How Real Housewives of New York Can Improve Its Ratings

2 hours ago 1

Mixed reactions continue to sound off on the reboot of Real Housewives of New York. As the episodes tick past, things are only getting worse. Some fans think this series has turned boring, while others continue to miss their now-absent favorite former players. As a lover of this particular city, I would hate to see this reboot getting the axe, as Bravo might toss this locale into an already (twice) been-there, so now we won’t-film-there-ever-again category. So, let me throw my unsolicited opinions into the ring, hoping that at least one of these ideas can take off and save the ratings of RHONY.

I have no idea if any of these suggestions will work. But I do know that something has to change, and soon. As reported by TV Deets, only 281,000 viewers tuned in for the latest episode, marking a “new series low” for RHONY.

Real Housewives of New York could add a few OG stars to the new cast

Were several of the original stars of RHONY problematic? Yes. Did we chuckle when watching (some of) their antics on Bravo? Also yes.

In the good and the bad, we bonded with the OG ladies of this series. But then, these women tanked their ship, as some of their antics kept giving canceled vibes. In my humble, never-wrong opinion, the Black Shabbat dinner was the final straw. But instead of firing the troublesome voices, everyone got cut, and this series (as we all knew it) vanished.

For the record, there is nothing wrong with this new cast. These ladies are wealthy, successful, and diverse. However, they are hard to connect with, as many are guarded beyond belief (more on that in a second).

The fans need an OG connection (or two) to join this series to help bridge the gap between the old and new casts. Can you imagine how a few of these ladies would interact? I can.

I can envision Ramona Singer standing in Jenna Lyons‘ closet, puckering her face and saying something asinine as Jenna points out her party dresses from her last hurrah with the Obamas.

Or, Sonja Morgan could return and talk business with many of these ladies. Her wares live in Century 21, while Jenna sells her lashes on Goop, and Ubah Hassan’s hot sauce has secured Oprah’s blessings.

Alex McCord and Sai De Silva could grab brunch in Brooklyn, complete with a walk on the Brooklyn Bridge, where they could talk about their support of other women.

The mixture of the old and the new could help the ratings, as the interactions between these varied casts would be fascinating to watch.

The cast of Real Housewives of New York could try airing more of their authentic lives

The early seasons of RHONY were unfiltered, unbothered, and unplanned. The storylines featured drunken encounters with bushes, screaming while drunk over the Morgan letters, and dining at Beautique, a luxurious, albeit easily reservable restaurant on 58th St. They were rich and relatable. Now, we have rich, members-only venues with a side of question marks.

The new cast of RHONY presents as worried. No one wants to receive scrutiny and backlash, so I get why their walls have remained up during filming. The entire OG cast got canceled due to the antics of a few. So again, guarded behaviors are understandable, but this makes for A dull series, as the ratings are starting to prove.

Jenna is fully engaged. Yet, her partner has never, and likely never will, film for RHONY. Likewise, Ubah’s man has also chosen privacy over filming.

Then we have Erin Lichy. Erin told her husband, Abe Lichy, to stop talking about magic mushrooms. She did not want this narrative out there, even though this storyline could have been interesting to explore.

And when pressed about her connections to Scientology, Rebecca Minkoff answers with a standard “no comment.”

Again, I understand the need for self-preservation. But the new cast of RHONY signed on to film a reality television show, where they are failing to give us their complete truths. The viewers have seen this and are turning off their screens. To help bring their fans back, these ladies should consider letting us take several deeper peeks into their worlds.

An eccentric personality should be added to the cast to aid the storylines on Real Housewives of New York

If Sonja and Luann de Lesseps have no fans, consider me dead. You could never make me hate these two. They are equally eccentric, delusional (in the best ways possible), and unabashed during filming. They have given us everything in their chaotic, internal arsenals, and I miss their antics on RHONY.

Thank you for gifting us with a spin-off for these ladies, Bravo. Luann and Sonja: Welcome to Crappie Lake was a hit. But where is our Season 2?

Did ~~Sonja’s~~ their drinking go too far? Yep. We can leave those darker storylines in the East River. However, this series lacks lighter, ridiculous antics, which Sonja and Luann were experts at delivering.

With Luann, sometimes, notes and tones are hard to find and hit. Yet, Luann is now a fully-blown Cabaret star, playing sold-out shows all across our lands. I have spoken to Luann directly, and her level of self-esteem is aspirational, bordering on delusional. I cannot lie (yes, I can, just not on this): I am jealous of how Luann sees herself.

Then there is Sonja. Her teeth have fallen out, and she has also taken multiple walks of shame, peed in corn fields, and skinny-dipped at random. Sonja and Luann gave zero f*cks, and their couldn’t-care-less attitudes helped the ratings on RHONY.

The new cast of RHONY has Brynn Whitfield, who shares a few similarities with Sonja. But with Brynn, her schtick is flirting and nothing else.

This new cast lives cautiously, and their antics are predictable. So Bravo needs to find a new face with eccentric vibes, helping to loosen up the current cast while bringing back a sense of WTF to RHONY. If they can locate this human, the fans might potentially return.

Genuine friends of the current Real Housewives of New York cast could sign on to filming

Authentic friendships are vital in the Real Housewives franchise. Sadly, this new cast feels disjointed. It seems like the ladies on the rebooted RHONY only see each other while their cameras are up. A lack of genuine connections creates choppy storylines, which suck.

This new cast shares little to no chemistry as a group. This mismatched casting likely arose because the network wanted to diversify this series, so they cast a wider net than usual when making this reboot. This net collected several wonderful humans living across the city that never sleeps. However, they are all so different that their connections are struggling.

So how does this issue self-correct itself? Perhaps the network could add one or two real-life friends to this cast. Or, the current stars could work harder on their friendships, trying to forge the same bonds as their predecessors. The latter will take time, but time saw authentic friendships forming in the original series, so my hopes remain high for the friendships found in the reboot of RHONY.

May Jessel Taank and Brynn lead the way.

Or maybe the issue lies with us, and we might need to accept that Real Housewives of New York 2.0 is a (purposedly) different type of series

When the Real Housewives franchise began, the arguments were silly. For example, Bethenny Frankel failed to introduce Luann to their driver, and Luann lost her cool. Additionally, Ramona straight up left the stage during her first reunion, all because Alex took nude pictures, and Ramona found this cringe. But once these narratives aired, the OG cast of RHONY kept upping their antes until their storylines reached a point of no return.

Luann stopped caring about how she presented to us plebians. Instead, she began entertaining pirates and a man named Tom. Luann then lost her senses and got arrested, only to reemerge as a cabaret star.

As for our pearl-clutching Ramona, by the end of Season 13, she was no longer a prude. But unlike Luann, who changed (some of) her ways following her arrest, Ramona kept getting worse. Her words held racist undertones, and she treated “the help” on cast trips like dirt.

As the fan’s cries grew louder, citing at least one racist star and a lack of diversity in this cast, the entire series shuttered. A reboot then entered the chat.

However, calls for firings are sounding across the board. Criminals, lawsuits, and life-changing narratives (fueled by unfounded rumors) are quickly becoming the norm. Perhaps Bravo is trying to return some class to this franchise. And maybe, just maybe, our brains need to grasp this and stop looking for dumpster fires within each passing episode.

Real Housewives of New York is streaming on Peacock.

TELL US – ARE YOU WATCHING SEASON 15 OF RHONY? IF YOU STOPPED, WHY? WHAT WOULD MAKE YOU TUNE BACK INTO THIS SERIES?

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