Real Housewives of Miami….”We’re going to find that Andy Cohen and when we do….”
It’s done and over with, but the Real Housewives of Miami‘s first season and reunion show is one that should enrage Bravo watchers to the boiling point… enough to carry picket signs and protest outside of Andy Cohen’s building… and when the picketers are ignored (as is usually the case), rush the building, climb up to the 46th floor, find Andy’s office, and bash Andy with the cardboard signs until Andy gives up the name of the person who gave the green light to substitute the Real Housewives of New York with the Real Housewives of Miami and then Andy should fire that person.
Oh yeah… the person at Bravo who made that decision was Andy!
Andy Cohen was the bright Bravo bulb who threw Miami into the New York slot. Andy’s probably fanning himself with palm fronds, thankful that the whole Miami mess is over.
The Miami group was cast last year as “Miami Social Club.” Miami Social Club’s premise was a dinner party taking place each week at a different cast member’s choosing, among ‘friends,’ and the relationships and problems that blossomed or crashed throughout the relatively short production period.
It was not a Bravo-endorsed series until well into filming at which time Bravo changed the title from “Miami Social Club” to the Real Housewives of Miami and made it part of the Housewives’ franchise… welcome to your new home at Bravo, Miami.
More cooking… and more of Crispy Rice looking right into the camera…
When the Real Housewives of New York finished filming and media promotion was well underway for the RHONY’s fourth season, Andy took a look at the NY footage and immediately made the decision to postpone the RHONY’s fourth season’s debut. Rumors always have a nugget of truth wrapped in them somewhere and the rumor around Andy’s decision to postpone the RHONY was that he watched the footage and found it lacking… boring, a total snoozefest.
What to do… what to do???
Weeeeelllll… there’s that ‘Miami dinner party’ thing… let’s throw them in there while we work on making the RHONY un-boring. So, in late February, Housewives fans were anxiously awaiting the return of the NY Housewives, but instead were forced to take a brand new set of Housewives from Miami.
How could Andy do this to his faithful Housewives viewers!?
Well, this is how Andy did it: “You know, we’re all just so tired of snow and Winter time… so I thought I’d bring you some warm Miami sunshine.” Uh, OK Andy…
Alexia Echevarria and Ana Quincoces… “More cooking… and I still hate it!”
The Miami franchise was prepped for failure.
Unlike the other Housewives franchises, Miami was not given the usual Bravo treatment: pre-premiere publicity to introduce the individual Housewives, weeks of promotional ads on Bravo and parties in Miami and New York to let the media warm up to and write about the Housewives. Miami was like eating a too-rare steak… you were expecting a steak and you got a steak, just not exactly as you ordered it and you’re kind of bummed. You would like to send the steak back to have it cooked exactly as you wanted, but your table is one of the last, and despite the place being fine dining, you can tell that the wait staff is counting the minutes until you leave and they can call it a night, so you eat the steak anyway… it’s still good, just not exactly what you wanted. Miami, in keeping with the dining/restaurant/cooking theme throughout RHOM, should have been a perfect rare steak; instead, Bravo served one that was quickly flipped on the grill and thought you should still appreciate it.
The Real Housewives of Miami should not be compared to other franchises of the Housewives… no other franchise was treated by Bravo as Miami was. When it was announced that Miami’s debut was in place of NY’s next season, no one was more surprised by the announcement than the Miami Housewives: Lea Black, Marysol Patton, Alexia Echevarria, Cristy Crispy Rice, Adriana de Moura and Larsa Pippen, but they went along with the decision. The sudden announcement also placed the Miami Housewives in a hostile position with the viewers… we want our NY Housewives back… who are these Miami women and how dare Bravo shove this crap down our throats?
The RHOM also did not have the usual ten to twelve episode season… Miami had a mini-season of just six episodes. When their ‘season’ was over, Andy gave Miami a rushed send-off and indulged himself by experimenting with their reunion show.
