Are Jill and Cindy Leaving the RHONYC?

Are Jill Zarin and Cindy Barshop leaving The Real Housewives of New York City?  Rumors are circulating that they will not be back for Season 5 of The Real Housewives of New York City.  Season 5 was set to begin filming during Labor Day weekend but has since been pushed back at least 3 weeks.  Initial reports was that this delay was due to the recent suicide of Russell Armstrong (husband of Beverly Hills Housewife Taylor Armstrong) but now rumors are circling that the delay is due to recasting.  Around the time of the reunion rumors were circling that all of the New York housewives would be dumped in favor of new, richer housewives.  Bravo saw the success of The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills where the women were truly wealthy and was hoping to match this success with a rebooted Real Housewives of New York.  Now rumors merely are that Cindy and Jill are out and new housewives will be in.

Personally, when it comes to Cindy my response is "sayonara!" and I think many fans will feel the same.  Cindy just never quite meshed and did not endear herself to the fans.  While she got along great with "Team Brunette" she seriously clashed with the blondes.  Furthermore, it often seemed as though Cindy was trying to get screentime by creating nonsense drama. "Hangergate" anyone? And who could forget the ridiculous fight with Sonja in the van over Sonja not being able to save LuAnn's seat. Cindy seemed to fight for the sake of fighting which at times made her seem crazier than Kelly. While Cindy's portrayal and action during Season 4 were not all bad, she never quite fit and as the new girl is anyone going to miss her?  No.  Just like there was no fan outpouring when Jennifer Gilbert didn't return for Season 4.  Adding Cindy to the RHONYC was an experiment they tried and failed.  Let her go.  If only Bravo could have done the same with Kelly Bennsimon after Season 2.  Although let's get real, Kelly may be crazy and infuriating but she does make for good tv.
The big bombshell/question regarding Season 5 is whether Queen Bee Jill Zarin will be returning.  Jill is under contract with Bravo and does not have a choice regarding whether she can leave unless Bravo let's her out.  Will Bravo let Jill walk away from the series?  Doubtful.  Jill has always been a main focus of the RHONYC and the show's defacto leader.  However, her "power" and role as the leader has become somewhat mitigated and split since the fallout with Bethenny and Jill's sudden personality change.  Jill had been the one who used to get along with everyone (with the exception of her occasional spats with Ramona) and tried to help "make nice" amongst the other wives.  That all changed after an off-camera fallout with Bethenny that bled into the entire season.  Since then, fans perception of Jill has changed and her personality on camera has changed as well.  What were once minor spats and passive aggressive digs between Jill and Ramona are now all out wars.  However, let's be real the ladies could simply be upping the anty for the cameras.

I think the thing that has changed about Jill is that she has become more calculating and more focused on getting screen time and building her brand through the show.  By this I don't mean calculating in a bad way.  I don't think that Jill necessarily has bad intentions, I just think that starting with Season 3 she had a game plan for how she wanted the season to go and storylines to inject into the show.  Perhaps it was like that in Seasons 1 and 2, but if that were the case it was certainly not as prevalent as it was in Season 3 and Season 4.
I believe that Jill never sought out to be the villain of Season 3 and that she never intended her friendship with Bethenny to disappear.  I think she saw the opportunity to take an off-camera fight (which all in all sounds like some miscommunication combined with Jill's jealousy over Bethenny's career taking off and Bethenny not having as much time for her) and bring it on camera for screentime.  I believe Jill thought that by playing the "Bobby had cancer and Bethenny did nothing" card, she would come out as the victim and she would look good to viewers.  I also think she thought it was an issue that they would fight/talk out on the show and then resolve in one big happy ending.  Provided she had her script (remember Jill was not willing to talk to Bethenny at Ramona's without her "notes"). Clearly Jill played her hand wrong and lost.

