November 12, 2010

Real Housewives Stuntcasting

I never in a million years thought that I would watch any of the Real Housewives shows on Bravo. Seriously, they aren't real housewives, which I understand is the irony of the show but who cares? There's no way that this type of reality television reflects directly on my life. This is not an example of art holding mirror up to society.

But I heard that this season Kim Richards is on the show. Forget Escape from Witch Mountain. I remember her as the little girl from Nanny and the Professor which also starred Juliette Mills. I also remember her from Hello Larry starring McLean Stevenson which I loved but survives in my memory longer than it was on the air.  I even remember the theme song.

Anyway, so I started watching Real Housewives of Bevery Hills yesterday. Other interesting women on the show are Camille Grammer and Adrienne Maloof who is partial owner of lots of stuff with her family inlcuding the Palms in Las Vegas and a basketball team. There are other people on the show but they aren't as interesting as these three women.

One thing I noticed immediately is that everybody is pretty much hating on Kim Richards. Kim Richards is shy and has trouble making friends and relies heavily on her family for support. Apparently these traits make her weak in the eyes of the other women on the show. I find her as down to earth as a grownup child star could be and she is still inredibly likeable.

My hope for the show is that Kim Richards stands up to the overpowering women on the show and finds a happy way to connect with these people she's been thrown into the sharkpit with. And I hope her sister Kyle eases up on her. It's clear she is jealous of her sister's success and compensates by bullying Kim around.

The other woman who I find fascinating but in a creepy way is Camille Grammer. She is pretty. I'll give her that but she's one of those pretty, dumb blonds that plays up her sex appeal while simultaneously demanding respect for her "brain" which I think has divided into two orbs and gravitated into her bust. She says she wants to come out from under Kelsea's shadow but I can't think of what shadow she could fit under. She's got a pretty big ego but not a lot of substance.

To the producers of the show I would like to say that your stunt casting of Kim Richards worked on me. I'm 43. I remember her from my childhood and I still care what happens to her. Glad to see her back on television and looking so great.