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“Real Housewives” vs. “Working Housewives”

Westchester housewives vie for a spot in the reality TV world.

 

Potential “Real Housewife” castmate Monica Wald of Armonk thinks that a local spinoff of the Bravo series would just serve as an imposter.

“It’s a cheap knock-off,” said Wald, owner of Julius Michael Scarsdale Hair Salon, of "Working Housewives of Westchester."

Working Housewives of Westchester” is a pilot being independently created by Rye resident, actress and children’s novelist Mary Amy and her partner Paul Moore—a photographer from Rye. The pilot hasn't been picked up yet, and the duo plan to pitch to “any and all” television stations.

"We’re winging it and making it work," said Amy, a 40-something mother of three who grew up in Larchmont.

Amy, who will appear in her pilot as a housewife, says she wanted to take a slightly different approach from the usual hair-pulling and cocktail-throwing women viewers are used to seeing in the Bravo "Real Housewives" series. 

“I thought it was a positive approach. These ladies have children, they have their own business or are working in a serious field,” said Amy. “How are they doing that, plus being married? I just thought it would be interesting to see how these women succeed, work through their problems and help each other problem solve.”

Amy interviewed 75 local women through a Craigslist casting call, and selected nine to film—including Pelham resident Cheri Corso, a former model and mother of two.

Corso is also the creator of a line of organic and Reiki-charged nail care products called G2organics—sold in Nicholas Day Spa in Pelham where she got her hair and make-up done Tuesday morning before the first shoot for the “Working Wives of Westchester."

“She’s got a great personality,” said Adrienne Brini, manger at Nicholas Day Spa. “She’s the typical 6-foot blonde bombshell. She wore a screaming red Valentino gown to the shoot. She’s just so easy to work with.”

After getting all dolled up, Corso and the other eight ladies headed to a photo shoot held at the Wainright House—a spiritual and holistic center in Rye, which had the USA show “Royal Pains” recently film on site for a week.  

Amy said the nine women—who also include Alyssa Dweck of Chappaqua, Melissa Cass of Irvington, Jene Luciani of White Plains, Pamela Gill Alabaster of Pelham, Kahleen Rozowsky of Rye, Eunie Han of Rye, and Lisa Avellino of Scarsdale—might not all make it into the pilot.

“We’ll film each of our lives, and through the editing process find out who is the most interesting,” said May. “They’re all wonderful, lovely very intelligent women.”

Beth Blanck

8:39 pm on Wednesday, June 29, 2011

Is Alyssa Dweck an OBGYN for MKMG? If so, she delivered my son a few years ago ;-)

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Lanora Gunther

10:05 pm on Wednesday, June 29, 2011

Really?! Westchester is full of successful diversed cultures! what happened?

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PCgirl

11:22 pm on Wednesday, June 29, 2011

No interest in watching a bunch of elitist snobs cry about their "woes" in life.

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Cherie Corso

11:44 pm on Wednesday, June 29, 2011

I promise, I wont cry....or complain....and will send you a sample of my product if you watch...
Cherie
(tall blonde in RED)

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WASTE OF TIME

1:08 am on Thursday, June 30, 2011

IRKSOME TO ANYONE ELSE? NOW WE'RE TALKING IRKSOME.

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Lady

1:16 am on Thursday, June 30, 2011

I think it will be interesting. I'll definitely watch.

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LOVE MY WP

8:33 am on Thursday, June 30, 2011

Westchester is not going to be well represented if it's only Armonk and Scarsdale housewives. One kind of person 9 times. One income level 9 times. Westchester is so much more. Not going to watch.

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elizabeth Brunson

12:13 pm on Thursday, June 30, 2011

housewife (ˈhaʊsˌwaɪf)

— n , pl -wives
1. a woman, typically a married woman, who keeps house, usually without having paid employment
Don't see how any of these women fit the category of a house wife...the show is a misnomer. should be "career women married with kids in Westchester"

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ilad

1:20 pm on Thursday, June 30, 2011

"Diversity" is more than just ethnicity or skin color! There is diversity of thought, philosophy, lifestyles, education, occupation, etc. The show probably intends to depict just how interesting and capable these women are. They are probably very different from eachother in many ways. Look below the surface instead of being so dismissive.

