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No - surprisingly people think that reality shows are "real" I watch the Housewives franchises and during the season they go on trips somewhere to heighten the drama. These trips are "hosted" by one of the women for the sake of the storyline but are obviously paid for and booked by the producers along with every single restaurant, store or outing they go on. But some people will comment and it is clear they think that the "hostess" actually planned and paid for the trip. Like - yes of course - someone on a show is going to pay to "host" her castmates.

I vacillate between thinking HH can't really be that dumb and then thinking that a significant percentage probably are To quote George Carlin - Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that.' If non-affluent people are actually ripping out functional kitchens and bathrooms because they aren't white or resemble a spa respectively, no wonder most Americans are one paycheck away from a financial disaster or hold significant amounts of high interest credit card debt. However, I have to believe that the producers of HH deliberately don't let the HH talk about the kinds of critical stuff I would hope that most HH would find most significant - like school districts. Very occasionally a HH - generally in Florida - will have a rational request in terms of not being in a flood zone or wanting hurricane windows and masonry construction but that is the exception. And my personal snarkiness comes out when people are moving to cultural backwaters and exclaiming about all the "amenities" in these podunk places - their standards must be quite low. Don't get me wrong - you can get some wonderful dive type of food off the beaten track but I have a sense that these people are not boasting for the most part about these kinds of hidden gems.

60 would be a Spring Chicken compared to some of the really old guys like DeNiro who had his 7th kid at 79 and Al Pacino recently fathered his child at 83 Typically it is older men with trophy wives as it is part of their narcissistic personality to want to appear to still be virile enough to father children and part of the quid pro quo in terms of being with a woman young enough to be their grandchild. Given the poor level of parenting most of these people have, the early death of the father is probably the least of the issues. Women - even with frozen eggs - seem to not want to have children beyond a certain age. It seems more typical when a woman has deferred having children but they seem to have them in their late forties even if by surrogate rather than having a child at 60. If a woman has a child at 45 odds are that she will be alive well into the child's adulthood as expected life span would be at least 30 if not 40 years. And potential trade off is that many women (or people of either gender) will have more emotional intelligence to parent a child versus raising a child when one is in their 20's.

Not a rumor. I think they deliberately released it officially on Super Bowl Day so it wouldn't be "big news". This is pretty widely done as "bad" political stories are traditional released on Friday afternoon to minimize coverage.

Neither Larsa or Lisa have invested any money in their lines. They are licensing their names and promising promotional exposure for a royalty of some amount.

Is Larsa that unself-aware or does she think people are that stupid? She walked away with what I am sure was a huge amount of money from Scottie. I am equally certain that he is the one who is supporting the children as he would have paid a lot of child support. When they divorced, she essentially had no income and had never worked except for the brief stint as a housewife.

He gets to be on television being described as a legendary producer - why not? With no shame to him, I haven't thought of him in 20 years or more and then only as Gloria's husband. So now - to the extent I think of him - it has been pounded into my brain that he is a "legendary producer". Obviously he is a valid musical talent but producers tend to be background players. I don't get this music - it reminds me of the earliest days of disco when producers like Giorgio Moroder created the music but the singers like Donna Summer had actual singing ability. Adrianna's songs could be sung by a robot as she has no "voice". Also although she is an attractive woman, she is a bit old to be attempting to make it as a singer. I feel the same way about Candiace from Potomac who actually has more of an actual voice

Marcus owns a "rare" sneaker store called the Trophy Room. That is the extent of his "work". He has as much need to be in Paris for fashion week as any random person walking on the street. To the extent he has received invites it is part of the whole ritual of inviting random celebrities so that their picture will be in consumer gossip sites in order to bring attention to the brands. I think that Julia is gorgeous but stunt casting for the show. If there is going to be stunt casting, let it be iconic at least like Ramona's bulging eyeballs on RHONY

It is extremely strange that Monica's mother went to New York to break into television. No talent wannabes go to Los Angeles to break into television. While there are shows that are shot in New York - i.e. Law & Order for example in all its permutations, they cast for the most part from the very strong pool of theatrical actors - i.e. actual talented actors - versus Los Angeles which where the best looking high school graduate from a small town can eke out a small career (if lucky) in minor roles based on their looks

Her and Lebe did something last night and her mother agreed about Her and Lee My ears!!!

