From left, Caroline Manzo, Teresa Giudice and Dina Manzo, some of the stars of &147The Real Housewives of New Jersey.&148 All the other housewives,
those passels of pampered, primping, social-climbing, -injecting spendthrifts in Orange County, Atlanta and New York, are not the real thing.
The latest on the arts, coverage of live events, critical reviews, multimedia extravaganzas and much more. All those McMansions, swimming pools, boutiques, charity auctions and spa splurges have been merely rehearsals, introductory rounds leading to the apotheosis of the Bravo “Real Housewives” franchise, “The Real Housewives of New Jersey.” The New Jersey housewives are more real and more riveting than their predecessors because, well, they are from New Jersey, and also because they so closely mirror the make-believe characters in “The Sopranos.” The best reality shows look like fiction. The five women who make their debuts on Bravo on Tuesday night are buffed and polished to resemble real-life versions of Carmela Soprano, loud, nasal, nouveau-riche wives who raise spoiled children and spend their husbands’ money in vast marble and onyx starter palaces in Franklin Lakes, N.J. They boast about everything, including how soon they qualified for the black American Express card. As Danielle Staub puts it, “I actually got mine before Madonna did.”
Viewers already know the milieu, the accent and the attitude. The rest is delicious: clannish sisters and sisters-in-law who squabble among themselves but band against newcomers.