We Ranked 35 Iconic Bravo Shows...and We Said What We Said
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As someone who binge-watched season 2 of The Real Housewives of New Jersey with my mom when I was home sick from (elementary!!) school and has her phone set to "Do Not Disturb" when new episodes of Summer House drop, I'd say I know a thing or two about Bravo.
The network, best known for the Real Housewives franchise, is more popular than ever, thanks to pop culture juggernauts like Scandoval—a Vanderpump Rules cheating bombshell that dominated headlines—and Bravocon, a convention known for starting more drama than a color-coded binder at a Real Housewives reunion.
In a Marvel Cinematic Universe-esque twist, many of Bravo's shows are now connected as Bravolebrities cross over to different shows. Fans of Craig Conover and Paige DeSorbo, who I hereby declare Bravo's royal couple, can watch their relationship unfold on Summer House, Southern Charm, AND Winter House.
While diving into the wonderful world of Bravo might seem intimidating at first, its easier than ever to start, now that over 30 of the network's shows are streaming on Peacock. I'm no mathematician, but I'm pretty sure that means you have...let's carry the 1...approximately 45,323 hours of Bravo's finest programming available right at your fingertips. I've bravely taken on the tough task of ranking 30 Bravo shows, from add-it-to-your-queue good to fake-a-sick-day-so-you-can-devour-the-whole-series GOOD.
So, as Countess Luann de Lesseps would say, "Be cool, don't be all uncool," and join me on this journey.
Real Girlfriends of Paris (2022)
Bravo is notorious for having a slew of short-lived series that grace our TV screens for just one season before riding off into the reality TV sunset. (Other Bravo shows in this vein include Gallery Girls, Most Eligible Dallas, NYC Prep and Princesses of Long Island. Pour one out for 'em.) Real Girlfriends of Paris followed six American twenty-somethings living in Paris to pursue glam careers and fall in love in the City of Lights. While it all sounded like a very chic IRL version of Emily in Paris, the show didn't quite have enough drama to become a Bravo staple.
Luann and Sonja: Welcome to Crappie Lake (2023)
While The Real Housewives of New York City has a special place in my heart (keep your eyes peeled to see where it lands on this list), this attempt at recreating the magic fell a little short. Sonja Morgan and Luann de Lesseps—both key players in RHONY's deep lore—travel to Crappie Lake, a small Illinois town that needs a splash of revitalization. It's essentially a new spin on The Simple Life premise made famous by Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie. While it's a lot of fun, it doesn't offer much in the way of substance.
The Valley (2024)
It might not be fair to rank The Valley so low because it's still brand-new and could be finding its footing, but it's a show that I suspect is not long for this world. After following the lives of Kristen Doute, Jax Taylor, and Brittany Cartwright (all of whom were born to be on reality TV, thank you very much) on Vanderpump Rules, we now find them in California's San Fernando Valley in an attempt to become adults. To be honest, I prefer watching these folks wear their SUR uniforms, but I respect the attempt to keep Vanderpump alums on our screens. Will a new no. 1 guy in the group emerge from this cast?
Below Deck: Sailing Yacht (2020)
Maybe this is a me problem, but I'm of the opinion that there might be too many versions of Below Deck, so I'm only including the three worth watching. Each season of this spinoff set on a (you guessed it!) sailing yacht takes place in a different country and explores the dynamics between crew members working the charter circuit. While the demands of the wealthy guests and uncertainty of the open seas certainly ups the drama, the show's true tension lies in the fractured friendships, clandestine hookups, and explosive arguments that stem from coworkers living together in close quarters.
Winter House (2021)
Winter House was Bravo's first true attempt at blending their shows, and while the inaugural season was a lot of fun, the subsequent iterations didn't hit the same. The gist is simple: Put together a bunch of Bravolebrities, from everything from Summer House to Southern Charm to Vanderpump Rules, in a house for a two-week ski trip, and watch the madness ensue. While this show has given us several cross-show hook-ups, a plethora of phenomenal themed parties, and drama that has since reverberated throughout the Bravo Universe, it was rightfully put on "pause"following a third season that was often painful to watch.
The Real Housewives of D.C. (2009)
The Real Housewives of D.C. has gone down in Bravo history as the only Housewives show to be canceled after just one season. And to be fair, Bravo's hand was forced: In Not All Diamonds and Rosé, an oral history of The Real Housewives that is an absolute must-read for Bravo lovers, Andy Cohen revealed that they had to turn over all of the show's footage to the FBI after Michaele Salahi and her husband snuck into the White House on camera. While it might be one of Bravo's most infamous moments, the rest of the cast struggled to find its footing—though I, personally, wouldn't have counted them out so quickly.
