pasdetrois

Those scenes ruined the last episode for me. Entirely gratuitous.

That's a hall-of-famer right there.

Not one intelligent thought or comment from any of the commentators. Occasionally Gigi would sound like she was paying a little bit of attention, but then all of them were back to the drivel. "Very fresh." "It slays." And the always popular "It's iconic." We tried counting how many times these witless gems were uttered and couldn't keep up. When five or six of them get on a roll together...

I'm gonna guess that Robyn and Juan don't have a nest egg socked away. Will her parents save them?

I'm normally right there with you. Perhaps it was the late hour, but I laughed so hard at Tyler's accidental prat fall and quiet little "Ow," the sound of Hayley's belly laughs, and Fraser's mumbling and staggering. The accidental three stooges. And the closed-captioning gave us "we" when Hayley said "that's wee," meaning pee on the floor. (Yuck)

There were a lot of sexy cut-outs and stretch banded bodices at the Oscars. Occasionally I thought "Pnina Tornai!" as I watched Bao's designs. Her aesthetic isn't "fresh." I believe production picks the winner, perhaps even before the show, based on demographics and how cheaply it can be produced for the masses.

I'm a fan of her cooking but only if she completes it on time. She's wrong for this show. Is production idiotic enough to believe they have to seed every season with someone they know will have pronounced time issues - you know, to bring the drama?

In addition to three Grammys and other awards, Nettles has appeared on Dolly Parton's TV shows, plus Righteous Gemstones and Harriet; the Broadway cast of Chicago and the lead in Waitress; and a bunch of other stuff.

Is it a young Wanda Sykes? I'm so frustrated at how little time these designers are given. One of the judges called a design a craft project, and that is indeed what all of them are doing because they don't have enough time. Just throwing paint and bows and pockets and the kitchen sink on a model and calling it a day. I informally calculated how much time is provided for the hosts' hogging the camera and microphones, and over an episode is it about 1/3 of the episode.

About 30 years ago US manufacturers pushed back against higher wages and embraced the concept of "twin plants." As in, manufactured parts in Mexico, VietNam, etc,, shipped to the US and assembled here and stamped Made in the USA. The conditions in many of the foreign twin plants are horriffic.

Alana never had a chance.

I think production will require Robyn to interact with all of the other housewives, and they will be instructed to needle her about the deceptions of this recent season. They all do it to each other; the targets are switched out each season. It's a Bravo democracy - everybody takes a turn as a target.

SAG-AFTRA is specific about what actors do vs, say, non-union extras. Down to whether an actor has a reaction shot (such as a quick facial reaction) vs being one of many in a crowd. New actors strive for a single, scripted line and then hopefully more lines and roles. These levels tie back to compensation and union enrollment. Reality TV, with its non-union participants, has to be careful not to cross boundaries into true acting with written scripts, which only union actors can do. (Originally it was believed that this approach would be cheaper than a typical TV or movie production. It's been said that the genesis of reality TV was the writers' strikes, which deprived studios of scripts and shut down all production.) So now we have the heavily "scripted" housewives, deck crews, etc. working with production to shape and deliver their planned storylines within those boundaries. They can re-shoot planned activity repeatedly, such as sashaying into a room, kissing, or throwing drinks at somebody, without violating the parameters. They or producers can suggest they say something, and try it different ways, but they aren't handed written scripts. I'm assuming that production folks - camera operators, sound engineers, lighting techs - are from the technical unions. If I recall correctly, looping is when a union actor reads his scripted lines in a controlled setting in a studio, which is not the same thing as what reality TV production does. The reality TV editors clearly do lift recorded video and audio and move it around, clean it up technically, enhance it with effects, and so on, and meet broadcast technical standards. I think it was a production member who recorded that "move your boat" conversation with Sandy, both of them improvising. Sometimes it's obvious when they re-record audio, or add new audio, because the viewer can hear the change in sound.

