As much as I am entertained by pretty much everything I watch on Bravo, I can’t help being even more intrigued by what happens behind the scenes to make my favorite reality shows happen. I want to know if Housewives actually do “amicably part ways” with the network or if that is just a go-to line, like I suspect.
Even though I watch Bravo whenever possible, I still can’t get enough content and I want to know more about how it all works.
When it comes down to it, I have a million and a half questions about Bravo shows. Unfortunately, I haven’t had the opportunity to ask any of them, but I did get a few answers recently when I listened to Bravo’s Daily Dish podcast with Executive Producer Ryan Flynn as a guest. He had a lot of valuable and interesting insight during the interview.
He even had some good teasers about some upcoming episodes. When asked about Vanderpump Rules, he revealed, “The number of ‘what the f-cks’ in the first first two weeks of shooting has been unbelievable. I’m not going to give away any spoilers.” I really wish that he did though. He also talked about the upcoming Mexico vacation on Real Housewives of New York. He teased, “It’s going to be one of the most epic shit shows in RHONY history.” YES. I am so here for that. I. Cannot. Wait.
Sometimes I watch Bravo and feel like someone in charge understands exactly who I want to see and that’s because they really do pay attention. Ryan shared, “I rely very much on all of you who do a great job every week publishing the Bravo Social Sentiment Report – which thankfully you guys give us a little snap chat of what people are saying about our shows on Facebook and Twitter.”
“While it may not dictate a lot of our creative edit, because a lot of times, we are already far ahead in edit, it does give me a good sense of [knowing] if the things we are finding interesting are interesting to our viewers.” Thank God someone is reading my tweets… hopefully. He added, “It’s always good to know who’s taking their knocks because it’s often a conversation to have with a production company about how’s a housewife doing given that she just got raked over the coals on social media for last night’s episode.”
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So when do they know to give a cast member the ax? Ryan maintains, “I have to say when it’s time to say goodbye, it’s more often than not a mutual understanding.” Really? I find that so hard to believe. It’s tough for me to imagine most of these people relinquishing an opportunity for self-promotion.
Still, he insisted, “Everyone knows the time is just right.” Sure, but are these people willing to accept that or are they forced out? He explained, “Whether it’s a first season Housewife that just didn’t click and never sort of found the rhythm or whether it’s someone who’s been on many season who’s just a very different person from when we started with them. It’s a process and it’s a discussion. Not everyone goes quietly into the night. Sometimes there can be some understandably hurt feelings or confusion.”
Other than Jill Zarin, I would love specifics on who that applies to. Obviously this includes all the ladies who were offered the “friend of” role instead of “Housewife” and refused to take the downgrade.
Then he said something that I can’t help finding flaws in: “It’s always interesting that the shows and the franchises are always bigger than one person. When we all think, “We can never move on without ‘fill in the blank,’ somehow we do. We find new lives, new stories, and new challenges with new cast and current Housewives.” That might be true for some cities, but Real Housewives of New Jersey waited over a year to film a new season while Teresa Giudice was away in prison. Why? Because the show could not survive without her. For the most part, there isn’t a central cast member like that in the other shows, but I do feel like there are exceptions to his belief that the show is “always bigger than one person.”
TELL US – WHICH FORMER HOUSEWIFE DO YOU SUSPECT WAS NOT AMICABLY LET GO FROM THE SHOW?
[Photo Credit: Bravo]
