Yay! It’s time for Manzo’d With Children which I am really hoping will be fun and cute like Don’t Be Tardy! All the kids have move back in for the show, I mean for various reasons. Greggy Bennett calls to say he is home to visit family and wants to see them. Greggy is Lauren’s bridesman. He is going to go wedding dress shopping with Lauren and Glamor Magazine. Lauren looks great by the way.
Jac is wearing the same shirt in this scene with Lauren that she wore in her talking heads on RHONJ tonight. Lauren has a sweating problem and wants to do underarm botox to deal with it. Caroline is worried that Lauren is getting bit too into cosmetic issues she’s had the lap band surgery and a breast reduction, and now she wants botox? I think Lauren is just fine and Caroline worries too much.
Greggy!!!! Jesus he has put on 20 pounds of muscle since we last saw him. Vito wants to get married in white and Lauren is not having it.
Caroline and Jac go with Lauren to get botox. There will about twenty injections per pit. I can’t believe we are watching this. I think this is a Bravo first.
Lauren goes to try on wedding dresses. She brings Caroline, Jacqueline, Greggy and some other people from the wedding party. Caroline cries at the first dress. Lauren looks gorgeous. That was a cute episode. And now there is another one!
I think Fran, Caroline’s sister is living in the house too. How many bedrooms does this house have? Caroline wants to get healthy and lose some weight. The boys are bringing a bunch of junk food into the house. Caroline, Fran and Lauren throw out all the junk food. Until the boys and Al show up to stop them. Albert is adamant he can’t be without his cheese. Albie says Caroline needs a trainer. Now Caroline wants a breast reduction. Caroline gets on the scale and Al gets behind here and holds up her boobs. Suddenly the scale drops 11 and a half pounds. The boys are scared for life. It was kind of funny. Albert leaves for work taking all of the junk food with him for safekeeping.
Caroline goes to work out. Albie takes her to meet a trainer he has picked out for her. I hate this workout. There has to be a better option for a 53-year-old woman. There is no way in hell she can climb that rope. She says it is because she is afraid of heights. I say there is no way she has the upper body strength. The kids talk about how to push Caroline to overcome her fear of heights.
Sigh, I hate that Jac is going to be on every episode. I love that Caroline knows she is making sauce and not gravy.
The kids decide to take Caroline to trapeze class. Caroline is terrified she will die in gym clothes. The trapeze guy talks super fast. Caroline has to sign a death waiver. She is not pleased. Caroline is having a nervous breakdown on the trapeze. She cried the entire time and was terrified. She totally pissed at all the kids. Al is on the phone and she can’t even talk to him she is so hysterical.
Next time: Albie brings home a airheaded girlfriend. The girlfriend causes issues between Albie and Lauren and Albie and Caroline.
UPDATE! Ratings were great! But how much of that is do to the unscrupulous DVR set up attaching it to RHONJ? We’ll find out next week I guess.
NEW YORK – October 7, 2014 – Bravo Media’s series premiere of “Manzo’d with Children,” starring everyone’s favorite no-nonsense New Jersey Housewife Caroline Manzo and her family, earned over 1.7 million total viewers and 991,000 P18-49 in its 9pm broadcast, according to Nielsen. Immediately following, the second episode scored 1.6 million total viewers and 881,000 adults 18-49. For the hour, the series averaged over 1.6 million total viewers and 937,000 P18-49, up 71 percent and 84 percent, respectively, compared to the prior four week time period average.
Tune in next Sunday, October 12 at 9p.m. ET/PT, as Chris and Albie attempt to open a lavish new restaurant at the Meadowlands Race Track, but quickly learn the space isn’t big enough to accommodate their vision. Albie’s new girlfriend, Brittany, meets the family for the first time, much to Caroline’s disapproval. Albie and Lauren disagree over the direction of Albie’s life.
Greggyyyyy! He’s looking good! Nice to see Vito too. Seems like we haven’t seen him in awhile.
Im glad you liked the episodes Tanara.
Bleh. For me.
