Speaker 1: Hello, gorgeous.
Speaker 2: Oh my freaking god, I cannot believe it. We are
Speaker 2: back for season eleven. We're recapping shit.
Speaker 1: I feel like I'm gonna shit my pants. We have
Speaker 1: Alex Basket as my guest today, our guest. Welcome to
Speaker 1: the casting couch, the legitimate one.
Speaker 3: Thank you for having me casting couch. Are you nervous
Speaker 3: a little bit? I have to say.
Speaker 2: I'm a little starstruck because usually I talk to you
Speaker 2: and we just like shoot the shit. But now you're
Speaker 2: sitting here and I'm like, Okay, this is the creator
Speaker 2: of all things that make me survive during like the
Speaker 2: rough moments, like you are the person that created ohc
Speaker 2: bh vander Pump. I mean, do you ever think, like,
Speaker 2: holy shit, everything I touch turns to gold?
Speaker 3: No, not at all, because I just always think that
Speaker 3: everyday gold is going to turn and shit trying to
Speaker 3: keep them going, and sometimes I just wonder how I'm
Speaker 3: still here?
Speaker 1: That makes sense.
Speaker 4: Yeah, I'm very curious about how you got into producing.
Speaker 2: Well, producing reality television. Was that always the goal or
Speaker 2: were you like wanting to be in movies and scripted.
Speaker 3: I used to joke that no one's goal was to
Speaker 3: end up in reality you just did so totally and
Speaker 3: it's changed obviously. I think that, you know, in the
Speaker 3: pecking order of things, reality is much higher, and I
Speaker 3: think things are blurred and blended now. But I got
Speaker 3: into it as accidentally as anyone. I grew up in
Speaker 3: LA My dad was a writer, and I got an
Speaker 3: internship at MTV the summer after my senior year in
Speaker 3: high school. And that's when MTV was doing a lot
Speaker 3: of cool shit, and I just loved it. I loved
Speaker 3: all of the action. I love the fact that you
Speaker 3: could go from idea to air quickly. And I loved
Speaker 3: it so much that I went off to law school.
Speaker 3: So I designed that maybe I wanted to be an
Speaker 3: attorney and love law school. Knew I did not want
Speaker 3: to practice law. I looked around at the successful partners
Speaker 3: and firms that I've worked for over the summers, and
Speaker 3: I thought, I don't want one thing that you have, Like,
Speaker 3: I'm very bored by this. So I called up Doug
Speaker 3: Ross from Evolution, who I had met when I was
Speaker 3: at MTV, and I was like, do you remember me
Speaker 3: all these years ago? And you thought that I was
Speaker 3: a bright young kid and it wanted to hire me?
Speaker 3: Do you have a place for me, and he hired me,
Speaker 3: and so that was my only job for many years
Speaker 3: until I started my own company. And he just kind
Speaker 3: of caught the wave. And you know, when reality became
Speaker 3: as big as it did, and it made all of
Speaker 3: those cable networks in particular, and so I was an
Speaker 3: ambitious young person at a time that an industry was booming.
Speaker 1: That's amazing, really amazing.
Speaker 4: What did you work on specific Were you like working
Speaker 4: on the Real World MTV?
Speaker 3: No, you know, I was working in development, but I
Speaker 3: had the balls more then than I do now to
Speaker 3: pitch them when I was interning there. So I set
Speaker 3: up a meeting and I set up a pilot there
Speaker 3: for a project that I wanted to do with them,
Speaker 3: and I got like dressed up and sorted this formal meeting,
Speaker 3: and so that's how I ended up meeting a few
Speaker 3: producers because needed someone to actually make that. But I
Speaker 3: just I love the fact that you could make anything possible.
Speaker 3: And the fun thing at the time too, was just
Speaker 3: you know, pop culture trends were set by MTV. And
Speaker 3: that's the thing that was so fun about the current
Speaker 3: wave that we're riding on. Vander Pump Rules is It's
Speaker 3: one of the few recent examples of everyone coming together
Speaker 3: and watching a show at the same time. It's just
Speaker 3: a conversation across the board, you know.
Speaker 2: Right, like, no matter what your background was, where you
Speaker 2: came from, what you did for a living, Like it
Speaker 2: was to the point where you couldn't not acknowledge that
Speaker 2: it was happening, because it was everywhere. You said that
Speaker 2: scanned of all, what it was coined was the craziest
Speaker 2: thing that had happened to our show, but it's also
Speaker 2: kind of the worst thing that happened to our show.
Speaker 2: So when Scanaval happened and we decided to go into
Speaker 2: season eleven, what were your fears?
Speaker 3: Well, I thought, contrary to what certain people in certain
Speaker 3: quarters have said about that incident or not that incident,
Speaker 3: that controversy saving the show, the truth is we were
Speaker 3: making a great show in season ten, and in fact,
Speaker 3: we had made a great season and it was a
Speaker 3: bounce back season, and the audience was into it, and
Speaker 3: I felt like it there's a danger in burning too
Speaker 3: fast and too brightly. And I also thought that is
Speaker 3: the one thing that has happened to this group that
Speaker 3: has threatened to tear it completely apart. Everything else has
Speaker 3: been something we've been able to overcome. And I didn't
Speaker 3: know that we could put the pieces back together, and
Speaker 3: so I thought, look, I would trade putting aside all
Speaker 3: of the human damage and everything else, just purely analytically
Speaker 3: as a producer. I wish it ever happened.
Speaker 4: Wow, wild really And you think that will never change
Speaker 4: that opinion?
Speaker 3: It could, And I mean, you know other things that
Speaker 3: have come out of it, like, for example, the Valley,
Speaker 3: you know, the new series, which may or may not
Speaker 3: have happened if there weren't such momentum. So I think
Speaker 3: there's that and I think, you know, things change in
Speaker 3: unexpected ways, but that is the way that for a
Speaker 3: while that I felt. And you know that's still my
Speaker 3: analysis right now.
Speaker 2: Well yeah, because if you think about it now, now
Speaker 2: I have like the big wig backing up what I
Speaker 2: have said right that no matter whether whether Scandabal happened
Speaker 2: or not, season ten was going to be great. And
Speaker 2: all of these people saying it was set up to
Speaker 2: make season ten or make the show pop off. We've
Speaker 2: been popping, not at this level, but we have our
Speaker 2: main producer saying I wish it wouldn't have happened because
Speaker 2: for the first time ever, you have a group of
Speaker 2: people where it's like, where, how do we rebuild? How
Speaker 2: do we even move on from this? And I said,
Speaker 2: this is a group for season eleven, this is a
Speaker 2: group of people, And I said, it's for the first time,
Speaker 2: we're all very selfish.
