The Real Housewives (Courtesy Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)

The Real Housewives is a reality television series, following the lives of affluent, bourgeois housewives and professional women in the suburban or urban areas of several American cities, with the suffix of the title taking on the name of that metropolitan region. The series airs on Bravo in the United States, on Slice in Canada, ITV2 in the United Kingdom, and various other broadcasters internationally.

The series' base concept and name are provided by the television series Desperate Housewives. However, while the fictional series details the life of one suburban neighborhood, The Real Housewives features women that live in various areas in their respective regions, but still are close friends or in overlapping social circles as some of the women are antagonistic to each other. Despite its name, only some of the housewives are married. As the series expanded, a mixed group of divorcees and single mothers are introduced. While the subjects that are revolved around the show are usually trivial or taboo, the show has also included serious and more realistic issues, involving suicide, divorce, broken relationships, bankruptcy, infidelity, fraud, family feuding, alcoholism, eviction, deadbeat parents, and foreclosures.

The first Real Housewives series, The Real Housewives of Orange County, premiered in March 2006. Its executive producer and creator, Scott Dunlop, produces the original series and is affiliated with all United States versions. There are currently six versions of the series, airing at various times throughout the year: Orange County, New York City, Atlanta, New Jersey, Beverly Hills, and Miami. As of June 2013, there are no additional Real Housewives in production with the United States.

The first four series entered weekday broadcast syndication in the majority of U.S. markets on September 13, 2010, with episodes of The Real Housewives of Orange County. The Real Housewives of Atlanta started airing episodes in the syndicated time slot on October 25, 2010; The Real Housewives of New York on November 29, 2010; and The Real Housewives of New Jersey on January 17, 2011. More episodes of Orange County and an encore of Atlanta finished off the season. However, the package was not renewed for a further due to low ratings.

Production history

• The Real Housewives of Orange County has finished airing Season 8.
• The Real Housewives of New York City is currently in production for Season 6.
• The Real Housewives of Atlanta is scheduled to premiere its sixth season on November 3, 2013.
• The Real Housewives of New Jersey is currently airing Season 5.
• The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills is scheduled to premiere its fourth season on November 4, 2013.
• The Real Housewives of Miami is currently airing Season 3.
• The Real Housewives of Vancouver has finished airing Season 2 and is currently on hiatus.

Current Installments

American

Series	Premiere Date	No. of seasons	Current Housewives	Current Friends of the Housewives	Former Housewives	Former Friends of the Housewives
The Real Housewives of Orange County	March 21, 2006	8 (finished airing)	Vicki Gunvalson, Tamra Judge, Heather Dubrow, Lydia McLaughlin	Lauri Peterson	Kimberly Bryant, Jo De La Rosa, Tammy Knickerbocker, Quinn Fry, Jeana Keough, Lynne Curtin, Gretchen Rossi, Alexis Bellino, Peggy Tanous	Fernanda Rocha, Sarah Winchester
The Real Housewives of New York City	March 4, 2008	6 (currently in production)	Ramona Singer, LuAnn de Lesseps, Sonja Morgan, Aviva Drescher, Carole Radziwill, Heather Thomson, Kristen Taekman	Kelly Bensimon	Bethenny Frankel, Jill Zarin, Alex McCord, Cindy Barshop
The Real Housewives of Atlanta	October 7, 2008	6 (currently in production)	NeNe Leakes, Kandi Burruss, Cynthia Bailey, Phaedra Parks, Kenya Moore, Porsha Stewart		DeShawn Snow, Lisa Wu-Hartwell, Sheree Whitfield, Kim Zolciak	Marlo Hampton
The Real Housewives of New Jersey	May 12, 2009	5 (currently airing)	Teresa Guidice, Jacqueline Laurita, Caroline Manzo, Melissa Gorga, Kathy Wakile	Kim DePaola, Jennifer Dalton	Dina Manzo, Danielle Staub	Kim Granatell
The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills	October 14, 2010	4 (currently in production)	Lisa Vanderpump, Kyle Richards, Kim Richards, Brandi Glanville, Yolanda Foster, Joyce Giraud, Carlton Gebbia	Taylor Armstrong	Camille Grammer, Adrienne Maloof	Dana Wilkey, Marisa Zanuck, Faye Resnick
The Real Housewives of Miami	February 22, 2011	3 (currently airing)	Adriana de Moura, Lisa Hochstein, Lea Black, Joanna Krupa, Alexia Echevarria	Marysol Patton, Ana Quincoces	Larsa Pippen, Cristy Rice, Karent Sierra

^ Lauri Peterson was originally a main Housewife in the first through fourth seasons, and returned to the series as a Friend of the Housewives in the eighth season.