This listing has a blueprint of the unit. There are two floors - this links to the main floor with the garages. You would drive your car into the garage on the ground floor and the elevator would take you to the apartment and there are spaces for four cars that you would drive into https://www.compass.com/listing/18555-collins-avenue-unit-5205-sunny-isles-beach-fl-33160/553002771425930257/

Alexia’s old apartment sold on December 15, 2023 for approximately $10,5000,000. It obviously wasn’t sold when it was being filned so who knows what the real reason was or when she moved, It was 10,000 square feet which is massive even for a single family home. 🤷‍♀️ Since she doesn’t live there, I assume posting the listing is okay https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/18555-Collins-Ave-APT-5201-Sunny-Isles-Beach-FL-33160/247680773_zpid/

I think the issue in Miami just like it is in other hot markets like Los Angeles or Manhattan is that there is a shortage of AFFORDABLE apartments (and houses) and no shortage of ultra expensive apartments. In Los Angeles you can easily find a one bedroom for $3500 or $4000 in desirable areas but difficult to find an affordable apartment. There are a few ultra high end apartments in Los Angeles but for the most part people rent a super high end house for $40,000 or so. Manhattan has much more of the lifestyle of having super high end condos that are rented for huge amounts of money. But again - someone who can afford to pay a lot wouldn't have problems finding an apartment. You wouldn't need to pay $40,000 as you could find something for $5000 or $6000 - the issue is that amount is not affordable to most people.

It is up to the producers as housewives on all franchises have barred other housewives from attending events they are "hosting" They can't bar anyone from any of the trips even though these are theoretically "hosted". Marysol and Audriana are unique as they are for all practical purposes housewives and not friends even though they aren't holding anything in the opening credits. I don't know why it is structured this way but they are in every episode and are major cast in terms of interactions and story lines. The trips away are all paid for by production and the "hostess" is just picked by production for whatever reason they have. The events that housewives throw in their homes or at local venues are paid for by the individual housewives - but often they get free or reduced pricing from suppliers for promotional benefit as their names are either mentioned or they are credited in social medial posts by the housewives. I suspect that is the source of all of the gifts that Marysol had at her event. It is sometimes a major storyline - in RHONY the women got pissy with Jenna because she was gifting them with items that she had deals with and on the most recent UGT, people were pissed at Kelly because they thought her gifts were also a way for her to get paid for promoting items she had deals for.

Alexia lived in an extremely large condo - as I recall it had two floors. They might have gotten a deal on it because Alexia said their rent was less than the $40,000 for the unit they toured in this episode. Really rich people do NOT rent unless they are sent someplace on a job for a limited period of time - e.g. people working on a film will rent. People like Alexia rent for the same reason that people lease cars - the monthly payments are lower and so you can pretend you can afford more car than you can really afford. And I don't know how Larsa can - with a straight face - say that someone should not depend on a man for their income. As IF she didn't have most of her money because of a marriage. And I think most mothers would not stay in Miami if their high school daughter was in Los Angeles. Larsa has no pressing reason to be in Miami except to be on a reality show.

I think Luann really has lost that pretentiousness and now only uses it deliberately as a shtick but doesn't take it seriously. I think her life with the Count must have been a bit difficult and stifling for her even without the whole issues of his having mistresses. I would imagine that he never lost an opportunity - especially at the beginning of her marriage - to school her on appropriate behavior befitting her status. I actually found the whole idea of a Count in a country that has no royalty to be hilarious. I mean the whole idea of an aristocracy is ludicrous but at least in a country like English it is still a real thing.

