Photo Illustration by Luis G. Rendon/The Daily Beast/Getty/Bravo
This is a preview of our pop culture newsletter The Daily Beast’s Obsessed, written by editor Kevin Fallon. To receive the full newsletter in your inbox each week, sign up for it here.
There are four words that send a sharp chill up my spine, tingling my entire body—nay, soul—with a thrilling cocktail of giddiness, fear, and excitement: “dinner party from hell.”
When the aliens (who apparently exist and we somehow don’t spend every waking moment talking about) return from Earth to their home planets, they will report back on our society’s greatest cultural achievements in this medium they discovered called “television.” They will speak about the masterful comedy talents of Lucille Ball, Carol Burnett, and Mary Tyler Moore. They will go on and on about great HBO dramas like The Sopranos, The Wire, and The Leftovers. One will mention Oprah, and the rest will bow their heads in solemn respect. And then the sagest of the group, the one who took the most time to understand what makes great human TV, will chime in: “And let us not forget the classic dinner scenes from The Real Housewives.”