The 'Real Housewives of New York' Reboot is Exactly What Bravo Needed

The great 'RHONY' experiment worked!

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Start spreading the news — there’s a new group of Real Housewives of New York on the scene, and they’re here to stay.

The much-anticipated fourteenth season of “Real Housewives of New York City” premiered last night featuring a completely new cast of women, ending a two-year dry spell for the fan-favorite franchise and ushering in a refreshing new era for Bravo. And, by the looks of it, the new iteration of “RHONY” has been warmly received by even some of the biggest skeptics out there.

After a tough season 13, which I’m not going to retread here but flopped under the weight of a multitude of unprecedented factors, Bravo put the entire franchise on pause before announcing that it would be splitting the show into two separate series (the flagship featuring a full new cast and a “legacy” show featuring some of the beloved existing cast and former women returning to film). It was to be a brand new experiment for the network, which has done a pretty fantastic job evolving its central group of “Real Housewives” franchises over the years, most recently with the “Ultimate Girls Trip” seasons and the “Miami” reboot for Peacock (which was so successful that it’s moving back to Bravo for its upcoming sixth season). The splitting of “RHONY” was met with some skepticism, but ultimately fans seemed to be excited about it — while unclear what it would actually end up looking like, this represented the best of both worlds.

READ: Everything I Watched in June 2023

To me, the biggest mistake that was made during this entire “RHONY” reshuffling is that the announcement of the new cast at BravoCon last year came before any update on the mysterious “Legacy” show. If Bravo had already alleviated concerned fans over which of their favorite “RHONY” women would be returning for “Legacy” and when, then the announcement of the new cast would’ve been welcomed with more open arms. Instead of excitement over a new group of women to fall in love with, the reaction online last fall was more, “What are they doing here without Dorinda?” and “What about our beloved Sonjarita?”

It’s unclear what exactly happened, but contract talks around “Legacy” reportedly stalled, with Jill Zarin apparently taking the back-and-forth public via Page Six, which permanently shifted talks. Instead of a full-fledged “Legacy” franchise, we’re getting a “RHONY” edition of “Girls Trip,” which honestly sounds perfect. As far as I’m concerned, Bravo should just send those women to a different locale for a week once a year and let us enjoy the resulting hijinks. Plus, we have the glorious “Crappie Lake,” a de facto “The Simple Life” starring Sonja and Luann, which is three episodes in and proof that even 30 minutes a week is enough to fill my “RHONY” love tank.

Anyway, back to the reboot. Because of the slight ball drop around “Legacy,” it felt like a good amount of the online fanbase was never going to give the new women a chance. The negativity around any new announcement from Bravo around season 14 — the cast, the taglines, preview clips, behind-the-scenes footage — was palpable, even if it was pretty clear that these women had a lot of promise as Housewives and seemed pretty fucking game to put in the work and earn viewers’ trust.

If the reaction to last night’s fantastic premiere is any indication, though, those early critics have already begun to be won over. While there was no falling into bushes or cheating scandals or run-ins with Palm Beach cops, the women brought us back to the petty basics, arguing over cheese plates and déclassé restaurant reservations. (The bleeped out restaurant was Catch, by the way.) In other words, the kinds of things that Luan and Alex McCord and Jill and Ramona and Bethenny argued about when we first met them. And, once these groups of women get the low-stakes shit out of the way, they will inevitably have bigger fish to fry. The cameras will start to impact their lives in a real way, the pressures of fame will begin to play into their dynamics and they’ll start to try to outdo one another in more ridiculous ways. We’ve seen this film before and, while we don’t quite know the ending, we do know how these shows tend to go. Patience is a virtue, and isn’t it quite refreshing not having to rely on a big cheating scandal or crime for one of these shows to be entertaining? (See also: this season of “Orange County.”)

The premiere was fresh and fun and while I think it could’ve done a bit of a better job introducing each of the women individually (for example, we didn’t even get to see Brynn’s apartment), I kind of also loved that we got thrown right into the action. It’s clear that they had already been hanging out and filming with one another (and we also know that that’s true because one of the women originally cast for the show got fired weeks into filming after reportedly using the N-word — something I glad they’re not addressing on the show).

