Jerry O’Connell’s forthcoming talk show about how it’s OK for men to watch Bravo started off on the wrong foot. The show was first supposed to be called Real Men Watch Bravo, which ignited a huge backlash, and eventually prompted an apology from O’Connell himself. Now the show has been renamed Bravo’s Play by Play, and the teaser has come out. A missed opportunity to call it The What the Fuck Is Wrong With Men Show. Oh well.
According to People, Play by Play will afford O’Connell, already a frequent guest on Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen, “the chance to help other men feel comfortable flaunting their love of guilty-pleasure programming.” In the trailer, O’Connell remarks “I know you. You say you’re watching sports when you’re actually watching Vanderpump Rules. You told everyone you curled 100 pounds when you’re actually curling Padma Lakshmi crowning the new winner of Top Chef.”
This reminds me of an experience I had last week. My aunt was driving me in her car, we were listening to the radio, and the hosts were chatting very enthusiastically about Jennifer Aniston. Being an uncouth media folk who gets all her news from Twitter, I asked if what we were listening to was E! News and she swiftly corrected me: ESPN. Let’s not obsess over genre and PLAY SOME REAL HOUSEWIVES AND WIN!
You can watch the trailer here. The show is set to premiere later this month.