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Paula

2:28 pm on Friday, July 1, 2011

llad, You are trying to defend the nature of type being shown in this group, and are even being condescending to those who have commented that they feel it is too one-dimensional. You are saying that there is more than one way to show diversity than ethnicity or skin color, but what about having different body types selected? How about a senior citizen or two. Maybe a Mary Jane Denzer-type or one of our female politicos? No one overweight qualifies? How about without great skin? The selection of this lineup doesn't really bother me because I don't watch any of the ho"Housewives" shows, but your attitude in trying to make the others posters seem shallow for not seeing the diversity that was considered in this group.
My neighborhood has about 80 houses, and each one has at least one working woman in it, whether or not they are on anyone's payroll or not. Then every morning, women from outside the neighborhood walk down the road to houses where they do domestic work to support their families. I even see a woman come in the back of a truck to work lawns alongside men. Would you like her to be part of your working housewives group? Do you think she works less hard of is less interesting?
On the other hand, having a quota of different "types" of women would also be artificial. I guess I just don't get this whole reality show thing. This makes me miss "Columbo" even more! RIP Peter Falk!

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ilad

3:12 pm on Tuesday, July 12, 2011

Paula,
You're rambling.

christine farahat

10:21 am on Saturday, July 2, 2011

As a fellow entrepreneur and Pelham resident, I have first hand experience with "the bombshell blonde" Cherie Corso. She sold, installed and trained my dog and also did some energy healing on her and although I am not sure what all the reiki stuff is about, my dog was transformed! Cherie is not afraid to get down and dirty. With all this said, as a working wife, can't wait to watch this show! Good luck to you all!

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Soren Kirkus

10:21 am on Saturday, July 2, 2011

I stopped reading at "organic and Reiki-charged nail care products," at which point an involuntary gag reflex caused me to spit a mouthful of coffee all over my monitor.

Look, folks, I'll break it down for you: There's an entire generation of women in their Larchmont/Scarsdale/Rye silver towers who've been taught by the media to feel guilty about their wealth and pampered lifestyles, that it's only OK to be a mom if they are a "working mom" (as if being a mom wasn't work enough/as if their ivy league Art History, Communications, and Sociology degrees prepared them for any work other than marrying a rich guy). Of course, the "Real Housewives" series hits kinda close to home for these gals, so this pilot is a logical and natural product of that collective idle rich White suburban guilt.

Hey, here's a suggestion for that Reiki-charged ex-model: come up to Peekskill and volunteer a couple of days a week at one of the food pantries. You can assuage that nagging guilt AND gain a little humility in one shot.

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christine farahat

11:29 am on Saturday, July 2, 2011

This may be true of other women, Cherie on the other hand does plenty of charity work and like I stated, isn't afraid to get her hands dirty (she actually installed a invisible dog fence on my property). To top it off, she is also an environmentalist. Not looking to defend anyone, but I know first hand she is a hard worker.

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Paula

8:11 pm on Saturday, July 2, 2011

I don't mean to be negative about any ot=f these women personally. I'm sure they are all sincere. It's just that so many women are "Working housewives", including the maids, nannies and home health care workers in the suburban homes, who do their job anbd then go home and take care of whatever husband or kids they have of their own. It's more about the selection process of the producer. I'll probably watch it once just to see Wainwright on TV - it's very pretty there.
I just don't get the whole reality TV thing. It sure saves a lot in costs for writers and set designers, though.
I hope none of these women get burned or embarrassed in the end. I think that producers usually want some kind of strife or tension shown somewhere and someone always ends up looking bad.

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Paula

4:51 pm on Tuesday, July 12, 2011

And ilad, you're as condescending as this selection process is to working housewives,

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J. Cattano

5:36 pm on Tuesday, July 12, 2011

I just can't see parading my children and my dirty laundry on National television. Not fair to the kids and certainly not worth the payoff - memories are forever...

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