The Real Housewives of New Jersey

[mina]

^agreed. Last week I commended Teresa on leaving the room at the salon. But, after seeing what tried to go down at the fashion show and what Teresa said to Melissa in the bathroom- I also wonder why Teresa (who says she loves loyalty ) didn't tell Baldy to stop talking about her sis in law, period. I get the feeling that Teresa knew what was going on, knew what the plan was (although somewhat vaguely so that at the end of it all; she could also say that she knew nothing about it; that she wasn't involved *wink wink*). Something doesn't add up. I also don't understand why these women go to the fashion show, year after year- when we all know it's smackdown central for someone.
Jac and Caroline: they probably knew something was brewing in the air....I'll have to watch again, but was Jac getting texts while Melissa was in the bathroom? I sorta remember Caroline passing Melissa Jac's phone when she returned and telling her to look at the texts. I was halfway watching the episode so I don't remember the timing of that. I think I remember Teresa (in other seasons) talking about Melissa used to be a stripper and she knew someone that she used to dance for or something of that nature.....The whole situation and Teresa's involvement in it is strange.

Why the women continue to shop at Kim D or G's store and attend her fashion show is beyond me.......

[thatblonde]

Not that I know....and not that I care that much, but IMO I think Tre is the most innocent in all this, crazy as that may sound, considering I'm not a fan of hers.

As for strippergate, Tre has known for a long time what Mel's past was. And given what a Bitty Mel is and how she and her "family" have trashed Tre forever....well, like most of us, Tre probably secretly wanted for it to come out, and for Mel to finally be exposed for the liar she is, esp since Mel has lied about it for so long, and protested so hard. So what if she didn't create a war trying to defend Mel? Because of their history, I'd have a hard time defending that two sided Beef Jerky face myself, family or not!

If it's all so friggin "innocent", why did Mel OVERreact? If you were "just" a bartender, why not say "remind me, have we met before"?..... and stand up for yourself, with the "facts"......"Oh yeah, I remember you now from the club I bartended at"..... You only divert attention and mud-sling that hard when there is something you seriously don't want uncovered. I find Mel to be the most disgusting, pathetic HW on TV. I find her stripper past to be the least unsettling of all her nasty character traits.

Sloth like Tre is no match for such a devious, cunning, conniving, witch like Mel. Mel is the disgusting one to me......can't stand her, and ain't falling for her smear campaign, even if I'm the only one on this side of the fence.

[Punkin]

I had previously mentioned that I thought Teresa was completely set-up by Bravo (w/help from others from the cast). I think she knew that something was up...always is towards the end of season, making drama-filled Reunion. But I don't think she knew what exactly was going to happen....when she met Andre at the hair/makeup place, she had that dumb, faraway look on her face, like she's trying really hard to figure out what's happening, but she's slow about it......I"m sure most are familiar with this look on her face.

Then I happened to stumble upon a site that was really informative about what was going on....This new escapade being the most popular and prominent but there's lots of other stuff there also.
Really in-depth considerations....makes me wonder why they give it so much attention but heck..whatever works for you.
I'm unsure of the rules here but I think I can do a link...the site is called Fame-Whorgas
FAME-WHORGAS

It's really interesting and presented quite a case for Tre being set up. And a lot more info that I care to know about these people.

OH MY FLIPPING GOSH!

This site is a headblower! I was pretty sure Tre wasn't aware of what was coming down from that look on her face we've all seen. She looks exactly like Dragonlady describes, "she had that dumb, faraway look on her face, like she's trying really hard to figure out what's happening, but she's slow about it......I"m sure most are familiar with this look on her face." I rewatched that whole scene and saw how phony and set up it was. We was bamboozled, guys!

Every single person at that table was exactly aware of what was coming down, including Melissa, and each had her part to play. Everybody but Teresa, the sacrificial lamb. Caroline flubbed her line. She was supposed to say, "Who was that guy?" after baldy came by the table and said his part to Melissa and then, "How ya doin'?" to Tre. Caroline must have been really flustered over doing her role just right, but she said, "Who is that guy" when Juicy's brother Pete, who she knows very well came by. Ooops! So Melissa had to improvize and ask Tre, "Who was that guy? He looked familiar." Tre can't think fast on her feet, or on her butt, so she takes off for the ladies room with Mel in tow. There Mel elicits Tre's guilty knowledge and calls her Joe, while Tre pleads with her not to do it and, lo and behold, Joe and Richie are there all the way from New Jersey in 5 minutes. So many miracles in this scene! So you know who was busy texting Jaq and Caroline from across the room where baldy was? The Bravo producer, a good friend of Mel's, and the one who set this whole thing up to make Mel look like a victim and Tre look like the villian. Why? Because the skeletons are starting to climb out of the Gorga's closet, and there are plenty of them, so they set up a preemptive strike.