The Bravo Housewives reunion show usually takes place in a hotel ballroom located in the Housewives’ city, elegantly decorated, huge sofas flank Grand Andy, hair and makeup people are there off camera and the taping begins… usually lasting anywhere from eight hours to fourteen hours per day (some reunions are shot for two days), after which the footage of the reunion show is carefully edited to produce two one-hour reunion shows.
Beverly Hills reunion, hotel ballroom…. Miami reunion, Bravo Clubhouse!
Again, Miami was given the short end of the Bravo stick. Andy decided to do something really exciting… a first ever in Bravo history… it will be wild, lively, thrilling… a LIVE Housewives reunion right in the Bravo Clubhouse!!! Was Andy so tired from trying to put together decent episodes from the dull footage of the NY ladies for the next season of Real Housewives of New York that he couldn’t take the time or have the energy to fly to Miami and tape their reunion show per standard Housewives procedure?
Andy insulted Housewive’s viewers and the Miami Housewives by assembling them all in his tiny clubhouse on chairs and just let them speak…they spoke over one another, raised their voices and chatted on about subjects that were hashed and re-hashed many times over during the run of their show… Andy barely spoke a word and certainly did not rein anyone in or take the lead as hosts usually do in this type of setting, but hey… it was LIVE!!!
Did Andy say the Miami reunion would be at ‘the club’ in Miami, the one right on the beach with the great views? Uh, no… we’re going to his CLUBhouse… the one in NY that used to be Isaac Mizrahi’s dressing room…
As much as Miami was closely compared to the Housewives of DC as a failed show and unfairly compared to the other Housewives franchises, Miami should be given another season. A REAL season… one produced by the standards to which all the other Housewives franchises have been produced.
DC was developed to the fullest, so it’s not fair to compare Miami to DC… Besides, DC was just stanky…
Again, Miami was prepped for failure by Andy’s rush for a RHONY replacement and he succeeded, as Miami is considered a failure. However, the blame for Miami’s weak ratings and its downfall cannot be placed on the RHOM… the blame should be placed squarely on the Bravo executive who made the decision to rush Miami into the Bravo fray when Miami clearly was not ready, and that executive decision was made by Andy Cohen.
So, Andy… you need to fire Andy!
No, Donald… Andy has to fire himself…
NOTE: You can see the entire Miami reunion at StoopidHousewives YouTubeChannel…
The Miami reunion was worse than this screw-up in the clubhouse…
I would of been more willing to give MIA housewives a chance if it had been presented like the other housewives shows (you are so right on the money). Summer would of been a perfect time (when the only thing on is reruns) to blast out a new cast of wives.
On The View, Sherri Shepard asked why the RHONY starting season was pushed back, and Ramona said they were still filming. Once again, Ramona has proven she deserves Employee of the Month…and another stuffed Snoopy.
They were still filming… They had two weeks left, and they hadn’t shot the final “party” scene in order to wrap up the story lines. You actually think that was a lie? Take a look at the photos of them filming during those two weeks… And also, those two weeks were ALWAYS planned (they didn’t just add an extra two weeks to filming). The truth is that it is NOT boring as you claim, but that they did want to brighten people’s moods. There is not always a “deeper” story, regardless of what you may think. Sometimes things are exactly as they seem. Not always, but sometimes.
Brett: Here’s a quote directly from Andy, which is included in an article about him in Bloomberg Business Week: “Sitting in his 46th-floor office at 30 Rock, Andy Cohen—producer, reality TV auteur, camp icon—is previewing his latest creation, the fourth season of The Real Housewives of New York City. “The reactions are off!” Cohen complains over the phone to one of his producers. The series, which follows a gaggle of nouveau riche damsels as they bicker, go shopping, and talk about their ultrafabulous lives, has become a ratings sensation for Bravo. And though the new season is scheduled to debut in weeks, Cohen knows more work is needed. “It’s very … talky,” he complains of one protracted party scene. After hearing a catty barb unleashed moments later by one character, Cohen homes in on the problem: Cast member and countess-by-marriage Luann de Lesseps, he says, “has to be more offended!” Cohen swiftly orders a close-up of her horrified visage and—crisis averted—moves to the next scene. ” Andy knows that this season of RHONY is gonna be bad… SH
http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/11_16/b4224080452467.htm
MS.SH. THANK YOU!
