User reviews

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!

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.

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.

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.

I didn't expect much from this alleged program - and when looking at it, not only was I right on - it was worse. Besides Desperate Housewives, this is one of THE worst shows for women...and men.

Maybe this is playing well in some part of the United States and the World that finds this a guilty pleasure. Let me get one thing straight: The shows 'Dallas' and 'Dynasty' are a guilty pleasures - this is just plain sad.

I guess this is a program to show you what happens when little girls who have no exemplary role models in their lives except for plastic dolls like "Barbie" grow up and have to maintain a job and/or household. This actually takes place is a crappy suburb that tries desperately to raise itself up to be like Beverly Hills, Chicago, The Hamptons and Miami .. but does nothing but make you wish that a big wave would come and wipe the whole County out so it could start all over again.

These children's lives are sad and meaningless. The households are gutless. The women are very competitive with jewelery, fake boobs, shrieking "Bride of Frankenstein" voices, and dried out leathery skin that even makes George Hamilton blush. It's like watching the "walking dead" trying to stay alive by any means necessary - and that means finding "Ken dolls" with the appearance of lots of money.

And the men...for goodness sake, who would WANT these self-centered whiners? These women are falling all over them because of..THE MONEY! And the men are perfectly fine with that. What a trophy!! I was waiting for a few of the guys in the series to bronze the women they have and stick them on the dashboard of their leased cars! But they wont do that because that means they'll have to KEEP them. These are men that would trade their women in quicker than their coveted cars once their butt starts to sag.

Oh, but the children connected with these 'super-elastic bubble plastic' families. God help them. They may just go back to Orange county and wait until the next generation of vacuous self-designed "Barbies" or "Kens" come along that they can manipulate and support.

It's Orange County, for goodness sake. Orange County is a nice place, a great place, many kids grow up there just fine. All the folks in this series are picked are squeezed (forgive the puns) into a "certain section" for entertainment value only.

Be forewarned: This show will show you the incredibly debt ridden existence of pretentiousness. My guess after watching this show: These folks are lower middle to Middle-Middle class trying to show an Upper-Upper Class existence. Posers.

Nothing but a show about whiny posers who think life is much better because they can now charge their boob jobs instead of being seen buying Jacqueline Smith fashions from K-Mart.

During Season One, Slade Smiley was portrayed as a wealthy businessman--lavish home, expensive watch collection, American Express Black Card which gave him private access to a furniture store, deluxe vehicles, etc. Now, during Season Two, the house seems empty, the job is barely mentioned, and he seems to be pursuing a career for himself and Jo de la Rosa in show business. Is he really an actor playing a part? If true, that would be deceitful even for a "reality" show. The others are, more or less, "real"--whether one likes their behavior or not, but it's pushing the concept of a reality show too far if he and his "fiancee" are actors playing a role.

What more can I say about, "The Real Housewives of Orange County." It is what it is. It's just another semi-reality show because come on who are we fooling, reality shows aren't real. I caught a marathon during the Christmas holiday on Bravo. At first I was disgusted with the show and begged my husband to change the channel quick. Then the more I watched, The more intrigued I became. Clearly these are women who have access to a lot of money and seem to do whatever they want with it. It's a train wreck with a bit of drama. If you're seeking a mindless show that's entertaining, give it a try. You may just end up enjoying it as I did. I can only sum it up to being like an adult version of MTV's "My super sweet 16 & Laguna Beach" all rolled up in one. And yes I have seen My super sweet 16 and Laguna beach..

If you want to learn how to be a spoiled, plastic, egotistical shallow person, you need to see this show. These women are such a joke, it's laughable! They try to give the appearance that they have class, but they dress like dime store hookers, their bodies are full of plastic and they have no values at all.

Laurie can't even move her face it's so full of botox! Jo is just a scatterbrained idiot, plain and simple, Vicki is a total control freak who can't understand why her kids hate her. Gena, well, she is just a money-grubbing fat old has been. This is the most ridiculous show I've ever seen, and to know there are actually people out there who ACT like these women is pathetic. Lord help their husbands, it would have been easier to buy a plastic blow up doll for a companion!

Once I'd seen the trailers for the show I knew it would be hard to watch and hard not to!

As for the complete reality of the show - which is like the other shows, doubtful - I can only draw a distinction in themes: in reality TV, the " little guy'" is pitted against an adversary larger than life, the message being that the little guy can win against the odds, that we are all, in some ways, heroes. This show gives the opposite message: that we are all victims of forces beyond our control. The show is bittersweet because these women, their communities, their families, are incapable of rising above the clichés and traps of too much cash, too much free time...and too much high hair!!

It is hard to stomach so much tackiness without a trace of irony or humor ( Footballer's Wives deals with the same kind of characters, but better). These women are deadly dull, and marriage looks less like a sacred institution worth protecting, and more like a form of prostitution! Thank god for the gates which keep them inside, an effective quarantine for the rest of us. I chuckled when I heard one of these dames complain about downgrading to a 2500 sq. ft home!

But as I considered it- or tried to consider it seriously - I decided that for women such as these that would be a calamity, which is disgusting if it weren't so pathetic. Conspicous consumption? how about contemptuous consumption! And where is CPS? Shouldn't they be alerted to the abused children in these gilded cages? But all this said I do think the show should be watched if only for its shock value: evidently hair hoppers and 80's has been skeezers do win out, even if no one else does. I hope this show does not see broadcast outside of America. We don't need another 5 reasons for the world to despise us

I have watched this in dis-belief...If this is how all rich people behave and raise their children they can rest assured their children will not have very much money themselves when they are adults...

I can tell they love their children but the children are so completely self absorbed!!!

