real housewives of atlanta

Let me preface this post with a little background. I have not followed any of the Housewives shows. I have only seen the highlights and commercials during Kathy Griffin's D-List and comedy specials. So what I know of the show is that someone in New Jersey turned a table over at one point, and that the producers felt the need for a reunion show, even though I thought part of the point of the show was following people who already lived near each other. How long could they have been apart?

Keep that in mind when I tell you that I caught about ten minutes of last night's episode, ten minutes that left an impression. I had just gotten home from a show watching a local Boston musician who is a great singer and songwriter. I enjoy his work greatly. He's working on an album that he will be releasing himself. Hopefully, he'll get some exposure for it.

• ESPN2 has more WNBA Basketball Playoffs coverage all night.
• At 8, CBS has the season premiere of Survivor.
• NBC has the season premiere of SNL Weekend Update Thursday, then the season premieres of Parks and Recreation and The Office, the series premiere of Community, and a new Jay Leno Show.
• FOX has the season premiere of Bones at 8, followed by the season premiere of Fringe.
• The CW has a new Vampire Diaries at 8, then a new Supernatural.
• At 9, MTV has a new Rob Dyrdek's Fantasy Factory, followed by new episodes of Bully Beatdown, Nitro Circus, and Pranked.
• Spike has a new TNA Wrestling at 9.
• VH-1 has a new VH-1 Divas at 9.
• At 10, Lifetime has a new Project Runway.
• FX has the season premiere of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia at 10.
• There's a new Ace of Cakes on Food Network at 10.
• Also at 10: Bravo has a new Real Housewives of Atlanta.

Check your local TV listings for more.

After the jump, the late night talk shows.

• At 7, ESPN2 has The U.S. Open.
• At 8, CBS has a new Big Brother.
• TCM has The Magnificent Seven at 8, followed by Return of the Seven.
• At 8:30, Cartoon Network has a new Stoked.
• At 9, MTV has a new Rob Dyrdek's Fantasy Factory, then new episodes of Bully Beatdown, Nitro Circus, and Pranked.
• Spike has TNA Wrestling at 9.
• TLC has a new Police Women of Broward County at 9, followed by a new L.A. Ink.
• At 10, Lifetime has a new Project Runway.
• There's a new Ace of Cakes on Food Network at 10.
• Bravo has a new Real Housewives of Atlanta at 10.

Check your local TV listings for more.

After the jump, the late night talk shows.

In the war between the cable channels, score this week for Lifetime over Bravo. The battle for Project Runway had been a legal wrangle that delayed Lifetime getting to show the fashion reality series until last Thursday, but when it finally appeared it was a ratings bonanza. Project Runway was the highest-rated series premiere in Lifetime's history. That's 25 years!

• At 8, ABC has a new Who Wants To Be A Millionaire.
• CBS has a new Big Brother at 8.
• FOX has Pre-Season Football at 8, the Eagles vs. the Colts.
• At 9, Syfy has the movie Rise of the Gargoyles.
• Discovery has a new American Loggers at 9.
• Spike has a new TNA Impact at 9.
• BBC America has a new Skins at 9.
• At 10, Lifetime has the season premiere of Project Runway., then the series premiere of Models of the Runway.
  
• USA has a new Royal Pains at 10.
• Food Network has a new Ace of Cakes at 10.
• There's a new Real Housewives of Atlanta on Bravo at 10.
• Also at 10: Showtime has a new Penn & Teller: Bullshit.

Check your local TV listings for more.

After the jump, the late night talk shows.

A week ago on the hit Bravo reality "thang" Real Housewives of Atlanta, if you tuned in you got to see the ladies who lunch take it outside for a beat down, but you also saw one of the fakiest, mushiest love scenes yet on the Real Housewives' franchise. Former, pro football player Ed Hartwell cooked a special dinner, spread rose petals to spell "I love you," played massage therapist, and finally took a bubble bath with his wife while murmuring the words, "Let's go make some babies."

The ick factor was set on 11 on the Spinal Tap scale. That was then. Ed and Lisa Hartwell have been foreclosed upon and now that bathtub for two is the bank's property.

Tonight, Bravo's favorite southern belles are back for an all-new season of 'The Real Housewives of Atlanta' (premiering at 10PM).

The show's inaugural season smashed ratings records with its catfights, secrets (Big Papa!) and pure drama -- drama so good, in fact, that we're willing to wager 'Atlanta' is the best 'Real Housewives' of them all.

Don't believe us? Here are five reasons 'Atlanta' is worth taking a trip to tonight:

Let me preface this post by saying that I recently covered Bravo's The Real Housewives of Atlanta for another site. But it was never any secret that I thought the housewives were self-serving rich girls who had no clue about what's really going on in the world.

Example: NeNe dissed her best friend, Kim, to the other housewives, but I will say NeNe had a better singing voice than Kim, who thought she could secure a record contract just because her sugar daddy, Big Poppa, forked over the cash.

Out of all of them, I thought DeShawn had the most loving, giving heart, but she was way too naive to try organizing a fundraiser for her charity (hey, if you've got the money, hire someone who knows what they're doing!). Her heart's in the right place, though.

• At 8, ABC has two new episodes of Dancing with the Stars, followed by a new Eli Stone.
• CBS has a new NCIS at 8, then new episodes of The Mentalist and Without A Trace.
• NBC has a new Biggest Loser, followed by a new Law and Order: SVU.
• FOX has new episodes of House and Fringe.
• The CW has a new 90210 at 8, then a new Privileged.
• There's a new Nova on PBS at 8.
• At 8:40, BBC America has a new Gavin and Stacey.
• At 9, Sci-Fi has a new ECW, then a new Cha$e.
• Food Network has the special Dear Food Network: Thanksgiving Turkey at 9.
• At 10, FX has a new episode of The Shield.
• Bravo has a new Real Housewives of Atlanta at 10.
• A&E has two new episodes of The Rookies at 10.
• Also at 10: Travel Channel has a new Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmern.

Check your local TV listings for more.

After the jump, the late night talk show listings.

• At 8, ABC has a new Dancing with the Stars.
• CBS has a new NCIS at 8.
• NBC has a new Biggest Loser at 8.
• There's a new Nova on PBS at 8.
• The CW has a new 90210, then a new Privileged.
• ABC Family has a new Lincoln Heights at 8, then a new Greek.
• TCM has The Graduate at 8, followed by Bonnie & Clyde.
• At 9, another Presidential Debate, which will air on ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX, CNN, MSNBC, FOX News, CNBC, CSPAN, PBS, and BBC America.
• Bravo has the premiere of The Real Housewives of Atlanta at 9.
• Discovery has a new Dirty Jobs at 9.
• Food Network has a new Food Detectives at 9.
• Sci-Fi has a new ECW at 9, followed by two new episodes of Scare Tactics.
• Also at 9: ESPN has two new episodes of The World Series of Poker.
• At 10, FX has a new episode of The Shield.
• A&E has a new episode of The Cleaner at 10.
• Travel Channel has a new Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmern at 10.

Check your local TV listings for more.

After the jump, the late night talk show listings.

Has Bravo gone to the well once too much? It sure seems that way. Hot on the success of The Real Housewives of New York City, which was inspired by The Real Housewives of Orange County, Bravo is now rolling out The Real Housewives of Atlanta.

Now, listen, I've watched the first two series; I admit that they are addictive. And they're convenient because Bravo re-airs them again and again, but come on! This is like Coffee-Mate coming up with all these flavored creamers. Do we really need so many creamers?