S08.E10: Unhappy Holidays

[WireWrap]

1 hour ago, escatefromny said:

Thanks BlackMamba for the Omarosa/Bethany clip!  Goodness, I forgot she had a talk show.  I know opinions vary, but I just never found Bethany all that compelling and think there are plenty of other spunky NYC girls out there who would enhance the show and who don't carry a steamer truck full of hostility and negativity in the same way Bethany does.  It is painfully obvious, and Bethany admits it, she behaves like someone who was raised by wolves.  

I disagree, Wolves do a better job raising their pups and have close family ties......something Bethenny knows nothing about. LOL She is more a pit viper! LOL

[WireWrap]

18 minutes ago, BlackMamba said:

Not to say Sonja is weak but compared to the other strong personalities in the group she's definitely not like them.   Me-Thenny has found her prey for the season and like a lioness in the African Safari she is ready to stay low to the ground and mull and destroy Sonja any chance she gets.   I feel it now the reunion is going to be brutal Sonja when it comes to Me-Thenny's vocal dictator assaults. 

I think Bethenny will try and tone it down at the reunion because of all the backlash she is getting now. We will hear about her horrid divorce, how hard shared child custody is on her, her medical "scare" and a host of other excuses to try and mitigate her atrocious behavior to Sonja/Luann/John/Dorinda/Jules this season. She will say that she believes everything she said, stands by it but would have said it differently had things no been so bad/tough on her. LOL

[Avaleigh]

3 hours ago, izabella said:

See?  No one is allowed to call Bethy out on anything. B is the reason Sonja wasn't invited, and B is the reason this one night was covered on two episodes because B went on her godzilla rampage against Luann, and tried to continue it at Ramona's party, and B is the reason she won't be going on the next trip to Mexico.  But she blames everyone but Bethy.  Just like Dorinda yelled at Ramona but was never mad at Bethy for going hard after John on camera and accusing him of doing coke with Dorinda.

This is so fucked up, and not entertaining.  If the Bully always gets her way and can do anything and no one is allowed to say peep about the Bully, it's neither fun nor interesting.

For me it's just as bad as people not being able to call Yolanda out on her bullshit because she supposedly has chronic Lyme disease. Yolanda had the other women backed against a rock and they couldn't truly talk about any of her wild and ridiculous claims, inaccuracies, or inconsistencies because they were afraid of the backlash that might come since Yolanda is one of Andy's pets (nothing will make me feel otherwise, it couldn't be more obvious) and no one wants to lose their spot on the show for not getting along with that lying, lemon flavored hypocrite. Yolanda actually had one over on Bethenny in that Bethenny still has to show up to a reasonable amount of events whereas Yolanda was basically allowed to pick and choose much to the irritation of the other women.

Oh, and I totally see similarities in the Yolanda/Erika dynamic to the Bethenny/Carole dynamic. Erika had her head up Yolanda's ass throughout the entire season. Erika would defend and back up Yolanda the way that Carole backs up and defends Bethenny. Andy likes Erika and wants her to be well received. I think the same applies to Carole. 

Ottergirl , your post was brilliant and I want to touch on what you said about Carole currently being in the Catbird seat. This is where Erika was with Yolanda, and Kyle was basically the Ramona (IMO) in that situation where she was tweaked and annoyed with Yolanda to a point but was wise enough to give Yolanda what she wanted as Ramona has been smart enough (or she was a kiss ass or disloyal or cowardly or whatever) to let Bethenny have her way.

I feel like LisaV this past season is sort of in a similar position to Luann in that she pissed off the woman who had the others completely intimidated and she's had to sit there and listen to hurtful thing after hurtful thing from a castmember who isn't playing on a fair and level field and is a raging hypocrite to boot. 

I also thought that Ramona's coaching of Luann with those apologetic text messages strongly reminded me of Kyle coaching LisaV on her apology to Eileen. 

Rinna was basically in the position that Sonja was in where she too pissed off the woman in control and had to jump through hoops in order to fix the situation. I even see the similarity in the way that Rinna ultimately turned on LVP over the situation with Yolanda. Sonja took her anger out on Luann and Dorinda rather than looking to herself and Bethenny, just as Rinna wasn't annoyed with herself for bringing up Munchausens or with Yolanda for giving her grief over some ultimately petty nonsense.

One major difference between Yolanda and Bethenny is that Yolanda wants to be seen as someone who is calm, sweet, reasonable, caring, and in check when it comes to other people and her emotions, plus she gets off on being the sympathetic victim. Yolanda is capable of spewing all sorts of venom, but she does it in a way that is less obvious than Bethenny. Bethenny will openly go full lipstick pit bull on whoever happens to be annoying her at the moment but Yolanda has more subtle ways of making people pay and is better at not getting her hands dirty. 

[ichbin]

2 hours ago, escatefromny said:

I am no fan of Martha Stewart but boy, she really had Bethany's number.  Watching yet another "what the fuck is wrong with her" performance by Bethany made me think Martha must still be patting herself on the back for distancing herself from this shit show of a person.  (If you don't recall, Bethany's first reality TV turn was on Martha Stewart's horrible version of the "Apprentice".  Bethany was a "finalist" and lost to a smarmy, reality tv villan stereotype.  She is that awful).

I do remember her on The Apprentice, but I thought the "smarmy, reality tv" guy lost too.  Bethenny was super driven and intense on that.  I found her really grating as I recall.  I still remember that circus act masquerading as a commercial during one of the challenges. "It's time for Tide to Go, it's time for Tide to Go.....".  Ah, the days when The Apprentice was actually entertaining.