I think the "farmers" are along for the reality TV ride and hoping for some nookie from desperate wife-candidates. (A la The Bachelor) And a southern affectation. Some of my relatives are southern farmers, and the hats and cowboy boots began to appear about 20 years ago. (However, the hats/boots have always been common in southwest Louisiana, which is across the river from TX.) I love farm-ish shows and I watch real ones on YouTube. But this show is awful. Jennifer Nettles has fallen a long way. Given her extremely successful career, what is she doing on this dreck?

EXACTLY. And she will need the money and will therefore do it.

Me too. Although I think he lost his hat and Abbott Elementary's Gregory found it. Sheridan gave her magical Indian flying powers. Seriously, I'm glad she got away, because I'm sick of the school violence porn. They all were indoctrinated in racist hatred for the heathens. However there are stories about some who were kind. I've read a few books about native women who said they benefitted from the schools and chose to remain in White society afterward. Sheridan must have been fantasizing about a madcap Carole Lombard when he wrote Alex's story. All those saucy bon mots as she faces dilemmas. Thirty years ago a friend showed me a huge US Navy ghost fleet in Virginia waters. They were mostly WWII ships, quietly rusting away under the sun and rain. They were anchored, and we rode through them on a tiny motorboat. I think they are all removed now.

Ayesha runs because she's angry and doesn't know how to express her feelings or work through her childhood pain. Some people are bolters, some are fixers. The best part of teacher appreciation day is the little givers with their shy sweet faces. My family member is an elementary public school teacher, and he has received key chains, homemade bookmarks, cologne, and a pocket dictionary. One memorable year he received a box of Band-Aids because he had cut himself shaving (from a tiny first-grader who clearly put some thought into it).

I'm not even watching, because most TV designers annoy the heck out of me, but the posts here confirm what I know the trend still is. Wretched excess.

This is a great characterization. The franchise was making me ill and I realized it's best to stop watching. But I'll continue to read posts for updates. I don't use social media.

Production is ordering her to do it so the relationship can be caught by the cameras. They don't like storylines outside their control.

I don't know how long it's been going on, but it points to the larger pattern of production's heavy-handed control of the storylines. I've assumed that some housewives receive bonuses based on ratings and popularity or even the love-to-hate-her housewives who pull in viewers. I think the seasonal payments are parsed out in order to keep the housewives performing like circus monkeys. We've heard of people not showing up to reunions, and I can see where a payment would be withheld. I don't know where else to put this: an older news item about Andy's new scripted show based on his life. Some speculate that executives want WWHL killed and Andy off of the housewives franchise. https://deadline.com/2022/09/andy-cohen-coming-of-age-comedy-most-talkative-nbc-universal-tv-1235118839/

The 08 recession killed some very small towns, especially those that were already struggling. Original industries had already died off, and tax bases were already low. People walked away from their homes, even ones that were paid for, to seek work in larger towns. My family's Mississippi town is slowly dismantling its infrastructure (police, utilities, schools, etc.) because it cannot afford to provide services, and the county and state are now providing some of those services. A friend who is a visiting nurse and who grew up in rural North Carolina worked in Mississippi during the pandemic, and she said the poverty is shocking.

On another show a designer added transoms to let in more light to a kitchen. I have three kitchen windows plus a back door with glass. I looked into installing solar tubes but decided against the cost.

I think we know that Hannah is not a Sandy fan. The others kiss her ass so that production will consider them for future BD Med episodes. I never thought Ben's and Camille's romance was real. But Ben will eagerly partake of any benefits it provides.

It was interesting that Chris felt comfortable enough during the reunion to show his rage and raise his voice and curse at Gizelle. He's a large man, and rage and alcohol are not a good look. Most rational men whining about unemployment would avoid this look on TV. He's his own worst enemy. I think that if Chris (or any man) was drinking too much during the reunion, and showing irritability or anger, I would hesitate to be alone with him in a small room. But I don't think Gizelle stated this. My close friend, who will never see 50 again, still makes claims about unwanted attention from men. She's not a trauma survivor, and nobody is harassing her. I think some women do this to signal their desirability, especially fading beauties. My theory is that Candiace secretly dislikes her husband, or doesn't like his own lack of drive and purpose. He's riding her coat tails. But for now he helps advance her victim storyline when she needs it. I'd prefer to watch Candiace maneuver without his constant presence.