Speaker 1: Now I know that we're a selfish group.
Speaker 2: From what it looks like, for the first time ever,
Speaker 2: no one gives a damn about anybody except themselves.
Speaker 1: Everyone is living up their own ass.
Speaker 2: Season eleven, it's it's gonna be a wild season to watch.
Speaker 1: Do you think it's good?
Speaker 2: Like I haven't seen it obviously, I've seen the first episode.
Speaker 1: You've seen quite a few cuts. Do you think it's good?
Speaker 3: I do. I think it's really good. And I wasn't
Speaker 3: sure that it would be. So I had great trepidation
Speaker 3: going into the season because I thought we had less
Speaker 3: control than we've ever had. And there's just, you know,
Speaker 3: the show that you might want to make, and then
Speaker 3: there's the one that you do make that you have
Speaker 3: to make, which is just you know, sort of where
Speaker 3: everyone is. And so we can't bring the group back
Speaker 3: together if that's not where they are, and we have
Speaker 3: there's a questions all the time, like you know, well,
Speaker 3: uh what about Arianna shooting with Tom? Whatever? It's like,
Speaker 3: what are we supposed to do? Right? I mean, you know,
Speaker 3: we sort of take people for where they are. But
Speaker 3: I think it's fascinating. I think that it's still really
Speaker 3: interesting to see the dynamics. Interestingly, even with Arianna and Tom,
Speaker 3: the fact that they live together through the season is wild.
Speaker 3: So I think people are going to enjoy seeing that documented.
Speaker 1: No, it really it's.
Speaker 3: The Is that a storyline for them? Also?
Speaker 5: That's what I thought looking down, Did they live together
Speaker 5: for a storyline?
Speaker 2: Oh?
Speaker 3: You mean you mean you mean like years ago right
Speaker 3: in the houses there, Like it'll be a great story.
Speaker 3: You couldn't get them to agree on anything.
Speaker 5: But if I was seriously just getting the hell out, yeah,
Speaker 5: I don't care.
Speaker 2: No, but that's what the season, that's we'll see, right,
Speaker 2: You're going to see it all play out. Because there's
Speaker 2: a lot of things that are said that you're like,
Speaker 2: I can't get down with what you're saying because of
Speaker 2: the way that you're moving and I don't understand this.
Speaker 1: By the way, Easton does not watch reality TV.
Speaker 3: I have to start.
Speaker 2: I just told him about the episode where I told
Speaker 2: Stacy and Kristen to wrap it up looking like a
Speaker 2: drunk shit sue.
Speaker 1: I have something to go home and watch. They has
Speaker 1: no idea.
Speaker 5: It's so different from me, Like I've never watched it,
Speaker 5: even when like your first season when I was like, oh,
Speaker 5: maybe i'll watch it, I watched one and it's so weird,
Speaker 5: saying like.
Speaker 1: Your sister just do all this shit, and then you.
Speaker 5: See her like making out with James, and I'm like,
Speaker 5: I can't know it it is. It's just so different
Speaker 5: from like a brother's standpoint. I can't get by, but
Speaker 5: I'm gonna. I'm gonna try my hardest, but I like
Speaker 5: I can do the Valley. It's just like when you're
Speaker 5: on it.
Speaker 1: It's like, h the Valley. I can't wait for.
Speaker 2: And you did say if there wasn't so much momentum,
Speaker 2: like you never know if if the Valley would have
Speaker 2: happened or not, Like we really will never know.
Speaker 1: I'm so excited about it.
Speaker 2: Can you give us any sort of teachers about the
Speaker 2: valley teaser?
Speaker 4: And what is the main difference between py U seeing
Speaker 4: the Valley and producing vander Pump.
Speaker 3: Good question. Okay, so here's my teas. We start the
Speaker 3: valley with a crossover between Jack's and Tom Sandaval and
Speaker 3: so you have Jax joining Boys Night, which is with
Speaker 3: Schwartz and James and Sandoval, and Jax has a few
Speaker 3: choice words for sand of fal Okay and it's really fun.
Speaker 3: And then we see Jacks drive over the hill and
Speaker 3: go into the valley. So do I it is it's
Speaker 3: cinematic in our world?
Speaker 1: Yes, of course. I mean, this is like when it's
Speaker 1: the start of a new production.
Speaker 2: No, but it's like remembering being in Utah and watching
Speaker 2: Beverly Hills and all of a sudden, I'm watching a
Speaker 2: new show called vander Pump Rules. Remember you you did
Speaker 2: a similar crosshow so?
Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, we did. Yeah, I mean in that one.
Speaker 3: It's funny. I almost hate to invoke that one because
Speaker 3: we can't POSSI compared to that because the stakes were
Speaker 3: so high and so we'd like one hundred percent audience retention.
Speaker 3: I'd love to say that was my idea. It was not.
Speaker 3: It was someone else's and then I know helped put
Speaker 3: it into motion, right, But you know, this still will
Speaker 3: give you the feeling of being in one and then
Speaker 3: being in the next one. And I think where the
Speaker 3: Valley is very different is it's a different phase in life,
Speaker 3: and the idea is adulting. And it's also that this
Speaker 3: is a group that is trying to raise families or
Speaker 3: figure out what's next, but they don't have anything figured out.
Speaker 3: And so that's the fun of it to me, is
Speaker 3: that Jax is still.
Speaker 2: Jacks Sis will never not be anything kids.
Speaker 3: Yeah, that's what it is. And so you know, Jack's
Speaker 3: preaches and proclaims that he has grown up and everyone
Speaker 3: needs to find the maturity that he has, and we
Speaker 3: see by the end of the first episode that that's dubious.
Speaker 1: I am so excited to watch this I'm hearing.
Speaker 4: Do you think it's accurate when people say it's it's
Speaker 4: a show that falls somewhere in between vander Pump Rules
Speaker 4: and Housewives.
Speaker 3: That's how I pitched it.
Speaker 2: Oh okay, so you would say that's true, Yeah, okay.
