Bravo's The Real Housewives Of Beverly Hills

With the surprisingly lackluster Real Housewives of D.C. coming to a close, one would think Bravo would be halting the introduction of any new crazy, middle-aged botoxed women. Not exactly. The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills is Bravo's other new addition to the franchise, and although it fares better than D.C, it's still time for the network to head back to the drawing board.

The set up is entirely similar to any other entry that fans of the series have seen before, the slight twist here being that these women are obscenely rich. One owns the Lakers basketball time. One takes her ugly dog with her everywhere. Another is married to a movie star (Kelsey Grammar), and has no less than four nannies (gag). Two of the women are none other than the sisters of Kathy Hilton. Both of their claim to fame seems to have been roles in the 70s film Race to Witch Mountain (not kidding).

The pilot could play as a SNL skit of sorts. I am not sure if Bravo has intentionally assembled a cast of overt stereotypes, but it's happened all the same. These women beg to be made fun of, and if this premiere has any appeal, it will be of the "love to hate" variety. Truth be told, among all of the Housewives locations that have been filmed thus far, Beverly Hills features the most unlikable cast of the lot. These women are on gold-coated cloud 9, and there's little doubt any audience will find this endearing.

In another regard, the show may result in high ratings due to the obvious drama between the awkwardly selected group. One of the women is a batshit crazy hermit (in the vein of Kelly Bensimon), and is it a coincidence that one is also Cathy Hilton's sister. I think not.

With Real Housewives of D.C, Bravo took a chance and invited more polished, sophisticated women into the mix while throwing in a political twist. That approach fell on its face; no one watched. Beverly Hills is creatively bankrupt, but it brings the cheap, junk food thrills that the Atlanta women provide for example. There are plenty of grand houses and elaborate pools to gawk at, but just don't expect anything resembling substance.

The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills airs Thursday, 10/9c on Bravo.