How in the world does Kelly have any kind of success as a real estate agent. I realize that a lot of the high end success is based on personal connections which she does have and being a real estate agent doesn't require a lot of intellectual ability especially in New York where you are required to use a lawyer for every transaction. However how does she function as she seems to lack any kind of coherence. I thought the projection and lack of self awareness was astounding. I think Kelley was the one who was thinking about branding and social media clicks. Of course the others all have their agendas but less blatantly so. Luanne and Sonja really can't do much that is off brand as they have their brands and people enjoy the dynamic as in Crappie Lake. Ramona seemed subdued and I would imagine she is just trying to get by as easily as possible and collect her $250,000 check. I actually thought Dorinda was fine as I didn't find her mean spirited in the way she had been in the last few seasons where she was vile to Tinsley for no reason and her drinking seemed completely out of control. I think she did well in terms of redeeming herself after the pause. I don't mind Dorinda's fashion as she obviously likes somewhat unique stuff and she wears it well. At least she isn't covered in head to toe logos like some of the other franchises but is actually selecting clothing. Maybe I have weird taste but I really liked the sequin pant suit that looked like crocheted squares from a few seasons back.

Last night Dr. Wendy of the four degrees obviously missed basic grammar in getting her elementary school "degree" No Doctor Wendy - Her and I is not grammatically correct. As in "her and I went to the movies". It just grates on my ears like chalk on a blackboard - imagine saying "her went to the movies" ETA - Perhaps I should give her half credit as she didn't get it totally wrong as in "me and her went to the movies"

I also don't understand all of the Lisa sympathy. She married him for money - he was horrible when they married - horrible during the marriage as depicted on the earlier seasons and how surprised could she possibly have been that he left her for a newer model. The babies accomplished her goal as he is on the hook for serious child support payments for at least the next 18 years. Probably more since wealthy people are generally expected to support their children through college and graduate school as it is customary and even spelled out in the final agreements. She has moved on quickly - and lucky that there was a rich man who was willing to fund a 40 year old - not being ageist but just that she is no longer a trophy wife to a relatively young guy like Jodie is. Perhaps he likes the spotlight of dating a D-list celebrity so the cost of subsidizing her lifestyle is worth it. I genuinely can't imagine why a guy without issues would be willing to put up with her constant talk of her ex.

Based on my knowledge of New York social history of this time, Oscar is the equivalent of a Lord and not having actual financial expertise but is essentially handling his mother's estate in the same way that Lord Grantham was managing his inheritance. That is large the point of the antagonism between the Old Money who largely looked down upon the new generation of Robber Barons who had acquired their "new money" based on their talents. New York City in particular has always had this kind of dichotomy until all the barriers between Old Society and New Money collapsed in the past decade or so. Never has the show depicted Oscar as actually working at his profession and attempting to increase the size of it - except here where he speculated in the most hair brained of ways. New York City was always a bit unique - the South preserved the genteel ruling classes after Reconstruction ended; Boston was always old money where the Cabots spoke only to the Lodges and most of the other American Cities didn't have old money - Chicago didn't have any kind of old money society Hog Butcher for the World, Tool maker, Stacker of Wheat, Player with Railroads and the Nation's Freight Handler; Stormy, husky, brawling, City of the Big Shoulders:

Oscar was easily swindled because he wasn't really a banker or a finance person. He was a "gentleman" in the same way someone is a gentleman farmer. He managed the family money and perhaps because of that had an "office" in the bank that actually employed "crass" people who actually understood finance. He was meant to contrast with someone like Russell who as a self made financial genius who not only knew that the railroad was non-existent but also made it his business (no pun intended) to understand "businesses". Even though his specialty was railroads, he would have had a keen understanding of other industries because of the impact on his own businesses. Downton Abby's Lord Grantham was similarly swindled out of all of his wife's dowry and was only saved because he was allowed access to the entailed estate so long as he agreed to run it in a more businesslike manner. Not that people aren't still snookered by scams and schemes today, but theoretically there are some regulations so that the worst of the stock abuse is rarer than it was - still you have Enron, Wework, Theranos, FTX and Madoff to mention the largest and most notorious of recent history.