I thought the show was awful, fake, set-up and boring. None of the Manzos are particularly interesting and the kids are just a bunch of self-entitled morons, imo. Caroline was her “nice” self because she had no one to lord it over. Al stayed away as much as possible which is typical and I don’t know why everyone loves “Greggy”. He looked fat to me and is dull to boot. Lauren is a beatch and the whole premise was silly and stupid. I will NOT watch this again and I turned it off half way through. I’d rather watch the weather channel…
Well, I would deduce that you won’t watch in the future since you expressed clearly hostile feelings about the Manzos, Greg and their program, and since you vented about what you saw and won’t watch again, you won’t feel compelled to waste time watching and posting about a show and cast that you cleatly dislike. At least you watched before commenting, and won’t have to watch, get annoyed by them, or opine about it again! Good things.☺
so, if a cast member is fat, that’s a reason not to like him?
Boring episode. I tried valiantly, but tuned out after about 15 minutes to watch Anthony Bourdain on CNN. I don’t the Manzo presence is missed or even noted on RHONJ, so I predict when this show fades after this season no one will notice, or care.
I don’t know how anyone could watch it without throwing up. Caroline is an overbearing, possessive mother. I doubt if any woman would want her sons. I won’t be watching.
So you are commenting on a show you’ve never seen and won’t be watching, why? Do you think anyone cares if you watch it or not?
On Sun, Oct 5, 2014 at 10:45 PM, Tamara Tattles wrote:
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So? I don’t watch all the shows noted here. Preferences vary, though I also don’t try to ‘harsh’ others about their choices and enjoyment of programs with negative, in your case hateful criticism about a show and cast member I may like, and question my taste.
One thing to say nothing, or simply state that a show or cast member doesn’t interest you, and quite another to question, as you did with the imagery you shared, why others would watch.
I’ve got nothing. Cute, I guess,
I like the show so far. I’m over the housewives and all the other reality shows, that feature adults screaming and fighting. I have always liked Caroline.
TT , I flipped over to Bravo only because of you. In never watch HWs anymore but you have some weird affinity for Caroline so I decided to get her a shot.
This show might make it. The parts I saw were pretty light hearted and she actually made me laugh a couple of times.
I didn’t watch entire episodes, only parts and experienced nothing that made me cringe. I’m happy if your happy. There’s enough pathetic bullshit going on on all the other shows according to the recaps. Even though I don’t watch I get a lot of enjoyment from reading them. The sarcasm is always appreciated and there are certainly more laughs here than on my screen. And it’s sans aggravation. A win win for me.
Bones for Banjo, please.
I am sincerely angry that Bravo is trying to trick me into watching/recording Manzo. I abhor Carolyn and her family and will NOT give them a single viewer point. I have cancelled all future RHONJ recordings so that I am not duped.
Me too. I thought we were having a 2 hours rhonj and was like wtf is this shit.
I didn’t watch.
Ditto. Does Caroline ever shut up?
SNOOZEFEST!!!!!!!!
TT – do folks such as Greg B and Jacquelyn get appearance fees to be on the show?
Jac does. Gregg probably got a small appearance fee for his episode. I do not think Gregg got paid for RHONJ though.
On Sun, Oct 5, 2014 at 11:16 PM, Tamara Tattles wrote:
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I liked them! Loved seeing Greggy! I wish Jaq wasn’t so heavily featured though.
Did you try the pears?
I had decided not to tell you I will not be watching this show because I thought TT would say “who really cares”. But wow so far a majority of people commenting here are not watching or they really don’t like it. I don’t like Carolyn and I hope her show fails. I’m pretty much finished with the RH shows I predict they’ll all be a thing of the past soon.
Your first inclination was right. No one cares about the opinion of someone not watching the show. First thought best thought.
On Sun, Oct 5, 2014 at 11:32 PM, Tamara Tattles wrote:
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If you don’t care about the opinions of others then why request comments?
Because is you don’t watch the show, your opinion is meaningless. Watching it and not liking it is one thing. Ranting about a show you have never seen and have no interest in is sort of …crazy??? I don’t like horror movies. So I don’t go to places that discuss horror movies and rant about how I never watch them. That would be sort of insane, no?
This show isn’t like a RH show, it’s a show about a nice family. Why comment about a show you say you won’t watch? It’s cute, it’s lighthearted, and no one is a felon on this show. I liked it except the Laurita presence, that taints the show for me.