Speaker 2: Did you show a lot of like the kids and
Speaker 2: them being parents?
Speaker 3: We show a We show a good amount. We show
Speaker 3: enough so that you can see that they are all
Speaker 3: caring parents and kind of trying to figure it out.
Speaker 3: But at the same time, there's only so much that
Speaker 3: you can watch of children, right, and I meanty even
Speaker 3: thing for you, Like, doesn't it stretch you out to
Speaker 3: watch people with their children?
Speaker 1: I don't mean to be rude.
Speaker 2: I just don't care about other right too, I just
Speaker 2: don't like I know that I care a lot about
Speaker 2: my child, but.
Speaker 1: Like I really don't give a shit about yours.
Speaker 3: Other people's hats and kids are not interesting.
Speaker 1: I don't, I don't care.
Speaker 3: I don't disagree.
Speaker 4: That's how everyone is, though. It's like no one's ever
Speaker 4: gonna think your kid or pet is as.
Speaker 1: Cute as you do.
Speaker 4: My question between the Housewives franchise, vander Pump and now
Speaker 4: the this might be hard, but what was the most
Speaker 4: difficult one to produce and why they've all.
Speaker 3: Been difficult in different ways. I would say where vander
Speaker 3: Pump has been easier in some ways is you had
Speaker 3: a group that was fully in and so everyone has
Speaker 3: had their moments. It's like, you know, in your first
Speaker 3: few seasons on the show, like like oh, bad day,
Speaker 3: She's fleeing to Utah and literally not picking up a
Speaker 3: call from anyone. There's nothing we can do, and the
Speaker 3: network would be like, what do you mean she's in Utah.
Speaker 3: She's in Utah. That's what I mean like it's physically
Speaker 3: in Utah, so but you know, or like Stasse's New
Speaker 3: York Adventure those things like, Right, So there was some
Speaker 3: of that, but you still had a group that was
Speaker 3: constantly generating story and was as game as anyone that
Speaker 3: I've ever met, to tell it, So there's that Housewives.
Speaker 3: It always felt like the stakes were higher whether or
Speaker 3: not they were, just was a group that is, like,
Speaker 3: you know, very serious about those things. And then I'm
Speaker 3: trying to think about the Valley actually was a fairly
Speaker 3: seamless production, and I think, you know, I didn't know
Speaker 3: kind of what everyone's frame of mind would be for it,
Speaker 3: but but they were all pretty into it in game.
Speaker 3: And I think it also helped having Jax and Brittany
Speaker 3: and Christen, so we had like three ringers in there, right.
Speaker 2: And then Janet is someone who's you know, she's never
Speaker 2: really been at the forefront of vander Pump rules, but
Speaker 2: she seems to know the drill. She's been friends with
Speaker 2: all of us for quite some time, so it's like
Speaker 2: she understands how this works totally. I just think it
Speaker 2: would be the person that I feel like the most
Speaker 2: for because I can't even imagine filming a show like
Speaker 2: this and just I just given birth to not one,
Speaker 2: but two babies.
Speaker 1: Oh my god, Nia, Okay, two babies.
Speaker 2: She's got three kids under two that she just gave birth.
Speaker 2: I mean she yes, like they literally they were so
Speaker 2: brand new. She's like one of the things I filmed.
Speaker 2: We were at Jackson, Brits. But she's in a room
Speaker 2: like both babies on the tit and I'm like that,
Speaker 2: You're a superhero, Like, right, guys, I don't know how
Speaker 2: she did it. I think the Valley is going to
Speaker 2: be absolutely spectacular. And I told Brittany, you must have
Speaker 2: a watch party every single week. And I can't wait
Speaker 2: to get on social media and talk about how I
Speaker 2: feel about Jack's Taylor in each episode.
Speaker 1: Oh, I've been a segment now, it'll probably be on
Speaker 1: the podcast.
Speaker 3: By the way, what a ride that's going to be
Speaker 3: because he is just the first episode. Like, your observations
Speaker 3: are going to be all over the place about him
Speaker 3: because it's really fun.
Speaker 2: Well, Alex, I can't wait because before we started, there
Speaker 2: was a time when Jacks and Kristen Dodie were no
Speaker 2: longer a part of vander Pump and I would see
Speaker 2: people talk about how evolved they are now and how
Speaker 2: much they've changed, and I just can't wait for people
Speaker 2: to see.
Speaker 1: Where they are now and see people's take.
Speaker 3: We give them the full opportunity to show how evolve
Speaker 3: they are.
Speaker 5: All right, Well, I can't and they've done it.
Speaker 3: They've done they have.
Speaker 5: I had a question about production and when when you're
Speaker 5: going into it and like selecting a cast, how do
Speaker 5: you go about that?
Speaker 4: Oh?
Speaker 5: Yeah, like do you because obviously Monica said that she.
Speaker 1: From he will apply. She was like, I applied for
Speaker 1: this gig.
Speaker 3: So I was thinking, like.
Speaker 5: I was like, I haven't even thought about that side
Speaker 5: of producing. Do you have people in mind that you've
Speaker 5: seen or is it a kind of putting in a resume?
Speaker 3: Well, I love that, you know, she acts like it's
Speaker 3: a job at best Buy that is not like putting together.
Speaker 3: The valley started with conversations I was having with Jack's
Speaker 3: and so he and I went out to dinner and
Speaker 3: we were just talking about what's going on in his
Speaker 3: life now and who his friends are. And I quickly
Speaker 3: settled on the idea of doing something about families or couples, right,
Speaker 3: and then we kind of built it out from there.
Speaker 3: And so we put on tape pretty much everyone it's
Speaker 3: in his close inner circle and kind of went from there.
Speaker 3: So everyone really knows each other, they're all invested in
Speaker 3: each other, they all care, and we didn't want to,
Speaker 3: you know, add any gimmicks or try to fill out
Speaker 3: the cast in a way that wasn't authentic. I think
Speaker 3: other shows are a little different. So I think if
Speaker 3: there's a show that is more of a construct and
Speaker 3: it's not necessarily about a group, then you know, maybe
Speaker 3: it's put together differently. But look, it's like when you
Speaker 3: join Vanderpump, you know, you and James have been an
Speaker 3: Ariana are the examples of additions to the group because
Speaker 3: you guys were a part of the group and made
Speaker 3: yourself matter to the group. And any time that we
Speaker 3: ever just broad in someone random who had just worked
Speaker 3: at SIRR a little bit, it didn't work.
