Sorry, Andy Cohen, This Season of RHOBH *Is* Boring
Finally, there’s some bona fide artificial drama in the world of The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills.
Too bad it’s not onscreen.
According to Page Six, Bravo's Andy Cohen is bristling at some recent celeb criticism levelled at the tempo of the flagship franchise. Last week, actress Sarah Michelle Gellar said this season of The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills is “boring” and “slow” during an interview with Page Six podcasters.
On Thursday, Cohen took to the airwaves during his Radio Andy show to playfully—but pointedly—quip, “she wrong.”
Oh, but she isn’t.
The series’ 15th season is unforgivably boring, and nothing is going to salvage it. Not even an explosive set of reunion episodes (fingers crossed) could redeem this season, which has mostly felt like an extended luxury shopping trip that’s occasionally punctuated by the most tedious bickering between frenemies.
Gellar, who qualified her statements with the obligatory expression of affection for the series’ cast, especially actress and Simpsons millionaire Jennifer Tilly and queen of Beverly Hills Kathy Hilton, offered some resonant side-eye when it came to the show’s latest addition, influencer Amanda Frances.
The manifesting money guru hasn’t emerged as a fan favourite during her debut season. That wah-wah reception may have something to do with the fact that she doesn’t seem to get that the show isn’t an extension of her brand but a brand onto itself. Terms and conditions apply to the Housewife role—even influencer Housewives.
Said Gellar: “If you choose to go on the show then you have to be ready to open yourself up and be honest.”
I hate to quibble with Gellar, but that’s not entirely true, either. The series isn’t about being real; it’s about being entertaining, which is something entirely different but no less important. To be a Housewife is to be a TV personality, and if you’re not performing this function you are, by definition, being boring.
Maybe the problem is they’re being too real?
Boring is not something that can be said of Cohen’s many other franchise offerings—in the past or recently. The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City, for example, delivered a literal Greek chorus during their last season. And while few can attain the grimly over-the-top tenor of RHOSLC, or the master-class shade of The Real Housewives of Potomac, it’s clear the ladies of Beverly Hills need to up their game.
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Flannery Dean is a writer based in Hamilton, Ont. She’s written for The Narwhal, the Globe and Mail and The Guardian.