COMMENT DELETED.
Please read the commenting rules particularly #4 http://s17948.p858.sites.pressdns.com/commenting-rules/
I have not watched the show but I love Carolyn and I like her family. If you were a real person how could you manage the crazy? I actually saw a real family. She has never commented on the Dina situation or badmouthed her. I would love to be her friend. I also don’t understand the ugliness regarding her children. I will watch it.
Yeah, how come Dina–lil miss zen–can’t have a little class and just keep her mouth shut when it comes to Caroline?
Dina doesn’t talk about Caroline.
On Mon, Oct 6, 2014 at 7:29 AM, Tamara Tattles wrote:
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The picture of her above is called reality. I am going to request my boobs be held up at every doctor’s appt from now on, hope the nurse understands.
HA I should try that. I hated having to be weighed every fucking time I went to the doctor back when I could afford to go. I mean really?
On Mon, Oct 6, 2014 at 12:26 AM, Tamara Tattles wrote:
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I watched the show and enjoyed it. It showed adult children interacting with their mother in a real way….with jokes, sarcasm and love. It reminds me of my family. Caroline is not overbearing to me but concerned about her children’s lives. I never understood why society thinks parenting ends with a high school graduation – (speaking as an adult child who is not a parent).
Yes, parts were seemed scripted and the theme seems to be “Let’s get Mom”. But it all seems to be done in fun so why not? At least this group of jersey folk are articulate and witty, if you do not count Jacqueline.
Also I completely relate to Lauren and her experiences with her weight. She looked lovely in those dresses and Caroline’s tears seemed very real to me.
Hey women with big boobs understand that they add extra weight to the scale. It’s a fact and not in a good way lol. I loved the part where Caroline said she wanted her children to know she loved them with all her heart, but if she died she was going to haunt the fuck out of them. My sentiments exactly if my kids had made me do something like that and I’m just stubborn enough to do it to prove that I could. First two episodes a little slow but it could be worse and I’m going to give it a shot.
I figured I wouldn’t like it because of…..Caroline…but hey, it was pretty good! That scene where Albert held Caroline’s boobs up — the reaction of Albie and Chris cracked me up, and I felt like it was really real. When Caroline lets herself be shown with her red, crying face and her messed up, unruly Woody Woodpecker hair, she wins me over a little. And I do love Chris. He’s always my favorite.
Chris did steal most all the scenes he was in. That little rascal! I’m over the housewives evilness. This is a fun family. And I love Greggy Bennett! The people that love the bullshit on the housewives and have been boiled to death slowly like a frog in an increasingly hot pot by Bravo don’t even realize, this was the sort of fun stuff we thouth housewives would be.
On Mon, Oct 6, 2014 at 1:39 AM, Tamara Tattles wrote:
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Your point “this was the sort of fun stuff we thougth housewives would be” is very valid, particularly when negative news about the Giudice’s criminality and pursuant prison sentences has been broadcast nationwide, and casts dark clouds over the RHONJ franchise and calls into question, again, what others may do to give us the impression of success and wealth. Recall the former OC housewife and family, which was served an eviction notice for failure to pay rent after the husband divulged that their financial situation was dire after he allegedly withheld that information from his wife/housewife and family.
I have had a bit of an issue with Caroline since her whole thing with Tre where she acted as though she never liked tre and were never friends. Kind of annoying when they replay old episodes and she is raving over how cute and fun and full of life tre is. It kind of bothered me when she said she never liked tre and it was all fake.
To my point, I liked the show, am working through my caroline issues but really think Lauren is getting to be pretty shallow and a big biatch. Most likely due to Caroline giving her a hard time about her weight. Which C has shown on the show. I love all the guys!
I watched tonight, and thoroughly enjoyed it because I believe we got ‘Caroline unplugged’. Though Caroline on the trapeze probably came about because of the show, we still got Caroline being Caroline (when she permitted her children to ef with her).
I find it amusing that some express disdain about Caroline’s protectiveness, because my own Greek mother was very similar, and my own wife (who adopted her parenting method) is pretty much the same way with our son, and I could not be more pleased about it. Why? As my mother and wife explain to our son (and daughter); ‘men, AT LEAST until 25, are basically clueless about how women think and can run them. If he thinks that it’s the opposite, that he’s a ‘smooth operator’, it’s more likely evidence that she is very accomplished.