[msblossom]

11 hours ago, Yours Truly said:

Not to defend but I get a feeling that the crazy attempt to get Sonja to approach Beth reeked a little bit of desperation. It just hit me, especially from Lu that they were a bit frantic about it cause there's a real worry among the HW (Dorinda, Lu even Ramona) that she just might lose her apple if she doesn't? I know that makes the scene a bit humane but I just couldn't understand their desperation over it all. I guess it's cause there really wasn't any cattiness involved, it sorta looked like it was coming from a slightly panicked state. Sorta like "come on Sonja, we're working our apple and dancing to keep it, if you don't get on it yours is in serious jeopardy and we don't want to lose you". I know far fetched? <shrug>

And that's what is bothering me about this show; no one, err Bethenny, should have that kind of power over their cast mates. It's ruining the dynamic of the show. Essentially if you get frozen out and uninvited to events and trips your scenes will be cut short or non-existent and you run the risk of getting your apple yanked. If your position on HW's hinges on whether or not BF will film with you then TPTB are f'd up. 

[msblossom]

And I'd take 2 Sonja's over that twit Carole. 

[Avaleigh]

2 hours ago, BlackMamba said:

The person who laid into Bethenny was OMAROSA!   Bethenny wasn't ready for her.   Granted Omarosa isn't wrapped too tight but she is just as smart,  if not smarter,  than Bethenny.   This was sucha classic.

You make cupcakes,  I worked in the White House!

BLOOOOOOOP.  

I'd never seen this before. I might have jumped off of the Bethenny love train but I think Omarosa revealed herself to be the rude, condescending, unlikable, and frankly ridiculous woman that she's shown herself to be on every reality show that I've been unfortunate enough to stumble across.

Take away the studio audience and I still think that Bethenny easily won that exchange. 

I'm hanging my head in shame for sticking up for the B at such a time, but I think there are very few people in reality television that I won't defend against the mean and toxic egomaniac that is Omarosa Manigault.

[izabella]

1 hour ago, Umbelina said:

OMG, poor Sonja's daughter when she gets that package! 

I'm hoping that whichever intern is given the task of mailing it will quietly dump it in the trash and replace it with a cookie gift box from a nearby bakery.  And send the bill to the girl's father since Sonja isn't making much from her few appearances this season.

[zoeysmom]

1 hour ago, msblossom said:

And that's what is bothering me about this show; no one, err Bethenny, should have that kind of power over their cast mates. It's ruining the dynamic of the show. Essentially if you get frozen out and uninvited to events and trips your scenes will be cut short or non-existent and you run the risk of getting your apple yanked. If your position on HW's hinges on whether or not BF will film with you then TPTB are f'd up. 

When Bethenny first came back, she of course got some ridiculous one on one with Andy and the upshot was she wanted her own show and he said she had to do RHONY first.  I look at this way she has done two years, given things a shake and now is obviously ready for her own show again.  Please take Carole with her.  Dorinda tweeted the three constants of Bethenny at a shoot last night (1) arrives late (2) leaves early (3) Carole follows.  So Carole tweeted something nasty back to Dorinda, "Uh yeah. . . Bethenny was walking ahead of me so sure technically I was following her.  So beneath you."  Something tells me there will be a Dorinda/Carole Twitter battle before the Reunion.  Carole needs the ammo and to be relevant.

Edited June 10, 2016 by zoeysmom

[msblossom]

2 minutes ago, zoeysmom said:

When Bethenny first came back, she of course got some ridiculous one on one with Andy and the upshot was she wanted her own show and he said she had to do RHONY first.  I look at this way she has done two years, given things a shake and now is obviously ready for her own show again.  Please take Carole with her.  Dorinda tweeted the tree constants of Bethenny at a shoot last night (1) arrives late (2) leaves early (3) Carole follows.  So Carole tweeted something nasty back to Dorinda, "Uh yeah. . . Bethenny was walking ahead of me so sure technically I was following her.  So beneath you."  Something tells me there will be a Dorinda/Carole Twitter battle before the Reunion.  Carole needs the ammo and to be relevant.

Oh, I didn't know about her wanting her own show. Well we all know how she navel gazes when she's the STAR. All Bethenny all the time is not the makings of a hit show. And YES, she can have Carole! 

Hee, Dorinda. 

[parisprincess]

Bethenny thinks her THs are so witty and funny.  I don't find them to be either of these things; in fact, some of them don't even make sense.  I hate Andy Cohen for letting this bitch steamroll over whichever castmate she wants whenever she wants.  If he has, indeed, promised Bethenny her own show after a couple of seasons of HYNY, give it to her now, Andy, so she can fail, just as she did with her talk show.  I can't think of anyone more deserving!

[Chit Chat]

Well, with all of the craziness of this episode, I tried to focus on all of Dorinda's holiday decorating and the food she prepared.  As a hostess, I would've had a come apart (southern saying!) that the evening ended up in chaos.  That was just horribly rude of Bethenny to start that shit with LuAnn at a Christmas party of all places!  Nothing says peace, love and harmony like 2 women caterwauling at each other all night.  Thanks ladies for ruining the Christmas spirit. 

Anyway, Dorinda's house is quite lovely.   I can appreciate all of her efforts in dragging out all of the Christmas decorations.  I have a much smaller house, but I enjoy getting all of my meager decorations out so that my family can enjoy them when they visit on Christmas day.  It's too bad that the ladies didn't seem to notice or appreciate anything Dorinda did for them.   

[mwell345]

34 minutes ago, zoeysmom said:

When Bethenny first came back, she of course got some ridiculous one on one with Andy and the upshot was she wanted her own show and he said she had to do RHONY first.  I look at this way she has done two years, given things a shake and now is obviously ready for her own show again.  Please take Carole with her.  Dorinda tweeted the tree constants of Bethenny at a shoot last night (1) arrives late (2) leaves early (3) Carole follows.  So Carole tweeted something nasty back to Dorinda, "Uh yeah. . . Bethenny was walking ahead of me so sure technically I was following her.  So beneath you."  Something tells me there will be a Dorinda/Carole Twitter battle before the Reunion.  Carole needs the ammo and to be relevant.

