The Real Housewives of D.C. is the Bravo serial’s fifth incarnation, and its first set in a place where same-sex marriage is legal. New York, Atlanta, and New Jersey don’t permit gay marriage, and residents of California’s Orange County had but a few months to get gay married; if they didn’t, they already missed out. And while the show has always played fast and loose with the definition of “housewife” (see: New York‘s Bethenny, who started the series without even a boyfriend), we finally had an opportunity for Bravo — which makes no secret of its catering to the gays — to line up a lesbian pair of housewives.
They didn’t take the bait.
Instead we’ve got four married straight gals (Mary Schmidt Amons, Catherine Ommanney, Stacie Scott Turner, Michaele Salahi … yes, her) and one divorced straight gal (Lynda Erkiletian). And in a city where forty percent of residents are white, producers opted to cast 80 percent of it as such.
Not that Bravo or the series’ producers (D.C. is manufactured by Half Yard Productions) have ever claimed to offer authentic representations of the places these women live. Which means our interest in seeing a married lesbian housewife has little to do with “what’s right” and almost everything to do with “what’s interesting.” Casting a wealthy, sapphic social butterfly in the nation’s capital doesn’t mean the show has to zero in on the gay marriage debate, but if previous seasons are any indication, Housewives flourishes when cast members don’t see eye-to-eye.
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Bravo asks us to Watch What Happens. For now, we’ll just have to Imagine What Could’ve Happened.
s_b
Thank god our community dodged *that* bullet. Everyone on those “real housewives” shows is gross.
Scott from CA
Just a quick correction, Bethenny did have a boyfriend when Real Housewives of NY started airing three years ago. They broke up in between the first and second season and then she started the third season with her now husband.
Steve
@s_b: Agreed. This is truly for the best. That could have been the worst advertising we would have ever gotten.
Tim
Bravo is really NOT at all as gay friendly as you’d imagine. Tell me, on their many reality televisions…name a blossoming gay romance they chose to explore on camera? Even the few “Housewives” episodes I’ve seen, they casted total wing nuts (Alexis from Orange County who mentions being saved and Jesus after every last segment) and the only gay characters you see is the hanger on best friend who is shown for a few laughs maybe once every 3 episodes. Bravo only cares about garnering gay money and advertisment not actually displaying authentic gay personalities, relationships and dynamics. Sad reality about that network.
chadnnocal
We have enough shame with the new Logo show.