The Real Housewives of New York City
The Real Housewives of New York City (abbreviated RHONY) is an American reality television series that premiered on March 4, 2008, on Bravo. Developed as the second installment of "the Real Housewives" franchise, it has aired thirteen seasons and focuses on the personal and professional lives of women residing in New York City. The cast of the recent thirteenth season consists of Luann de Lesseps, Sonja Morgan, Ramona Singer, Leah McSweeney, and Eboni K. Williams, while Bershan Shaw serves as a friend of the housewives. Previous cast members include original housewives Bethenny Frankel , Alex McCord and Jill Zarin; and subsequent housewives Kelly Killoren Bensimon, Cindy Barshop, Aviva Drescher, Carole Radziwill, Heather Thomson, Kristen Taekman, Dorinda Medley, Jules Wainstein and Tinsley Mortimer. The success of the show has resulted in the conceptions of spin-offs "Bethenny Ever After" and "Bethenny & Fredrik" with Frankel. Overview and casting. Seasons 1–4. While in pre-production, the show was initially titled "Manhattan Moms". It was later rebranded to become the second installment of the then-new "Real Housewives" franchise. The first season premiered on March 4, 2008, and starred Bethenny Frankel, Luann de Lesseps, Alex McCord, Ramona Singer , and Jill Zarin. Kelly Killoren Bensimon was added to the cast for the second season, which premiered on February 17, 2009. The third season premiered March 4, 2010 and saw the addition of Sonja Morgan as a main cast member, along with Jennifer Gilbert in a recurring capacity. In August 2010, Frankel left the show in order to expand her Skinnygirl product line. Cindy Barshop replaced Frankel for the show's fourth season, which premiered on April 7, 2011. After the fourth season, McCord, Zarin, Killoren Bensimon, and Barshop were effectively let go from the show. Seasons 5–8. In April  2012, Bravo announced a revamp to the cast for its fifth season, integrating Aviva Drescher, Carole Radziwill, and Heather Thomson into the main cast. The season premiered on June 4, 2012. Production for the sixth season was set to begin on May 8, 2013, but the cast instead chose to go into salary negotiations with Bravo, effectively delaying shooting. Drescher, Morgan, Radziwill, Singer, and Thomson renewed their contract in May 2013, while de Lesseps was demoted to a recurring role. The sixth season premiered on March 11, 2014, a year later than planned with Kristen Taekman as the latest housewife . Drescher was dismissed after the sixth season. The seventh season premiered on April 7, 2015, featuring the return of Frankel and addition of Dorinda Medley, while de Lesseps returned in a full-time role. Taekman and Thomson exited the series after the season ended. For the eighth season, which premiered on April 6, 2016, Jules Wainstein was added to the cast, while Thomson returned in a guest appearance, Taekman did not return. Wainstein left the show in September 2016 for personal reasons. Seasons 9–12. The ninth season premiered on April 5, 2017. Tinsley Mortimer joined the cast, while former housewives  Thomson and Zarin appeared as guests. The tenth season premiered on April 4, 2018, with the cast of the ninth season returning. Thomson and Zarin both appeared as guests. It served as Radziwill's final appearance on the show. The eleventh season premiered on March 6, 2019. Barbara Kavovit joined as a friend of the housewives, and Zarin appeared as a guest. Frankel departed the series after the season for a second time. The twelfth season featured Leah McSweeney joining the cast, which premiered on April 2, 2020. Zarin and Thomson appeared as guests in the twelfth season. Mortimer and  Medley announced their departure from the series in June 2020 and August 2020 respectively. Mortimer coincided her announcement with her relocation to Chicago, to pursue her romantic relationship with Scott Kluth, while Medley later stated she was fired from the show. Season 13. The thirteenth season premiered on May 4, 2021, with Eboni K. Williams joining the series, in addition to Heather Thomson and Bershan Shaw appearing as friends of the housewives. In September 2021, it was confirmed by Bravo that the thirteenth season reunion was officially cancelled. This marked the first time in Real Housewives history that a season  would not feature an all cast reunion. Season 14. On March 23, 2022, it was announced that following the thirteenth season’s negative reception, the showrunners had made the decision to ‘most likely’ recast the show from scratch for the fourteenth season, and create a second version of the show following some of the show’s original housewives, referred to as RHONY: Legacy or RHONY: Throwback. Critical reception. "The Real Housewives of New York City" has received criticism for the lack of diversity in its cast. Then-current cast member Frankel stated in 2017 that she would like to see  the series "represent New York more." Writing for "The New York Times" in October 2019, author Tracie Egan Morrissey posed the question, "If less than half of the city is white, why is 100 percent of the cast of "The Real Housewives of New York City" white?" Former cast member Thomson also stated that during her time on the series she had pitched several women of color to the show's producers to diversify its cast members due to her concerns about the issue. Broadcast history. "The Real Housewives of New York City" airs regularly on Bravo in the United  States; most episodes are approximately forty-two minutes in length, and are broadcast in standard definition and high definition. Since its premiere, the series has alternated airing on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday evenings and has been frequently shifted between the 8:00, 9:00, and 10:00 PM timeslots. Other media. In July 2012, Bravo released a social networking video game version of "The Real Housewives of New York City" titled as "Real Housewives: The Game". Following weekly new episodes, a new game was available based on the story. In 2016, "On Location Tours" hosted an official "The Real Housewives of New  York"-themed tour in New York City. The tour is centered around giving passengers an almost four-hour trip to visit numerous places where current and former housewives "have dined, shopped, dated or had a fight or two," and is described as the "ultimate, one-of-a-kind "Real Housewives" experience."