Bravo's Real Housewives Franchise To Colonize More of America
On Tuesday morning, at an upfront presentation to the media hosted at Tom Colicchio's restaurant Craft on East 19th Street, Bravo executives announced they will be expanding their Real Housewives franchise.
Next up?
New Jersey!
"The newest edition of Bravo's successful "Real Housewives" franchise brings big homes, big hair, new money and drama," the press release promised. "Shot through Bravo's pop culture filter, welcome to New Jersey, home to five of the Garden State's most affluent ladies and the families they run. These best friends do everything over-the-top, from their decorating, to their dating and their fighting. The Real Housewives of New Jersey showcases the McMansions and lavish lifestyles of these women and all the drama that money can buy."
Bravo also announced that The Real Housewives of Orange County would be returning for a fourth season; and that The Real Housewives of New York City would come back for a second.
During her presentation, Bravo programming executive Frances Berwick declined to say exactly where in New Jersey the series was being shot, saying only that it was a "wealthy community."
Afterwards, Bravo played an early rough clip from the series, which--spoiler alert!--appears to be trying to mine similar New Jersey real estate to HBO's The Sopranos.
This should be interesting, since I live in one of the more affluent communities in NJ. Hope it's more realistic than the NYC version of the show!
Having grown up in NYC, I wasn't impressed with the "Real Housewives of New York City." The best description I'd have for Alix & Simon were "unabashed social climbers," definitely not "society." What codependent people, who were just full of themselves!
As for the others, most were just nuveaux riche, but hardly "society" .. real middle-class accents; bet none of those women went to ivy league or prep schools.
Bravo does such an amazing job with these Housewives series, and they can just keep them coming for years and years. I'll watch every one of them. The tongue in cheek, hysterical editing is beyond brilliant. Great guilty pleasure. Thanks!
The series is being shot in Franklin Lakes and the surrounding towns.
I heard they were filming in Upper Saddle River as well.
And now, another way for NJ to rack up its already long list of monikers.