Les Real Housewives: Orange County

Vicki, I am also a woman in my 40's approaching 50 like you and I have got to ask you, what in god's name are you doing with a man like Brooks. I have never written anything on the internet ever, so this is a first but I watch your show and when I see you and Brooks together I honestly think I'm going to puke. Why when you are talking to this man you look and act like a 13 yr. school girl with tears in your eyes looking pathetically desperate. I'm sorry but you should know how you look because I feel sorry for you. You are a intelligent, smart and beautiful woman and I see you with this guy you had to buy teeth for who has not always been so nice to you and for sure has an agenda of his own. You look at him almost in every scene asking him "Oh Brooks what are we, do you like me, I need a boy in my life, help me Brooks, I love you, I'm so in love with you, why can't we be together, are we together, I don't know what we are, what are we. Oh dear lord Vicki really, and on top of that you are asking your daughter to try to forgive a man she thinks is a pig and a loser that she does not want her mother with on any level. I'm with Brianna on this one. I mean what is it about this guy, what is it you can't live without? It has to be one thing and its the same thing that would make you run from a guy like you were on fire if it was bad and tiny and you know what I'm talking about. It always comes down to sex. Nobody and I mean nobody stays with bad sex and if you or they do... somebody is cheating. Listen, I am just voicing my opinion like everybody else and I guess just want to see you spared misery and heartache. One more thing, if you do end up staying with this guy, just own it, please stop with the we hardly see each other, we don't talk that much, why are you hiding it. Goodluck,KB

This is the worst reality show ever, because it is not reality, but a somewhat planned/scripted insult to the intelligence of the viewer. The people on this show are either actors (Jo/Slade) trying to get to the big screen without any talent or other wannabes who forgot that they have skeletons in their closet which inevitably would come out. No one actually is ever shown living normally and the participants seem to have their friends come onto the show just to get them air time. Notice, if you can bear to watch, the unemotional face of Lauri, who is so Botoxed/surgeried to show any type of reaction to anything. Notice the children who are abused over and over again. (Where is CPS??) But then these are wealthy families who want to be envied and are beyond rules and the law. (We're rich; we don't have to be good) Everything is so planned and semi-scripted that calling this reality TV is a joke to the viewer whose IQ is above 10. Don't waste your time.

Theme 1: Extreme materialism is normal.

Theme 2: Wanting something for nothing.

Theme 3: Wanting something in exchange for something other than hard work.

Theme 4: "We have morals."

Theme 5: "I behave like X, but tell my children not to behave like X."

Theme 6: I work hard, so I deserve to play hard.

Theme 7: Knowledge is valuable if it helps you make money.

Theme 8: Wealth = achievement.

Theme 9: My family means everything to me--10 minutes a week.

Theme 10: Responsibility is cultivated through having something, not through doing something.

Like most cable reality shows, this one draws you in like mangled wreck on the side of the road. It's a world that most will never experience, and many wouldn't want to anyway. It's wrong on so many levels but such is life when it comes to entertainment I guess. I'm particularly drawn to the value system of these people... 1.) Looks 2.) Clothes 3.) Home 4.) Cars 5.) Jewelry 6.) Self worth.

Overall, I think most of these women get it. I would hope so given their age and their role as parents. Unfortunately, they are unable to pass on their time-earned experience to their children so they are producing self-absorbed dependents for life. Nothing shocking here, just a bunch of spoiled rich people with everything they could ever buy and none of the appreciation that comes from working hard for it. (I'm talking about the kids, not the parents.)

Another interesting thing to note is that these people seem to be completely devoid of culture. Maybe that's SoCal or maybe that's just the way the show is shot. I guess I expect more from the filthy rich.

Am I jealous? Only of the weather…I'm in NYC and it's freezing!

I tried to like this show. This is supposed to be about five women living in Coto de Caza, an exclusive community near Mission Viejo,CA. Jeana, Kimberly, Vicki, Lauri and Jo.