Speaker 1: It never worked.
Speaker 2: It felt like you've been here for five minutes, where
Speaker 2: when I joined it was like I'd been getting wasted
Speaker 2: at SIR since I was eighteen.
Speaker 1: You know what?
Speaker 4: Right it was like, bit, what was your initial and
Speaker 4: impressions of Lalla?
Speaker 1: Did you have a thought of like this girl's not.
Speaker 3: Away I just thought, well, there's my pressure from casting
Speaker 3: and then production. So from casting, I thought she was
Speaker 3: a gem. I thought you were great because I was like,
Speaker 3: who the fuck is this? So I thought you were
Speaker 3: one of a kind. You were living in Stasse's bedroom
Speaker 3: like that was weird, you know, So the whole thing
Speaker 3: was great, Like we were all in on that and
Speaker 3: I could not quite figure you out. And then in
Speaker 3: production it was a different story because we had never
Speaker 3: met anyone that I said who just was like, nope,
Speaker 3: not doing it. So there was that, but you were
Speaker 3: worth it. You were pain in the ass, but you
Speaker 3: were worth it.
Speaker 1: I was gonna say, was less, so let's less.
Speaker 3: So I actually could I didn't really not anymore because
Speaker 3: I think, I mean, you've just changed and matured so much,
Speaker 3: and you just view it differently and you're grounded and
Speaker 3: different things matter to you and you're much more secure,
Speaker 3: so you're really not a pain in the ass at
Speaker 3: this point.
Speaker 1: At this point, like it feels like therapy.
Speaker 2: Like before, when I see anybody, because I love reality TV,
Speaker 2: when I see anyone freaking out about something that may
Speaker 2: come out, I'm like, girl, just let it come out.
Speaker 2: And the next year, no one's gonna care and it's
Speaker 2: gonna be a completely different storyline.
Speaker 1: Yeah, it is interesting.
Speaker 4: You get to see all these personalities on these different shows.
Speaker 4: Do you ever sort of look at these people and
Speaker 4: think this person would be great doing a project with
Speaker 4: this person?
Speaker 1: Maybe I should do?
Speaker 3: Do you ever all of the time?
Speaker 1: Okay?
Speaker 3: I mean I think it's really fun to sort of
Speaker 3: mash things up. And I mean we've talked about, you know,
Speaker 3: certain potential partnerships. Yes, right, that because I just it.
Speaker 3: You get to know different people and sort of see
Speaker 3: how there might be some synergenistic you know, combination between them,
Speaker 3: and so I think that all the time. Or sometimes
Speaker 3: I'm jealous. Sometimes I think a look at a show
Speaker 3: and think, well, we really could use her over here.
Speaker 3: It's too bad it can't make, you know, like a trade.
Speaker 1: I love that.
Speaker 2: Do you ever look at projects and you're like, damn,
Speaker 2: what I would have given to be the person that
Speaker 2: came up with that.
Speaker 3: Yeah, it's the best feeling when you're the person who
Speaker 3: makes the announcement that everyone else thinks is really obvious.
Speaker 3: I'm like I got their first, you know. Yeah, like
Speaker 3: with Botch for example, is is I just that came
Speaker 3: about because I was at dinner with Paul Nassif this
Speaker 3: is when he and Adrian Malouf were divorcing, and he
Speaker 3: wanted me back on television again. I'm just like, what
Speaker 3: do you do all day as a plastic surgeon? And
Speaker 3: he started describing revision plastic surgery. I was like, Okay,
Speaker 3: what about a show where we're fixing that? So I
Speaker 3: called it nip Fucked and I added him and Terry
Speaker 3: de bro together because I thought they would be good.
Speaker 1: So they did. They not know each other before you
Speaker 1: came into the mix.
Speaker 3: They didn't seen each other fear they had met, or
Speaker 3: they knew each other from years ago but hadn't talked
Speaker 3: about it. They weren't homie, no, not at all.
Speaker 2: Is their chemistry on camera You would think that they
Speaker 2: go and get drinks and they're so different, but it
Speaker 2: just works so well.
Speaker 3: It worked from the minute that we shot this like
Speaker 3: bootleg tape where basically I put celebrities on carbers. Somebody
Speaker 3: said it had bad surgeries and they talked about how
Speaker 3: they would undo that work. Yeah, it just worked. So
Speaker 3: that was one that I, you know, I couldn't have
Speaker 3: ever imagined that they would be that good together. But
Speaker 3: I just I thought you needed too, and those guys.
Speaker 1: You had to have too.
Speaker 2: Yeah, No, that one is awesome. And I love that
Speaker 2: one is neck down and the other one's neck.
Speaker 3: Up, although they fight over that. So the really funny
Speaker 3: thing is Terry in I want to say it was
Speaker 3: like starting in season three because by the way, everyone's happy,
Speaker 3: you get two seasons of a hit show. Everyone's a
Speaker 3: real good sport whatever. Yeah, and then starting in season three,
Speaker 3: he's like, hey, why are you giving Paul all the faces?
Speaker 3: I do faces too. I'm like, I know, but you
Speaker 3: also do the body and Paul doesn't.
Speaker 2: So right, so you're gonna have to just like take
Speaker 2: one for the team and only focus on the tits
Speaker 2: and tummy. Yes, you know exactly, Like, and why are
Speaker 2: you complaining about it?
Speaker 1: Terror?
Speaker 3: Terry's the best, so I good naturedly give him shit.
Speaker 3: And then Paul's complaint during at that point on the
Speaker 3: show too, was Paul all of a sudden wanted it
Speaker 3: was like a car service complaint. He wanted like a
Speaker 3: car service to go like two hundred feet, and so
Speaker 3: I ran into him. Was literally we were shooting the
Speaker 3: after show, and he wanted car service and he's like
Speaker 3: he lived, like, you know, like two miles from there
Speaker 3: or something. So I ran into him at a party
Speaker 3: and I said, hey, Paul, how'd you get here tonight?
Speaker 3: And this is fun of like a group of people,
Speaker 3: and he's like, I drove, I go, so you do drive?
Speaker 3: I know?
Speaker 2: Oh no, now that is a devo good Wait, so
Speaker 2: did did he get car service?
