How the Housewives Returned to Must-See TV

Transcript

00:00 After reboots and cast shakeups, the Real Housewives franchise is back to being must-see

00:04 TV.

00:05 Us Weekly is digging into the revitalization and our reality stars of the year issue.

00:10 After years of messy divorces, legal woes and prison sentence, Housewives is going back

00:15 to basics and the action has gotten considerably more low stakes, with arguments over a bleeped

00:21 out restaurant and cheese on Roni.

00:34 Well the Roni revival represents one of the biggest swings Bravo has taken in years.

00:39 After a lackluster season 13 that was so poorly received it didn't even get a reunion, the

00:45 network decided to wipe the slate clean and reboot the franchise with a whole new cast.

00:51 Ryan Flynn, Senior Vice President of Current Production at NBC Universal tells us, "I'm

00:56 thrilled.

00:57 The Roni audience has been one of the most passionate.

00:59 It wasn't surprising when we were met with skepticism."

01:02 Well a similar trajectory took place in the place that started it all, the OC.

01:08 The franchise welcomed back Tamra Judge after her infamous "pause" and she brought a much

01:13 needed jolt of lighthearted drama filled with napkin throwing.

01:26 And let's not forget about the Real Housewives of Miami, as season 6 of the show will return

01:31 to Bravo and follow the shocking breakdown of Lisa Hochstein's marriage and track Gertie's

01:36 fight against breast cancer.

01:38 Kathleen French, Senior VP of Current Production at NBC Universal tells us, "You see people

01:43 going through the growing pains with their marriage.

01:46 You see friendships get really tested.

01:48 These women are beautiful.

01:50 They have these wonderful high-end lifestyles, but they have real-life problems."