I actually hope this happens - she gets her own show, and we can go back to the non-Bethenny RHONY.   She can screech like a banshee all she wants and I won't have to watch her.  

[lunastartron]

33 minutes ago, Avaleigh said:

I'd never seen this before. I might have jumped off of the Bethenny love train but I think Omarosa revealed herself to be the rude, condescending, unlikable, and frankly ridiculous woman that she's shown herself to be on every reality show that I've been unfortunate enough to stumble across.

Take away the studio audience and I still think that Bethenny easily won that exchange. 

I'm hanging my head in shame for sticking up for the B at such a time, but I think there are very few people in reality television that I won't defend against the mean and toxic egomaniac that is Omarosa Manigault.

My personal primary takeaway from the clip was that Bethenny wields a very small repertoire of tired debate skills, the lynchpin of which is to throw out a question that nominally supports her perspective and then continuously interrupt her opponent so that they can't answer/ignore their response.

Last night, she demanded "who?!" when LuAnn asserted that all of her friends find her to be genuine. When Lu very reasonably starting to invoke Dorinda in her defense, Bethenny shouted, "don't bring her into this!"

In the video, she keeps repeating "what's your brand?" like a broken record while Omarosa is literally in the middle of explaining what exactly her brand/commodity constitutes.

O was dead-to-rights on the point about Bethenny enjoying the privilege of mediocrity as a rich white woman as well as in her prediction of the program's imminent cancellation. I also loved the "Bible" retort when B, of course, tried to lecture her on preaching to a Christian audience when, as far as I know, she boasts no substantive education in theology or even membership in a Christian denomination.

Which is not to say that I regard Omarosa as a giant of argumentation or anything - she was kind of lazy and unskilled when it came to actual business on every season of TA on which  she appeared but I do recall the unhinged way the women on the first year treated her (echoes of B, actually, in their disproportionate derangement), with one actually grabbing her wrists while crazily hissing "I'm a good person" -

but I do think the YouTube illustrates the fallacy of Bethenny's self-styled persona as an accurate, transparent, quick, and razor-sharp sophisticated urbanite. She's just a spoiled, even more self-indulgent and crasser variation of any desperate reality aspirant within the past decade.

[Sheenieb]

Quote

Also, motherfuck Bethenny. Who the hell cares if she never speaks to you again?

Unfortunately for these women, it means they won't be in very many scenes because Bethenny is in nearly all of them.  Their paycheck depends on how much camera time they get.  Pretty much, if they aren't speaking to Bethenny, they're not going to be on the show for very much longer.  Sucks, but that's the way it is.  That's why Dorinda is hanging onto being on Bethenny's good side for dear life.  She seems to be getting closer and closer to choosing Bethany over John.

Sigh. Yes. I get from a show perspective, Bethenny holds the key to their checks, so they all have to audition to be her proctologist, I'm just annoyed from a real life standpoint. I think Sonja is playing this all wrong. She'd probably be the new favorite if she stood up to Bethenny and told her to go fuck herself. I guarantee she'd earn her check, then.

[zoeysmom]

42 minutes ago, msblossom said:

Oh, I didn't know about her wanting her own show. Well we all know how she navel gazes when she's the STAR. All Bethenny all the time is not the makings of a hit show. And YES, she can have Carole! 

Hee, Dorinda. 

Basically a Bethenny show consists of talking about all her good ideas and then making fun of people and arguing.  Without Sonja or Luann in Mexico Jules and Dorinda are basically human sacrifices as are any bystanders Bethenny decides to chide. 

[Avaleigh]

6 minutes ago, lunastartron said:

My personal primary takeaway from the clip was that Bethenny wields a very small repertoire of tired debate skills, the lynchpin of which is to throw out a question that nominally supports her perspective and then continuously interrupt her opponent so that they can't answer/ignore their response.

Last night, she demanded "who?!" when LuAnn asserted that all of her friends find her to be genuine. When Lu very reasonably starting to invoke Dorinda in her defense, Bethenny shouted, "don't bring her into this!"

In the video, she keeps repeating "what's your brand?" like a broken record while Omarosa is literally in the middle of explaining what exactly her brand/commodity constitutes.

O was dead-to-rights on the point about Bethenny enjoying the privilege of mediocrity as a rich white woman as well as in her prediction of the program's imminent cancellation. I also loved the "Bible" retort when B, of course, tried to lecture her on preaching to a Christian audience when, as far as I know, she boasts no substantive education in theology or even membership in a Christian denomination.

Which is not to say that I regard Omarosa as a giant of argumentation or anything - she was kind of lazy and unskilled when it came to actual business on every season of TA on which  she appeared but I do recall the unhinged way the women on the first year treated her (echoes of B, actually, in their disproportionate derangement), with one actually grabbing her wrists while crazily hissing "I'm a good person" -

but I do think the YouTube illustrates the fallacy of Bethenny's self-styled persona as an accurate, transparent, quick, and razor-sharp sophisticated urbanite. She's just a spoiled, even more self-indulgent and crasser variation of any desperate reality aspirant within the past decade.

I felt that Omarosa was the chief offender in terms of not letting Bethenny speak rather than the other way around. I also thought that Omarosa failed in articulating what her brand is. 

