Alapaki

After my children, coining the term "Social Barnacles" may be my most enduring legacy. Whitney is a classic case of someone who was shunned by the "in-groups" in high school and college and, once she gets the least bit of power turns into exactly what she hated when she was young. I believe that early on Whitney's parents and the Barnacles probably agreed to participate in the show out of pity for her (and in her parents' case, in the hope that she'd at least earn enough money to move out of their house!). But then they all got sucked in by the money. It's not a lot in the grand scheme of things. But, it's a lot in exchange for pretending to kiss Whitney's ass for a few days each year. None of the Barnacles are financially secure enough to throw away easy money. That's why I respect people like Will, who decided that no amount of money is worth that humiliation. Now Whitney sees that she can treat them like shit and they'll all stick around. I think the joke is on her, though. As she probably thinks they're sticking around for her, and not the money.

As soon as the show is over she’s going to find there isn’t anyone around to abuse anymore.

I haven't seen it yet, but boy does this have me intrigued. I LOVE when we get glimpses of the real Whitney. She's a mean piece of work. And, you know, I'm convinced that Babs is too. If Whitney's on the way to France, I bet LeBlur is curled up in the fetal position under a table repeating "they should have stopped her at Munich, they should have stopped her at Munich . . . "

Agreed. COVID restrictions were some obscure travel issue that only frequent flyers would know about. I can't imagine someone buying a plane ticket (that I'm guessing would be non-refundable) without making sure you could actually travel.

Re: "ISSA": Urban Dictionary confirms issa shorthand way to say "it's a" (see what I did there?) So many things about Whitney are so awful that it's funny how her appropriation of street slang barely registers. And I've finally had a chance to drink in those "launch party" pictures. Wow. The janky low-budget kids-party tablecloth; the plastic champagne flutes (only Whitney's is drained, of course); the barely-gives-a-shit "decorations"; and the cake oh my the cake. I looked it up and there doesn't appear to be a Carvel Shoppe in or around Greensboro. That means someone went to the grocery store and got one from the ice cream section, then brought it home and added the "ISSA Launch" themselves (which explains why the box is torn open. I don't agree that they're the most prominent. There are some absolutely stunning women with significant online audiences who are much better spokeswomen. Nevertheless, it's hard to deny that letting Whitney hawk stuff is a very cost-effective way for plus-size brands to hit their specific target niche market, certainly compared to an official ad campaign. Seen in realtime, as on the show, most of what she wears doesn't seem too flattering. But with all of the filters and photoshopping she does for her online pix I'm sure they look better. If anything, seeing Whitney probably encourages people to say "if xyz makes stuff that fits her, they've got to have a selection that fits me."

I've said for years that that need could have been met by licensing her "Big Girl Dance Class". But we have since learned that BGDC was a fraud. And Whitney is a fraud as well. I've come to the conclusion that Whitney couldn't provide a quality exercise/wellness program even if she wanted to. I believe she's gone beyond mobility issues to being functionally disabled. And, as long as TLC and a few plus-size marketers will pay her to pretend to be overweight and still active and healthy, she's decided that there's no use bothering to actually be active and healthy.

Jessica’s father was smart enough to cut ties with the shitshow to avoid tarnishing his brand and credibility. I guess he’s letting his daughter make her own mistakes.

My fondest hope is that the “Frenchman” is actually a Production intern in a basement in Secaucus with a fake Paris Zoom background and they’ve been pranking Whitless for months

No. They are not. They LIVE for showing us how graceLESS Whitney is.

BARFers assemble!

Trailer Park Kardashians

I would watch a series that’s nothing more than Carlo moving in for one week with each of the other mother/daughter duos and setting them straight.

Someone’s angling for The Single Life methinks

Well, we need some eye candy. And Bracesny doesn't count as she's a mess. Agree that Danielle is entertaining in a constant-second-hand-cringe sort of way. I'm done with Molly. She should stick to her onlyfans and raise her daughter. I actually wouldn't mind seeing a season of Natalie learning that she's a 6.