Speaker 1: Though?
Speaker 3: He like he let He was like, you hurt my feelings,
Speaker 3: but you made your point. So I'm like, all right,
Speaker 3: that's a when.
Speaker 1: You have a way of doing that hurting feelings. Yeah, no,
Speaker 1: of like making good points. Yeah no, I'm making a
Speaker 1: good points. I have a question for you.
Speaker 2: Yeah, does it ever get hard when you start developing
Speaker 2: like real connections with people on these shows that you
Speaker 2: are creating and producing. You they call you to vent,
Speaker 2: you take an interest in their life. You become a confidant,
Speaker 2: but you know that you still have to tell their story.
Speaker 2: Does it ever get sticky where you're like, God, I
Speaker 2: really wish that I was not as close to this person.
Speaker 3: Yeah, it can be really hard because they're people that
Speaker 3: I care about, and so I know that telling the
Speaker 3: story is going to impact their lives. But at the
Speaker 3: same time, that's the job, and you know, they sort
Speaker 3: of know that that's the show that they're on. But
Speaker 3: it does feel tough. I think that because of the
Speaker 3: depth of the relationships, they understand that it isn't personal.
Speaker 3: And I also don't do anything that is gratuitous, So
Speaker 3: there's always the story that we could tell, right, And
Speaker 3: it's like you could make anything, you know, a thousand
Speaker 3: times worse. There's things that for the sake of discretion
Speaker 3: that you don't include. But you know the deal is.
Speaker 3: You know, look, if you sign up for it, then
Speaker 3: you know those things are open and are discussed, and
Speaker 3: you know, I can't make that go away, but it does.
Speaker 3: I mean there are times when I've thought, you know,
Speaker 3: maybe I need to take a break from doing it
Speaker 3: because it's because it's hard, right, you know, And again
Speaker 3: you're all too well aware that these are real people
Speaker 3: and they really have to live with it. I also,
Speaker 3: on the other hand, have enough perspective to know everything
Speaker 3: passes and so the things that in the moment feel
Speaker 3: like you know, the end of your life are not
Speaker 3: and you know time goes on, so I'm aware of
Speaker 3: that too, but but it's really hard. It weighs on me.
Speaker 3: It does.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I was wondering that because I know that you
Speaker 2: and Kyle Richards are very close, and you know, I
Speaker 2: just I can't imagine having something like a twenty seven
Speaker 2: year marriage that's been put under a microscope. Children are involved,
Speaker 2: like you had such a picture perfect life, and then
Speaker 2: this unfolds on television, and I think that was the
Speaker 2: first time that I was like, damn, I wonder if
Speaker 2: that ever kind of fucks with Alex.
Speaker 3: Yeah, that one was really hard to see because they're
Speaker 3: both great people and they have had a great marriage. Yeah,
Speaker 3: so it's not the you know, proverbial housewife. Oh okay,
Speaker 3: I saw that coming, and maybe everybody is better off
Speaker 3: for it. Right, So that was really really tough to experience,
Speaker 3: and you know, you want to, on the one hand,
Speaker 3: be there for her as a human being, but also
Speaker 3: you have to tell a story too, right.
Speaker 2: I find when I get because you do become extremely
Speaker 2: close with producers, like I find that they become like
Speaker 2: my friends but also kind of like family members because
Speaker 2: you talk to them, you know that you're telling a story,
Speaker 2: and in order for you to tell the story properly,
Speaker 2: you need to know exactly where my head's at, so
Speaker 2: I find it. There's some people that are new and
Speaker 2: they're like, don't tell producers anything, and it's like, well,
Speaker 2: then you're you. If you don't want any control over
Speaker 2: your narrative, do that. Otherwise pick up the phone. Because
Speaker 2: there are many times where I could be saying something
Speaker 2: and a producer says to me, this is how I
Speaker 2: took it, and I'm like, hold up, no, we got
Speaker 2: to rewind.
Speaker 1: This is where my head's at in there.
Speaker 2: Go great, let's let's tell that story because it's the
Speaker 2: true story.
Speaker 3: You're so right, and it's counterintuitive. So you tend to
Speaker 3: think that if you withhold and control information that you
Speaker 3: control the story, and it isn't true. And look the
Speaker 3: case study for that is Arianna and scandabal Yeah, so
Speaker 3: she found Sandival's phone or she she whatever, she you know,
Speaker 3: saw what she did on scan on Sandoval's phone. And
Speaker 3: then I was called in Scandabalio these days. And then
Speaker 3: and then she let production knowe right away, and she
Speaker 3: told that story, and I would say, pretty powerfully, so.
Speaker 2: She said, I called production immediately because I knew that
Speaker 2: he would try to get me to not talk about it,
Speaker 2: not tell them. We were going to concoct something, and
Speaker 2: because it was years of us in a relationship together,
Speaker 2: he probably could have got me to change my mind.
Speaker 2: And I got chills when I heard that. I was like, damn,
Speaker 2: it's just wild that. That's what I mean, Like the
Speaker 2: production team becomes your family. The first person you call.
Speaker 2: By the way, there's a lot of things that have
Speaker 2: happened in my life. Were the first person I call
Speaker 2: obviously my mama, but then I'm calling a producer?
Speaker 1: Yeah, immediately.
Speaker 4: Was there any world in which you were not picking
Speaker 4: cameras back up for that?
Speaker 3: No?
Speaker 1: Or was it you had no?
Speaker 3: I mean, we were going to do that, but we
Speaker 3: and it just was not even a question we had.
Speaker 3: There were a couple of contributors to the decision who
Speaker 3: thought we should just hold until the reunion, and we
Speaker 3: thought that was asenine, like, no, We're going in right now.
Speaker 1: I still get chills thinking about it.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I do too, having Jeremiah be like, you're not
Speaker 2: allowed to leave LA because we're picking up cameras like
Speaker 2: tomorrow right, Damn damn. What do you think about everyone
Speaker 2: saying like I think it's so so again. I watch
Speaker 2: a lot of reality TV. Kyle stepping into her interview
Speaker 2: with like the red cutout top on We've got Southern
Speaker 2: charm people who I think her name's Olivia. It is
Speaker 2: Olivia shows up in like her kind of revenge dress
Speaker 2: and now no one, not a soul am Bravo can
Speaker 2: go through something like being done dirty by a man.