It means less than nothing to me that Omarosa somehow wormed her way into the White House for whatever stretch of time. She still revealed herself to be rude to the woman who invited her on her show to promote whatever crap she was shilling. She insulted Bethenny's accomplishments and essentially said that people who find success in the culinary world are beneath the people who have pit in time at the White House. Furthermore, Omarosa played the race card to make it seem like she was belittling Bethenny's accomplishments because Bethenny was lucky enough to not have to deal with something horrible like racism as Omarosa has.

Bethenny is a piece of work, but even a broken clock is right twice a day and Omarosa was a deliberately combative guest even though Bethenny gave her a platform that she obviously wanted so that she coukd promote herself. It was tacky and Bethenny handled it fairly well considering that Omarosa was showing her animosity from the beginning of the clip.

I feel like even the so-called queen of nice Ellen would have had issues with Omarosa if she'd behaved that way with her.

Based on this episode, I can't imagine wanting to watch Bethenny on her own show since she's unpleasant most of the time even when she's being funny. I never watched her solo ventures on Bravo but I gather she was insufferable on those as well and most of the people who watched seem to have been fans of hers from her first three seasons on RHNY.

Re: Dorinda--

I love that tweet breaking down Bethenny's MO. It's true and I love that Carole is ticked at being called out for being a follower. 

[zoeysmom]

16 minutes ago, lunastartron said:

My personal primary takeaway from the clip was that Bethenny wields a very small repertoire of tired debate skills, the lynchpin of which is to throw out a question that nominally supports her perspective and then continuously interrupt her opponent so that they can't answer/ignore their response.

Last night, she demanded "who?!" when LuAnn asserted that all of her friends find her to be genuine. When Lu very reasonably starting to invoke Dorinda in her defense, Bethenny shouted, "don't bring her into this!"

In the video, she keeps repeating "what's your brand?" like a broken record while Omarosa is literally in the middle of explaining what exactly her brand/commodity constitutes.

O was dead-to-rights on the point about Bethenny enjoying the privilege of mediocrity as a rich white woman as well as in her prediction of the program's imminent cancellation. I also loved the "Bible" retort when B, of course, tried to lecture her on preaching to a Christian audience when, as far as I know, she boasts no substantive education in theology or even membership in a Christian denomination.

Which is not to say that I regard Omarosa as a giant of argumentation or anything - she was kind of lazy and unskilled when it came to actual business on every season of TA on which  she appeared but I do recall the unhinged way the women on the first year treated her (echoes of B, actually, in their disproportionate derangement), with one actually grabbing her wrists while crazily hissing "I'm a good person" -

but I do think the YouTube illustrates the fallacy of Bethenny's self-styled persona as an accurate, transparent, quick, and razor-sharp sophisticated urbanite. She's just a spoiled, even more self-indulgent and crasser variation of any desperate reality aspirant within the past decade.

I agree I didn't see some great victory.  Another line up a target and let the mouth that is Bethenny take cheap shots-with a peanut gallery no less.

When she kept harping on the brand I kept thinking she is confusing brand with product.  A forty year example of a brand without product was Caitlyn Jenner.  Since winning the Olympic gold medal her brand was motivational speaking.  No products just speeches.  A support role on a hugely popular reality show. Since her transition her support and raising awareness with the transgender community her brand. The same can be said for former presidents.  Jimmy Carter didn't start selling Billy Beer, he wrote some books, and I would say his biggest contribution is Habitat for Humanity.  My understanding is Omarosa is a minister.  So peppering her with the word brand and demanding an answer is somewhat offensive.  The working at the White House vs. baking cupcakes was pretty funny.  I have seen about ten minutes of Omarosa and I get she is a challenge.

[Brooke0707]

The show is terrible and boring. What drama or entertainment is there if all the housewives are so terrified of Bethenny getting them fired that they sit there and take her abuse and never fight back no matter how disgusting she is?  Now Bethenny and Carole declare that Luann and Sonja shouldn't go to Mexico?  Gross.  Get rid of Bethenny and Carole.

[RedheadZombie]

4 hours ago, Umbelina said:

How do you make "kosher lasagne?"  I guess leave out all meat?  That reminds me, it cracked me up that Dorinda has a jar of Kraft Parmesan Cheese on the counter.  I mean come on now, I know how pricey real parm is, it's my splurge these days, but with all that money?  Kraft???!!

I wondered if Dorinda baked both lasagnas in the oven at the same time, which for some reason I thought was a no-no.  So I googled.  Someone actually asked, "Is a non-Jewish housekeeper permitted to turn on our oven or stove?"  So according to Chabad.org, certain foods - even if kosher and prepared/eaten with kosher utensils - may not be eaten by a Jew if prepared completely by a non-Jew.  There's some exceptions if a Jew supervises the meal prep.  It seems incredibly complicated.

[Knuckles]

I don't use twitter or other social media, can someone tell me what the reaction to this holiday in the berkshires has been? 

I am thinking that Bethenny should write her own etiquette book. She could begin by describing how arriving for a holiday weekend in the country, with a hostess who has decorated her home and prepared lavish food is the perfect opportunity to stage multiple screaming attacks on another guest...demanding the intimate details of her sex life, all the while chanting "whore, slut, whore" in lieu of Christmas carols. Then, having ruined everything, grab your half-wit companion and run out in the morning, without a word to your hostess. Hard to be more charming than this.

While traveling, skip any available rest rooms, and find a bucket or ditch, so you can drop your pants and moon the passing crowds, while pissing. Assure everyone that you "own" this revolting behavior, and therefore it is something to aspire to.

Never say thank you, never express any regrets for your cruel or vicious comments, never admire anyone or anything in public, always deflect any possible criticism by declaring yourself a touchstone of honesty, abandon any courtesy or kindness, and focus every ounce of effort into ruining the plans and efforts of others. This is how you establish personal dominance.

