Andy Cohen and the entire creative team over at Bravo have discovered something marvelous. Almost as marvelous as that giant cat cave in Aladdin or Bette Midler in Hocus Pocus.
They have figured out how to make us care, I mean really care, about first world problems.
Before I go further, I will admit that this essay is part of my campaign to get a job with Bravo, so expect some shmoozery on my part. However, this does not mean you are allowed to stop reading if you aren't a part of the Bravo staff.
For those of you that have been following my entries, you know my personal opinion on the crisis that is the FWP. Recently, I was thinking about a particular person with severe FWP while watching some hilarious clips from this stellar season of the "Real Housewives of New Jersey". This paradox evaded me until I realized I was perpetuating the very thing that I had set out to destroy. Somehow, I had been made to care about these first world problems that, if presented to me in the real world, I would normally look at in disdain as opposed to excitement.
But why? Let's look at the facts.
Bravo first reinvented the wheel with their mega hit "Project Runway". This show blew through the roof with it's ratings and viewership because it had done something that few reality shows had done before. Instead of it being a reality based competition where the grand prize is a lump some of money, it was a show with a main goal in mind for the winner. Everyone competing had all the same desired goal and tons of experience to make for a really interesting, and might I add deserving, competition. Shows before it, like "Survivor", had no common thread between the contestants like those on "Project Runway"......set aside the fact the offensiveness of "surviving" in a place that other people were currently living in. Talk about first world problems. Let's give you a million dollars for lasting a month in a place where people have been doing it for free for centuries....
"Project Runway" found a golden opportunity by creating a show with real purpose that wasn't centered around greed. It was an occupationally based reality competition. I think the reason why people care about this more is that it's easier to empathize with someone that works themselves to the bone for a purpose rather than those that get lucky enough to spend a month on a luxurious island to win a million dollars.
It was also one of the first reality based competitions to openly acknowledge having gay contestants. I've always said that once the gays are on board with something, you can guarantee a hit. I think "Glee" is case and point on that.
Bravo has gone on to have many other shows with this same thread, including the EMMY award winning "Top Chef", "Sheer Genius", and "Work of Art".
Yet this only explains half of Bravo's success. The competition based shows, though popular, are not the only brand of reality by Bravo. Following in this idea of occupation, Bravo came out with another type of show starting with "Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D List". There are a lot of reasons why this show is so great, and many of them stem from the fact that it's a show about Kathy Griffin. But it was also Bravo's fist venture into having a show about a specific type of person. They didn't have a random assortment of people who had nothing in common, nor was it a show about someone just because they were famous. In fact, especially in it's first season, this show was the antithesis of that celebrity concept. It was about this really great, might I add gay-friendly, comedian who would literally do anything to get higher on the celebrity totem pole.
Bravo came out with similar shows like "Work Out", "Blow Out", and "Flipping Out".....is there a coming out theme here?....that centered around engaging people within specific and luxurious occupations. Again, everything was immediately accessible to the gay community as far as what we could relate to, and they had found people with purpose. Even though these people would complain about First World Problems, like having a house maid that didn't fold your sheets right, we were engaged because of the people they had chosen.
Bravo landed big time with it's Housewives series, and not necessarily for a different set of reasons. Of all the reality celebs that have come from Bravo TV, few compare to the wives on these shows. Names like Bethenny Frankel and Teresa Guidice are household items, and these women in particular have even created their own brands. I keep asking myself, why do I care about these ridiculous women who seem to have so many problems yet they have more money than I would know what to do with.
Because they are Fabulous. That's right, they deserve the capitol F.
House-wifery, in my opinion, is one of the most easily relatable occupations there is. Bravo already had the gays with these shows by adding the likes of Kelly Bensimon and Danielle Staub, but they had gained something even more important. Real Housewives.
Think about it. Woman that stay at home do things for their family all day. Though they aren't holding million dollar weddings in New York hotels or shopping their children around for commercial spots, they do understand the underlying value of putting the family first. Being a mother can be a thankless job, and often involves putting up with your families bull-shit. LOVE YOU MOMMY! This series of show does so well because it allows REAL housewives to commiserate with the show wives and escape at the same time.
I think Bravo will only continue to have success with this smash series. I'm personally really looking forward to the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills which is going to have Kelsey Grammars EX!
I don't know if it makes me happy to care about people with morbid amounts of first world problems, but I'll tell you what does make me happy.
Watching Teresa flip a table or the Countess' release party for her new single. The only thing I have to say to Bravo is....bravo.
...and can I have a job? I may or may not have applied for your Research Coordinator position.....as in I did. And please don't mind the odd grammar structure. It's part of my style.
LOVE AND STRUGGS
B DANN
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