TUESDAY, JUNE 15, 2010 TELEVISION by Emily Yahr
How can the D.C. housewives possi- bly measure up? The ladies from Or- ange County, New York City, Atlanta and New Jersey have gone from reality television punch lines to tabloid staples since the franchise premiered in March 2006 — and while we won’t go so far as to call them “highlights,” here are some of the most memorable moments from the past few seasons. Table flipping (2009) During the “New Jersey” Season 1 fi- nale, an argument that involved who was to blame for nasty rumors about Danielle Staub’s shady past climaxed with a frustrated Teresa Giudice losing control and flipping over the dinner ta- ble. The mortifying moment went viral almost instantaneously. Meltdowns (2010) The most recent jaw-dropping exam-
ple occurred just three weeks ago on a “New York” episode, in which the wom- en traveled to the Virgin Islands. Kelly Bensimon seemed to have a nervous breakdown, accusing one cast mate of trying to kill her and another of being a vampire. The bizarre exchange led to discussions on and off camera ques- tioning her mental stability. Mother-daughter plastic surgery (2009)
During Season 5 of “Orange County,”
Lynne Curtin and 19-year-old Raquel decided to go under the knife together for some mother-daughter bonding. So sweet! While at a consultation (facelift for mom, nose job for daughter), Lynne explained, “I think my obsession with trying to stay fit and young . . . is a posi- tive goal for the girls. So that when they get to be 80, they’re going to look as good as me.” “Singing” careers (2009, 2010) During “Atlanta’s” Season 2, vocally challenged cast memberKim Zolciak decided to launch a singing career with a dance tune, “Tardy for the Party,” which was just as great as you would have expected. The looks on the other housewives’ faces were worth the price of admission during her live perform- ance on a reunion special. This past spring, “New York’s” Countess LuAnn de Lesseps tried her luck with a similar train wreck, “Money Can’t Buy You Class.” “Real” life (Ongoing) Many “Housewives” have an uncanny
ability to market their ridiculous TV personas outside the shows — for example, “Orange County’s” Jo De La Rosa’s dating show (“Date My Ex: Jo & Slade”) and “New York City’s” Bethenny Frankel’s new series, “Bethenny Getting Married?,” which premiered to ginor- mous ratings last week.
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‘Wives’ tales we won’t soon forget KELSEY MCNEAL/BRAVO
ORANGE COUNTY: From left, Kim Bryant, Lauri Waring, Vicki Gunvalson and Jeana Keough.
THE TV COLUMN
Will ‘Real Housewives of D.C.’ find true love with viewers?
tv column from C1
there,” Andy Cohen, Bravo senior vice president of original programming, told The TV Column. “Within that protocol, money doesn’t necessarily buy you power — it’s your proximity to political power that is a measure of your social status. That is one of the main themes of this series.” He divulged his “fantasy: Was the idea of two housewives fighting over politics an incredibly juicy notion? Absolutely! Does it happen on this series? Absolutely, and in the first episode. That thrills me.” Cohen’s enthusiasm is similar to that
of MTV execs when that network was debuting “Real World: D.C.” back in December. That edition proved to be historic for
the extremely long-running reality series franchise. Historically bad. The finale attracted only about
JAY SULLIVAN/BRAVO
NEW YORK CITY: Ramona Singer, Jill Zarin, LuAnn de Lesseps, Bethenny Frankel and Alex McCord.
NBC VIA ASSOCIATED PRESS
ATLANTA: Lisa Wu Hartwell, Sheree Whitfield, NeNe Leakes, DeShawn Snow and Kim Zolciak.
1million viewers — the smallest finale audience in the show’s 23-edition history. The three least-watched episodes ever in “Real World” history came out of the Washington series. The prevailing rap: the Washington “Real World” flopped because the kind of person who loves “Real World” is the kind of person who wants to see hot- tub make-out sessions and dramatic runs to the ER to treat a bad case of alcohol poisoning. Turns out, that is also the kind of person who flees in horror from a show whose description includes the words: “Washington, D.C.” And now, on Aug. 5, Bravo will find out whether the capital of the free world and a show that is a ratings magnet for those who love mother- daughter plastic surgery bonding trips, restaurant table-flipping rages, and friends accusing each other of being vampires are also mutually exclusive. Launched in 2006 with “The Real
Housewives of Orange County,” the franchise started out with an average viewership of 584,000 viewers and these days can hit 3million. Last summer’s restaurant brawl finale of “The Real Housewives of New Jersey” drew 3.5million viewers, the biggest crowd for any “Housewives” episode ever.