She returned in Season 4 with hopes of redemption and restoring her image in the eyes of the viewers. Unfortunately, Jill came back with more of the same. She help create a great divide between the cast and the eventual blondes v. brunettes storyline ruled the season. Jill would unconditionally support anything a brunette did and vehementally attack all of the blondes. There was no self awareness, no humbleness, just the constant belief that she was always 100% right and could do no wrong.

Nevertheless, as infuriating as Jill has been these last two seasons, she has been an integral part of the show since its inception. She is the "queen bee" and is The Real Housewives of NYC. I hope she returns for Season 5.

Russell Armstrong: His Suicide and Its Affect on The RHOBH

By now, everyone knows that Russell Armstrong, the estranged husband of Beverly Hills housewife Taylor Armstrong, committed suicide. Russell's suicide has received massive media attention (more than probably any other housewife related event) and put into question the fate of not only the second season of The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills but also the entire franchise.

Season 2 was set to premiere on September 5th and a major storyline for the season was set to be Russell and Taylor's deteriorating marriage and impending separation. In the weeks leading up to his suicide, reports surfaced that Russell was abusive to Taylor and reports since his death have stated that he beat Taylor so bad she required surgery.  Russell was purportedly concerned that he would be portrayed poorly in season 2 and as a result the media and his family have capitalized on the situation to claim that the show contributed to his death. Personally, I find this claim ridiculous.

In the wake of Russell's suicide it has come out that he had a very troubled past and was in dire financial straits. He had a history of abuse. Taylor filed for divorce months prior. He was facing a $1.5 million lawsuit. He clearly had problems other than the show. Further a suicide can only be blamed on one person, the person who committed suicide. Russell made a choice, a selfish choice that his 5 year old daughter and 2 sons will have to deal with for the rest of their lives. Russell on the other hand does not suffer the consequences of his actions as he is gone.

Bravo is now scrambling to edit season 2 of The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills in order to portray Russell in a more favorable light or to remove him completely. Their concern being that they do not want to be disrespectful and cast Russell as a villian so soon after his death, especially in the face of media backlash and a possible lawsuit from Russell's family (they won't win). There has even been calls to scrap the entire second season or to get rid of all of The Real Housewives shows. That latter is ridiculous.

As a fan, I think getting scrapping and never airing the second season is ridiculous. The reality of tv is the Bravo would never completely scrap the second season. They've already laid out a lot of money filming and editing on the second season, they are not going to flush that money, especially given that they will likely get high ratings after all of this press. May sound insensitive, but it's true. So the question becomes what will Bravo do?

Personally, I would like Bravo to leave the season as it is. I probably in the minority and I know that won't happen, but Russell was who he was and while it may be considered insensitive to show a dead man in such poor light, this is a man who chose to kill himself. A man who purportedly beat his wife. This isn't a man who has earned himself the right to be respected. Others will say that he shouldn't be portrayed in a bad light out of respect for his children. Well his children should probably not be watching The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills and it is up to their mothers to ensure they don't. I'm sure I sound insensitive, maybe I am. I feel horrible for Taylor, Kennedy, Russell's sons, and the rest of his family, they are the ones left to grieve. I have less sympathy for Russell himself. Many people claim that reality shows take things out of context and take something that was one thing and portray it as another. I believe that in instances where Russell was editted inaccurately ot unfairly it should be reeditted to correct. Then again, as a purist, I wish everything in reality shows was edited correctly rather than manipulated. Then again, who knows, maybe I wouldn't like them if they were. I don't think that they should take away scenes where Taylor and Russell go to counselling to work on their marriage. Leaving that in would be a good thing. It would show that they worked on their marriage and didn't just give up. Maybe not all of the fights and everything that portrays Russell as a villian should be left it, but Bravo should still show how the marriage deteriorated. If Taylor and Russell are only shown happy and cheery it will not only be fake it will make his suicide more baffling. The people left after a loved one has committed suicide want answers and want to understand, especially in instances like with Russell where there was no suicide note. Showing Russell in some of his last months of life may help give his family and friends some insight into what he was feeling and how he was doing. It will not bring Russell back but may give them peace to understand why.

