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Real Housewives of Dallas reunion show leaves more ratings skid marks

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RHOD executive producer/host Andy Cohen is flanked by combustible LeeAnne Locken (left) and Brandi “Jesus Juice” Redmond for Sunday night’s season-ending “Reunion” show. Bravo photo

By ED BARK
@unclebarkycom on Twitter
Sunday’s tacked-on and typically contentious “super-sized” Real Housewives of Dallas reunion show otherwise went quietly -- as usual -- in the national Nielsen ratings.

Bolstered by a lead-in audience of 1,255,000 from Bravo’s Shahs of Sunset, RHOD dipped to 835,000 viewers and just 346,000 in the advertiser-prized 18-to-49-year-old demographic.

In the latter key measurement, that knocked RHOD out of the Sunday cable universe’s top-rated 100 programs compiled by tvbythenumbers. Its number of total viewers was the least since Episode 5 hit a season low of 789,000. The Sunday performance in total viewers knocked RHOD to 85th place among all cable shows telecast in daytime or nighttime hours.

It actually gets worse. Sunday night’s Game 7 of the NBA Finals had more total viewers in D-FW alone -- 906,547 -- than RHOD did nationally. The Finals also thumped RHOD in the 18-to-49 measurement with 476,355 in just D-FW. That’s 128,355 more than RHOD had nationally.

RHOD’s chances for a Season 2, after averaging the least viewers of all nine Real Housewives series to date, also weren’t helped by the performance of Monday night’s Season 11 launch of the flagship Real Housewives of Orange County. It had 1,715,000 total viewers, more than twice the number for RHOD’s reunion show. Orange County also more than doubled RHOD’s haul of 18-to-49-year-olds.

The not so chummy, 85-minute reunion show, was hosted in a New York studio by Andy Cohen, the reliably cheeky executive producer of the Housewives franchise. It initially featured copious weeping by the usually haughty and self-assured Cary Deuber, who resented being branded a home wrecker in gossip spread by the hypertensive LeeAnne Locken.

Deuber’s plastic surgeon husband Mark joined her onstage. And when he animatedly upbraided Locken, she asked him if he needed a tampon. The two women ultimately hugged at Locken’s insistence after Deuber briefly walked off the set in tears.

Brandi Redmond, the “Jesus Juice” swilling former Dallas Cowboys cheerleader, revealed that the “Christian” school that enrolled her two pre-teen children had booted them out after witnessing their mom’s comportment during RHOD. This included a drunken outing at a male strip club, during which Redmond took the stage, and another besotted display during an Austin getaway, with Redmond ultimately passing out. The show also jeopardized her marriage, but it’s all good for now, she claimed.

“Friend” Marie Reyes also took a seat for a while, and was verbally flogged by several of the Housewives, most notably Tiffany Hendra, for being a lying backstabber.

Cohen closed things out by praising the cast for their participation in a “great season.” But he didn’t announce a Season 2 renewal, which seems iffy at best and likely would include some cast changes. There were 10 episodes in Season One, plus the reunion outing. Only the premiere slipped past the one million viewer mark before rejection kicked in and sent RHOD on a path toward likely cancellation rather than any return engagement.

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