This whole season was like 'through the looking glass', down is up, and up is down. Good guys are the bad guys and bad guys are the good guys. By the way, that producer has been fired for 'conflict of interest'. That's a mild way of putting it. Teresa was right all along, Melissa is a gold digger who Joe met while she was dancing in a Gentleman's Club managed by baldy.

Man, I gotta go process this. I feel like a sucker. First BB and now this.

[Punkin]

May I add, I don't care who works as a stripper, pole dancer, or whatever. Heck, back in the day when I had the body for it I might have gone down to Broadway to Carole Doda's place and danced topless for $500 bucks a night. Well, I am kind of modest, so maybe not. But I don't judge others. Mel AND her Joe have a lifestyle that's starting to get public. Jaq is lying about the producer who did get fired. You might just take a browse through the site Dragonlady posted and might just get an idea of how completely phony RHONJ really is.

Andy doesn't like Tre because of Juicy's homophobia, but she's his moneymaker. I never thought I would watch such garbage back when I was working, but in retirement there are just so many flowers to prune, books to read and other ways to fill my time. I got started watching Bravo when I happened on []Flipping Out[/i] which I still love. Bravo has a habit of running marathons of past seasons of their shows and that's how I got hooked on Housewives. I am beginning to question my use of time. In fact as the political season is heating up I have been thinking of getting a Kindle instead of ordering books from Amazon. Ialmost ordered books by Krugman and Chris Hayes yesterday, but decided I would spend today researching the Kindle and other similar tech. Instead I've spent all day on RHONJ!!

(I have to stay out of the Political thread here because I'm pretty passionate and got a few infractions four years ago. ) Any recommendations? I'd love to have an iPad but it's pretty pricey and since my grandson works at an Apple store I'm gonna work on DH for Christmas. But bookstores (I Love them!) are all closing, the nearest about 15 miles away. Maybe I'll leave Bravo alone for now and look into those Kindles.

[GabbyG]

May I add, I don't care who works as a stripper, pole dancer, or whatever. Heck, back in the day when I had the body for it I might have gone down to Broadway to Carole Doda's place and danced topless for $500 bucks a night. Well, I am kind of modest, so maybe not. But I don't judge others. Mel AND her Joe have a lifestyle that's starting to get public. Jaq is lying about the producer who did get fired. You might just take a browse through the site Dragonlady posted and might just get an idea of how completely phony RHONJ really is.

Andy doesn't like Tre because of Juicy's homophobia, but she's his moneymaker. I never thought I would watch such garbage back when I was working, but in retirement there are just so many flowers to prune, books to read and other ways to fill my time. I got started watching Bravo when I happened on []Flipping Out[/i] which I still love. Bravo has a habit of running marathons of past seasons of their shows and that's how I got hooked on Housewives. I am beginning to question my use of time. In fact as the political season is heating up I have been thinking of getting a Kindle instead of ordering books from Amazon. Ialmost ordered books by Krugman and Chris Hayes yesterday, but decided I would spend today researching the Kindle and other similar tech. Instead I've spent all day on RHONJ!!

(I have to stay out of the Political thread here because I'm pretty passionate and got a few infractions four years ago. ) Any recommendations? I'd love to have an iPad but it's pretty pricey and since my grandson works at an Apple store I'm gonna work on DH for Christmas. But bookstores (I Love them!) are all closing, the nearest about 15 miles away. Maybe I'll leave Bravo alone for now and look into those Kindles.

I love my Color Nook. If you have a smart phone, you can get the kindle and nook aps and read off your phone.

[mom2]

As it was the finale, I believe everyone had to attend. I believe kimd or bravo found sleezy bald guy and tre jumped on the bandwagon, with the stipulation that she appeared innocent. Joes brother tore that apart when he told her ” good job” , and tre stayed inside with the instigators instead of her family.