When choosing a back-up companion, find someone who will agreeably make themselves so small, that they could find in your pocket, or finally disappear entirely, and are content with this degrading position, as long as they acknowledge the greatness that is Bethenny.

In fact, you could repackage Skinnygirl with a photo of Beth bent over a bucket with her naked ass in the air, pissing away, with the tag line, "Skinnygirl, runs thru you so fast, the calories don't stick" and sell it with a brightly colored bucket for public urination. 

[zoeysmom]

5 minutes ago, Knuckles said:

I don't use twitter or other social media, can someone tell me what the reaction to this holiday in the berkshires has been? 

I am thinking that Bethenny should write her own etiquette book. She could begin by describing how arriving for a holiday weekend in the country, with a hostess who has decorated her home and prepared lavish food is the perfect opportunity to stage multiple screaming attacks on another guest...demanding the intimate details of her sex life, all the while chanting "whore, slut, whore" in lieu of Christmas carols. Then, having ruined everything, grab your half-wit companion and run out in the morning, without a word to your hostess. Hard to be more charming than this.

While traveling, skip any available rest rooms, and find a bucket or ditch, so you can drop your pants and moon the passing crowds, while pissing. Assure everyone that you "own" this revolting behavior, and therefore it is something to aspire to.

Never say thank you, never express any regrets for your cruel or vicious comments, never admire anyone or anything in public, always deflect any possible criticism by declaring yourself a touchstone of honesty, abandon any courtesy or kindness, and focus every ounce of effort into ruining the plans and efforts of others. This is how you establish personal dominance.

When choosing a back-up companion, find someone who will agreeably make themselves so small, that they could find in your pocket, or finally disappear entirely, and are content with this degrading position, as long as they acknowledge the greatness that is Bethenny.

In fact, you could repackage Skinnygirl with a photo of Beth bent over a bucket with her naked ass in the air, pissing away, with the tag line, "Skinnygirl, runs thru you so fast, the calories don't stick" and sell it with a brightly colored bucket for public urination. 

You go girl. I am still laughing over your summary.

Sonja has been tweeting.  Kudos to Luann who stuck by her.  Not so much with Ramona or Bethenny.  https://twitter.com/SonjatMorgan/with_replies  I don't think Sonja is taking this lying down.

[breezy424]

Random thoughts:

The whole package thing for Sonja's daughter reminds me of kids away at college.  You get this thing in the mail about how you can send a 'care' package to your kid while they studied for finals.  High school boarding schools are probably no different. The prices for these 'care' packages are ridiculous.  And this is what Sonja's daughter was probably referring to when she talked to her mother about the care packages.  And the packages are mostly snacks and stuff.  I've always asked my kids if they wanted the 'care' package and they always say "No thanks, but you can always send the cash it would have cost you."  Haha.  I didn't find Sonja's 'care' package for her daughter as sad as others.  I guess because it's kind of a silly idea for me and my kids.  My kids would have laughed their heads off if I sent them what Sonja sent her daughter....and they would have shown it off to their friends.  OK.  Maybe it was important for Sonja's daughter because she's younger.  I'll go to the corner now.

I also feel for Sonja for not being included in the trip.  Sonja certainly has her moments but Beth is far more volatile than Sonja.  However, they seem to think Beth is holding the purse strings on everyone.  Is it real or are the other housewives just perceiving it to be this way?  Where are Heather and Kristen when you need them.

Beth holds a grudge f o r e v e r.... And she'll always be unhappy. 

Dorinda was a good host in that she did a lot of planning but the lasagna was catered.  I'm positive she does not have a kosher kitchen but I give her points for the effort.

Loved Santa Claus's visit. 

Loved Lu asking if her wine glass said 'Whore' or 'Slut' (I can't remember). 

Loved Doris and Jules playing Twister.

Thank God John didn't show up.

Ro's Christmas party was so lame. 

Why is Beth so afraid to acknowledge Sonja at Ro's party?  Just like she was so afraid to acknowledge John at her own party in the Hamptons.  Tells us a lot about the real Beth....

Edited June 10, 2016 by breezy424

[breezy424]

Oh.  Is it me or does Beth have the weirdest way (when she does) of saying, "Thank you"?  Thannnk you.  I watched one episode of season one and she was saying it the same way back then.  (And in this episode she mentions that the 'housekeeper' noticed ...  Um, wasn't Beth supposed to be broke?)

[straightshooter]

10 hours ago, zoeysmom said:

Apparently that was Tom Season 1.  Which has nothing to do with the here and now 

I have to say his focus is on Ramona's friend Joni. 

Yeah, he didn't act like his focus was Ramona at all.  However.......he finally did it - he landed a housewife!  Go, Tom!

What a gross group.  I've always hated the phrase "sloppy seconds", and I wouldn't have thought this was something Ramona or LuAnn were okay with - but if it looks like a duck.... 

I guess the Upper East Side IS the size of a sesame seed!

[zoeysmom]

2 minutes ago, straightshooter said:

Yeah, he didn't act like his focus was Ramona at all.  However.......he finally did it - he landed a housewife!  Go, Tom!

What a gross group.  I've always hated the phrase "sloppy seconds", and I wouldn't have thought this was something Ramona or LuAnn were okay with - but if it looks like a duck.... 

I guess the Upper East Side IS the size of a sesame seed!

When that was shot the show was "Manhattan Moms"  before the RH craze.   It kind of looks like some guys in a bar and some eager young producers prompting them.  I think if it had registered with Ramona  she would have spewed.  I got the screen capture from Bethenny's twitter.

