pasdetrois

It's time for Karen to retire the white knits. That's the second time her booty has looked lumpy and dumpy. Is she wearing Depends-style panties? I think she confused her MC duties for her own episode of "This Is Your Life." Or the Emmys. She was in Full Narcissist Delusion Mode. The earnest little speech to the disinterested security guard had us howling. Too bad's Candiace's shade repertoire is limited to attacking other women's looks. Amusing, considering the lengths she goes to cover up her own face with a pound of makeup (and I suspect a nose job). Chris' reputation was never threatened because who takes a bunch of drunken thirst queens seriously? But I like Candiace smoothly shutting them all down by refusing to engage. (Production's probably not happy.)

Was Cicada Wife meant to provide a distraction/code September so all the other stuff could go down? Was it made clear what would happen to her?

CNN article on Chrisleys' downfall: https://www.cnn.com/2022/12/30/entertainment/todd-chrisley-julie-chrisley-timeline/index.html

Another Garcelle casting: https://deadline.com/2022/12/the-other-black-girl-garcelle-beauvais-hulu-original-series-1235197451/ ETA: according to today's Primetimer, Garcelle has a guest spot on Miracle Workers: End Times (TBS).

If someone had attacked Heather, production would force her to tell and cover it forever. Instead, we have the off-camera producer pretend to grill Heather, when in fact the two of them are collaborating to build drama. I think it was a wayward elbow, doorknob, something simple and obvious. Heather is so fucking smug and coy, sitting there in her delusions about her popularity. Did anyone notice the back of her head when she answered the door to Jen? Basically she rolls out of bed and then just sticks the extensions on. Also, haven't they all had enough time to grow their hair and skip the extensions? My hairdresser says hair grows an average of six inches a year. For all their popularity, many extensions signal lack of basic good grooming. Heather doesn't always look clean. Have to laugh at the hapless Lisa, referring to "one little rant," followed by her essentially calling Meredith a pill-popper. She has zero control over her mouth and emotions. I did like her pale blue outfit for the mythology dinner. Again most of their clothing appears to come from one source (go-cart outfits). Is Bravo forcing them to wear these hideous, inappropriate outfits? Good gawd, what was that coral fringed travesty that Meredith wore? She used to be elegant. ETA: Crowd funding isn't necessarily a bad thing and shouldn't be confused with raising funds for a charitable cause (e.g., someone's house burns down). At one time there were pro-business websites providing a platform for businesses to crowd-fund new initiatives. Lisa and John may be trying to avoid spending their business or personal funds or getting a business loan from a bank. The public is free to decide whether to participate. Meredith, that fount of all business knowledge, appears to be trying to imply that Lisa is broke. Or cheap.

This was an excellent episode, with some action. Although the failure of the flying father and daughter to untie River, choosing to ask questions and discuss the predicament instead, was extremely annoying to watch. As the Russians and MI5 agents sat in the board room, I expected the spectre of the Cessna to appear in the big windows.

It appears that Dorinda's had a facelift. Either that, or she's just surprised all of the time. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-11564323/RHONY-alum-Dorinda-Medley-radiant-red-Good-Day-Philadelphia-appearance.html

It looks as if one designer made all the dresses. The ruching, the shiny fabric, the gathers in the trains.

I think that's because it existed before the show, and therefore Bravo wasn't able to negotiate profit-sharing. Bravo gets a cut of proceeds from some other housewives products that are featured on the show.

I wonder if the Shahs are in heavy debt with low credit scores, despite Coach's alleged high income and the tsunami of money that came Jen's way. I'm referring to debt before they incurred Jen's legal fees. Not owning a home, not helping with a child's tuition...those seem odd in light of their supposed incomes.

Final season begins 9pm on 1 January, New Year’s Day, on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.

I think her restitution promises are based on her belief that she will be back on the reality TV hustle in several years. And of course now we have Only Fans and Cameo (Captain Lee of Below Deck was a top Cameo earner.) The grifting possibilities are endless. Instead of Happy Birthday Cameo videos, Jen could create videos where she threatens someone a Cameo customer really hates.

All of that admirable knowledge, and she chooses to perform on reality TV.