The way Molly continues to bring men into her home whom she sees he younger daughter getting attached to knowing that the relationship is in all likelihood not going to last is, imo, repugnant parenting. Why in the world would she let her daughter get so attached to Kelly before she'd resolved the "wants a baby" situation, which she knew was going to be an issue? I thought Molly and her partner were entertaining on their bra-store reality show. But she's just proved the curse that you never make yourself look better by returning to reality tv.

On The Amazing Race you used to be able to tell when one team-member was clearly the one behind applying and getting on show, and the other team-member was the sorry son of a bitch who got dragged all over the place just to let their friend/family member have their 15 minutes of reality fame. That's exactly what I think of when I see Julia and Brandon. Julia's clearly driving the train. She playing up the "jealousy" angle because she has nothing else to lean on. She's playing up the fractured syntax because she's decided it makes her "endearing". I'm sure Brandon went along because I doubt there are many bodies like that in DimWitted, Virginia or whereverthehell he lived. And it's easier money than crawling through folks' bug-infested crawl-spaces.

Mike's abject apathy demonstrates that acting for realty show cameras isn't easy. Maybe he thought that being as boring and uninterested/ing as possible would get TLC to cut the cord sooner. He didn't realize they'd make lemonade out of lemons and simply portray him as an asshole of a husband. My point being, these two deserve each other.

Your befuddlement comes from the fact that you are a normal, productive person. I fear I've sadly crossed over the "get off my lawn" line, age-wise; but the fact is that for a disturbing (to me, at least) number of people, being a reality tv "star", no matter how far down the "alphabet-list" you are, and no matter what it takes to get there, as a viable, indeed enviable, career path. It's simply the modern day traveling Freak Show, with the Discovery Family of Networks making coin off of the sucker born every minute.

Yes, it is for life, unless the conditions for cutting it off are met. The 10-year figure comes from the fact that it would typically take an immigrant (who doesn't want to leech off of his sponsor forever) about 10 years to qualify out of the sponsorship requirement. I can see the next spin-off now: 90-Day Fiance - The Support Years

Everytime I see those sisters on-screen all I can think is "I've seen the inside of you". I then I die a little more. Separately, if/when this crew gets a spin-off, may I humbly propose the thread title "Slumlord Kardashians"?

Don’t forget the head turn to the right that accompanies every time she cackles at her own inappropriate trashy comments

I hope ghost guy got his BJ from Brittany (I assume that’s what she was hinting at) without getting cut by the braces, goes back to Detroit and never looks back. Brittany needs to stop laughing at her own “jokes”. She not nearly as clever as she thinks she is. I think less and less of Liz the more I see her. Where is her 7 year old when she’s running around with this garden gnome? I really don’t like Molly. Her voice grates. She needs to dress for her size/age, and, if she was THAT sure it was cop Kelly’s kid from looking at the picture, she should need more than a “nah, they ain’t mine” to be reassured. I can’t stand listening to Colt when he’s dressed. Can you imagine having to listen to him gabber with his micro-penis exposed? Vanessa needs a hug or a medal or something

She realized she’s getting paid more for a few days if this than she could make in 6 months of waiting tables during COVID

I think you've answered your own question. My sense was that this is exactly what they offered him. They wanted him to stay but would not allow him in the studio while Amira was being interviewed. Thus they must have wanted to have him back on-air after her interview concluded so that he could tell his side. The fact that he turned that down (unless there's a whole lot we didn't see) is very sketchy. Doesn't this guy work with his mother doing daycare? Who the hell would leave her child in his care?

I find the pop-psych-babble this crews spews pretty insufferable. If only they knew someone who might be trained in, oh I don't know, counseling or something, who might be able to facilitate communication for them. Or maybe Nancy's decided that she's scribbled enough in that notepad for her tell-all and peaced-out. I wonder how much of this is carry-over frustration about not getting his way with the "One Big House" idea? Christine especially led the charge against that idea; and now she's the one whining the most about how they can't be together. It could also be a product of the conflict between Robyn's (God save me!) reasonable COVID concerns and the other wives' casual indifference, which is making it tough for Kody. If he had to chose one wife, it would certainly be Robyn. But he's not supposed to acknowledge that out loud. COVID was forcing him to.