UPDATE: 
To read interviews with all six cast members on Shahs of Sunset, my interview with Golnesa “GG” Gharachedaghi is here,  my interview with Asa Soltan Rahmati is here, Mike Shouhed can be read here, my post about Mecedeh Javid can be read here, my post about Sammy Younai can be read here. and my post about Reza Farahan can be read here. Shahs of Sunset premieres Sunday, March 11th on Bravo.

At the end of July, Bravo Andy went on Atlanta native Ryan Seacrest’s talk show to announce their joint production of Shah’s of Sunset.  Ryan Seacrest Productions will produce the show to air on Bravo in 2012.  Andy and Ryan described the new show in the clip above as follows:

The series follows a group of young Persian-American friends — and this is a community that exists all over the place, but if you live in LA you know that the Persian-American community is really strong,” said Andy, who called from New York. “It’s really family oriented. It’s really affluent. This is a really cool, fun, funny group of people you brought to us Ryan, and I’m hoping that this is going to be our next big docu-series, and something that we’re going to be doing for a while!”

Ryan interjects, “These men and women are hysterical. They grew up together, and are living in Southern California, and they’re trying to balance their social lives and work lives. Some of them are hot, and some of them are not so hot, but funny.”

Andy continues, “They also spend a lot of money. You know its great because Bravo is always putting a spotlight on different affluent lifestyles. This is a group of people that doesn’t exist on television anywhere, and that’s another reason that I’m excited to do the show. Its new, and different.” ~text and video from http://www.ryanseacrest.com/

Photography by Larry Sultan

Andy Cohen and Ryan Seacrest seem pretty hyped about their partnership. Bringing together the production company that made millions with the Kardashian shows on E! and the network that is responsible for the successful housewives shows on Bravo is a recipe for success. Bravo is known for its series that focus on opulence (real or fabricated) and with this series it may just be that they finally find some extremely wealthy people willing to do  reality TV. Iranians, or as Bravo insists on calling them “Persian-Americans”,  are not often seen on American television and are a very loud boisterous bunch with a lot of disposable income.

BE SURE TO READ PAST JUMP!

A typical “Pesian Palace” in Los Angeles Photo by Larry Sultan

Tehrangeles, the nickname for the area between Beverly Hills and West Los Angeles, is the largest Iranian population outside of Iran. It was there that a great number of Iranians fled in 1979 during the Iranian revolution which overthrew the Shah, making the chosen name for the show a bit ironic at the very least. Many members of the overthrown government and their loyalists fled to the Beverly Hills area in California and their numbers have grown to over 600,000. According to NPR, the average income of an Iranian working in the U.S. is fifty percent higher than the average American. We are all familiar with Lisa Vanderpump’s friend Mohamed Hadid ,who is not Iranian but Palestinian, and that level of opulence could very easily be expected on the Shahs of Sunset.

Photography by Larry Sultan

Today, a woman named Kathy Salem filed a lawsuit against RSP and Bravo alleging that she was verbally abused and bullied by the castmates of the reality show. Really? I’m shocked because that never happens. She signed a waiver to attend a party and then was ragged on by the tight group of Iranian castmates. She is suing for $100,000 but what she really wants is to stop Bravo from showing her humiliation on national television. That is probably not going to happen, Kathy. That’s kind of the purpose of the waiver.  The lesson here is if you are going to a party that is being filmed for television and you have to sign a waiver, don’t get drunk off your ass and disrespect yourself.  Because here’s what…that is exactly what the cameras are hoping for!

I expect Shahs of Sunset to be a whole lot of win. Win for hometown boy made good, Ryan Seacrest, win for Bravo and a big win for the viewers who will get to peek inside the “Persian Palaces” and experience a culture unfamiliar to many Americans.  In Tehrangeles, the middle eastern philosophy of wasta is likely alive and well and that should make things very, very interesting because wielding the power in the community can result in some ridiculous senses of entitlement.

As an extra bit of tea for those of you who read this far, it would seem both Ryan Seacrest and Andy Cohen are both interested in filling Regis Philbin’s shoes when he steps down from Live! with Regis and Kelly tomorrow.  Ryan Seacrest wanted to take over for Larry King when he retired but that slot went to Piers Morgan. Seacrest’s contract with E! is up for renewal in early 2012. The fact that Andy and Kelly Ripa are good friends and Andy is already in New York could put him very high on the list of replacements for Regis. You heard it here first.

To read interviews with all six cast members on Shahs of Sunset, my interview with Golnesa “GG” Gharachedaghi is here, my interview with Asa Soltan Rahmati is here, Mike Shouhed can be read here, my post about Mecedeh Javid can be read here, my post about Sammy Younai can be read here. and my post about Reza Farahan can be read here. Shahs of Sunset premieres Sunday, March 11th on Bravo.

Will you be watching Shahs of Sunset with me? Leave me a comment and follow me on twitter @tamaratattles for updates.