasons and all of the reunions, all of the casting specials (the one that sticks out most in my mind is Hawaii, where Colin found out while hosting the special he was going to be a roommate, even though this decision ended up being awful, and for Kaia's pretentiousness). If I HAD to pick highlights/lowlights from each missing season Miami: hot tub threesome and window snooping; all of Flora's interactions with Mitchell; Dan screaming at Melissa for opening his mail Boston (FAVORITE SEASON): Montana WHORE!!! call out from Vaj; Crossover trip with Road Rules cast; "Genesisisms" ("I don't need your dogma when I'm trying to go to the 7-11!") Montana getting in trouble for serving alcohol; mini trip to Martha's Vineyard Seattle: The slap heard around the world; "you're killing me, Kira!"; Janet chainsmoking on a mountaintop in Nepal Hawaii (this one's hard): Ruthy's alcohol poisoning; Amaya whining; Kaia being topless; Justin being a shit-stirrer New Orleans: Come on be my baby tonight! All of Melissa's confessionals and chair throwing--TIME THE F*CK OUT!!--Danny and his bf Back to NY: Corral schooling the Miz before he was the Miz; all the shots of NYC pre 9/11 Chicago: their coverage of 9/11; Tonya histrionics; uhhhhhhhh, also drawing kind of a blank I admit now that I'm finishing up the London marathon that this season was pretty damn boring--I think what redeemed it for me though was how random all of their professions and hobbies were (Race car driver! Fencer! Model! DJ! Playwright!) and how we got glimpses of all of them doing these things and how they were all able to respect and get excited about each other's passions for the most part.