My wife described our parenting as Mediterranean Tiger Parent, a little more laid back and openly affectionate than the original. We parent until they can convincingly demonstrate that they can fly on their own, so they may ideally be good citizens and thoughtful spouses, no matter what it may take.
I don’t understand the people that don’t realize all three kids have six figure incomes…
On Mon, Oct 6, 2014 at 3:39 AM, Tamara Tattles wrote:
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It’s easy, Tamara. They refuse to allow positive facts about the Manzo kids’ to influence their negative opinions of them.
Do any of the kids have a job? How do they have 6 figure incomes? I’m not trying to be snarky. This is a real question.
They all have multiple jobs. Lauren has a makeup/spa business and makes six figures on Bravo alone. The boys have their own restaurant business, also work with the BLK business and make six figures on Bravo alone.
The whole “moving home for 6 months to save money for their business” is actually “pretending to live at home while filming a TV show for the really fat paycheck that we can invest in our business.”
If you seriously don’t know about them, why would you assume they don’t have jobs?
On Mon, Oct 6, 2014 at 11:41 AM, Tamara Tattles wrote:
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I liked the show, I like Caroline and the kids. I don’t understand all the negativity regarding the kids living at home. I hope my 3 boys want to live with us until they finish college, get jobs and are ready to move out.
Anyways, it was cute and I’d rather watch Manzo’d than RHONJ.
The kids aren’t really living at home, at least not the boys. That is just for the show.
You are reading a site that thinks that utopia is a good show.
If you don’t like what’s said here or the shows discussed here, WHY THE FUCK ARE YOU HERE?
And so are you. Why don’t you and your friend go to one of the many, many other places on the Internet. Has someone set your laptop so that this is the only site you can go to? You do realize there are a couple of other places on the Internet besides this one right?
On Mon, Oct 6, 2014 at 9:28 AM, Tamara Tattles wrote:
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Opinions are like assholes @gessiewtf, we all have one, but don’t necessarily want to share. WTF, all I can say is STFU. You are not required to like any show, but you are required to not insult TT. This is her blog. Go start your own I hate Utopia blog.
Am watching the first episode now and HOLY CRAP. Greggy got huge and his voice got deeper. Still cute but borderline musclebound, yuck.
I will say I loved how Lauren made fun of Jac’s inability to change her facial expression AND that Jac also played along.
Am digging this so far.
I had to watch to see why most of the shots in the preview show Caroline with crazy hair. I still am uncertain about that but did find the show to be light and breezy, in spite of much of it centering on Caroline being in good humored battle with the kids. My favorite scene was Al with the boobs.
I may soon get tired of the word “wedding”. Will there be another wedding by Bravo? I don’t really see this family not wanting to pay for it themselves, but they have agreed to a lot of filming at the Brownstone and their parties at home. Apparently, the kids love to be on TV. I will continue to watch, if it stays upbeat. An unhappy Caroline is not something I need to see more of. I’d like to see more of Al being a part of the stories instead of passing through the kitchen on his way out the door. I thought a few year’s ago he was going to hand over some of the business responsibility to the boys. I hope he does take time off in real life.
I like weddings. I can make fun of the tacky ones and feel all sentimental about the sweet ones. You gotta know Caroline will not let her daughter turn into a bridezilla.
I watched most of it, I love Caroline. I don’t like Lauren and seeing that Lauren and her wedding are going to be the primary focus I can’t see me watching this show again. I just don’t like that girl.
It’s the pretty smile with the adorable dimples isn’t it? Clearly she is happy and engaged and running a business. I can see not liking people doing well.
On Mon, Oct 6, 2014 at 1:21 PM, Tamara Tattles wrote:
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LOL no it’s not the dimples or the happiness that I don’t like. I guess I’m just not fond of her personality in general. I don’t know why, I guess it’s just my opinion.
I heard she bbqs newborn babies and eats them.
On Mon, Oct 6, 2014 at 2:36 PM, Tamara Tattles wrote:
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I don’t hate Lauren but I’d put her near the bottom of the Manzo family “cast” in terms of being interesting to watch.
