06/02/2010

Carol Joynt

Bravo Network Tries to Take It Outside, Or Maybe That Was Me

All I really wanted to do today was work on my book and take breaks to the read the inspiring memoir of a woman who was in the harem of the royal potentates of Brunei. But, no, I had to be bothered by Bravo network over the Salahi interview upcoming at The Q&A Cafe. And not even really about the interview, but some sidebar item in which I had no involvement.

Dear Bravo, the Salahis - Michaele and Tareq - booked the interview directly with me, confirmed it with me, and, as far as I know, plan to show up as scheduled. Transportation has been arranged. The program is sold out. Did it involve NBC? No, but NBC is not the point of the interview. Its about these two individuals.

So, here's the beef from Bravo. Apparently The Hill newspaper published an item that said The Q&A Cafe would "premiere The Real Housewives of Washington." Well, I never said that. YOU know I never said that. All I've announced is an interview with the Salahis and I've mentioned it would happen "in advance of the premiere of Real Housewives of Washington" because there is a rather engorged expectation that this show - very much in the can - will at some point air on the Bravo network. This is not breaking news, and I'm saying that in a town that knows the difference. Truthfully, at the this point, every event in the world is in advance of "Real Housewives of Washington, DC."

The emails began arriving at 2 in the afternoon from Rachelle Savoia of Bravo.

Here's number 1:

Hi Carol - I saw the posting below (from The Hill) for a Real Housewives premiere event. Bravo has not announced the cast of this show nor are we participating in this event. Can you pls tell me what this event is? We called the venue and they said you were organizing it. This event isn't sanctioned by Bravo and since you are using the name of our series, we need to be brought up to speed asap.

I replied that the item was wrong, was "misinformation" and I had nothing to do with The Hill and they should contact The Hill and take it up with them.

Then at 2:30 Rachelle Savoia wrote again:

the event listing says it is a Q&A cafe event, which is your organization. that is not the case?

Yes, but I'm doing an interview. Plain and simple. And then a couple hours later:

hi there. the listing itself says premiere, but the ritz told us it was an interview hosted by you with michaele and tareq salahi. just trying to get to the bottom of what this is since our series is being used in the press listing, so pls advise. thank you.

I said I am an interviewer and do a "serious" interview program. I (duh) don't do premieres and I had nothing to do with the item in The Hill.

yep i understand you are an interviewer and don't do premieres. bravo has not announced the cast of the show and this listing says this is a Q&A cafe event about the show. so my question is, are you doing an interview with michaele and tareq about "real housewives" as it states in the listing?

The messages were into all this cockamamie stuff about Bravo having not announced the show blah blah blah. That's their conceit. No one in Washington - or the world, for that matter - doubts their intent to do a show, if they can cobble it together and make it a tad more interesting than the Salahis episode at the White House, which is about the only hook they have to hang it on at the moment. I feel for them, but "Real Housewives" is not my concern and its not why I want to interview the Salahis. "Real Housewives" is incidental, a footnote, a reality TV franchise thats possibly used up its 15 minutes. 

I wrote to Rachelle, "You are obsessing" and advised her to contact The Hill, have the item deleted and then to "move on."

But Rachelle was not done with me. She had to bring in the lawyers.

Not sure where the miscommunication lies as the event is also confirmed
on your own website below. And includes the name of our show - saying
"in advance of The Real Housewives of DC premiere."  We have not
announced the cast of this show nor a premiere date. Additionally if you
want to book anything associated with the Real Housewives of DC you
would have to go through Bravo. 

I cc'd Lauren McCollester the head of Legal Affairs at Bravo and also
Jen DeGuzman the VP of Communications. The language on this posting
needs to be changed as it is not a Q&A about our show. 

She included a link to my announcement of the Salahi interview. At this point I answered back and copied ALL the lawyers and said, "Stop. This is veering on harassment." I was this close to joking, "Let's take it outside" when it occurred to me this is NBC, they have no known management sense of humor. 

Just the same, they must get paid tons of money at Bravo. That's the only way to explain a day of pecking at at a little person like me. They probably pecked to death The Hill, also.

But to all of you who have rez for the June 17 interview, stay tuned. Sounds like the folks at Bravo have themselves in a hardcore Q&A Cafe panic. I have reviewed the front page and there is no reference to RHODC. Hope that calms the situation.

Now I want to get back to the harem book. Much more fun to think of what its like to be one of umpteen prospects in a controlling Wazir's night. Controlling is clearly the theme of the day.

