Last night Andy Cohen hosted a special Watch What Happens Live one-on-one special with Jill Zarin. So, if you wanted 20 minutes of Jill rambling unfiltered I know you tuned in! Jill was acting a little erratic last night, I guess she was um… really emotional about Real Housewives of New York.
I, of course, watched – tornados transporting me to Oz couldn't keep me away – and here's my thoughts on what happened. First of all I was sort of surprised Andy let Jill go so far with some of her allegations. It wasn't live, it was pre-recorded so the network definitely let her air ALL her grievances and expose what I thought was some pretty scandalous things about how filming works and behind the scenes dealings.
Secondly, Jill was either nervous or I don't know what but she rambled and ranted tangentially for the entire segment. Andy barely got a word in and he was checked out, although composed (and bemused), in a way I've never seen him act before. Jill of course basically complained that she was fired, whined it wasn't fair, and insisted viewers want her back and didn't connect with the new women because we don't know them. She actually said viewers were boycotting her firing – and Alex McCord's.
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Fair enough, but we didn't know JILL in the beginning either and it takes a while to form a connection (or dislike) for a character. So that point was moot and Andy handled it well by basically saying, 'Look viewers were over you – and over the pathetic, vicious fighting this show dissolved into. Furthermore, it was the same fights for two seasons and producers and Bravo were sick of it too!' Hopefully they are planning a similar "reboot" with Real Housewives of New Jersey!
Andy, whether because he was afraid, exhausted, or knew there was no way to stop this runaway redhead, let Jill rip! Whatever his reason for having her on, it was a ratings boon for the show with over 1M viewers in the original airing.
Some of Jill's issues were completely petty – her lament that he favored Giggy to Ginger, for instance. Get a hold of yourself, woman! Her insistence that Heather Thomson was cast to be the Jill character of this season; another delusion. Jill also complained that Heather wasn't Jewish enough.
And that we never saw Heather's apartment. OK, yeah – I would've liked to see more of everyone's apartments this year. That's one of the best parts of these shows – seeing how rich people live!
Basically, Jill had a lot of unresolved issues, a lot of complaints, and a lot of hurt feelings stemming not just from her firing, but her relationship with Andy and the network, and of course Bethenny Frankel. Which leads me to the most – and only interesting – part of the episode.
To my ears, Jill basically admitted the friendship break-up between she and Bethenny started out as a storyline (one which Andy admitted he cautioned her against) and that it sort of spiraled out of control, leaving Jill the badguy and Bethenny the victor. And to the victor go the spoils.
What I got was that Jill and Bethenny had a couple arguments, which Jill thought were nothing serious but would make good TV and brought it to the network as a storyline. But then Bethenny used it as leverage to distance herself from RHONY and Jill, aka Bethenny was scheming for a spinoff all along and after cutting Jill as the deadweight she knew it was her chance – particularly since she had that surprise pregnancy going for her…
I'm not sure if Jill was admitting the whole thing was staged, or not. Jill, while completely melodramatic, doesn't seem particularly adept at acting. Her fake crying face is pitiful! Bethenny, well she's crafty on a whole 'nother Amanda Clarke from Revenge level in my mind. Jill is still um… not over (to put it politely) being bamboozled by Bethenny and their feud.
Also interesting, Jill accused Andy and Bravo of "siding" with Bethenny and further making Jill a pariah to viewers. I've always thought Bravo sided with Bethenny in the feud, so I agree with that, but I think it had a lot more to do with ratings than personal issues. Bethenny was a huge star for the network and she brought in ratings and viewers. Jill, not so much.
And Bethenny was working that whole redemption storyline and the baby/hubby angle so it was a relatable and compelling story. Of course they're going to side with a cashcow. Plus, on a surface level Jill is less likable than Bethenny.
So in summation, I think Jill FINALLY had her day in court – she apparently rehearsed all her plot points for it. She seriously needs to let go before embarrassing herself further, and she needs to move on. She was fired, it's over – take her out of Sonja Morgan's mythical toaster oven because she's done!
[Photo Credit: BravoTV.com]
TELL US – DID YOU WATCH JILL'S WWHL APPEARANCE? THOUGHTS? DO YOU THINK SHE'LL BE ABLE TO FINALLY MOVE ON NOW?
