The Early Seasons

[FortKnox]

https://jezebel.com/looking-back-at-the-debut-of-real-housewives-of-orange-1846668288/amp

[Hiyo]

Interesting article, though I would argue with their statement that Gretchen's introduction was the beginning of the end of the first era of The Real Housewives. I would bestow that "honor" to Tamra.

[Kemper]

On 5/6/2021 at 9:59 AM, Hiyo said:

Interesting article, though I would argue with their statement that Gretchen's introduction was the beginning of the end of the first era of The Real Housewives. I would bestow that "honor" to Tamra.

Sadly, the show kind of devolved when they brought on Tamra.  The fights and showboating set the pattern for behavior all across the franchises from then on.

[Hiyo]

Yep. Tamra was the OG shit stirrer, who figured a good way to stay on a show was to stir up the drama, whether between other HWs or instigating fights for the sake of fighting by provoking the other person. Something so many other HWs across the various franchises picked up.

[DeeplyShallow]

1 hour ago, Hiyo said:

Yep. Tamra was the OG shit stirrer, who figured a good way to stay on a show was to stir up the drama, whether between other HWs or instigating fights for the sake of fighting by provoking the other person. Something so many other HWs across the various franchises picked up.

Agreed. When did RHONJ start? I wonder if there’s correlation to the infamous table flip & Tamra escalating her aggressiveness. Although, Gretchen came on Tamra’s next season, right? So maybe just being threatened by a younger gold digger sent her over the edge.

[Hiyo]

I'd say the table flip was it's own separate game-changing moment.

Tamra was more someone coming onto the show and adopting a shit stirring strategy, to stay relevant and keep their job. See Kenya from Atlanta, Brandi (and even LVP to a degree) from BH, Gizelle from RHOP, etc. And others like Lisa Rinna adopted that strategy as time went on. Before these women came on the show or began being a shit-stirrer, the fights and disagreements seemed more organic. After that, well...

[Stats Queen]

10 hours ago, Hiyo said:

I'd say the table flip was it's own separate game-changing moment.

Tamra was more someone coming onto the show and adopting a shit stirring strategy, to stay relevant and keep their job. See Kenya from Atlanta, Brandi (and even LVP to a degree) from BH, Gizelle from RHOP, etc. And others like Lisa Rinna adopted that strategy as time went on. Before these women came on the show or began being a shit-stirrer, the fights and disagreements seemed more organic. After that, well...

I totally agree. Tamra is incredibly wily. Her baptism and becoming a better person lasted maybe one season.

[Lana99]

On 11/3/2018 at 10:01 PM, JAYJAY1979 said:

I still recall one online exclusive scene from season 3 featuring the OC kids...where Quinn's son mentioned looking for a job, figuring out colleges, etc...and the other kids had blank looks on their faces.  Money doesnt buy u a clue it appears.

Indeed. After watching 2 seasons I'm shocked how useless, shallow, ignorant and classless these kids turned out after all the money that went into their upbringing. So much for "good genetics", private schools and personal trainers. What a waste!

Edited April 16, 2022 by Lana99

[Irate Panda]

I can’t remember since it was a 100 years ago, but was creepy Lou still on the show when he died?  Also, was there some fight over an inheritance with the kids and the second wife or was Lou broke by then?

[Salacious Kitty]

31 minutes ago, Irate Panda said:

I can’t remember since it was a 100 years ago, but was creepy Lou still on the show when he died?  Also, was there some fight over an inheritance with the kids and the second wife or was Lou broke by then?

The Knickerbockers were still on the show when Lou died. I remember one of the girls very bitter that the "Asian wife" got everything (complete with picture of said wife). It doesn't look like the girls got much, if anything.

[ZettaK]

12 hours ago, Salacious Kitty said:

The Knickerbockers were still on the show when Lou died. I remember one of the girls very bitter that the "Asian wife" got everything (complete with picture of said wife). It doesn't look like the girls got much, if anything.

Lou's daughters didn't get anything, that's why they were so angry. The young, Asian (like they called her) wife got everything, which was probably not too much because their house, for example, was modest. Lou lost all his money, and filed for bankruptcy years before. He was trying to push the OC Angels water on the show....

[Irate Panda]

3 hours ago, ZettaK said:

Lou's daughters didn't get anything, that's why they were so angry. The young, Asian (like they called her) wife got everything, which was probably not too much because their house, for example, was modest. Lou lost all his money, and filed for bankruptcy years before. He was trying to push the OC Angels water on the show....

The whole OC Angels thing creeped me out.

[chenoa333]

On 2/7/2023 at 1:10 AM, ZettaK said:

He was trying to push the OC Angels water on the show....