Well that is just my random rambling on what I think about Russell's suicide and its effect on the second season of The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills. All in all, I wish Taylor, Kennedy, Russell's sons and his friends and family the best through this very difficult time and hope that the show does not bring them further pain. I express my deepest condolences to them.

Fans=Success So Why Ostracize The Fans?

Many of The Real Housewives have used the popularity and fame they have gained through the show to market their own businesses and make money.  Their success is dependent upon their fans, so it surprises me that a Real Housewife would ostracize their fans.  Some Housewives go to great length to protect their image and have employees dedicated solely to handling their social media and ensuring that negative comments (via Twitter, Facebook, etc...) about them quickly disappear from the internet.

Jill Zarin from The Real Housewives of New York has been most frequently accused of doing so.  If someone is making defamatory or bullying comments perhaps there is some grounds for this, but then again isn't that par for the course when you are in the public eye?  Many of the reasons why celebrities do not sue the tabloids for reports that are full out lies is that when you are a public figure it is very difficult to prove defamation.  There is a much higher standard for defamation for public figures versus private figures.  Also, if Housewives are blocking fans who are merely pointing out the truth, that is hardly fair.  If someone is holding a mirror up to your face and showing you your actions and you don't like it, perhaps it is time to change your actions not break the mirror.

This whole idea leads me to a Twitter interaction I had with Gretchen Rossi from The Real Housewives of Orange County.  There was a recent article on Dailyglow.com called Real Housewives' Gretchen Rossi Shares Recipe For Skinny, Sexy Cocktail.  Essentially, Gretchen is promoting Voli's low calorie vodka and pink lemonade drink.  I retweeted the article and questioned whether Gretchen was trying to be Bethenny Frankel.  

For those who don't know, Bethenny is a former NYC Housewife who purportedly  made $120 million selling her massively successful Skinnygirl Margarita.  Who wouldn't want to follow in Bethenny's footsteps.  It appears that Gretchen was offended by my tweet as I got, what I interpreted as a somewhat nasty direct message saying "No its called an endorsement deal!" (sic).  The thing is, there is nothing wrong with a Real Housewife having an endorsement deal.  They should take every opportunity to parley their time in the public eye into financial success--after all who knows how long the Real Housewives success will continue on.  I personally just found that by Gretchen direct messaging rather than replying via a public tweet it was clear she was bothered by my tweet and being nasty in return.  But of course did not want the rest of her followers to see her being nasty.  First of all, even if it does bother her, she felt compelled to message me directly with a nasty response.  She has nothing better to do with her life?  And two, I was not a Gretchen hater and I wasn't really criticizing her.  I promoted the company she has an endorsement deal with by retweeting the link and basically said what the article said, that she as following in Bethenny's footsteps.

Before this incident I didn't think Gretchen was perfect and she certainly had her flaws, but all in all I was a fan.  I thought she was fun, a good person, and enjoyable to watch.  But now my impression of her has changed. I am starting to wonder if her niceness on camera is just that--on camera.  That she really isn't a good person and that everything we see on the show is just acting.  I've never really decided where I fell on the whole "Tamra v. Gretchen" debate.  I've always liked both of them and wasn't sure who to believe with the whole "Jay" situation.  Seeing that Gretchen can be nasty to a fan, so long as it's not in a public forum, makes me truly wonder how she really is when the cameras are not running.  I now wonder the same thing about the rest of the Housewives.  Who is authentic and who is acting?  But at the end of the day, even if you think no one is watching when  your success depends upon fans maybe you should be nice.

I wanted to write this blog post not as some type of revenge because I was offended by Gretchen, I really don't care--the message.  But I saw the direct message is my twitter inbox today, it got me thinking about whether the Real Housewives are who they show on camera and about the importance of fans.  Gretchen's success is in part dependent upon her fans wanting to buy her products and the products she endorses.  If she is going to be nasty to her fans in private, it is something that the rest of her fans should know.