After seeing the first episode of The Real Housewives of D.C., I say to Whoopi Goldberg: Congratulations to you, good woman. Who would not want to do a little cussing, a little turning on one’s heel, to get away from most of these dreadful people?
I saw the dust-up between Whoopi and Michaele Salahi on The View before watching the premiere of Housewives of D.C., but they were both of a piece: The “housewife” franchise and the constant clamor for public attention never stops. The Washington, D.C., version seems, if anything, more sweaty and desperate. Maybe it’s the town’s humidity. Lacking the sun ‘n’ fun ethos of The Real Housewives of Orange County, the gnarled garishness of New Jersey, the amiable animosity of Atlanta, or the hard-pavement huffiness of New York, Housewives of D.C. is filled with climbers on their way to… where? It’s not as though they’re striving to become Beltway power-brokers the way the careerists on New York strive (and sometimes succeed) in becoming Manhattan media figures.
Mind you, I was actually rooting for each of these women as they were introduced:
• Mary: She’s the granddaughter of Arthur Godfrey, for heaven’s sake — how could any TV critic not feel predisposed toward a woman related to a broadcasting pioneer? Yet by the time Mary was applying her fingerprint to a “biometric” lock that allowed only her, and not her daughter, into her closet, I thought, “What a drip.”
• Stacie: She referenced D.C. as “Chocolate City” in her first on-camera monologue: How could any P-Funk fan not feel kindly toward such a person? But by the time she was taking elaborate offense at another housewife’s dislike of Tyra Banks, I thought, “Oh, come on — you seem smart; you know that disliking Tyra’s imperious style isn’t inherently racist, right?”
• Cat: She had a British accent and spoke in complete sentences — you know how Yanks are suckers for that. Yet when she made fun of Tyra Banks, I thought, “Oh, man, do you have to try and imitate an American black person, complete with what you think are stereotypical gestures? Maybe you are racist.”
• Lynda: She owns her own modeling agency, seems to work hard, and is worried that Michaele is dangerously thin — she seems to have her wits about her, right? But then I realized that running a modeling agency in D.C. “catering to ambassadors” means you’re basically supplying escorts to parties, and when she referred to Michaele as “second tier,” the snobbery reeked.
• Michaele: Sorry, couldn’t even fake sympathy for this one. One half of the team that party-crashed that November White House state dinner? The other half being a husband so infatuated with his own nouveau riche overreaching that when he gave his wife a bracelet this evening, he made sure to tell everyone including the cameras how many carat diamonds were on it? Ick.
I quote George Clinton, “Chocolate City” (1979): “They say you jive and game and can’t be changed.” I have a feeling that’s the way it’s gonna go with these women, every week. “Up for the down-stroke,” as Parliament chants a bit later, “everybody get up” — and leave the room when someone tries to get you to watch another episode of this thing.
Follow: @kentucker
For more: Whoopi says she used ‘choice words’ but ‘did not hit’ Michaele Salahi
I will watch the series if only to see the fall out of the White House state dinner crashing and how Michaele can delusionally justify her actions.
Just like you are delusionally justifying your choice of watching this crappy show.
I never understand people who feel the need to read an article about a show they think is “crappy” and then spend the time & energy criticizing viewers. Do you never watch trashy TV or have any guilty pleasures? Relax.
Shows like this are pure garbage and should not be viewed by anyone.
You think Bravo would include that – actual substance? Why would they want to sully the good name of “The Real Housewives?” with an actual federal crime – in theory?
Michaele was acting like a coke head last night….hmmmmm too skinny too…..Will not WATCH THIS AGAIN.
When did Bravo turn into the presenter of these boring, trashy shows? Yuck.
The only decent thing on Bravo anymore is West Wing reruns.
and Top Chef
I love the Real Housewives shows and I watch religiously. However, I will NOT watch the DC season as I find Michaele and her husband to be completely vile. How dare you and who do you think you are?! They are disgusting. Can’t wait for the other seasons to come back…but this one is a FLOP.
Totally agree. The Salahis are very definition of attention whores. I hope this season tanks.
That lady is surely on diet pills/Aderrol. The way she acted at that polo match? Holy moly.
Also she’d look better with a more natural blonde color.
Best recap ever! Kudos for the P-Funk references……
i have family in DC, so i was excited to watch, but at the end, it was a bitter disappointment.
I am from D.C. and I think the choice of woman is all wrong. They should have gone to Prince Georges county, the riches place for D.C.ers. Going to VA for D.C. house wives makes no sense. One lady is from VA wine country…thats at least 3 hours away from D.C. All the other shows are authentic because the people are from where they say they are from. D.C. is called “chocolate city” for a reason. They should switch the name to house wives from the DMV (d.c, maryland, Va) but the show totally misrepresents my home town.
PG County is the richest place for DCers? No, not so much. In DC proper, McLean (Fairfax Co.) or Potomac (Montgomery Co.) are where all the rich live. Unless of course they live farther out in “country houses”.
Real Housewives of NOVA
WOW. OBAMA this OBAMA that..almost as bad as the view or oprah.
Exactly my thoughts … These women seem to be infatuated with the man. Yep, don’t watch the view or Opera anymore either.
Except for the British lady- good Lord, you’d better not ave a different opinion than the masses in that group.