Speaker 1: No one can have that happen and then wear red
Speaker 1: with cutouts or they're immediately labeled Ariana. Yeah, is that
Speaker 1: the craziest shit to watch?
Speaker 3: Alex so funny.
Speaker 2: Everyone's like Mauricio and Kyle planned list have a scan
Speaker 2: of all moment. I'm like, yes, the couple that's been
Speaker 2: together for twenty seven years wanted a scan a scandal
Speaker 2: all moment.
Speaker 3: Yeah, that's what they were thinking. So that what she
Speaker 3: could continue on the show. I mean think she's you know.
Speaker 2: But Kyle's been the glue from the very beginning. Erica
Speaker 2: Jane said it. I think it was either two reunions
Speaker 2: ago a year ago where she's like she is the
Speaker 2: queen of the group, she's the glue to all of us,
Speaker 2: and I feel like that it's very true.
Speaker 3: Well, you know, obviously she's been around since the beginning.
Speaker 3: The show is you know important she's been great for
Speaker 3: the show, and she does hold it all together. She
Speaker 3: just is in some ways the ultimate real housewife, you know,
Speaker 3: she she just gets it, and she does it in
Speaker 3: a way too that doesn't compromise herself. So she knows
Speaker 3: what she's doing, wants to make a show, but stands
Speaker 3: behind what she's done as well, right, And I think
Speaker 3: it's great. I think, you know, she's challenging the perception
Speaker 3: of her right now because she just is in a
Speaker 3: different place than she was, and so I think that's
Speaker 3: throwing people off a lot. But she's just, you know,
Speaker 3: the bedrock of that show. By the way.
Speaker 1: I don't think she's ever looked better.
Speaker 2: I find her attitude to be very sexy and inspiring
Speaker 2: and I dig her.
Speaker 3: Oh she doesn't give a shit anymore too. I mean
Speaker 3: that's kind of.
Speaker 2: The not at all fun of it, because you know
Speaker 2: there were many times where like she didn't want she
Speaker 2: didn't like confrontation. Yeah, kind of like clammed up a bit.
Speaker 2: Now she's like, you're a fucking bitch right now. Stop
Speaker 2: And it's like, oh, I'm a little wet you.
Speaker 3: No, she's activated.
Speaker 1: She's activated.
Speaker 3: So we have that reunion on Friday, the.
Speaker 1: Reunion is on Friday.
Speaker 2: Why you're obviously boots on the ground with that. Yeah,
Speaker 2: I cannot wait.
Speaker 1: Oh, it's gonna be good. It's so good.
Speaker 2: When you think about all of the seasons that you
Speaker 2: have under your belt, of all the shows, is there
Speaker 2: one season of any of the shows that sticks out
Speaker 2: in your mind going that was a freaking hard season, Like,
Speaker 2: I'm so glad that shit is done.
Speaker 3: To me, it's either the strongest or the weakest seasons. Okay,
Speaker 3: the weakest seasons sometimes, which is because it just doesn't
Speaker 3: work right, I mean, and there are there are good
Speaker 3: seasons and bad seasons.
Speaker 2: So my overstepping by asking is there a season we
Speaker 2: were like.
Speaker 1: That was a really shitty season at show?
Speaker 3: You know, look, I thought vander Pump season nine was
Speaker 3: dogshit beyond.
Speaker 1: I was like, we're not coming back.
Speaker 3: I thought, I thought we're done. And that's why I've
Speaker 3: said a bunch that to me, you know, we caught
Speaker 3: this big scandal and we went right in and you know,
Speaker 3: everyone sort of did what they did with it. But
Speaker 3: to me, the accomplishment was being around for that to happen,
Speaker 3: was still being around for a season ten and you
Speaker 3: kind of ride it out, and you know, there's ebbs
Speaker 3: and flows. So I think with Orange County, I thought
Speaker 3: last season was really good. The season before was not.
Speaker 1: Was that the one with Noela?
Speaker 3: Yeah?
Speaker 1: Season sixteen, yeah that wasn't great.
Speaker 2: Last season was great, really, but the one with Noela
Speaker 2: without I don't think Vicky or Tamra made an appearance
Speaker 2: at all, that was a tough one to watch.
Speaker 1: I should have watched it, but.
Speaker 3: It just didn't come together. It didn't it didn't happen,
Speaker 3: And so there's that. Beverly Hills has had some seasons too.
Speaker 3: You do the best that you can with any of it,
Speaker 3: but yeah, I think that it's really hard when it
Speaker 3: doesn't all come together. And then sometimes it's really hard
Speaker 3: when you're going through something that's just tough to manage
Speaker 3: and tough to trudge through.
Speaker 5: Are there seasons that you on any of the shows
Speaker 5: that you've produced that you're like, that season you can
Speaker 5: watch one through fifteen, or is there a season of
Speaker 5: a show that you're like that was incredible or just through.
Speaker 1: And through every episode was.
Speaker 5: Incredible, like top to bottom, Yeah, it was unreal perfect.
Speaker 5: Or if you could only watch one season of a
Speaker 5: show you produced, what season.
Speaker 1: Would that, Oh, I love that.
Speaker 3: That's a good question. I would say it tends to
Speaker 3: be earlier seasons for me because I just have the
Speaker 3: removal in the distance from them to just you know, yeah,
Speaker 3: and probably rewrite them in my mind and everything is
Speaker 3: perfect and I'm like, oh, this is when I was
Speaker 3: coming of age and I started doing Yeah, totally. It's
Speaker 3: just what we do. You know, like you look through
Speaker 3: photos of yourself smiling, and you know you're not aware
Speaker 3: of like the hour before you know, where you were
Speaker 3: grounded by your parents or whatever. So I just that's
Speaker 3: what I think. I think the early seasons of Beverly Hills.
Speaker 3: I think there's a few great seasons of Fan or Pump,
Speaker 3: but I still season one was fun just because I
Speaker 3: knew we were onto something, you know, and it started
Speaker 3: with the crossover and whatever. So there's that. And then
Speaker 3: Orange County. Yeah, I mean I liked the last season
Speaker 3: of Orange County because it was a renaissance and so
Speaker 3: that was fun to me, and I thought we were
Speaker 3: back from the dead, and that's always a really good
Speaker 3: feeling like Okay, we've still got it.