^ Kelly Bensimon was originally a main Housewife in the second through fourth season, and returned to the series as a Friend of the Housewives in the sixth season.

^ Brandi Glanville was originally a Friend of the Housewives in the second season, but promoted to a main Housewife in the third season.

^ Taylor Armstrong was originally a main Housewife in the first through third season, but was denoted to a Friend of the Housewives in the fourth season.

^ Alexia Echevarria was originally a main Housewife in the first season, became a Friend of the Housewives in the second season and return to the third season as a main Housewife.

^ Marysol Patton was originally a main Housewife in the first and second season, but became a Friend of the Housewives in the third season.

^ Ana Quincoces was a main Housewife in the second season, but became a Friend of the Housewives in the third season.

International

Series	Premiere Date	No. of seasons	Current Housewives	Friends of the Housewives	Former Housewives
The Real Housewives of Vancouver	April 2, 2012	2 (finished airing)	Jody Claman, Ronnie Seterdahl-Negus, Mary Zilba, Amanda Hansen, Ioulia Reynolds, Robin Richmond-Reichman		Christina Kiesel, Reiko MacKenzie
Les Vraies Housewives (France)	March 18, 2013	1 (finished airing)	Soumaya Aakaboune, Natalie Wizman, Christina Amrani, Karine Kaplan, Christine Snider-Decroix
The Real Housewives of Melbourne	2014	1 (currently in production)	Andrea Moss, Gina Liano, Jackie Gillies, Chyka Keebaugh, Janet Roach, Lydia Schiavello

Past Installments

American

Series	Premiere Date	No. of seasons	Housewives
The Real Housewives of D.C.	August 5, 2010	1	Mary Amons, Lynda Erkiletian, Stacie Turner, Catherine Ommanney, Michaele Salahi

International

Series	Premiere Date	No. of seasons	Housewives
The Real Housewives of Athens	March 4, 2011	1	Ioanna Soulioti, Orthoula Papadakou, Annita Nathanail, Christina Papa, Joe Satratzemi Togou, Fofi Mastrokosta

Spin-offs

Series	Premiere date	No. of seasons	City	Starring
Date My Ex	July 21, 2008	1	Orange County	Jo De La Rosa
Bethenny Ever After...	June 10, 2010	3	New York City	Bethenny Frankel
Boys to Manzo (web series)	May 30, 2011	1	New Jersey	Albie Manzo, Chris Manzo, Greg Bennett
The Kandi Factory	March 4, 2012	1	Atlanta	Kandi Burruss
Don't Be Tardy...	April 26, 2012	2	Atlanta	Kim Zolciak
Havana Elsa (web series)	September 13, 2012	1	Miami	Elsa Patton
Vanderpump Rules	January 7, 2013	1	Beverly Hills	Lisa Vanderpump
Tamra's OC Wedding	September 2, 2013	1	Orange County	Tamra Barney
I Dream of NeNe: The Wedding	September 17, 2013	1	Atlanta	NeNe Leakes
Rich People's Problems		1	Atlanta	Phaedra Parks

Related Shows

These series are similar to The Real Housewives format and style, however they are not affiliated with the franchise.

Series	Premiere Date	No. of seasons	Current Housewives	Friends of the Housewives	Former Housewives
Me'usharot "Rich Women" (Israel)	October 24, 2011	2	Nicole Raidman, Lea Shnirer, Jennifer Snookel, Iris Zander, Yael Gal		Tali Sinai Riklis, Dafna Shahar, Eti Dudai, Inbar Shenhav
Mulheres Ricas "Rich Women" (Brazil)	January 2, 2012	2	Narcisa Tamborindeguy, Val Marchiori, Aeileen Varejão, Andréa de Nóbrega, Cozete Gomes, Mariana Mesquita, Regina Mansur	Lydia Saveg, Brunete Fraccaroli	Débora Rodrigues

• ^: Lydia and Brunete are no longer part of Mulheres Ricas main cast, however they are still featured on it as recurring cast members.

Facebook Game

See Real Housewives: The Game In July 2012, Bravo released a social networking video game version of The Real Housewives of New York City titled Real Housewives: The Game. The game, (discontinued), was accessed as a Facebook application.Every week after a new episode airs on TV, a new story was available on the game.

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