Yeah Lou was a creeper. However, that cat fight between the 2 teenage OC Angels was classic and real. Those were the good old days when reality tv was real. Not scripted.

[FortKnox]

Here's what Lindsey has been up to.

https://people.com/tv/rhoc-alum-tammy-knickerbocker-says-missing-daughter-lindsey-okay-exclusive/

 

[FozzyBear]

3 hours ago, FortKnox said:

Here's what Lindsey has been up to.

https://people.com/tv/rhoc-alum-tammy-knickerbocker-says-missing-daughter-lindsey-okay-exclusive/

 

Jesus she looks like she could be 20 years older than she is. Things must have gone really wrong for her. I always felt bad for the Knickerbocker girls. Lou was such a creep and only seemed interested in his daughters when he thought he could use them. Tammy seemed out for herself and a bit of a scammer. Nicer than Lou but still self absorbed and sort of emotionally absent. Even on the show those girls seemed like disasters. You could sort of see this might happen.

[PrincessPurrsALot]

Bravo is showing season 1 today. It is interesting to see the women and their families before they were incredibly self-aware. Slade is such a jerk.  Seeing Grayson as a small child is sad.  Slade is trying to convince us of what a caring father he is.

We have Lauri as the poor, single mom with the problem son.  Kimberley who has recurring skin cancer is featured. Vicki on her first face with Michael about to finish high school and Briana wearing a purity ring.  They all seem so young.  

[Salacious Kitty]

9 minutes ago, PrincessPurrsALot said:

Bravo is showing season 1 today. It is interesting to see the women and their families before they were incredibly self-aware. Slade is such a jerk.  Seeing Grayson as a small child is sad.  Slade is trying to convince us of what a caring father he is.

We have Lauri as the poor, single mom with the problem son.  Kimberley who has recurring skin cancer is featured. Vicki on her first face with Michael about to finish high school and Briana wearing a purity ring.  They all seem so young.  

Michael was going into his sophomore year of college. He talked about having to do summer school to pass an econ class before he could enroll for fall classes.

Oh, the early days. 😃

[PrincessPurrsALot]

I misunderstood when she said he was starting college in a week.  He  was going back.  He does not come off like a future titan of industry.  😁

[Salacious Kitty]

1 minute ago, PrincessPurrsALot said:

I misunderstood when she said he was starting college in a week.  He  was going back.  He does not come off like a future titan of industry.  😁

He's proven you correct. 😁

[snarts]

I loved revisiting S1 today. Of course I went down the rabbit hole trying to find out what happened to the Bryants. Kimberly is indeed still alive but I was shocked to read the real reason they left the show, her husband allegedly punched a woman.

Lauri was such a mess, dating that drug addict rocker and not believing her kids when they tell her he's trash.

Hated the Jo/Slade storyline. He was so cringe.

I still miss Jeana. IMHO, she made the show and left it way too soon. Nice to see that both boys followed their mom into real estate.

Vicki was so right about Briana's future. Only it wasn't with boyfriend #1, Colby.  I bet he was a gem compared to Ryan...

[RoseAllDay]

On 7/30/2023 at 6:09 PM, snarts said:

I loved revisiting S1 today. Of course I went down the rabbit hole trying to find out what happened to the Bryants. Kimberly is indeed still alive but I was shocked to read the real reason they left the show, her husband allegedly punched a woman.

Lauri was such a mess, dating that drug addict rocker and not believing her kids when they tell her he's trash.

Hated the Jo/Slade storyline. He was so cringe.

I still miss Jeana. IMHO, she made the show and left it way too soon. Nice to see that both boys followed their mom into real estate.

Vicki was so right about Briana's future. Only it wasn't with boyfriend #1, Colby.  I bet he was a gem compared to Ryan...

Lauri. Loved the dawning of self-awareness toward the end where she wondered if she made a mistake in trying to be more of a friend to her kids rather than a parent.

It was heartbreaking to see Josh, and I think he proved that some people are predispositioned to addiction. He tried, but his demons were just too much. Her dating that jerk that had a history of drug use…priorities, I guess.

 

[ZettaK]

On 7/30/2023 at 6:09 PM, snarts said:

I loved revisiting S1 today. Of course I went down the rabbit hole trying to find out what happened to the Bryants. Kimberly is indeed still alive but I was shocked to read the real reason they left the show, her husband allegedly punched a woman.

Lauri was such a mess, dating that drug addict rocker and not believing her kids when they tell her he's trash.

Hated the Jo/Slade storyline. He was so cringe.

I still miss Jeana. IMHO, she made the show and left it way too soon. Nice to see that both boys followed their mom into real estate.