Speaker 2: That's how it felt. Yeah, as someone who's watched since
Speaker 2: the beginning. But there is something like you said about
Speaker 2: OG seasons before anybody got injected and realized what they
Speaker 2: were going to look like on camera, where you were.
Speaker 1: Just like showing.
Speaker 2: It felt like you were walking around with a tape
Speaker 2: recorder on these people.
Speaker 3: There is so the head current Programming from prof was Sherrylathini.
Speaker 3: She was head for many years. Used to she's great,
Speaker 3: she's brilliant woman, but is just savage and cutting in
Speaker 3: what she says. And so I remember after the first
Speaker 3: season of Beverly Hills, she's like, congratulations, it'll never be
Speaker 3: that good again, Like, do.
Speaker 4: You feel that way It's never been that good again.
Speaker 3: I don't think that's true, because I think it's just different.
Speaker 3: And I thought that season two was great for that
Speaker 3: show too, But oh.
Speaker 1: My god, yes, but.
Speaker 3: I know it show. I know what she means, and
Speaker 3: it was it's your point to where something changes when
Speaker 3: people watch themselves and when other people comment on them,
Speaker 3: and you cannot deny that social media has an impact
Speaker 3: on people, and there's a self awareness that you know,
Speaker 3: maybe doesn't exist for season one, and maybe we can't
Speaker 3: even get to that these days anyway, because everyone knows
Speaker 3: how the shows are made or think they do anyway,
Speaker 3: or thinks that they've cracked the code. So there's there's
Speaker 3: self conscious anyway. But by the way, I found that
Speaker 3: refreshing with the Valley. I actually didn't think that there
Speaker 3: was a ton of image crafting. I thought that people
Speaker 3: showed up as who they were and things happened.
Speaker 4: So well, speaking of social media, do you, let's be
Speaker 4: honest here, do you guys take what the fans say
Speaker 4: into account when filming these shows?
Speaker 3: When I think we apply the appropriate discount factors. So
Speaker 3: I'm not going to say that we're not aware of it,
Speaker 3: but I will say that social media is a measure
Speaker 3: of intensity more than anything. But it isn't. It doesn't
Speaker 3: line up with any research that you would do, any
Speaker 3: any rigorous research because it tends to be the same
Speaker 3: people on social media who are heated time and again,
Speaker 3: and it does not reflect it. It's a really small
Speaker 3: and very biased sample size.
Speaker 2: Okay, so how do you decide if there's a new
Speaker 2: cast member that comes into the mix. How do you
Speaker 2: decide if that person is coming back or if they're not.
Speaker 1: Because someone could think.
Speaker 2: They did great, but overall, like, how do you measure
Speaker 2: if they did great.
Speaker 3: It's hard and it is not a science. And I
Speaker 3: always think that it's a mistake to try to turn
Speaker 3: something that is creative and that is, you know, sort
Speaker 3: of floating an amorphous into something that it isn't. And
Speaker 3: so it's a series of conversations. So it'll be the
Speaker 3: producers and the network and you arrive at some kind
Speaker 3: of consensus, and you know, not everyone may be pleased
Speaker 3: with it, but it's an analysis based on what you
Speaker 3: think of that specific person, what they're fit is within
Speaker 3: the group, where you think you can go with them.
Speaker 3: It's all of those things. It's much more qualitative than quantitative.
Speaker 2: Do you find that a lot of these new housewives
Speaker 2: that are being cast come in and they see what
Speaker 2: they could be making.
Speaker 1: On the show?
Speaker 2: Like do you find that sometimes you hit a dead
Speaker 2: end where it's like this person would have been great,
Speaker 2: but they're coming in here asking for the sun stars
Speaker 2: in the moon and they gotta go.
Speaker 3: Well, I mean, we lead or I lead a lot
Speaker 3: of conversations by telling people like, you know, congratulations, I
Speaker 3: have good news. We want you on the show. Now
Speaker 3: we're about to insult you. Yeah, so you know you
Speaker 3: should be This is what it is and you know,
Speaker 3: this is the economics of this business and you have
Speaker 3: to accept that. And also it sounds right, but it's
Speaker 3: the truth. You're not signing up for the show just
Speaker 3: to make money from the show's it's really what does
Speaker 3: this do for you on the whole? What is your
Speaker 3: plan you know, to use this. So we have all
Speaker 3: of those conversations, but I do think that people sometimes
Speaker 3: are not realistic about it. And I've seen people talk
Speaker 3: themselves out of, you know, opportunities that would have been great,
Speaker 3: and then circle back to us, you know, a year
Speaker 3: later and say now I'm ready, Like, well, now we're
Speaker 3: not right.
Speaker 1: It's like, well, how we've moved on for me? We
Speaker 1: don't care. You spent one season? What about shows?
Speaker 4: Let's talk about shows you do not produce. Do you
Speaker 4: see any maybe some of the Housewise franchise, maybe Summer
Speaker 4: House that you're like, I would have killed it or
Speaker 4: I would have done this differently.
Speaker 3: It's the cheapest thing to do. Yes, I do. Okay,
Speaker 3: So because you're not you know, I'm aware that people
Speaker 3: are doing the same thing to the shows that I'm on,
Speaker 3: but that's kind of it's hard not to do that,
Speaker 3: and it's hard as a producer not to watch, especially
Speaker 3: if it's this genre and and just you know, think
Speaker 3: that you can extrapolate what the circumstances are and that
Speaker 3: you might have handled it differently. But at the same time,
Speaker 3: there are plenty of shows that I watch and I
Speaker 3: marvel at what other producers have done with it and think,
Speaker 3: you know, thank god, I'm just watching this and I
Speaker 3: didn't have to make it.
Speaker 4: Yeah, right, do you have a specific you have a
Speaker 4: specific show, whether or not it's like Real Housewives of
Speaker 4: Miami or like that.
Speaker 1: You're like, I could have killed it. I could have
Speaker 1: done well fewer in in the Bravo universe.
Speaker 3: Yeah, because because you kind of think in any of
Speaker 3: those shows you think, you know, you could do, but
Speaker 3: other people could do the shows that I do as well. Right,
Speaker 3: it's kind of the same formula exactly, and they're just
Speaker 3: you know, they're different. There's different dynamics, the relationships matter.
Speaker 3: But there's you know, people that do that. To me.
