Review Rewind: The Real Housewives of New York City Season 4

B- /7

Well, there we were again, with the “Real Housewives” back in the Big Apple and ready for a new batch of travels, battles, and breakdowns. Over the off-season, the series lost perhaps its most captivating figure in Bethenny Frankel, but quickly picked up a new castmate, Cindy Barshop, who can only be described as an attempted replacement for Bethenny’s biting, brash, omnipresent brunette. Change was clearly the motto for this season’s women, as they showed off their newfound happiness and attitude adjustments like Jimmy Choos for a night on the town — the very length of that attempted change. The women clearly haven’t forgotten the catty squabblers or the melodramatic thespians they were last year, but their journey to do so this season makes for both compelling introspection and boring viewing.  

Sharapova’s switching racquets; Bravo’s replacing housewives

Sharapova's racquet, devoid of any noticeable Prince-brand signage or shock absorber, seems likely to change come 2011.

Apparently Sharapova’s tight lips when it came to discussing her darkly wrapped racquet this year meant something. She’s decided to make the switch from Prince, the sponsor that provided racquets for her only 3 Slam wins, to Head. Perhaps she’s gotten tired of the less than stellar results in the less than light-speed time it’s taken to get them, or maybe it’s something else. I guess a new year is supposed to spur on a new Sharapova. For tennis’ sake, let’s hope that happens. I’m never entirely sure what’s going on in that always-clicking PR-focused brain of hers, but Tennis.com may. 

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!