[HunterHunted]

4 hours ago, zoeysmom said:

When Bethenny first came back, she of course got some ridiculous one on one with Andy and the upshot was she wanted her own show and he said she had to do RHONY first.  I look at this way she has done two years, given things a shake and now is obviously ready for her own show again.  Please take Carole with her.  Dorinda tweeted the three constants of Bethenny at a shoot last night (1) arrives late (2) leaves early (3) Carole follows.  So Carole tweeted something nasty back to Dorinda, "Uh yeah. . . Bethenny was walking ahead of me so sure technically I was following her.  So beneath you."  Something tells me there will be a Dorinda/Carole Twitter battle before the Reunion.  Carole needs the ammo and to be relevant.

I'm dead. Doris can read! Carole is just pissed that Dorinda has them both dead to rights.

3 hours ago, mwell345 said:

I actually hope this happens - she gets her own show, and we can go back to the non-Bethenny RHONY.   She can screech like a banshee all she wants and I won't have to watch her.  

This will never happen because she isn't really bringing the ratings, her negative ratings are super high, and she's used to getting paid a lot of money for RHoNY and there is no way Bravo would give her the RHoNY salary for Bethenny Starting Over. 

 

1 hour ago, RedheadZombie said:

I wondered if Dorinda baked both lasagnas in the oven at the same time, which for some reason I thought was a no-no.  So I googled.  Someone actually asked, "Is a non-Jewish housekeeper permitted to turn on our oven or stove?"  So according to Chabad.org, certain foods - even if kosher and prepared/eaten with kosher utensils - may not be eaten by a Jew if prepared completely by a non-Jew.  There's some exceptions if a Jew supervises the meal prep.  It seems incredibly complicated.

A Shabbos goy, a non Jew (the housekeeper in the question) does certain types of work that a Jew is prohibited from doing on the Sabbath. I know some folks have also used the delay start feature on ovens and slow cookers to deal with the issue.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sabbath_mode?wprov=sfla1

[autumnh]

52 minutes ago, Knuckles said:

Never say thank you, never express any regrets for your cruel or vicious comments, never admire anyone or anything in public, always deflect any possible criticism by declaring yourself a touchstone of honesty, abandon any courtesy or kindness, and focus every ounce of effort into ruining the plans and efforts of others. This is how you establish personal dominance.

 

 

Why do people always confuse being honest and "telling it like it is" for being a rude douche? It goes back to being taught manners as children. Bethenny does not tell it like it is...she steam rolls over anyone and everyone who irritates here...there is a huge difference.

[Pollock]

4 hours ago, zoeysmom said:

When Bethenny first came back, she of course got some ridiculous one on one with Andy and the upshot was she wanted her own show and he said she had to do RHONY first.  I look at this way she has done two years, given things a shake and now is obviously ready for her own show again.  Please take Carole with her.  

She won't get her own show per se but she's surely shaping the flagship to her will which is even better for her. She gets to benefit from the brand without the inconvenience of dealing with an ensemble she doesn't like. She won't take her return like the step back in her career that it is and exert power to shuffle the pecking order. I mean: good for her but bad for me as a viewer.

As Ottergirl said page 4, the show is now unfair, it's really not pleasant to watch Bethenny basically firing the women she doesn't want to see in her entourage. Heather and Kristen last season didn't want to play ball, now it's Luann and Sonja. I feel like I'm watching a show about moral harassment, with a poor man's Gordon Ramsay verbally abusing people who have no other choice than to take it if they want to keep their job. The balance of power is too one-sided this season especially. It's not normal in a work context. I realise those women aren't students working at McDonald's but they still need the paycheck, it's still work. Watching Bethenny and Carole acknowledging that, by implying that Luann is kind of a worm to not write B. off after she was called a whore, a liar, a hypocrite and laughing at her for it was the worst part for me. 

[breezy424]

Again, according to Kosher rules, Doris did not prepare the lasagna.  I'm not going to go into 'Kosher' rules but there's just no way.  BTW, if Jules is actually following Kosher rules, it doesn't matter anyway.  Doris doesn't have two sets of dishes, etc.  'Kosher' is complicated...far beyond what has been stated here.  Jules is kind of Kosher.  Not truly Kosher.  Which is ok but don't 'preach' it.

[ElDosEquis]

Mom had a saying, it went something like, "Don't loosen (their) mouth". It means "don't get into an argument with that person because they make a scene/yell/curse/ruin the day or mood. 

Methenny just needs a little push and her mouth is loosened - wide open?

Watch her going after Lulu and watch her get more and more frustrated when she doesn't get a reaction from her. I think Meth went into 'drowning person' mode and began to try and grab onto something, anything, that would get under the countess' skin. That is when Meth started to talk a mile of shit and her shoes are no where in sight.

Her and her sphincter sister should have left without coming back into the house - anyone with a smidgen of shame would have left EARLIER and just left a note on the counter, but no, they got caught and had to suffer a little bit of humility?

[Knuckles]

2 hours ago, Pollock said:

they still need the paycheck, it's still work. Watching Bethenny and Carole acknowledging that, by implying that Luann is kind of a worm to not write B. off after she was called a whore, a liar, a hypocrite and laughing at her for it was the worst part for me. 

That's it in a nutshell. This kind of social barbarism is what is being packaged here as "entertainment". But the underlying constructs of the show demonstrate a real contempt for women. Bethenny parrots all the ancient curses hurled at women..."whore, slut. et. al....as if a woman's sexuality is something to be ridiculed and despised. And of course, egged on by Andy Cohen, she is doing a great job bringing to life the old fag hag persona. One presumes she is getting extra cash for all the malevolence she can bring to the show. On reflection, I have to hand it to Luann...who may honestly need the paycheck at this point...she is refusing to rise to the bait, and in her own way, defending the right of a woman to be sexual and make her own choices.

You want a corporate whore and a Bravo fag hag, you got yourself a Bethenny. And her apparently sexless pal, Carole.