[Eastcoastmom]

I was flipping back and forth between the Emmys and RHONJ until 10 when the finale came on. My DH watched for just a few minutes as he came to bed and remarked: "They're all a bunch of dressed up who- ers!" Yep, he got that right. Like Punkin, I don't know why I watch this crap. I only started watching this show towards the latter end of the season. I knew nothing of the back story. From what I gather reading here and there, Melissa and Kathy campaigned for 2 years to get on the show. They were jealous of Teresa being on TV and the opportunities (and money) she was making and wanted a piece of the pot. Bravo was not interested in either the Gorgas or Wakiles. Then, Melissa and Joe made a drunken video parody of The Godfather and said they would bring Tre down. Bingo- they got hired. What kind of family member does that to another? Richie is gross, Joe Gorga is a caveman talking about his poison and grabbing at and ogling his wife any chance he gets. Caroline is jealous of Tre and the fact that Tre is the breakout star. Tre even says that the Manzos were supposed to be the stars of the show and Teresa was supposed to be the wacky sidekick. But somehow, the tables got turned and it's Tre whose image is all over the rag mags. True, a lot of it is negative publicity...Joe Gui might go to jail, etc, etc. but publicity is publicity. Even the Manzo boys didn't want Mama Caroline's scowling mug on Brownstone sauce. That woman is a witch, imo.

Anywhoo, with regard to the finale: I truly don't think Tre knew about Angelo and as others have said upthread she does not think too quickly on her feet. When she could not get Angelo nor Kim D to shut up about her family member, she excused herself. KatesMom asked :

Even if she was caught off guard and didn't want to hear it, why didn't she stop Kim D. from asking more questions? If that was a member of my family who I was really trying to protect, when Kim D. started asking follow up questions, I basically would have shut her down and said that either she stops asking the questions or I am leaving - as in leaving the salon, not the room.

I think, sad to say, that Teresa is just not that smart. You, KatesMom, are a very intelligent woman who has an excellent grasp of English but it would seem that Teresa is not fluent in English, nor Italian. I could not believe how she was mangling the simplest Italian phrases. I also don't think that she called Melissa at the salon because there was no time. I may be wrong but she and Kim arrived at the salon in a white limo and went to the Poshe Fashion Show in that same limo. So, I think they went straight from the salon to the fashion show. Tre had no inking, imo, that baldy was going to show up. That is why she looked so scared and nervous when he saw her and winked. She felt that Melissa was going to be exposed. As much as she hates Melissa, family is still family and she would not want Melissa's past exposed to the entire viewing audience. Plus, in NJ as I believe someone mentioned up thread, the dancers are not nude. So, even if she danced in a gentlemen's club and was not a bartender, she wasn't a stripper. So, what was she so concerned about? Just own up to it.

I don't know whether not knowing what went on in previous seasons makes a difference as to one's perceptions of each housewife, but so far from the limited episodes I have seen, Teresa is the only one that I don't despise. Kathy is a two-faced sh*t stirrer, as is Jacqueline. The things coming out of Jacqueline and Caroline's mouths are unbelievable...calling Teresa scum. Melissa is an opportunist and no talent. I feel very sad for the Guidice and Gorga children; they should be enjoying their childhood and having fun playing with their cousins.

[scootad]

Apparently there is a woman named Penny Drosso who owns the salon where Kim D and Teresa got their hair done prior to the Posche fashion show. I've been reading that she has been trying to get onto the show herself. She also claims Melissa was a stripper and says she trusts Baldy. Hmmm. Maybe she is the one who set this up. Here's an article from April.

RHONJ Cast Gang Up On Teresa; Claim Fame Has Gone To Her Head! Teresa Responds! Plus, Penny Drossos Accuses Melissa Of Lying About Her Past! - Reality Tea

[prhoshay]

I sure hope Teresa burned/destroyed that ugly-A dress she wore to the fashion show. She usually does better.

[Dragonlady]

Punkin, you and I are in total agreement here.
Given the fact that they are all low-life's, I still think Tre is the one being "had" here. If you watch it again, you can see how stilted/poorly acted it was by ALL of them, except Teresa. I think Teresa is guilty of secretly wanting to know more about Mel's past, esp if it was seedy/juicy. She and probably others, have already heard the rumors about Mel. I think Tre would have been absolutely delighted to find out it was true and lots of other people would find out also.

None of it is believable...one giant mountain made from a molehill. Too many holes in the story and your instinct tells you something just isn't fitting here.
Just all of a sudden, it's a HUGE deal and nothing really happened. Nothing but a bunch of assumptions, accusations and jumping to conclusions.
But mostly, watch the worst bunch of actors in history.
Melissa's claim about what Tre did wrong was totally ridiculous.....Just what did Tre do wrong here? All she did was hear something from a stranger....did she repeat to anyone else? No. did she privately ask Mel about him (only after he made an appearance and spoke to Mel) who he was? Yes.
So as much as I find Tre distasteful ...and all the rest of them...I just don't buy this set-up.