Speaker 3: It's things that I just that I've never done before,
Speaker 3: or like for example, if you guys watch on bitconned
Speaker 3: on Netflix.
Speaker 1: No, so it's.
Speaker 3: Great, it's just a it's a cryptocurrency scam show. But
Speaker 3: it just is really stylishly done, and I just thought
Speaker 3: everything I've.
Speaker 2: Heard of this, yeah, yeah, because you have to remember
Speaker 2: shows on Bravo, no matter what production company is being used,
Speaker 2: you have to send the cut over to Bravo and
Speaker 2: they make their notes.
Speaker 1: So in a sense, when you watch there, they're all the.
Speaker 2: Vibe is the same throughout no matter what, which is
Speaker 2: why people get so addicted. That's why we have things
Speaker 2: like BRAVOCN because you just become a fan of it.
Speaker 2: All right, You're watching the same game, inserting different players
Speaker 2: that are all fucking savage and awesome.
Speaker 4: You know.
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, it gives me chill talking about it.
Speaker 1: Question for you before I let you go, do you
Speaker 1: think we would ever?
Speaker 2: We as if I have a say, do you think
Speaker 2: you guys would ever if Rachel Raquel picked up the
Speaker 2: phone and said, I really think I messed up and
Speaker 2: I'd like to be back on the show if you'll
Speaker 2: have me with everything that you know going behind the scenes.
Speaker 2: Number one, how do you feel if she were to
Speaker 2: say that, would we bring her back in?
Speaker 3: I I don't know. I mean, I hesitate to say never,
Speaker 3: but I just it's such a far fetched scenario that
Speaker 3: I would say, right now, we're good where we are,
Speaker 3: and I hope she's good where she is.
Speaker 1: I love that answer.
Speaker 2: So Alex, we do an ach and relief at the
Speaker 2: end of every episode. Just you'll start us off, so
Speaker 2: Alex knows what this means.
Speaker 4: Okay, So this is the day after the vander Pump
Speaker 4: Rules Season eleven premiere.
Speaker 1: So I can say this.
Speaker 4: My relief is your vulnerability in this premiere episode.
Speaker 1: I was so proud of you.
Speaker 4: I don't know what the viewers have said at this point,
Speaker 4: but I'm excited to see. I know you're nervous, but
Speaker 4: I think it's a side of you that is very
Speaker 4: refreshing to you.
Speaker 1: That's my relief.
Speaker 4: My ache is that we still have now another week
Speaker 4: pretty much for season or for episode two, because it
Speaker 4: was such a good season eleven premiere episode.
Speaker 1: Love it a relief of the week.
Speaker 5: My ache is going to be the Miami SA Aquarium again.
Speaker 1: I love it. Tell us out out there.
Speaker 5: I know there was another video that came out January
Speaker 5: of this year, twenty twenty four. Okay, and there's more
Speaker 5: dolphins in it. There's three and one that I see.
Speaker 5: It's a video. If you would like to watch you know.
Speaker 2: What, I bet the wall risks Whisper is all over
Speaker 2: that shit.
Speaker 1: He shout out for him.
Speaker 5: But yeah, they've had one hundred and twenty dolphins die
Speaker 5: in this seaquarium, so let's just keep it up and
Speaker 5: keep out.
Speaker 1: In them despicable. What's your relief.
Speaker 5: My relief is going to be outing them, So I'm.
Speaker 1: Having a platform to out that. Yes, so that's what
Speaker 1: that's my relief.
Speaker 5: So let's go get them Easton.
Speaker 1: I love that for you.
Speaker 3: Thank you.
Speaker 2: My ache is going to be that. I really thought
Speaker 2: that it was going to be more like five or six.
Speaker 2: I guess I can wait until VPR episode eight for
Speaker 2: the Valley to come out. That's my ache. My relief
Speaker 2: is knowing that it's coming out because I got in
Speaker 2: trouble for talk talking about it on my Amazon Live.
Speaker 1: Alex might not know this.
Speaker 2: Yeah, Bravo hit me up, not me personally, they hit
Speaker 2: a member of my team up and they said, please
Speaker 2: tell her to shut the fuck up and stop talking.
Speaker 1: About the Valley. I'm just so excited about it.
Speaker 2: You like people talking about it, well, not when it's
Speaker 2: not announced yet.
Speaker 3: Yeah sure, I mean that was like.
Speaker 5: A couple of days before the announcement huh more of.
Speaker 1: Like a couple of months. But it's okay, all right,
Speaker 1: you shit the bed.
Speaker 3: I was off, Yeah, I mean I don't mind people
Speaker 3: talking about anything. And I think that also was a
Speaker 3: badly kept secret anyway, right, I mean, there's no way
Speaker 3: that people wouldn't know that we were shooting that show.
Speaker 2: So I was like, how am I the one to
Speaker 2: out this when you have people like Jack say, you're
Speaker 2: telling me?
Speaker 1: Neither of them have spilled the beans on it. Jax
Speaker 1: was telling me us about it before I even started filming.
Speaker 5: He was like, yeah, we're going to start it.
Speaker 1: I was like, oh, nolexcitedn't think it was happening. I
Speaker 1: was like, I really didn't need Jack.
Speaker 3: Jax was coming out. I think you even sent me
Speaker 3: a note. You're like, hey, is this thing real?
Speaker 2: I was like, because, like Jack's I don't care if
Speaker 2: he lives in his own world, but I'm concerned about
Speaker 2: what he tells Brittany, and so like, if this is
Speaker 2: not real, I need to sit Brittany down and be like, girl,
Speaker 2: we got to move on from the conversation.
Speaker 3: So my ach is the Beverly Hills reunion. At the
Speaker 3: end of this week because I just want to be
Speaker 3: done with that, okay. And then my relief and it
Speaker 3: pertains to the first episode of VPR is that Tom
Speaker 3: finally came back from New Zealand.
Speaker 2: Yeah that was annoying right anyway, I love it, Alex.
Speaker 2: Thank you so much for coming on my podcast, My Loves,
Speaker 2: I love you all. Thank you for listening to another
Speaker 2: episode of the Give Them All a Podcast. Remember, do
Speaker 2: not support any places that use animals for entertainment. No
Speaker 2: animals in captivities, spay in new to your pets, adopt,
Speaker 2: don't shop.
Speaker 1: I love you and I'll catch you next week.