[film noire]

14 hours ago, Ellee said:

 

Production still from a rehearsal for the all female RHONY production of "A Streetcar named Desire" starring Sonja as Stanley and Luann as Stella. ("Stellaaaa...Stella Girl!") 

Edited June 10, 2016 by film noire

[Yours Truly]

9 hours ago, mwell345 said:

And Bethenny knows none of the others are going to take her on.  Bethenny must have an apartment up her butt, with Andy in residence, along with Dorinda, Carol, Ramona  and Sonja - and now LuAnn crawling up.

For starters, if anyone was to be "uninvited", it should have been Bethenny.   The same Bethenny who has continually gone after John (that's his name, right?). But who knows, it's probably in their contracts that they have to invite her to everything, because Andy thinks she's such a witty little prize.  Once everything got underway, Dorinda had plenty of chances to attempt to shut Bethenny down, but no.  Maybe that's in their contracts too: "Bethenny shall not be shut down".

She's really messed this show up.  My dislike for her is now so intense, I am afraid if I ever watch a rerun of Scary Island, I'll end up siding with Kelly.  That's bad.

Actually watching scary island again might be kinda fun and more of what set Kelly off (minus her own instability) would stand out. 

[zoeysmom]

2 hours ago, ElDosEquis said:

Mom had a saying, it went something like, "Don't loosen (their) mouth". It means "don't get into an argument with that person because they make a scene/yell/curse/ruin the day or mood. 

Methenny just needs a little push and her mouth is loosened - wide open?

Watch her going after Lulu and watch her get more and more frustrated when she doesn't get a reaction from her. I think Meth went into 'drowning person' mode and began to try and grab onto something, anything, that would get under the countess' skin. That is when Meth started to talk a mile of shit and her shoes are no where in sight.

Her and her sphincter sister should have left without coming back into the house - anyone with a smidgen of shame would have left EARLIER and just left a note on the counter, but no, they got caught and had to suffer a little bit of humility?

Dorinda has become the self-appointed live tweeter.  So as the scenes are playing out she tweets.  Her is one of her tweets:

"Are they going to sneak out without even saying good bye?"

Carole sometime later tweeted:

"It's called putting our bags in the car. I was always coming to say goodbye. . . I'm not rude are you?"

What happened:

Luann sees Carole and Bethenny loading their bags in the car and asks,  "Are they leaving without saying good bye?"

Carole says to Bethenny- "We should have said good bye."

Bethenny then replies- "Do you want to say good bye?"

So in the hypocrite need a lessons in etiquette and got caught on film department, Carole not only lies but throws out an insult. 

So these ladies pretty much want to play on both sides of the fence.  You have Bethenny blaming Luann for her behavior and in the same breath demanding Luann take accountability for her behavior (as Bethenny sees it).  Carole can't even take responsibility for her little follower behavior and then blames Dorinda.  

[Gaily]

I wish Dorinda would post her lasagna recipe.  

[eurekagirl mOo]

I've always liked and defended Bethanny but I just can't after this shit show. Yes, producers wind them up so she came in loaded for bear over something or other. And I GET that people coming after your company is a no no. BUT calling Louann a whore and a slut? Really? Welcome to 2016 bitch. Where women are free to sleep with whoever they wish anytime they wish. Kind of like you do Bethanny! Oh wait, when you do it it's ok but anyone else is a whore? GTFOH.

Luanne-I love you baby but red lace jumpsuits are no ones friend. And it looked cheap. Like Kmart cheap.

I'm kind of liking Dorinda--Lasagna, twister, Kraft paremasan (my fave), and Law and Order. Love it

Carol- I loved you at first but now? You're turning into a bitter hag (kind of like your buddy Beth) You look busted as hell and your clothes look one step above I live on the street. You have money..girl go get a facial and some new clothes. 

Even if B. was a bitch I still liked the gray onesie! So warm and cute......

You ALWAYS say Goodbye and Thanks. That was BEYOND rude. And no, you weren't going to go back and say it but you got busted. It wasn't cute at Jules and it's not cute now. 

[Sampson]

14 hours ago, Knuckles said:

Radziwill has nothing of interest to say, she is utterly spineless, and appears to be intellectually vacuous. Had she not snagged Radziwill as a husband, she'd be lucky to be flipping burgers.

Carol is not spineless, she is not intellectually vacuous. Take a moment to research her life and you'll see. Out of all the NY housewives I imagine she would be the most interesting one to have conversations with. After her career, she took care of a dying husband, a difficult and admirable task. Then she went on to write a best selling book. Flipping burgers ... I think not.

From her wiki:

Radziwill began her news career at ABC in New York in 1986 as an intern in postproduction for 20/20, a news magazine show.[5] She was later assigned to "Close Up" as a production secretary. She eventually worked for Peter Jennings's documentary unit, producing shows on abortion and gun control, and covering foreign policy stories in Cambodia, Haiti, and India.[6]

In 1991, Radziwill was stationed in Israel and reported on the SCUD missile attacks during the Gulf War. In 2003, during the War on Afghanistan, she spent six weeks in Khandahar, embedded with an infantry unit of the 101st Airborne Division. She produced segments for an ABC-TV show called Profiles From the Frontline. She has won several awards, including three Emmys, one for a story she produced on land mines in Cambodia, and a Peabody

[lampwick]

From B's perspective, Sonya's Tipsy Girl was an attack on her business.  Since Sonya thought it was okay to do that, B decided to attack Sonya's business and see how she likes it.  Sonya's "business" is being on the show;freeze her out, and she can negatively affect Sonya's business.  Sonya is getting a taste of her own medicine.  

[MollyBrown]

Carole needs to stop the abusive things she's doing to her face.   She is on the path to Cat Womenhood.   

