The Super Six
Local women sign contracts for Real Housewives of Houston series
We know that you can't get enough of the rumors, the facts and the fiction surrounding Hollywood's quest for the perfect Houston reality TV stars.
So let us add one more log to the blaze of interest with news that a handful of women have signed contracts with a casting agent and other agents are snooping through the city's social sphere for appealing subjects for a variety of programs.
Signing that contract is apparently the first real step towards reality TV. Once the cast is rock solid and the agent has everyone on film, he presents the volatile package of femmes to various networks, hoping for one to be impressed enough to purchase, say, the much-dreamed-aboutReal Housewives of Houston series. That agreement would then be the green light to get the series rolling.
It seems that step one is completed with insider word that the cast for Real Housewives has been finalized with Lori Freese, Crystal Wall, Patti Murphy and others signing on the dotted line. But network acceptance is not guaranteed.
Consider that earlier this week, Bravo's senior veep of original programming Andy Cohen, who hosts The Real Housewives reunion shows, was quoted by the Associated Press as saying that the network has been attempting to develop a Texas edition for the past two years but had "never hit it" with the right group of women.
While the Houston ladies' lips are pretty much sealed as to what's cooking, there are a handful of details leaking out. For example, Freese, who writes a social blog Dish-Houston, has signed on as the token single woman, who will stir things up among the housewives with her titillating dating life.
"I have signed a contract with a casting agent," she said. But unlike the other women, she had a lawyer rewrite certain elements.
For one, she omitted the six-month non-compete so that she can continue appearances on Great Day Houston and Mirror Mirror. And she has been contacted by Pink Sneakers Productions, as have a load of young singles, for a possible stint on yet another reality series.
Michelle Pirraglia, casting producer for Pink Sneakers, recently sent an e-mail blast to dozens in the city requesting suggestions for likely subjects.
"We're looking for individuals who appear to be between 25-35 who are fabulous, successful and single to star in our newest docu-series," she wrote. "We'd be interested in chronicling the daily dramas and triumphs of the individuals as they try to balance work, play and the busy Houston social scene!"
She added that the program is already attached to a "major television network."
Producers for a series titled America's Next It Girl are also holding a casting call at 310 Rosemont from 1-4 p.m. Sunday, writing that they're looking for "gorgeous, sophisticated, super-confident ladies with big personalities and even bigger ambitions" in a release. America's Next It Girl asks for those whose "main occupation" is "having fun."
And then there was the call that this office received from Mike Aho with the production company Collins Avenue in LA. He's looking for wealthy, successful, stylish single women in their 20s from "good families" for a reality series on the "struggles of being young and single in a major city." No train wrecks need apply, he said. His company is not looking for sleaze.
The only problem here is that reality TV is basically so trashy that we don't know anyone from a so-called good family that would agree to participate. We made a few calls on Aho's behalf. No one we contacted was interested.