The Real Housewives
Y
March 22, 2006
10-11 p.m. Tuesday, March 21
Bravo
Several quotes at the beginning of Bravo's "The Real Housewives of Orange County" seem to set the tone for these reality tales of "living the life" in a gated community: "Image is everything in my world." "When you're not behind the gates, you don't know what you're missing." "It isn't just a place to live, it's a lifestyle." And finally, "85% of the women here have had breast implants." A later follow-up decrees: "Most (implantees) wish they'd gotten bigger."
But as attention-getting as these statements are, they actually work to throw viewers off the scent of what's really going on in this seven-part series: The focus is on real-life issues rather than catty one-upmanship, petty jealousies or showing off the many perks of financial security. In fact, one of the featured women is recently divorced and flung into a difficult life of single motherhood while awaiting her settlement.
No, it's not a typical reality show. People might tune in based on the show's silly title, but they might stick around for the content. Rather than being merely "Laguna Beach: The Grown-ups Table," "Real Housewives" delves into such meaty subjects as choosing a housewife's life over a career, looming empty nests, midlife crises, teenage drug and alcohol experimentation, teaching kids the value of money, the first tastes of adulthood, being that suddenly single mom and simply fitting in.
Despite borrowing a few elements from such shows as "Desperate Housewives," "The Sopranos" and "Weeds," the hourlong "Real Housewives" plays much more like a documentary than quasi-drama or a voyeuristic reality show. It revolves around five families with parents mostly in their 40s and children ranging from about 7 to 20, not all of who are spoiled brats. Each family faces unique challenges and problems that can't be dealt with by simply hurling money at them.
The action skips around among households, showing the housewives interacting with their families much more than with each other. The participants include Jeana, a former Playmate who married a second-generation pro baseball player and seems more proud of her kids' genetics than them; Vicki, the driven insurance exec and smothering mother who abhors the idea of her impending empty nest and whose husband describes her as an "I-am-woman, hear-me-roar kinda gal"; and Kimberly, the bleach-blond, chest-enhanced uber-housewife and fitness nut who happily embraces the concept of being a trophy wife -- albeit an aging one.
The other two main players are the most intriguing: Lauri, who lived in another gated community until her divorce and now has a townhouse, works for Vicki and struggles with two kids -- and then a third who moves back home after living away for a year -- and Jo, a mid-20s beauty engaged to a divorced family man who knows he's "a catch" but can't understand why Jo favors the party lights over being a Stepford wife. Meanwhile, she's bored to tears inside the handsome home all day -- "he's pretty much keeping me," she says -- and her budding social activities become fodder for the cameras.
While the dialogue sometimes strays toward reality-ready hooey, the situations are more real than one might suspect from such a program. Example: While Jeana's surly, often absentee husband zeroes in on his own personal "Cat's in the Cradle," her oldest son struggles with shyness around girls -- there are hints of questions about his sexuality -- and living up to his parents' expectations. Meanwhile, his younger sister gets a new BMW because her "hand-me-down" luxury car has a broken window button. Her line is among the most telling in the first two episodes: "We show our love by buying each other things."
But a longtime friend of that family nails one of the series' main points when he says that the kids "live the life of luxury, and they really don't understand what it's all about." Welcome to life on the mean streets of Coto de Caza.
The Real Housewives of Orange County
Bravo
Dunlop Entertainment & Kaufman Films
Credits:
Executive producers: Scott Dunlop, Kevin Kaufman, Patrick Moses, Dave Rupel
Creator: Scott Dunlop
Producer: Brad Isenberg
Field producers: Brenda Coston, Amy Elkins, Rick Friedberg, Joel Janacek
Story producers: Michael Gara, Sarah Levine, Todd Sharp
Editors: Derek McCants, Andrew Pierce, Lorraine Salk
Bravo
Several quotes at the beginning of Bravo's "The Real Housewives of Orange County" seem to set the tone for these reality tales of "living the life" in a gated community: "Image is everything in my world." "When you're not behind the gates, you don't know what you're missing." "It isn't just a place to live, it's a lifestyle." And finally, "85% of the women here have had breast implants." A later follow-up decrees: "Most (implantees) wish they'd gotten bigger."
But as attention-getting as these statements are, they actually work to throw viewers off the scent of what's really going on in this seven-part series: The focus is on real-life issues rather than catty one-upmanship, petty jealousies or showing off the many perks of financial security. In fact, one of the featured women is recently divorced and flung into a difficult life of single motherhood while awaiting her settlement.
No, it's not a typical reality show. People might tune in based on the show's silly title, but they might stick around for the content. Rather than being merely "Laguna Beach: The Grown-ups Table," "Real Housewives" delves into such meaty subjects as choosing a housewife's life over a career, looming empty nests, midlife crises, teenage drug and alcohol experimentation, teaching kids the value of money, the first tastes of adulthood, being that suddenly single mom and simply fitting in.
Despite borrowing a few elements from such shows as "Desperate Housewives," "The Sopranos" and "Weeds," the hourlong "Real Housewives" plays much more like a documentary than quasi-drama or a voyeuristic reality show. It revolves around five families with parents mostly in their 40s and children ranging from about 7 to 20, not all of who are spoiled brats. Each family faces unique challenges and problems that can't be dealt with by simply hurling money at them.
The action skips around among households, showing the housewives interacting with their families much more than with each other. The participants include Jeana, a former Playmate who married a second-generation pro baseball player and seems more proud of her kids' genetics than them; Vicki, the driven insurance exec and smothering mother who abhors the idea of her impending empty nest and whose husband describes her as an "I-am-woman, hear-me-roar kinda gal"; and Kimberly, the bleach-blond, chest-enhanced uber-housewife and fitness nut who happily embraces the concept of being a trophy wife -- albeit an aging one.
The other two main players are the most intriguing: Lauri, who lived in another gated community until her divorce and now has a townhouse, works for Vicki and struggles with two kids -- and then a third who moves back home after living away for a year -- and Jo, a mid-20s beauty engaged to a divorced family man who knows he's "a catch" but can't understand why Jo favors the party lights over being a Stepford wife. Meanwhile, she's bored to tears inside the handsome home all day -- "he's pretty much keeping me," she says -- and her budding social activities become fodder for the cameras.
While the dialogue sometimes strays toward reality-ready hooey, the situations are more real than one might suspect from such a program. Example: While Jeana's surly, often absentee husband zeroes in on his own personal "Cat's in the Cradle," her oldest son struggles with shyness around girls -- there are hints of questions about his sexuality -- and living up to his parents' expectations. Meanwhile, his younger sister gets a new BMW because her "hand-me-down" luxury car has a broken window button. Her line is among the most telling in the first two episodes: "We show our love by buying each other things."
But a longtime friend of that family nails one of the series' main points when he says that the kids "live the life of luxury, and they really don't understand what it's all about." Welcome to life on the mean streets of Coto de Caza.
The Real Housewives of Orange County
Bravo
Dunlop Entertainment & Kaufman Films
Credits:
Executive producers: Scott Dunlop, Kevin Kaufman, Patrick Moses, Dave Rupel
Creator: Scott Dunlop
Producer: Brad Isenberg
Field producers: Brenda Coston, Amy Elkins, Rick Friedberg, Joel Janacek
Story producers: Michael Gara, Sarah Levine, Todd Sharp
Editors: Derek McCants, Andrew Pierce, Lorraine Salk
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