(For what it’s worth I enjoy Greggy Bennett and Chris most of all and I don’t mind Vito, Caroline or Al so I’m not some huge Manzo hater.)
Here is the weird thing: I don’t like Kim Z AT ALL but I legit enjoy “Don’t Be Tardy” I think it’s the raucous child centered atmosphere with a few eccentric and relatively entertaining supporting cast cast members like Sweetie, Lana, Jen, etc I think Manzo’d with Children could really use a few fun supporting cast members like Greg because the concept (Caroline’s grown kids at home) is kinda “Meh.”
I am sure the show is scripted, but it’s nice to see a show with people who love each other. I wish Jac wasn’t on the show, but I can FF through her scenes.
I hate to say it, but Jac with Caroline without her kid is not so bad. We’re getting funny, silly Jac and not “My kid was diagnosed with a illness no one has ever heard of but ME and I am going to explain it and tell everyone how hard it is on ME,” Jac.
On Mon, Oct 6, 2014 at 2:10 PM, Tamara Tattles wrote:
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I want what ever meds they are giving Jac for the taping of this show.
I watched this show last night and found it refreshing and funny. I am a mom and thought it was cute to see how she handles her children. I will be watching the next episode. The boys are funny and it is nice to see how they deal with issues among each other and see Al in a different way with Caroline. Bravo would not have given them a show if they didn’t think people wouldn’t watch it.
It was sad to watch Caroline combust over the past few seasons of RHONJ. She didnt like herself much on that show, either. Good for her, rising from the ashes, regardless of whether the show has staying power or not. From what I saw, it was a cool breeze after the hellfires of RHONJ. But what do I know? I still harbor hope for Utopia.
Ah Katherine… I fear you are toying with me with this post. Could you be a kindred spirit that still has hope for Utopia? 🙂
On Mon, Oct 6, 2014 at 3:59 PM, Tamara Tattles wrote:
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Sadly, I am. The concept more than the cast. Don’t tell anyone.
I liked the show, because it has the retro/throwback RHOC feel to it, which like many of you, I also miss.
Watching it, and watching all of the Manzos, it made me realize why RHONJ feels so out of whack now. When this group was on, there was more lighthearted family material to edit and intertwine with the crazy out-of-chronological-sequence-dramatic material available. It felt like there was more of a balance between “light” and “dark”.
Personally I hated some of the Manzo stupidity on RHONJ at the time, like “the ham game” but now, I yearn for the olden days when the ham game was the biggest affront to our sensibilities. It’s a bit script, sure. I mean we all know Greg was in town for the show, an the boys are not in the house full time for real, and Fran is… well Fran shows up with the camera crew. But it’s still great to see all of them MUCH happier than they were on RHONJ…
On Mon, Oct 6, 2014 at 4:16 PM, Tamara Tattles wrote:
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) llllThe boys were pretty amusing about:
1) Al losing his stuff is missing;
2) Being traumatized frumnAl holding
up Caroline’s breastuses.
I sincerely hope that I am wrong, though I was picking up on Chris being a bit full of himself, like when he spoke to Lauren about being a Bridezilla when she was being anything but.
Thanks for recapping this show — I watched both episodes (it seemed like there were two) last night and I actually liked them. It was a nice transition over from RHONJ. Caroline and her sister Fran seem like they would be nice to watch. Dina is a killjoy.
Yup, there were two. Next week we only get one.
Jacqueline reminded me of why I liked her so much in the first season of RHNJ.
I know! I liked her too! Then she became a bit like Amber and the cancer card about autism… This is the fun Jac I remember.
On Mon, Oct 6, 2014 at 5:08 PM, Tamara Tattles wrote:
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Thanks for the recap TT! I really enjoyed the 2 episodes. Such lighthearted fun after all the drama and fighting of RHONJ. I will be tuning in each week. Can’t wait for the joe and teresa wwh live interview tonight!
I didn’t want to watch it but bravo outsmarted me with the DVR. So I watched it anyway and to my surprise I really enjoyed it. It turns out I might really like Caroline as long as she is not on rhonj. I could really do without Greg though.
I like the show.