Real Housewives

Just when you didn't think that Bravo wouldn't extend its popular "Real Housewives" franchise to yet another city, they have gone ahead and not not done it. "The Real Housewives of D.C." begins Thursday, following in the high-heeled footsteps of equally "real" "housewives" of New Jersey, Atlanta, New York and Orange County. Bravo might demur, but I can only read the title as ironic. I know a few real housewives — or actual housewives, perhaps I should say, to not violate the brand — and this is something else again.

Adrienne Maloof , of "The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills," and her estranged husband, plastic surgeon Paul Nassif, have listed their home in gated Beverly Park at $26 million. Built in 2000 and designed by Richard Landry, the two-story French chateau sits behind gates on 2 acres containing a guesthouse, swimming pool, pool house and tennis court. PHOTOS: The Maloof shoe room and more Features include a two-story entry with a sweeping staircase, a formal dining room that can seat 14, a paneled library, a home theater, a wine cellar, a gym, eight bedrooms and 11 bathrooms in nearly 20,000 square feet of living space.

On Bravo's "Real Housewives" franchise, a main character is affluence. It takes many forms: private planes, posh mansions, thousand-dollar shopping sprees. And it seemed Russell Armstrong and his wife, Taylor, who appeared on "The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills," had been living up to the lifestyle. Last season, Taylor threw a $60,000 party for their then-4-year-old daughter, frequently conferred with a private stylist and devoted much of her free time to philanthropy. On Monday night, Russell Armstrong, 47, was found dead in an apparent suicide, and facts began to emerge Tuesday that raise questions about how the program presented the couple and whether the resulting glare of publicity played any role in his death.

The problem with "The Real Housewives of Atlanta's" breakout wife NeNe Leakes is that she wants it both ways. She wants the fame of Bravo's top reality show about the back-stabbing, high school-style shenanigans of five well-to-do Atlantans, but she doesn't want the baggage -- namely, that's she's the brash manipulator the show makes her out to be. Early on, the outspoken Leakes, who is featured prominently in tonight's second season finale,...

Four women sit at a table attempting to counsel a fifth. The youngest of the group has brought up that, while her much older and very wealthy fiance is dying of cancer -- he is languishing in the hospital as they speak -- and she has been his primary caretaker for the last two years, she does not know if she is a beneficiary of either his will or his insurance policy. What should she do?

The Times filed public-record requests in 10 states with the agencies that regulate the employment of minors, seeking information about the child labor permit status of 16 reality television shows. Of those, 11 had not applied for such permits. No state could say definitively whether they should have. The networks say they require their production companies to follow all applicable laws. TLC Show: "19 Kids and Counting," produced by Figure 8 Films in Arkansas Permit: No Show: "Toddlers & Tiaras," produced by Authentic Entertainment Inc. in Arkansas Permit: No Show: "Kate Plus 8" (formerly known as "Jon & Kate Plus 8")

When "The Real Housewives of D.C. " premiered in August, it was riding the coattails of one of the most notorious ? and most-watched ? seasons of the Bravo franchise, "The Real Housewives of New Jersey. " And it had a pre-premiere publicity train led by the antics of Michaele and Tareq Salahi, the infamous White House state dinner gatecrashers. The latest iteration of the successful Bravo show seemed destined to be a pop-culture phenom, much as its predecessors were, with its stars poised to transform themselves into money-making brands via self-help books, inane pop songs and endorsement deals.

The only truly surprising thing about this week's "TV Reality Star Commits Suicide" headlines is that they haven't appeared sooner. The death of Russell Armstrong, who appeared with his wife, Taylor, and their 5-year-old daughter, Kennedy, on Bravo's "The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills," has given the world of situational reality TV pause. Like a number of those participating in the endlessly self-spawning franchise, the Armstrongs were unstable both maritally and financially. Not surprisingly, the pressures of the show, which, according to friends, demanded that they play up their problems rather than try to solve them, did not improve things.

Of the girl groups that brought hip-hop attitude into R&B during the early to mid-'90s, Xscape, rough around the edges with a distinctly Southern twist, always seemed like the one most likely to become a footnote. Lacking some of the advantages of its peers -- SWV was highly polished, and Total was aligned with Puff Daddy (later Diddy) -- it made great music that felt, simultaneously, evanescent.