Review Rewind: The Real Housewives of New Jersey Season 2 Premiere

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If there’s a way to refine trash, then the Real Housewives of… franchise has figured out a way to do it. We all have a guilty pleasure, something that we’re not entirely proud to claim as viewed but something off of which we scopophilic addicts can’t peel our eyes. When viewing or listening to or reading any form of media — film, television, music, books, etc. — my analytical cap is snug on my head. So, when I first stumbled upon this cult franchise a year ago with the Real Housewives of New York City series, I labeled it a wonderful sociological study of perceptions of middle-aged, upper-class, mostly white women, but also their thought processes in social relationships and situations, all over the U.S.A. Well, NYC‘s season had to end sometime, which is when New Jersey premiered.

Each franchise is fascinating because (1) each has an ensemble cast that, much to the cast members’ approval, sheds light onto all in the exclusive members of the Housewives club, and (2) each has a unique tone (the polished but b**chy banter of NYC, the southern faux-hospitable aggression of Atlanta, etc.). So far, the only series I have been unable to bear is Orange County. There’s a difference between watching refined trash and losing brain cells: in the former, one willingly accepts the lack of “high culture” immediately and abandons it, allowing the overwhelming stink of the show to pull out the attachment (or desire not to be a part of the chaos); in the latter, the plot is too simple and the “characters” too static to care about or bother following (when the botox seems to be blocking sparks between neurons, it’s too much). Orange County is basically the latter. New Jersey, though, walks a very fine line between NYC and Orange County. Thankfully, it leans slightly closer to the “Big Apple” than the “Plastic Orange.”

The Real Housewives of New Jersey (from right to left, Danielle Staub, Teresa Giudice, Dina Manzo, Caroline Manzo, and Jaqueline Laurita): Pigs or People?

In its first season, New Jersey, more or less, provided 5 characters — older sister Caroline Manzo, younger sister Dina Manzo, sister-in-law Jaqueline Laurita-Manzo, Teresa Giudice, the Manzo family’s close friend, and Danielle Staub, the “outsider” of the series — with overdoses and combos of passionately protective, calmly logical, fun-loving and passive, idiotically unaware, and creepily possessive. After a season of familial pressures, shouting matches, and infamous table-flipping drama, I thought it couldn’t get any more fascinatingly dramatic or more (un)realistic a presentation of Italian-American women. Astoundingly, it seems to be changing my mind.

Fall Entertainment-to-Come

Time magazine, as did its website Time.com, recently published a wonderfully thorough, fascinating, and intriguing preview of the top forms of media to come out this Fall–movies, TV shows, books, music, and high culture. Fall is always an important season for entertainment, especially come the winter awards season. So, check out the new movies that will contend for Oscars, the new music that could be nominated for Grammys, and some exciting new TV shows and books to be released here.

To peak your interest, here are some highlights from the preview:

Latest “Real” Franchise Welcomes Newest “Housewives”

The reality TV powerhouse that is (or should be) Bravo has decided to expand upon the Real Housewives of... franchise it started 4 and a half years ago with the (unsurprisingly stupid and vapid) Orange County “housewives.” Since then, the network has improved upon its Real Housewives franchises, finding more interesting, intelligent, and exciting women, drama, and views of Americans and humans interacting. Joining the series in New York City, Atlanta, New Jersey, and Washington D.C., is Beverly Hills, which is set to premiere October 14th. To really whet your appetites, below are quick introductions for the complicated women who accompany almost every Real Housewives series (since the women of O.C.). Do these women fit the usual Reality-TV archetypes, or more likely the archetypes that Bravo’s massive franchise has so effectively and uniquely constructed, or do these women own as-yet-unseen personalities ready to shock viewers once again? A rubric, obviously written in blood red, for these women: Keep the (faux-)drama coming!

Is Idol Now Idle?

I guess it’s final now. After much secrecy and press, which I’m sure the show’s producers welcomed, American Idol has decided to end the speculation that many thought would start a spin-off. Joining former Idol judges Simon Cowell and Ellen DeGeneres out the door is Kara DioGuardi.

Fourth judge DioGuardi is joining fellow judges Cowell and DeGeneres out the "Idol" door.

Since coming to the singing-competition juggernaut in its 8th season, Kara DioGuardi never made an overly favorable impression on the show’s loyal viewers. The creation of a fourth judges’ seat was the producers’ way of refreshing a competition that would prove to already have such a reboot (the competition welcomed its most controversial star yet in Adam Lambert her inaugural season). When the decision was first announced, many enthusiasts had their doubts. Most assumed the judge to fill the new seat would be female — a 3:1 male-to-female ratio would’ve brought too much criticism — which upset them because they didn’t want anyone messing with the hilarious, jocular back-and-forth relationship between Cowell and then-judge Paula Abdul.

What’s There to “b thankful 4”?

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4?

The commonly repeated formula is 2 + 2 = 4, a sign not only of a successful elementary education but also of an assured sanity. In a text a few weeks ago, Alaska’s former governor and the Republican party’s biggest star, Sarah Palin, used each of these symbols to demonstrate her new-age, technological savvy. It seems that recently — though, some hard-line, mainstream-media dogs may claim it’s consistent — Ms. Palin has taken a policy of bilocation. In trying to expand her (fan-)base (I thought she wasn’t running for office…), she has decided to hob-knob with the Libertarians and the infamous “gun-toting” conservatives simultaneously. It’s rather confusing trying to follow her.

11th Season of DwtS Welcomes Its Newest Set of Stars

A few days ago, last season’s winner of the reality-dancing juggernaut Dancing with the Stars, Nicole Scherzinger, helped announce the newest set of “stars” who will grace (or bloody up) that glorious dance-floor. As always, they’re an eclectic mix. (Seriously, I see Bristol Palin reaching “Octo-Mom” levels of children before I see her sharing the stage with Margaret Cho again.) Ex-Dirty Dancing star, Jennifer Grey, is the early favorite, but most anyone has a shot of joining Scherzinger on DwtS’ very glittery podium at the top (except you of course, Florence Henderson. Sorry!).

***Naturally, the star must come first, which means his/her professional dancing partner’s name appears second in the pairings below.

Soul singer Michael Bolton and Chelsie Hightower