[jinjer]

19 minutes ago, Sampson said:

Carol is not spineless, she is not intellectually vacuous. Take a moment to research her life and you'll see. Out of all the NY housewives I imagine she would be the most interesting one to have conversations with. After her career, she took care of a dying husband, a difficult and admirable task. Then she went on to write a best selling book. Flipping burgers ... I think not.

From her wiki:

Radziwill began her news career at ABC in New York in 1986 as an intern in postproduction for 20/20, a news magazine show.[5] She was later assigned to "Close Up" as a production secretary. She eventually worked for Peter Jennings's documentary unit, producing shows on abortion and gun control, and covering foreign policy stories in Cambodia, Haiti, and India.[6]

In 1991, Radziwill was stationed in Israel and reported on the SCUD missile attacks during the Gulf War. In 2003, during the War on Afghanistan, she spent six weeks in Khandahar, embedded with an infantry unit of the 101st Airborne Division. She produced segments for an ABC-TV show called Profiles From the Frontline. She has won several awards, including three Emmys, one for a story she produced on land mines in Cambodia, and a Peabody

That makes her behavior on this show even worse.

[WireWrap]

17 minutes ago, lampwick said:

From B's perspective, Sonya's Tipsy Girl was an attack on her business.  Since Sonya thought it was okay to do that, B decided to attack Sonya's business and see how she likes it.  Sonya's "business" is being on the show;freeze her out, and she can negatively affect Sonya's business.  Sonya is getting a taste of her own medicine.  

Sonja didn't "attack" Bethenny's business and she isn't doing anything to affect Bethenny's bottom line..$$$$$. Bethenny on the other hand is affecting Sonja's business, bottom line......$$$$ in freezing her out. Bethenny, herself, has said that Sonja's TG isn't a threat to her SKG line, at all, so this is overkill IMO.

[Yours Truly]

11 minutes ago, jinjer said:

That makes her behavior on this show even worse.

Exactly!

[Ellee]

I'm so glad we decided to do this, Kelly.  I always enjoy my time with you.  Just a tip....never mention pedafiles to Carole though .... she won't talk to me now since I called her out  ...... she did one of my niece's right before my niece went on a trip.....and still has the same one now .....

 

Ok...so I tried to change the situation to be more the HW's way....

[teapot]

12 hours ago, msblossom said:

Oh, I didn't know about her wanting her own show. Well we all know how she navel gazes when she's the STAR. All Bethenny all the time is not the makings of a hit show. And YES, she can have Carole! 

Hee, Dorinda. 

Give her her own show.  Nobody will watch it.  done.  (why is this hard?)

[Duke2801]

Nah I've re-watched Scary Island - and even the "I'm up here and you're down here" conversation with Kelly - again.  And even my current Beth vitriol can't make me see Beth as the instigator in those situations.Unless she was doing some truly nefarious things behind-the-scenes.  If anything, those scenes only serve to remind me how disturbingly annoying, vapid, dumb, psychotic, and awful Kelly was (and likely still is.). 

It also reminds me how drastically Beth has changed since those earlier seasons.  In the Monkey Bar scene, she actually sat there fairly calmly and cool-ly while Kelly berated her and went off on her crazy ass Kelly tangents.  Yeah, she looked annoyed, but she was the one who came out of that scene looking, um, not insane. 

The contrast between Bethenny of Yore and the Screaming Banshee of the Berkshires is pretty jarring.

Edited June 10, 2016 by Duke2801

[Almost 3000]

2 hours ago, Gaily said:

I wish Dorinda would post her lasagna recipe.  

Sadly, after seeing her Kraft shaker I'd bet her recipe is a store bought major brand sauce in a jar (because that's classier than a can) like Classico or maybe Newmans (fits her politics) and no pre-boil noodles. Toss a couple of eggs in the mozzarella, layer, repeat. 

[Gaily]

Almost 3000, I find that so depressing. I wanted something more Barefoot Contessa-like!

[lampwick]

Sonya should have just named her brand "Tipsy" and then she probably wouldn't have incurred B's wrath - at least not as much.  The addition of "girl" was unnecessarily provocative coupled with her not telling B about her intentions.  I support B's handling of Sonya.  I think B's actions and attitude toward LuAnn are inexplicable, but without B the show would be a colossal bore.   I accept the cast's interactions on and off the show as amusing entertainment, content with the idea that they are paid well and they have to live with the consequences of their participation in real life.  The whole lot of them are shameless.  If you have one iota of integrity, you simply don't subject yourself to this type of reality show for all the world to see your ass on the regular.  

[Castina]

A bit of background to the Omarosa vs Bethenny video:

http://www.eonline.com/news/476043/bethenny-frankel-owes-omarosa-10-000-fine-i-did-slam-you-on-the-view

Bethenny, as she does, mouths off with her "funny" digs on the view illustrating how wonderful she is with a real career and successful brand to differentiate and put herself above any comparison to Omarosa.   Her appearance on the Bethenny show is the fallout from that and when Omarosa mentions what Bethenny said on The View, Bethenny denies it and bets her $10 000 she never said it. During a break they pull it up on video and Omarosa is right, Bethenny said it.  

What we see in that clip is Bethenny changing the goalposts and making it about a brand and that is why she starts harranging Omarosa about what her brand is.  So I don't think Omarosa lost that or looks bad.  What that section of video showed was Bethenny trying to weasel her way out of being caught out and making it about brand and not career.  I also think "smart" can be your brand if what you are selling is your ability to perform in the business world.  Not defending Omarosa but I don't think Bethenny won.  I think it's an example of how Bethenny can never admit she is wrong even though she may say the words "you're right, I owe you $10 000" because it's always followed with a BUT.....