While she needs to settle a bit into being on TV, Brynn is an obvious standout on this cast judging by what we’ve seen so far. She’s fun and funny and thrives in a confessional. She’s not afraid of conflict, either. She’s giving me young Sonja vibes, and I’m here for all of it. Erin is another standout to me. She’s intense and chic and seems to tell it like it is. I’ve seen some people online compare her to Heather Thomson, which I don’t know I see. There was always a cheesiness to Heather that I’m not sure Erin has. Ubah seems incredibly fun, and I’m excited about her, too. I need to see more from Sai and Jessel to get a better feel for what they bring to the table, but I’m definitely into their overall energies and the rest of the women seem to like them. Then there’s Jenna Lyons, who is the enigma on the cast. You always have to have one — someone that the rest of the women don’t quite know what to do with or how to act around. Think: Alex McCord, Mary Cosby, Julia Lemigova, Kim Richards. While I don’t think Jenna is the star here, I’m really intrigued to see how this all goes for her and how she opens up as the season progresses. She commands respect, but not so much so that the rest of the women are too intimidated by her.

There’s a lot to love about the new “Real Housewives of New York,” a fresh reboot with a well-balanced cast of women who have a lot of promise as Housewives, both as a collective and individually. If you haven’t already, give them a chance. Something tells me you won’t regret it.

Read

• The writing has been on the wall for the current WGA and SAG strikes since the beginning of the Netflix-driven streaming era, and this article using “Orange Is the New Black” as a telling example explains how. (Michael Shulman for The New Yorker)

• The cameras are back up on “The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills” following news of Kyle and Mauricio’s separation. But what do we expect for those cameras to really capture, and what does this signify about what we expect as Bravo fans? (Louis Staples for Rolling Stone)

• One of the best new scammer stories in a while follows George Mickum, who became Gillian Heart’s best friend and then started selling fake Birkins to New York’s elite. Nothing like a low-stakes grift involving high society. (Kate Taylor and Anna Silman for Insider)

• The Cut’s cover story profile of Keke Palmer is just another example of why she’s one of the single best stars that we have. She’s at once wise, effortlessly funny and refreshingly self-aware. (Danya Issawi for The Cut)

• I loved this interactive article tracing the history of Barbie’s Dreamhouse and how it’s reflected the evolution of feminism and women’s rights through the decades. (Anna Kodé for The New York Times)

• Three years after the drama that broke up the hosting duo of “Call Her Daddy,” the one who isn’t Alex Cooper sat for an in-depth interview to share her side of the story, but I’m not sure I’m buying her spin on the situation. (Krystie Lee Yandoli for Rolling Stone)

• A fun behind-the-scenes look at how all of those cameos throughout “The Bear” season 2 came to be — and who else wanted to be included. (Jen Chaney for Vulture)

• James Charles’ first interview since being accused of grooming underaged men via DM is telling about how new age celebrities view being “cancelled.” (Gabrielle Bluestone for Cosmopolitan)

Watch

“Last Call: When a Serial Killer Stalked Queer New York” (Max)

This four-part HBO docu-series is dropping weekly on Sunday nights, and the first two episodes are out now. It’s chilling look at a series of murders of gay men in New York City in the early ‘90s, which coincided with a rise in hate crimes and homophobia as the AIDS crisis raged on. It touches on how authorities and the media’s prejudice impacted the investigations around these crimes, as well. An important story told through a well-done docu-series.

“Smiley” (Netflix)

This Spanish romantic comedy series about a group of gays living in Barcelona had been on my list since it dropped in December, but I’ve just gotten around to watching it (one of the only silver linings of the strikes in Hollywood is that we’ll likely get a bit more time to catch up on shows that we missed out on), and it was a cute watch. It’s nothing groundbreaking and the writing is occasionally too on-the-nose, but it’s unapologetically gay, there are genuinely hot sex scenes and the lead’s chemistry is great. It’s eight 30-40 minute episodes.

Self-Promotion

Appearance on “The B List with Petshopboy”

My friend B invited me back on his podcast to talk all things “Real Housewives,” Fire Island chicken finger drama and more. Listen here for the full chat!

Currently

I’m in Nantucket with my family for some much needed rest, relaxation and sun for the next two weeks. I’m planning on reading a lot, catching up on some shows and eating a sick amount of pastries.