Great article. Although, you can’t take one quote (“It’s very talky”) and apply it to the whole season, which is what the author did. Thanks for sharing!
Brett: The link to the article was also included… did you real the article? These were Andy’s own words as to why he was having problems with NY… SH
Yes… did you? This is the only paragraph that relates to RHONY.
“And though the new season is scheduled to debut in weeks, Cohen knows more work is needed. “It’s very … talky,” he complains of one protracted party scene.”
The author took one quote about ONE scene (“It’s very talky”) and applied it to the entire season (“And though the new season is scheduled to debut in weeks, Cohen knows more work is needed.”) If I read correctly, which I did, he never said the season needed work (which is what you have been implying), he was directly talking about that ONE scene. I stand by my statements.
Brett: Awww… come on. Everyone knows that this season has been trashed and Miami was thrown to the wolves as NY’s replacement until Bravo could figure out what to do with the boring, awful footage that they were stuck with. Filming NY for two more weeks isn’t going to save an entire season’s worth of bad stuff that was filmed. Now let’s just agree to disagree for now and we’ll see how season four of NY plays out… SH
Note: I do not mean to say they were filming when they were on THE VIEW. But yes, they were not finished filming when their promos were airing.
Brett, How do you know this? You seem to know alot about filming reality TV.
I’m involved in an upcoming REAL HOUSEWIVES production. I am taking what I know about that production and using it as reference when discussing RHONY. It’s not my problem if people don’t want to know the truth.
Brett, I do hope you are not trashing, that’s MS.SH. to you. She has a huge following, and you will read about it! Are you even watching the same show as we are? One question will settle that…DO YOU LIKE TAYLOR?
I do not trash her. I have sent her plenty of information, it’s up to her if she wants to use it or not. Just trying to correct the misconceptions. So much hate in the comments on here….
I do not watch these shows religiously. I have recently been involved in a production of one, and therefore my interest has piqued. However, I have seen about two episodes of that season. While I think Taylor is probably a generally nice person, she does not know how to connect her thoughts very well. I think a lot of the time she doesn’t mean what she says, and then doesn’t want to embarrass herself from backtracking. So no, I’m not particularly a fan.
It’s not hate to you, it is love for MS.SH. Her fans are totally devoted to her site, and we’ve been on here a long time. You just came on, and have a negative attitude. Did you e-mail her privately and share, or what you say is out there for us all to read?
I have a negative attitude? You’re funny. I’m sorry that you take my posts that way, all I am doing is correcting the misconceptions. Believe it or not, it takes a lot of work to put together a series such as RHONY. The people doing the work deserve to be credited, including the cast. Saying it’s “scripted” and “fake”, quite frankly, is offensive to the people that love reality TV and love producing it. I’m not really concerned if she has a “huge following” or not. I am here to post my opinions, not conform to what everyone here thinks I should post. No one has that influence over me; especially strangers on the Internet.
Also, to quote you: “Well, I hope Brett doesn’t see this. Brett either works for Jill Zarin or Bravo. I’m really getting tired of Brett, arguing with all the bloggers. If Brett doesn’t like this site, Brett should stay off it.”
That’s not a positive thing to say. You can say it’s not “hate”, but that word is interchangeable.
Gosh – watching the back and forth between Brett and other commenters is like watching a RH or WWHL episode: beating horses that have been dead so long the vultures left the maggots to finish off the carcass.
