Bravo reality TV buffs pick their favorite deep cuts
Fans of reality TV juggernauts like “The Real Housewives” and “Below Deck” already know to turn on Peacock to catch up with their favorite franchises (or press play on a new one). But until recently, deeper cuts from the Bravo vault were unavailable on the streamer. Now that Rachel Zoe, Kathy Griffin and BlackBerrys have been saved from the dustbin of history, senior writers and resident Bravo buffs Meredith Blake and Yvonne Villarreal recommend their favorites:
MILLION DOLLAR DECORATORS
I have no idea why this series wasn’t a bigger hit, but it offered everything you’d look for in a Bravo show: over-the-top personalities, extravagant spending, lavish real estate, tiny dogs. Over an all-too-brief two-season run, “Million Dollar Decorators” followed a group of high-end interior decorators in L.A., including Martyn Lawrence Bullard and Kathryn Ireland, as they remade homes for celebrity clients like Sharon Osbourne and, um, Joe Francis. They’re opinionated, they’re (mostly) very good at what they do, and they won’t get out of bed for less than $1 million. Everyone is so extra that it feels at times like a perfectly cast Christopher Guest mockumentary — cast member Mary McDonald even looks a little bit like Parker Posey. But it’s also satisfying in the way a design show should be: the reveals at the end of each episode, though somewhat dated after more than a decade, are always dazzling. (M.B.)
MY LIFE ON THE D-LIST
My brain can’t remember log-in details or my license plate number, but it knows every word to the theme song for the reality show that documented flame-haired comedian Kathy Griffin and her nebulous place in celebrity pecking order. Before Bravo was regularly making stars through its reality franchise factory, Griffin was putting in the work to maintain a grip on the Hollywood ladder the old-fashioned way: as a working comedian and actor just trying to get her name in print, openly lampooning herself and the Hollywood elite with acerbic humor. (You don’t know top-tier television until you’ve seen Griffin fretting over the passive-aggressive undertones of a lavish floral arrangement from Renée Zellweger, whom Griffin mocked in a stand-up routine.) It’s hard to overstate how groundbreaking the series felt during its 20052010 run as it chronicled Griffin’s refreshing and shameless hustle — filming corporate videos for a haircare line, attending a Kabbalah book release party just to do the press line, or bombing corporate gigs for unamused audiences. But the true breakout stars were her parents: her Bill O’Reillyloving mother, Maggie, and her delightfully frugal father, John, were as laugh-out-loud funny as their foulmouthed daughter without even trying. I promise you’ll last more than an hour in the asylum that raised me. (Y.V.)
NYC PREP
Bravo’s take on “Gossip Girl” followed a group of students who attended elite New York high schools as they dated, schmoozed and shopped — but not while they were actually in school, since cameras weren’t allowed inside their elite institutions. Each of the cast members fit a recognizable teenage archetype: there was Sebastian, the floppyhaired heartthrob; Camille, the overachiever hellbent on getting into Harvard; and PC, the brooding villain who out-pouted Ryan Phillippe in “Cruel Intentions.” They were entitled and sometimes obnoxious, yet unlike their fictional counterparts on the CW, the kids of “NYC Prep” were awkward and full of contradictions that somehow made them fascinating to watch even when they were doing little more than tapping away on their BlackBerrys. (Hey, it was 2009!) The show lasted only one season, which was probably a good thing, given the tender age of the cast — though some of us would have gladly watched 10 more. (M.B.)
THE RACHEL ZOE PROJECT
The year was 2008, and Hollywood couldn’t get enough of Rachel Zoe, a stylist who became a celebrity in her own right thanks to her association with tabloid-friendly stars like Nicole Richie and a signature 1970sinspired boho look (huge sunglasses, fur vests, gold jewelry) that seemed to be everywhere during the heyday of Perez Hilton. This series, which had a relatively long five-season run on Bravo, chronicled the endless schlepping that goes into creating red-carpet glamour. With her dramatic catchphrases (“I die,” “Shut it down”), Zoe made for great reality TV. But the real stars of the show were Zoe’s team, including her husband/business manager, Rodger Berman, her cheerful styling associate Brad Goreski, and her other, less cheerful styling associate, Taylor Jacobson (who is barely able to disguise her contempt for Goreski). Come for the late aughts fashion; stay for the timeless workplace drama!
TABATHA’S SALON TAKEOVER
Before the TikTok algorithm figured out my obsession with cleaning videos and job motivation satire, there was Tabatha Coffey. It was 2008 and Coffey, the opinionated, no-nonsense Australian-born hairdresser with a blunt bob and a monochromatic black wardrobe, made fun TV by barging into failing salons and whipping their owners — often drowning in serious debt — and staff into shape. Her schtick involved assessing how a salon was run, usually by viewing its staff on hidden cameras, and offering blunt critiques and proposals for improvement. Combative exchanges, often with stubborn salon owners, were common, with Coffey frequently verbalizing her internal monologue the way we all wish we could — like the time she told the owner of a Burbank salon: “I can’t stand you. You’re an arrogant, insecure, egotistical, moronic, asinine —head.” By the fourth season, the series morphed into “Tabatha Takes Over,” with Coffey broadening her sights beyond salons to turn around other struggling small businesses. It’s the sort of show to have on when folding clothes, if only because watching her spot dust or hair clumps on the floor of a salon may motivate a spot-clean of your own.
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