Well, duh. *Of course* they’re going to name-check Obama. He’s the current POTUS. If H.W. was in charge, they would be name-checking him instead. These chicks don’t give a $#it about the person himself, all that matters is who holds the power/influence.
Here’s a good summary of the show from a DC native http://bit.ly/ao3qIU
I’ll watch. If only to see the Salahis make complete and utter fools of themselves.
I find it funny that everyone is already completely writing off the show and they’ve only seen one episode. I’m referring more to the comments than the recap. Hilarious recap by the way.
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Anyone else distracted by Mary’s glazed-over eyes? Half of her screen time, she looks totally blasted. What is she on? I vote Klonopin.
Restalyne overdose?
RH of DC is one real hot mess. Bravo really dropped the ball on this one. They’re nothing but a bunch of pretentious Obama Zombies. Tre boring! I won’t be watching again. This one is destined to fail.
C***s are us, Real Housewives of DC. And everywhere else.
This show is boring, and DC comes across as backwards, kind of like Atlanta. Style? Some man who looked like a sweatty slob got an award for being a trend setter. LOLOL
The problem here isn’t the Salahis. It’s the whole show. The only one who is kind of interesting is the British woman, Cat. Bravo should move her to New York, or maybe to the new Beverly Hills show. lol
I predict this DC show gets canceled.
LOL … what about his pink pants? I would not use that fabric/pattern for my patio pillow covers.
Love Cat ! I am with you 100%. She is real and the others are not. I think once this show is done covering the drama of the White House Party Crashers there won’t be much to talk about … I also love Cat’s husband. They seem to keep it real all others remind me of the reason President Bush and his family never enjoyed the social life of DC – they have too much class for that !
Bush and class in the same sentence…seriously….wait really…There can’t be people this stupid out there in the world…Please tell me LuLu isn’t this stupid. Let me guess you’re sitting in your trailer park with a cigarette, a gun, a Tea Party shirt on, an a bottle of Jack Daniels (which by the way was Bush’s drink of choice when he was a raging alcoholic, which is why he didn’t socialize in D.C. he had enough drunken binges in his early years) Bush and Classy…Hilarious.
Cat lost me when she spent an entire party boring everyone senseless by bragging about her husband’s job (and praising George Bush.)
Oh my, D. Are YOU really that stupid & cliche? Tea Party? Is that best you can come up with?
For the record, Bush had more class that the entire Obama crew put together.
Thanks, LuLu, for reminding us of that.
I agree this women Kat is way above the rest of them .She is very classy an puts them to shame .The rest are all wannabbes!!!Phoney !!! Stacy your house is not that of any thing special as most in my neighborhood are much nicer !!! Yu need to look in the mirror as yu bring race into everything .
Oh I can not stomach that Stacie … she has this “racism radar” on. Even the book the kid was reading was about color of the skin, it all seem to revolve around that. And then she turns around and throws the British lady under the bus for speaking her mind about Tarah because the only association she can make is skin color. I call it reverse racism !
Sorry, Lulu. There is no such thing as reverse racism.
So mimicking mannerisms and speech in a most obvious fashion in reference to a black person shouldn’t have offended Stacie? Cat was invited into this woman’s house, and chose to speak in this way in front of a predominantly black audience? I am not saying it was racism and Stacie did not either but it was rude, inconsiderate, and plain tacky. People need to learn to watch what they say. Her name is Tyra (Banks) not Tarah by the way. The women do seem a little too pretentious and desperate rather than interesting so far.
Oh please if your gonna dish it then be adult to take it. Are you actually saying Black people aren’t racist?
@Liz
With racism comes power. Black people, outside of the President, (but according to some people he’s not the President) do not have any power. I know this because I’m Black. No – this doesn’t give us the right to trash Whites but it doesn’t make us racist. I wish Whites would try to understand this…
@A
Racism has nothing to do with power. Racism is prejudice and discrimination someone because they are a different race than you.
As such, anyone can be racist.
I do agree that there is no such thing as “reverse racism”. It is all racism.
Black people do not have any power? Better not let Oprah know that. Or Colin Powell, or the hundreds (more?) of black bankers, attorneys, teachers, ministers, business people, entertainers, athletes etc. You may feel you personally have know power, but you need to stop blaming the color of your skin, and start looking at the content of your character.
“Oprah Turned Away from Paris Boutique”
Sure she’s one of the richest and influential women on the planet, but at the end of the day she’s Black – which, unfortunately for some Whites, is an automatic step lower.
There’s no need have to question my character. It’s the way the world works and how some people still think. Blame history. Blame whatever you want, but it’s life for most Black folks including Oprah and the President
The phrase “reverse racism” makes no sense…try again Lulu. I don’t think Cat’s a racist, but her behavior was offensive due to negative stereotypes that have been placed on black women for decades. Try stepping in the shoes of another group and using a bit of perspective.
I too find Tyra overbearing and ego-centric. But Cat’s impression of her was cringe-worthy in its subtle rascism.
So glad I tivo this episode so i could fast foward to get though all the many ackward scenes. I felt that they were all pretending to be someone else.
And Michaele?! Were here scenes all in fast forward mode, or does she really flutter all over the place like that.
Hello my name is Mary, I am an alcoholic — first clue she brought a bottle of wine to a family photo shoot. Except for Cat, these womem are fake and BORING!