I watched the entire series the past couple of months, having been too annoyed to pay for streaming in addition to cable when season 2 launched. Now that these characters are gone, I am bereft. I have loved reading the forum posts, which were informative and fun and covered everything. I'll just say that I thought the series' weakness early on was focusing so much on two young white women, both with significant inherited privilege (Marissa and Maia), at the expense of Jay and other Black characters. Marissa magically became an investigator and then an attorney, and Maia just annoyed me in general (e.g., the affected scratchy voice). I enjoyed Diane, Jay, Julius, Liz, Lucca, Adrian, Carmen and Felix, the pesky gnat one loves to hate-watch. Random note: here in DC we had a "N-word-ly" at least 20 years ago. I don't remember who said it - maybe a city council member? - and the fight was on, earning coverage in The Washington Post.

He is a notable weakness in an otherwise excellent series. I had a feeling the parents were cicadas, but that's the influence of The Americans. Was Standish playing bumbling agent as part of a long game? What's odd to me is that the slow horses seem to be operating individually, without any coordination, with the exception of Lamb's occasional brief, foul-mouthed direction.

Someone has to say it, so I will: "Put those things away or you'll put someone's eye out." My vote is that one of Jen's rock-hard bullet boobs smacked Heather in the eye. Agreed. Heather looks so horrible, with her overly processed face, wonky lashes, crappy extensions, and Frankenstein shoes. She needs to go softer and to add some color to her lips. Meredith's beach get-up was very discount casino hooker. Maybe that's the look she was going for. She's clearly advertising for a wallet. Brooks' fashion career ain't gonna cut it. How many times has Jen's family heard the suicide threats? I'm getting a whiff of production aligning the new cast with Whitney and Lisa and pointing them at Heather. I think she senses it and tries to deflect with her misdirection, Dominant Talking and stomping out of the room. She doesn't understand why she's no longer production's golden girl.

I wonder why they chose to run the story now.

She did it on purpose. But as they always say, money can't buy you class.

Yeah, the BD franchise is a gateway to the more lucrative social media opportunities. It's like a season-long audition. Does Bravo get 10% of the OF earnings?

Exactly. In my town developers preserve and build on the original footprint in order to grandfather in footprints that violate modern zoning restrictions. If they tear down, they usually have to create a smaller footprint that is further away from neighboring property lines.

I view the relationship between Richa and Vishal as best friends. Without benefits. I've assumed all along that they want children, so marriage is the solution. I was thinking that Amrit had his act together, but he has proven himself to be an immature baby. And Nicholas reminds me of the guy who married Reza on Shahs of Sunset. Whiny and hovering and always just there in the frame, waiting for his moment. Ugh. "You are my person." Do best friends say that to each other? I hope Vishal gets sober and healthy. If not he is facing true misery and pain from alcohol-aggravated Chron's. He's quite likable and charismatic when he's sober. They need to get rid of the brothers and their foul-mouthed mother. I suspect Anisha will come dragging home to her parents after a failed romance in a strange place. (Happens to a lot of us.) Maybe she made the impulsive leap to AZ in order to avoid what felt to her like a smothering and occasionally hostile community. However, I wonder at her decision to be less involved in the show. She seems to enjoy it.

If people think that online work is not as meaningful as classroom work, they need to join the modern era. Many colleges have online degrees in place of traditional classroom learning solely to accommodate older students who have jobs, kids, etc. and don't have the time to sit in traffic and classrooms. The online and classroom degrees hold equal weight. However, some colleges market vanity certificates. Harvard started this years ago. Clever wording is used to confuse the public into thinking they are traditional degrees. My friend participated in a Harvard business program that did not equal getting a traditional degree, but she has a fancy-titled certificate. I'm not sure about Candiace's Executive MBA or whether it is equal to the traditional MBA. I did have to laugh at Howard's requirement for years of management experience in order to participate. But good for Candiace furthering her education in a practical way. Chris, you will never win against production, no matter how much you huff and puff and make bold demands. Monique and Chris tried it and failed. Meanwhile, production's stage directions are so annoyingly transparent. "Two house wives sitting. Another joins. One housewife smoothly exits the scene. One of the two remaining housewives launches into a lament, concluding with 'I just want to get past this and go forward.' Second housewife responds with the same drivel. Both try to summon tears but have to settle with forcing a catch in their throats and perhaps the hands over eyes." Repeat four or five times an episode. And the prenup talk. Again. This show has run its course, limped over the finish line, and expired.

I was disappointed in season two and now I no longer have an HBO subscription. Any chance season three captures the season one magic?

I wonder if Kurt and Diane were inspired by James Carville and Mary Matalin. (Apologies if this was discussed many threads back.)

I love the notion of cicadas for this story. We had our latest 17-year brood - early due to climate change - and as one ages, one wonders if it was our last. The computer whiz and Lamb are so foul that it hampers my enjoyment of the show. Otherwise I'm appreciating the pace and performances.