Vicki was so right about Briana's future. Only it wasn't with boyfriend #1, Colby.  I bet he was a gem compared to Ryan...

Jeana's son-in-law is a realtor, as well, and Shane moved with his new wife (now, gf before), and baby by Jacksonville, FL. where Kara and her husband live a few years ago. Jeana stays for months in Jacksonville, with occasional visits to California.

As for Michael, although he appeared to have no direction in 2006/7, he works for Vicki's insurance company for many years, and he does well. 

[RoseAllDay]

I love these RHOC marathons on Wednesdays prior to the new episodes. Just goes to show that there’s nothing new under the sun and past is always prologue. Today is Diva Heather’s star — read one scene — turn on Hawaii Five-O and rumors about Shannon’s marriage, which Shannon blames on Heather, but Tamra’s fingers are in that pie, too. (Later is Shannon’s epic breakdown at Lizzie’s.)

LOL.

[ZettaK]

16 hours ago, RoseAllDay said:

I love these RHOC marathons on Wednesdays prior to the new episodes. Just goes to show that there’s nothing new under the sun and past is always prologue. Today is Diva Heather’s star — read one scene — turn on Hawaii Five-O and rumors about Shannon’s marriage, which Shannon blames on Heather, but Tamra’s fingers are in that pie, too. (Later is Shannon’s epic breakdown at Lizzie’s.)

LOL.

And many uncomfortable scenes at the Beador house between the couple which showed that the marriage issues were not a rumor. 

Edited August 3, 2023 by ZettaK

[JenE4]

Not sure whether this is the right thread for this question. I was a big fan of the early-mid seasons (still remember Slade Smiley and the like) but somewhere along the line gave up on all RH except for NY. But I have slowly added a few more cities back into my repertoire over the last few years (BH, SLC). I caught parts of this season and it pulled me back in so strongly that I just streamed all 12 episodes of this season in two nights! I’m looking for recommendations of what recent seasons of OC I should go back and watch to get up to speed. I’m familiar with Vicki, Tamara, Heather, and Shannon—and Taylor from BH. But if you put the rest of them in a lineup with other botoxed beauties, I would have no way of knowing which were the real housewives. Which recent seasons were just (or nearly) as good as this one? I’m fully prepared to accept the answer of none of them and just start watching from this point. 

[RealHousewife]

I recently started watching RHOC. For me it starts pretty slow in comparison to RHOBH or RHOSLC, but it starts getting good several seasons in. I like California a lot, so it's nice watching another Cali city other than BH. 

[Salacious Kitty]

You have to remember that OC was the first guinea pig in the genre. Vicki knew Jeana, and Lauri worked for her. Jo had to be brought into the group, being at least a decade younger than the others. It wasn't all contrived get togethers to scream at each other. They showed them living life. Like Lauri dealing with her son. They'd never show that now. 

Edited January 15 by Salacious Kitty

[RealHousewife]

On 1/14/2024 at 6:39 PM, Salacious Kitty said:

You have to remember that OC was the first guinea pig in the genre. Vicki knew Jeana, and Lauri worked for her. Jo had to be brought into the group, being at least a decade younger than the others. It wasn't all contrived get togethers to scream at each other. They showed them living life. Like Lauri dealing with her son. They'd never show that now. 

That makes sense. I do enjoy RHOC even though it's older and different. I don't know what to make of Lauri. She comes across like a troublemaker the season I'm watching. She is a really beautiful woman though. 

I'm watching the season 8 reunion now, and this Brooks is something else. Very disturbed by what Vicki's daughter is saying. I know you shouldn't let your adult children run your life, but there are so many concerning things between what Briana, Tamra, and Lauri say about Brooks. For the sake of you and your whole family, run, Vicki, run. 

Edited January 27 by RealHousewife

[FortKnox]

https://people.com/real-housewives-lauri-peterson-son-josh-waring-dead-at-35-8627969

[heatherchandler]

On 2/13/2023 at 8:42 PM, chenoa333 said:

Yeah Lou was a creeper. However, that cat fight between the 2 teenage OC Angels was classic and real. Those were the good old days when reality tv was real. Not scripted.

Remember he yelled “this is not a gangbang!” when the girls started fighting?  I assume he didn’t know what a gangbang is.

[RealHousewife]

On 10/23/2018 at 8:05 PM, chenoa333 said:

Only 2 that I know of got into porn.. The Curtin girls. Not the Knickerbocker girls.

Has Lynne Curtin ever said anything about this? I can't imagine any parent being thrilled their children would go into such a dark industry. So much drug usage, high suicide rate, etc. I know a lot of people who get into porn went through trauma and mental health struggles before ever doing porn, but I don't think going this route could possibly help.