Bertha is a permissive mother as compared to Alva Vanderbilt on whom the character was based. Consuela (Gladys in real life) was locked in her room until she agreed to break off her secret engagement with Winthrop Rutherfurd - who was New York society but not the kind of grand marriage Alva wanted. Consuela was forced into a loveless marriage with the Duke of Marlborough but eventually came into her own and they ultimately divorced after 25 years of marriage https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Consuelo_Vanderbilt The Rutherfurds remained prominent in New York society and I actually worked with WR the III or IV when I spent a bit of time in the Trusts & Estates department of a New York white shoe law firm. It was there that I learned that the Social Register was not just an expression of speech but an actual book listing those people who were approved to be in the right circles. Some of these people had no need for a phone book (pre internet days of course) because anyone they would actually need to contact was in the Social Register. Winthrop Rutherford married Lucy Mercer who was one of FDR's mistresses.

It is really hard to be precise about social classes translating neatly into economic reality because so much of what we associate with "wealth" in 2023 was so much less expensive then. By upper middle class I would compare to partners in one of the large white shoe law firms. Many of them - at least until recently were in the Social Register and lived in large coops on Park Avenue. Their children went to private school. They were members of the Maidstone Club and/or Piping Rock Country Club. They often had summer homes. They were wealthy but not on the level of the new "robber barons" - or more accurately the masters of the universe of the 1980's like the Gutfreunds or the Milkens. Susan Gutfreund was a bit like Turner as she ascended to the heights of nouveau rich-dom from her lowly start as an airline stewardess who snared a rich older man. In the brief, wild-spending days of her Nouvelle Society reign, Susan Kaposta Penn Gutfreund—airline flight attendant turned socialite queen—cultivated her taste for things French and fine. Night after night, on the arm of her husband, John Gutfreund, head of the mighty Salomon Brothers investment bank, she would sashay into soirees dressed in opulent Christian Lacroix gowns. She bought the rarest of French perfumes by the quart—as if they were motor oil or milk—and filled the salons and boudoirs of her homes in New York City and Paris with priceless French antiques. Indeed, gazing at the sumptuous beauty of a room full of 18th-century French furniture she’d bought, Susan reportedly whispered to a friend, ”If it was good enough for Marie Antoinette, it’ll do for me.” Pauvre Susan. How could she have known that before long she would come to share not only Marie Antoinette’s furniture but, save for the guillotine, her fate. For almost a decade her husband, known throughout the world’s financial districts as the King of Wall Street, ruled as a ruthless and near-infallible wizard. But on Friday, Aug. 16, snared in a still unfolding scandal of deceit and dishonor involving his company’s illegal purchase of U.S. government securities, Gutfreund, 61, was forced to resign. https://nypost.com/2021/01/16/inside-wild-auction-of-john-susan-gutfreunds-empire/

Caroline Astor lived in a home that had a brownstone facade but it was on Fifth Avenue and had four bays. The brownstones on side streets were smaller and less grand. It was built in 1862 by her husband - when that section of Manhattan was fashionable. She later moved into a mansion built by her son in 1892 - which was located on Fifth Avenue and 62nd Street as the more uptown areas became fashionable. I am not saying that Agnes was poor - far from it. But she wasn't wealthy as compared to the Robber Barons or even the Astors. The Astors had significant fortunes as well as being old money. It is why Oscar needs to marry a rich heiress because there isn't enough money for him to really live a deathly lifestyle. Caroline Astor's daughter would have enough money in her dowry to purchase a title. Her dowry was $2.5 million which adjusted for inflation would be $75 million in today's dollars. Oscar was looking for a bride who would bring a similar dowry.

There was a clash between the old money who were not nearly as rich as the Robber Baron who made their fortunes after the Civil War. The Van Rijns would have been descended from the original Dutch settlers and it was their lineage rather than their wealth that provided them with their high status. Nit very different than what occurred in the Old South where the original plantation owners retained their social clout despite their relative poverty. Wealth would not enable one’s daughter to participate in Charleston’s Saint Cecilia Ball for example. T