In a nutshell, that’s what I think it had gone wrong with all the RH franchises. The RHs just keep bickering over the same thing over and over and over again. They really need to take a lesson from this site where there’s always something new and different and interesting and fresh to bicker about, then move on! Brett should get SH involved in production!
AOM: I hope you’re not talking about Sparkles… are you??? SH
Sparkles? No, never. We all know the Salahi’s served him at that amazingly awesomely lovingly successful dinner party for their bestest closest most perfect friends. You know, where they served the most rare, delicious, expensive and super-fantastic main course: Sparkles Wellington.
LOL AOM
AOM: Oh, no!!! Not Sparkles! Remember when they tried to pass off a crate of Sam’s Club table grapes as wine grapes for the grape-stomping party ala ‘I Love Lucy’ and they were all in that big vat of grapes stomping away and hardly a trickle came out? The Salamis pulled one last ‘grape’ caper when they caught wind of Bravo not picking up a second DC season. Here’s how it went: When the Salamis got a call from their producer who told them that their services were no longer needed, poor Sparkles was doomed. Between Tarmac and Messy, they got nothin’ but some dead grape vines and an old white prom limo… so how are they going to keep Sparkles in oats and saddles? They called all the cast members of DC (even Aunt Frances) and invited them over for dinner, which was spectacular, everyone raved about it and the dinner actually made inroads toward peace between the Salamis and a couple of their cast mates… and, despite Messy taking a Gillette to Sparkles, there were still some horse hairs stuck to the fillets hidden underneath the pastry, but at least Tarmac didn’t burn the Sparkles Wellington. Sparkles remains are in the trunk of the white limo as the Salamis had not paid Sparkles’ board for almost a year. I guess they’ll be sleeping in their limo and when they need a snack, they can just pop the trunk… SH
Sparkle. LOL! MS.SH, If you start a production, can I be Adrianna or Lisa? AOM can be Vicki. You know…work, work, work. I love you AOM. Just havin’ fun. You have some of the best comments on here.
Seriously….people arguing over this shit. What a joke. Why do people NEED to LIVE in combat one another? It’s one thing to come on here and get the scoop. But to sit and ARGUE about a TELEVISION SHOW? Are you all 12?
Relax Futckar, it’s all good fun. lol
Forgive me but the truth is, the RHoM were trashy and very unattractive to look at. What I mean by that is, their faces are so heavy with botox and surgical facial lifts that they looked like kins from the elephant man. Freaks. I couldn’t stand to look at them. None of them. I don’t feel bad saying this either because they did that to their faces. In the past, I would make up a weekly Italian deli platter with the works and watch RHoNY and WWHL after, and that was my good show night. I couldn’t eat like that watching RHoM because the women looked abnormal. Like a horror show of facial castration. The women who had normal looking appearance were too sleazy. I mean, the rest were like porn tramps from Harlem N.Y. lol. That was it for me. I can never watch them. They made me feel sick. Don’t worry though, my deli platter was saved my a good movie in place of RHoM. lol
Don’t worry though, my deli platter was saved for a good movie in place of RHoM. lol
By the way, whoever invented this Stoopid Housewives board is a genious! lol. I love it.
genius
I just finished watching the Miami season 1 with reunion and I loved it! I hope they bring it back nex year. I am a big fan of the housewives entire franchise but some of the shows have become stale and boring (new jersey and atlanta). Thease Miami women are not afraid to throw crap at each other. I want to know what the women were saying during the commercial breaks. As far as these women being overly botoxed, I don’t think they are any scarier than the women in the other housewives series. Seriously!
Glad to finally find this site last December (2011). It has answered many obvious questions.
The Real Housewives of Miami was obviously given the short end of the stick and it is nice to finally find out why! We enjoyed watching it a great deal. Loved Mama Elsa and Marysol. The majority of the episodes were entertaining; unlike several of the other RH cities (NY, NJ, OC, DC).
Glad to hear it will be back…for real this time! *thumbs up*