Real Housewives have gone too far

I said I'd talk about the series so here's the first blog about it... and it's to say that I think the show has crossed the line.

Let me first start by talking about why I liked the show initially. It was, as the name implies, real. The housewives did and said stupid things, had children who sometimes acted imperfectly, and were married to husbands messed up but generally meant well. I remember the episode where Kimberly struggled after a biopsy and wondered whether she had cancer, and Lauri had to deal with her son's drug addiction, and Jeanna took her son on a college/recruiting visit. It was dramatic in that it was relatable.

Of course, the housewives and their children caught a lot of heat. The parenting skills were called into question, the children were criticized as being spoiled or disrespectful, and their marriages suffered. That's when I think the focus of the show changed. The housewives, acting to protect their kids and their families, refused to put their children in the spotlight and instead focused on the relationships among the housewives. That's where it went wrong.

Atlanta is almost unbearable to watch. Orange County has become about the men. New York has potential but Jill acted like a petulant child, LuAnn is a shit stirrer, and Kelly is a nut job. I said I relate to the Jersey Housewives, but without the drama, and I think that's true. They're all about family, friends, and food with one exception - the drama queen that is the "other" housewife. I'm pretty convinced she's a sociopath and I feel really sorry for the rest of the housewives who have to deal with her. I've read blogs that argue that without her, there'd be no drama and that the show would be boring. I disagree. I have three sisters and we bring plenty of drama - that's the beauty of filming families. They fight, they make up, they love!

Along the lines of the sociopath, I think any time an encounter ends with police being called or hands being laid on another person, the lines have been crossed. Also, I think anytime one cast mate ends up suing another, lines have been crossed. Those things happen when people are put in unnatural situations for the purposes of making "good tv," rather than acting like human beings. When cast mates run to the press to tell lies about another person, that is defamation. I don't care if you signed up for your 15 minutes of fame, nobody signs up to have lies told about them and then be forced to interact with the person telling lies just for the sake of "good tv."

And frankly, I don't think it's good tv, I think it's sad.

Here's good tv: Albie Manzo fighting to get readmitted to law school. Learning disabilities and discrimination are real issues and deserve the tv audience they're getting. Kudos to Caroline and Albie for being brave enough to put it on television. It's a real issue and is reminiscent of the old show.

Shame on Bravo for mixing all of the other garbage into the show.