The Real Housewives

**The Real Housewives**is an American media franchise that consists of several reality television series broadcast on Bravo. The shows document the lives of several affluent housewives residing in varying regions throughout the United States. The first version, The Real Housewives of Orange County, premiered on March 21, 2006; its success resulted in spin-off series located in New York City and Atlanta in 2008; New Jersey in 2009; Washington, D.C. and Beverly Hills in 2010; Miami in 2011; Potomac and Dallas in 2016. The subsequent installments have proven similarly successful, and have resulted in numerous spin-off series of their own.

International versions are also broadcast by several television channels worldwide. The first international installment that was developed is The Real Housewives of Athens that premiered in 2011; which lead to many other international installments located in Vancouver in 2012, Los Angeles (in French) in 2013, Melbourne in 2014, Cheshire in 2015, Auckland in 2016, Toronto in 2017, Sydney in 2017. Although announced, Bangkok which is yet to receive an air-date.

## Conception

The Real Housewives was first announced as one of six reality television series ordered by the American television channel Bravo in May 2005. It was inspired by the scripted soap operas Desperate Housewives and Peyton Place, and would document the lives of upper-class women who "lead glamorous lives in a picturesque Southern California gated community where the average home has a $1.6million price tag and residents include CEOs and retired professional athletes." The series was renamed The Real Housewives of Orange County in January 2006, and premiered on March 21.

In September 2007, Bravo confirmed the production of the series Manhattan Moms, which would "follow an eclectic group of Gotham socialites and their families." However, it was renamed The Real Housewives of New York City in January 2008, becoming the first spin-off from The Real Housewives franchise;it premiered on March 4. The third spin-off The Real Housewives of Atlanta was announced in June, and premiered on October 7. The fourth spin-off The Real Housewives of New Jersey was mentioned in May 2008 before the confirmation of The Real Housewives of Atlanta, although it premiered afterwards on May 12, 2009. The Real Housewivesof D.C. was introduced as the fifth spin-off in October 2009, and premiered on August 5, 2010 and ended on October 21, 2010 after one season. The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills was introduced as the sixth spin-off in March 2010, and premiered on October 14, 2010. In March 2010, Bravo has ordered a series titled Miami Social Club, which would serve as a reconstruction of the series Miami Social, the series was later re-titled to The Real Housewives of Miami and served as the seventh spin-off in the franchise, and premiered on February 22, 2011 and ended on November 4, 2013 after three seasons.

After the cancellation of The Real Housewives of Miami, it had been almost five years that no new installments had been introduced to the franchise, until Bravo announced two new series on November 11, 2015, The Real Housewives of Potomac as the eighth spin-off and The Real Housewives of Dallas as the ninth. Prior to being announced, The Real Housewives of Potomac was initially titled Potomac Ensemble during its early production and premiered on January 17, 2016. During early production, The Real Housewives of Dallas, had originally been titled Ladies of Dallas, a potential spin-off series to Ladies of London. The series premiered on April 11, 2016.

### **Future**

On December 2, 2016, Andy Cohen spoke on the future of the franchise, saying if there were to be a new installment to the franchise that it could be set in Nashville. Cohen went on the describe an All Star version that would serve as an end-goal for the series when ratings began to drop. Cohen stated that an All Stars season would be likely to feature eight housewives with big personalities from each franchise on an island together. Later in December 2016, during an interview with Harry Connick Jr., Cohen stated that they look for cities with strong personalities, and agreed that New Orleans fits the criteria.

## Syndication

The first four series entered weekday broadcast syndication in the majority of United States markets on September 13, 2010, with episodes of The Real Housewives of Orange County. The Real Housewives of Atlanta started airing episodes in the syndicated time slot on October 25, 2010; The Real Housewives of NewYork on November 29, 2010; and The Real Housewives of New Jersey on January 17, 2011. More episodes of Orange County and an encore of Atlanta finished off the season.

## Game

In July 2012, Bravo released a social networking video game version of The Real Housewives of New York City titled Real Housewives: The Game. The game, now discontinued, was accessed as a Facebook application. Every week, after a new episode aired on TV, a new story was available on the game.