Indeed, what is the appeal?

Back when The Real Housewives of Orange County premiered in 2006, NPR's Andrew Wallenstein mused upon this same question. Why would people tune in for yet another show about Orange Country? The OC on Fox and MTV's Laguna Beach were extremely successful, so perhaps producers of Real Housewives decided they would go with the same location and a different age group. The show, now in its fourth season in Orange County, has also aired two seasons each of The Real Housewives of Atlanta and The Real Housewives of New York. Each season focuses on a group of catty friends with exorbitant sums of money and, apparently, free time. Wallenstein says the women are a lot like their mansions - - "impeccably maintained facades." But watching the show reveals that these women are flawed. He says this leaves viewers with feelings of "revulsion, fascination, and yes, envy."

I think this is why I watch the show. Isn't this the appeal of any show? Seinfeld, for example, though not a reality show, focused on the lives of a group of callous New Yorkers. I don't think I, or anyone really, aspired to be like them. Their disdain for pretty much every other person was enough to invoke revulsion in the audience - - how can live such a self-centered life - - as well as fascination and envy - - apparently the characters were at peace with doing whatever they liked, whatever the consequences for others.

Any successful show has a component people can relate to (Real Housewives' family matters, Seinfeld's everyday mundane storylines), as well as a component that is harder for audiences to identify with (Real Housewives' silly wealth, Jerry, George, Elaine and Kramer's self-centeredness and their obsession? with social norms. (Do the characters mock the norms or do they strive to uphold them, whatever the cost? They certainly discuss their ideas of the "norms" to a great extent.)) Thus Real Housewives remains on air, with a third season of The Real Housewives of New York premiering on February 17th, and audiences ashamedly addicted.