Cohen notes “The Real Housewives VIRGINIA SHERWOOD
NEW JERSEY: Jacqueline Laurita, Teresa Giudice, Danielle Staub, Dina Manzo and Caroline Manzo.
of D.C.” will not shy away from the Salahi White House gate-crashing incident, though he reminds us that it happened very late in the run of taping. “Our crew dropped them off in front,” he finally confessed. On the bright side, he noted, “you will see up to that, and the reverberations” of the incident among
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HIGHLIGHTS Not all of the networks have
confirmed their plans, but many of them — including CBS, ABC, NBC, Fox, PBS, Fox News, CNN, Fox Business Network, MSNBC and CNBC — are airing President Obama’s address to the nation from the Oval Office at 8 p.m. on Tuesday night, as he talks about the Gulf of Mexico oil spill. The speech is expected to be about 15 minutes long, but coverage could go to 8:30 p.m. on the broadcast networks. After getting some scary texts
from “A” — who they think is their dead friend Alison, who knows all their secrets, back from the grave — the group of teen girls on “Pretty Little Liars” (ABC Family at 8) tries to decide what (if anything) to tell the authorities. After the Obama address, Fox will squeeze in a new episode of “Hell’s Kitchen” (Fox, about 8:30 p.m.), in which Chef Ramsay challenges the contestants to serve a flawless meal to the University of Southern California Trojan Marching Band and Song Girls.
Comedian Kathy Griffin kicks
off another season chronicling her crazy Hollywood world on “Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D-List” (Bravo at 9), starting with a stint on “Law & Order: SVU” playing a lesbian activist. Griffin, suddenly shy about being in front of the camera, turns to
mentor Liza Minnelli for some tips. New series “Cupcake Wars”
(Food Network at 9) debuts as some serious bakers face off to win $10,000 and have their delicious work chosen to be served at a birthday party. Tracey Buchanan of Sweet Bakery & Cafe in Ellicott City competes Tuesday against bakers from Santa Monica, Calif., Topeka, Kan., and Los Angeles. Working with your ex sounds
like a recipe for disaster, which makes it perfect for new reality show “Double Exposure” (Bravo at 10), which follows celebrity photography duo Markus Klinko and Indrani. The former couple kick off the show with a photo shoot of rapper Eve, but the drama begins when an unwelcome photographer sneaks into the shoot. Season 4 of “After the Catch” (Discovery at 10), hosted by Mike Rowe, starts as the captains from “Deadliest Catch” reconvene at a New Orleans bar to share what happens behind the scenes and reminisce about the late Capt. Phil Harris. “Late Show With David
Letterman” (CBS at 11:35) hosts CBS News anchor Katie Couric and musical guests Devo. Actor Robert Pattinson is a guest on “The Tonight Show With Jay Leno” (NBC at 11:35), along with actress Emma Roberts and singer Travie McCoy.
— Emily Yahr A&E
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the other cast members. The Salahis’s warmup crashing of the Congressional Black Caucus dinner last September will also be “an element of the story,” he promised. Can’t wait!
Strasburg’s got game
Washington’s TV viewers still have a big crush on Steve Strasburg. This past Sunday, nearly 82,000 of them were glued to local CW station, WDCW, when the Nats’ new phenom pitched his second game. Yes, on a Sunday afternoon, against
the World Cup, Strasburg copped a “Top Model”-esque crowd on the station, a.k.a. DC50. Tyra Banks’s “America’s Next Top
Model” is CW’s most successful program, and it’s in prime time. Last year, when WDCW aired Nats games, the station averaged just 11,800 viewers.
With Strasburg on board, the Nats
attracted nearly 600 percent more viewers for the Tribune-owned broadcast station. “Steven Strasburg is an absolute phenomenon on every level — he’s as compelling a figure in sports as there has ever been at this time,” a clearly pleased WDCW-TV Vice President and GM Eric Meyrowitz told The TV Column.
Another 73,100 people watched the game — in which the Nats beat the Cleveland Indians, 9-4 — in our market on regional sports channel MASN2. (The game was also telecast on TBS,
but that was blacked out in the Washington market. That cable network said its early stats show the game was on par with its average for Sunday game ratings. ) Locally, WDCW beat all other
stations from 1 to 4:30 p.m. Sunday with Strasburg-vision — except WJLA. The Albritton-owned ABC station aired World Cup play between Germany and Australia between 2 and 4:30 p.m. and averaged nearly 132,000 people. From 1 to 2 p.m., against the early going in the Nats game, WJLA aired an infomercial for the Magic Bullet — a “personal countertop magician” that comes in a 21-piece set that apparently does any job in 10 seconds or less — and another infomercial for Light Relief, which appears to be an infrared light therapy that promises to rid you of body pain.
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