Lauri is divorced, has three children and cannot figure out why her two oldest children have no sense. Lauri goes to juvenile court (son Josh is in trouble) looking like she's about to hit a bar. Lauri once lived in Coto and now she is out of the net living on the perimeter. Lauri seems pathetic to me. Her daughter Ashley is a ding dong and is apathetic. Josh seemed to exude almost a sad persona. His life isn't great and trouble follows him everywhere. Even so, you feel sympathy for him. No air time was given to the youngest child. Lauri has a penchant for hooking up with losers and doesn't grasp that this behavior has an adverse affect on her children.

Jo, from Peru (she speaks with no accent and is very California girl)is engaged to Slade. He has children from previous relationships and Jo just doesn't want to be a mother yet. She likes to drink and party which is a bone of contention between her and Slade. You know from the beginning that Jo has no business being anyone's fiancée at this point in her life. Jo is twenty-four and Slade somewhere in his thirties. Slade wants things a certain way and Jo cannot conform herself to be a housewife and mother. There is a put-up flirt scene between her and Jeana's son in one episode when he comes over to shoot bunnies out of Jo's flower beds. Slade walks in and quickly goes into caveman mode. You know that something is wrong with this picture. People who love each other don't act this way. Credibility of this couple went out the window in this episode.

Jeana and Kimberly are the true real housewives. They love their families dearly and even though I was disappointed in one scene where Kimberly and her friends are having a luncheon and one of her "friends" makes a derogatory remark about flirting with Puerto Ricans or considering them a step above other undesirables was, very off putting. I would have loved Jo to have been there because I'm sure that statement would not have been uttered. Kimberly and her husband are a nice couple with children. They have good children. The only cloud in the sunny picture is that Kimberly keeps getting melanomas. She has survived and doesn't want to leave her children and husband because "no one will love them as much as I do".

Jeana, former Playboy Playmate is now a middle aged wife and mother of three. Jeana is very likable and I would have liked for the show to have been about her and her family. Jeana works hard, loves her family. The only cloud here is the strange behavior of her husband Matt. He was injured in his baseball days and seems to wander in and out of scenes. Son Shane is trying to keep the Keough name firmly in baseball. Not much on this family other than the barbecue scene Jeana hosts for the neighbors and she and son Shane figure Slade and Jo's relationship dynamics out.

Vicki is the least likable. She is frenetic, and very A.D.D. She is into every aspect of her family's life. She is successful in the insurance business and Lauri works for her. She is a self described M.I.L.F. (as none of her son's friends ever mention the fact that they think that she is) and brags that she tries to keep her self fit. Vicki has a son and daughter. Her son doesn't seem to know the value of earning a dollar. Daughter Briana on the other hand, seems to have her head together. At least her mother taught her to be self sufficient.

The problem with this show is that even though these privileged people live in Coto, their houses look just like any other ordinary house in any city's upscale neighborhood. In one scene, when Jo and Slade break up, the cameras zoom in on Jo's canary yellow diamond engagement ring sitting in a large square box from Tiffany. Are they trying to suggest that the ring came from Tiffany? That box is just like the one where my Tiffany heart tag bracelet came in. Notice that Jo is wearing hers in the episode where she gets a job. Another scene of just plain manipulation of the show, is when Kimberly and her husband go shopping for another car. They show us a price tag of a vehicle that costs $152,000.00. They buy a Lexus but the price of that is never shown because hey...normal people can afford that too. I also disliked the flirt scene between Shane and Jo. That was just not needed and had no merit.

Jeana and Jo need to get themselves to a hair dresser and get their hair styled and updated. Kimberly, Vicki and Lauri need to get to a professional colorist and get their hair done in a natural shade of blond. Seems to me if you live in Coto, you should attempt to look and dress like you have money. I think that Lauri dresses like she's in her early twenties and her bosoms are always exposed. She is a sad commentary on an older woman trying to look younger. I do have to say that I hope that I can look half as good as Kimberly does in her tennis skirt when I'm her age.

All in all, I think this show could have been much better had it focused on Jeana, Kimberly and Lauri. These three had potential in having their home situations become more acceptable by a sympathetic viewing audience. You just can't muster up enough tears for Jo and Vicki's lives. They leave you cold.