The “RHONY” Reboot Is Not Working — Here’s Why

On election night, instead of waiting around for the news anchors of MSNBC to confirm America’s authoritarian tilt, I flipped to Bravo to seek escapist comfort via a new episode of The Real Housewives of New York.

I know this is a controversial statement to offer in certain fan circles, but I thought the previous season of RHONY, which introduced an entirely new cast, was fine.

As much as I miss the original cast of women on RHONY, I can also see why the network opted for a reboot. No fan of the franchise will ever forget how Season 13 became a chaotic mess amid racial tensions between veteran cast members and newbie Eboni K. Williams. It was so bad that Bravo didn’t even bother shooting a reunion. However, a more honest assessment of RHONY should reveal that the show was at a crossroads even before Season 13. 

Respectfully, there should only be so many times we watch someone of a certain age get drunk and defecate on the floor before we try something new. There was not much more story to tell with those cast members, at least not in that form anymore. 

Yet nostalgia is a hard thing to let go of, so a lot of fans have been disappointed by not only the failure to produce RHONY: Legacy, a new show that was supposed to follow the original cast members, but also what has been produced in its place. 

Initially, I felt some of the online pile-on was reflective of an impatient fan base unwilling to let go of the old show. Give the women more time to breathe, I thought. Let them find their groove. 

Now, multiple episodes into the second season of the rebooted RHONY, I must admit how much of a struggle it is to watch. I have read more generous assessments of the state of the show, but I am tired of trying to like a show that is putting little effort into being good and interesting. 

I had hoped Tuesday night’s episode would help me flee the anxiety-inducing cable news coverage of the election. But, as Real Housewives of Salt Lake City star Mary Cosby has said before, it put me to sleep. I was bored and annoyed, like some of my Bravo-watching friends.

We’re six episodes into this show and not much has happened at all.

For what it’s worth, I don’t fault any individual cast member.

Although Sai De Silva appears to be taking the internet comments calling her mean or some variation of evil too seriously, earlier this season we watched her and her aunt bury part of her mom’s ashes around a newly planted tree. Nothing is more real than sharing your grief on camera.

The new housewife Racquel Chevremont, who joins Jenna Lyons as another queer woman on the cast, has an interesting background both personally and professionally. From the first scene, she has been forthright about her life. 

While last season’s breakout star Jessel Taank sounded ridiculous in the season opener for noting that she’s never used the city’s public transportation system — and for hosting a Clueless-themed party featuring multiple costume changes, none of which related to the iconic film — she has shared more of her personal story so far. It could not have been easy trying to speak to her husband, Pavit, about her desire to have a daughter as he focused more on taking pictures of hot honey fried chicken for Instagram. 

Erin Lichy has been open about her mother’s cancer and her husband Abe’s neglect to share important financial information. (It did take a minute for her to get to the point, though.) 

There are some interesting personal scenes to be found in this season of RHONY, but those alone are not enough to make a compelling show. Besides, although some of the cast members are sharing, the rest are withholding.

Much as I enjoy Lyons on the show, I understand why some fans can’t get over how she has a partner who refuses to film. I would counter that by saying, even with that omission, Lyons comes across as less curated than some of her co-stars. It’s difficult enough to debate which of the cast on a reality show is hiding more of their real lives than the other. 

Ultimately, the biggest issue plaguing the new RHONY is that it remains obvious that they are co-workers cosplaying as friends.

One incident highlighted that dynamic this week when Brynn Whitfield, a biracial woman from the Midwest who admittedly did not grow up with her Black family, absurdly lectures Ubah Hassan, a Somali Canadian model, about not perpetuating the angry Black female stereotype on camera. 

Is Hassan a hothead on the show? Perhaps, but she’s not the only one. I know Bravo purposely wanted to have a multicultural cast on its revised RHONY, but for all the ignorant and/or insensitive comments Ramona Singer ever said on the show, at least the woman entertained as part of the cast.

While the arguments on the show have been less serious than this one, most of the drama has been just as stupid and unenjoyable. You can only find so much entertainment value in co-workers grabbing drinks and arguing about nothing. 

We’re almost at the halfway mark of the 15th season, so maybe there is still time for the show to pick up steam.

If it doesn’t, though, it might be time for the reboot to be rebooted.

That’s not to say the entire cast should be given the heave-ho, but for the sake of good television, we need the rebooted RHONY to feel like any  Housewives show we love.