This review contains spoilers, click expand to view.
INTRODUCTION
The real housewives of Beverly Hills is a 'Reality Show'. Some major events occurred such as the suicide of the spouse of one of the actresses and the divorce of Adrienne Maloof. Other than that, most drama wasn't that spontaneous although not everything is scripted in detail. Some real life friendships were broken in most unpleasant ways as well.
CASTING/SELECTION
It becomes apparent how the casting works. Basically all stars of this show know each other. Kyle Richards knows some of the ladies because they were clients of her husband, a real estate agent. Kim Richards is a sister of Kyle Richards. Dana Wilkey, a former guest star, is a real life friend of Taylor Armstrong. And so forth. They are all connected.
SCRIPTING
I've read that the stars have only a few hours per episode to prepare. So not everything is scripted in detail. However, it has been implied that the actresses have to make their own storyline. Because of the absence of Dana Wilkey I searched for an explanation. Turns out she wasn't asked to return because she didn't make her own (interesting) storyline. That's a major hint on how things work. For a bigger part the stars have to invent their own character and keep it interesting.
PERSONAL INTEREST
Another thing that revealed itself gradually is the motivation for the actresses to participate. Money seems to be the obvious answer, but that's not all. This show serves as a platform for the women to launch their own products, shops, programs, books and restaurants or to re-launch their acting career. Yolanda Forster used the show as a platform to raise awareness for Lyme disease, which she suffers from. Later it becomes a platform to promote her two daughters' modeling career.
MODUS OPERANDI: ONE TRICK PONIES
To create drama, things were escalated often out of nowhere, so it seems. More on that later. For example Brandi calling Joyce constantly 'Jacqueline', Kyle who pretends not to see the difference between a Witch Pentagram and a Star of David and when Carlton (the Witch) complained about it she got accused of anti-Semitism. During a dinner party, somebody calls somebody a fat pig out of nowhere. Brandi Glanville's (evil) ways is legendary by now.
Also the emotions are the same. Kyle's way of looking disgruntled is her trademark. Lisa V's attempts to cry (or to faint) is laughable. Eileen Davidson's level headed demeanor has become a bore to me. Cautious hustling Lisa Rina is a bit cowardly for my taste but she's popular, I get it. In general people perform their shtick so bad, it's sometimes toe cringing. But then again, the perfection is in the imperfection in reality shows.
But some things are real, such as the troublesome relationship between the sisters Kim and Kyle. I find this truly heartbreaking and feel Bravo should not pursue this angle ever (again). Nor would I encourage Bravo to pursue Kim's (lack of) sobriety again as well.
MORE ON THE DRAMA
Basically in every season and episode, the drama was setup quite structurally. For example the show involves us in the preparation of a nice party, get-together, boat trip, meeting, you name it. The second step is giving us hints what tensions could arise at said event. The third step is the event itself and the drama that unfolds.
CONCLUSION
I think RHOBH created a lot of winners: the actresses, the Botox companies, and it created a fan-base for each of the participants. Nevertheless, I rate the show a 4 out of 10. The modus operandi to create drama was the same. I didn't see enough of the 'Beverly Hills luxury life' and the actresses were too much of one-trick-ponies.
Having seen it up to and including season 5, I would welcome less negative vibes during the episodes. Sometimes it's a little bit too much. Less on the drama, more on the grand estates, awesome walk-in closets, man-caves, cars, foods, bling, fashion, nice restaurants, lifestyle, smiles.… Expand
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