Andy Cohen

Senior Vice President, Original Programming & Development, Bravo

Posted: June 14, 2010 07:25 PM

Housewives and the Hill

Rarely in television is there a franchise that ignites as much continuous watercooler conversation -- and controversy -- as Bravo's The Real Housewives. While many may not admit the show is on their must watch list, the ratings belie the fact that it often is. For countless different reasons not only is it watched, but also dissected and debated with intensity. To me, it is one of the most fun, complex, and addictive shows on TV (but I'm biased).

The Real Housewives series presents a slice of life amongst affluent women living large in a defined region of our country. When we decided to extend The Real Housewives franchise to Washington, DC, the country had just elected its first African-American President. In a time of great change for the country and DC, we were increasingly interested in exploring the nexus of politics, society and race among women and how, in Washington, the proximity of political power seemingly dictates where one fits within Beltway society.

Early last year we found five intriguing women whose relationships with each other, and with the city in which they live, were the perfect combination for this exploration. We tapped into the life force of Washington with the wife of a White House photographer; a Harvard-educated African American fundraiser; a born and raised Washingtonian whose grandfather Arthur Godfrey was a broadcasting legend; a successful entrepreneur; and a model and founder of D.C.'s America's Polo Club. We knew this was going to expose a different social commentary from our other Housewives series -- provocative and engaging in a whole new way. My fantasy was that our group of Housewives would disagree -- ok, maybe even fight -- about politics. This was to be a new breed of Housewives.

The great advantage to a docu-series, rather than a scripted drama or comedy, is the unexpected. The axiom 'truth is stranger than fiction' reigns supreme at Bravo. But therein lies the rub: you can't predict or prepare for the unknown. And that was the case in November, when late in our production cycle Michaele Salahi told producers that she and her husband Tareq had been invited to the White House State Dinner. The production crew filmed the Salahis' preparation and arrival at the White House gate, but left as the crew wasn't credentialed for the Dinner.

We learned the following day -- as did everyone else, including the other D.C. Housewives -- of the alleged "gate crashing" incident. At the core of the reaction was the question of whether or not the Salahis had been invited. But one of the by-products of the aftermath was continued false reporting that somehow the Salahis had used the State Dinner as a 'stunt' to be cast on the show. The fact is that by November we had been shooting the series with Michaele and the other women for months. In fact, we were a few weeks away from wrapping photography on the series. Any idea that attending the State Dinner was an audition to cement participation in the show is preposterous.

It is the job of the legal system to decide if and how the Salahis may have broken the law. But our decision to include them in the series speaks to a very basic programming mandate, which is to present real people as they exist within their universe. Meaning, we do not editorialize on their actions, how they raise their kids, live their lives, spend their money or treat their friends. We show them as they are, with awareness but without judgment. We let them be themselves, and let the audience draw their own conclusions, and -- like with real relationships -- sometimes the way people feel about a Housewife changes throughout the season. Whatever the feeling, we leave it to the viewer to decide. I think that's one of the reasons why people are so obsessed with not only the Housewives franchise, but virtually every other show on Bravo and why the shows are so compelling. Viewers tend to find something relatable, aspirational, comparable, and familiar, as they compare themselves or their lives to those onscreen. And, it frequently happens that the greatest satisfaction comes from simply being able to say, "I would never do that!"

We kept Michaele in the show because she has a compelling life story, distinct relationships with the other women, and most especially because she represents a very real example of the inextricably intertwined worlds of political connections with social hierarchy. To the people who might excoriate us and say we're making Michaele famous or glorifying what she did: 'here's what' -- we don't make shows to make people famous and as a corollary, we don't view being on a television show either as a reward or a punishment. That's up to the individuals who choose to do so and the people who choose to watch and react.

What happened at the White House plays out towards the end of our series, as it occurred towards the end of our production cycle. But the stories that unfold in the months before are as compelling -- if not more so. Michaele is one of the many characters whose lives intersect in the series and in real life; it would be unfair and unjust to the other women to say that the drama surrounding the Salahis is the focal point of the show; a lot happens, and it is riveting television.

So, before you judge this show, I hope you watch an episode. It is as distinctive from The Real Housewives of the OC, New York, Atlanta, and New Jersey as the geographic locations themselves. This series features the same great storytelling and strong women with an exceptionally raw and revealing narrative. We could not have possibly imagined what would happen next. We still can't.