The main character that I totally don't get is Slade. He is a good looking guy and he is dating/living with a total flake...obviously he is only after her looks and body and the fact that she is needy and he wants to take care of her.. She is totally aware of the camera and it is so clear she is acting.. Why can't he see how vain and shallow she is?

I like Lauri but I hope she is not rushing in so she can be financially secure. I don't see what she sees in him.. Not much personality.. SHe doesn't seem to acknowledge that she is the mom either she has two kids withproblems and all you see is her out having fun.

THe entire show is sad to me,but at the same time I catch myself watching and talking to the TV like they can hear me..

I do admire the women that make good money and pay the bills themselves I just wish they would teach their kids what life is truly about. Money and looks fade..These kids won't know what to do if they woke up broke and ugly.

Seriously? This is what society sees as "entertaining?" What's so entertaining about this? It's nothing but a bunch of episodes of a bunch of drama queens with their mindset stuck in high school, always bickering and complaining of the stupidest little thing possible. Seriously! They need to grow up! What's so interesting about them? Someone just kill off this show already.

I used to watch this show years ago when it was pretty good and entertaining. I mean back when it was Vicky, Tamra , Jeana , Gretchen , and a few more.

It was new and fun to watch , and facinating to see this kind of lifestyle on our screens .

But , having seen it very recently, I could not believe how low it has sunk.

These new woman , looking absolutely dreadful, and saying wierd things like " I have to work on my inner self " or " I am owning it " or " I acknowledge your feelings toward me ". !!!!!!

What ???? I cannot understand half of what they are saying !!

They are completely messed up, unstable , and quite honestly they need help.

Not plastic surgeon help ( enough done there ) , but psychiatric help.

I am not being sarcastic about that , I really think that this is not normal behaviour.

It probably is time to end this show , it really has had it's day !

Not sure what the hype is, and why people insist on supporting these trash shows. I can't stand reality tv anymore because of them all being mostly scripted. A bunch of privileged women who have no talent, who bicker and fight with each other every episode. Nothing excited. Knowing its all fake and scripted makes it impossible for me to watch or take seriously.

This used to be one of my favorite housewives to watch. Orange county is now filled with characters that have nothing interesting to view and quite frankly are annoying and not connected to each other. It has lost it shine.

The worst of the housewives is Kelly Dodd she has anger issues

I do enjoy this show, and I can only chalk it up to "guilty pleasure". As a woman who has as much money as them I am not envious of their money, but it does make me feel good to know that I don't present myself as a fake bimbo hungry for 15 minutes of "fame". It's always nice to know that at least you don't portray yourself as badly as others do. Also, having always been a natural beauty, I marvel at the frozen faces these women want to have as well as the overblown lips and fake boobs. At least they give the plastic surgeons something to do! I don't care one way or another what they do with their faces, but it does bother me that they slaughter the English language so much.

Tamra, in particular. She held up her shirt tonight and said "you have to show your tots". Of course she meant tits, but she thinks it's cute to say it as a cross between "tots" and "tats". Because you know, that's Valley girl talk and that is going to make her look young, right? That's her reasoning. Tamra, wake up and realize you are in your 50's now and you can stop the "cute talk" and your kids might not be so embarrassed! Also Gina seems like a nice girl. She is probably going to stop slouching so much after watching herself on this season. She could cool it with the vocal fry. If you don't know what vocal fry is, google it because it is driving me really super crazy! I like Gina and Emily seems sincere as well.

Finally, for any young people out there watching this show please know that this is NOT how the real world is, people DO grow up and become intelligent, loving people who do not act like arrested development, personality disorder junior high school women like the stars of this show act. Don't despair; junior high does not continue on forever. It's just that these women have chosen to act this way for one reason or another and the producer Andy Cohen does not want intelligent, talented women to be shown on reality TV.

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

As I sit here with my friends,we are really debating about watching HWOC! Meghan has to go! Its becoming hard to watch with her on the show! We would rather watch the most overplayed oldest episode a million times over,then watch one second of her! SHE NEEDS TO GO asap! We find it hard to believe that other people enjoy her on the show!Its painful to watch her! SHE OBVIOUSLY doesn't have much of a life that she can put so much time and effort into investigating Brooks. Hey,I don't like the guy,but what she did was evil to Vicky! KARMA IS A BITCH,AND SO IS SHE,AND SHANNON...UGH! Have you guys run outta housewives?

After or before who knows the actual order The Housewives of Orange County appear and some look actually orange wit botox lips. (Its not attractive).

The About: Spoiled women behave like the angels. They discuss crude subjects and degrade themselves without a compass.

The Story and Production: No Story. The angels just argue and show that they can be sweet angels by drinking, arguing and looking like a clown. No offense to real clowns.

The overall production of this show makes me shiver. The Angels in this are not bitter-sweet. They are like an expired-spoiled candy that was just made. Seriously.

Most try hard to make great television for the lessers.

Highlight: No weaves.

Main intelligent: *I break 4th wall* Do you really think these angels would be unintelligent. They were vastly intelligent for modern day television. Standards always change. Sheeesh.

Is this show worthy?: No. Its a rotten show. And botox lips.

Should you watch this? It's like going to a freak show... the last freak show seems to had ended in the 1940s or 1980s. I didn't exist in those days to see an actual freak show. However, if you didn't go to one or didn't exist in those day then Orange County Housewives might be the closes thing you get to a freak show... I mean, i gotta say they are angels despite such a hash show that lasted into 3 decades.

Congratz...Longer than 90% of marriages.

Good show until they add in horrible people like Kelly Dodd blech.then you add in the two constantly stirring the pot and it's not about the lifestyle anymore, it's about who can be high school dirty.