Southern Hospitality (2022)
If there's one thing Bravo loves, it's a spinoff. Southern Hospitality, like its predecessor Southern Charm, takes place in Charleston, South Carolina. Instead of following the antics of monied Southerners, Southern Hospitality peels back the curtain at Republic, one of the city's most popular clubs owned by Charm's Leva Bonaparte. If season 1 doesn't hook you, I implore you to stay the course for season 2, which brings us everything from stolen vegan corn dogs to feuds over promotions and pedicab drivers.
The Real Housewives of Dubai (2022)
Although there are international versions of the franchise, The Real Housewives of Dubai is the first non-American iteration of the series created by Bravo. The cast, which is one of the most diverse on the network, includes a Black supermodel, a Muslim entrepreneur, an American fashion designer, and a Lebanese influencer—and the show's strength lies in the opulence of the cast's homes and outfits. While the rules surrounding life in the United Arab Emirates is undeniably fascinating, I'd love to see them amp up the petty drama the Housewives are known for in future seasons!
Million Dollar Listing Los Angeles (2006)
Before there was Selling Sunset, there was Million Dollar Listing Los Angeles, a series that focused on the lives and careers of high-dollar realtors selling homes in Hollywood, Beverly Hills, and Malibu. Sure, the real estate is jaw-dropping and the Los Angeles scenery is nothing to scoff at, but let's be honest: The real reason why this show has lasted 14 seasons is because of the delicious drama between castmates. Some of the series' most memorable moments include realtors tossing Champagne at an open house and a feud between frenemies (both of whom are named Josh) that culminates in a slap when one brings up the other's grandmother. *takes a breath*
The Real Housewives of Dallas (2016)
Although RHOD was canceled in 2021, I still have a soft spot for this cast comprised of self-proclaimed carnies and former Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders. Like many Housewives series, this show was not originally slated to be a part of the franchise. Instead, it was going to be a series about women involved in Dallas's charity circuit. As such, the first season is very heavy on the charity content, but it never skimps on the hilarity—one of the wives is chastised for sporting a dog poop-inspired hat to a formal rescue animal event. Although this show's bold characters are no longer on our screens, they're certainly not forgotten.
Tabatha Takes Over (2008)
Picture this: You've got a struggling business that's transformed in a matter of days by a very blunt Australian hairstylist (the Tabatha in question). Chaos ensues as she spies on the employees via a hidden camera, then emerges from the shadows to whip them into shape in the span of a week. Hard to resist, right? This series, helmed by Tabatha Coffey, used to solely film in salons, before Tabatha was given the green light to leverage her business prowess on floundering restaurants, bars, and doggie day cares too.
Ladies of London (2014)
If you took all of the drama from the Real Housewives franchise and set it across the pond, you'd get Ladies of London, a three-season wonder that I'd love to see get the reboot treatment. (Andy Cohen, are you reading this?) In this series, a cast of Americans living abroad and native Brits argue their way through polo matches, high teas, and galas. The homes, fashion, and royal references make this well worth the watch. If you fall for Caroline Stanbury, you're in luck: She's now a cast member on the Real Housewives of Dubai.
Million Dollar Listing New York (2012)
Although Million Dollar Listing New York is technically a spin-off of the Los Angeles version, I think New York is better. Maybe it's the fact that I grew up watching this show dreaming of moving to Manhattan only to finally achieve it a decade later? We'll unpack that in therapy. While the real estate is absolutely droolworthy in this show, it pales in comparison to the cast, who truly knows how to amp up the drama.
Below Deck Mediterranean (2016)
Forget working in an office—I want to work on a yacht sailing the Mediterranean! Or, at least I think I do until I watch shows like Below Deck Mediterranean and remember that it's actually pretty grueling work. Like all of the other Below Deck franchises, we get two layers of drama in this series: Crew members must deal with both the whims of their high-profile guests and the pitfalls of living in cramped quarters with their co-workers. This show has blessed us with everything from crew members hooking up with guests (a huge no-no!) to a chef who reportedly licked a raw steak before serving it for dinner.
NYC Prep (2009)
If you've ever so much as glanced at and remotely enjoyed an episode of Gossip Girl, then please do me the honor of dropping everything to devour this show. NYC Prep chronicled the exploits of young and rich Manhattanites as they navigated college admissions, found young love, and…hosted luxe dinner parties for their fellow sophomores? Not even The CW could have cooked this up. Sadly, the show was canceled after just one season, leaving us to wonder if Camille ever got into Harvard. (Why did it end? Andy Cohen revealed on an episode of Watch What Happens Live that the show faced several legal challenges, which, well, tracks.)
Family Karma (2020)
Family Karma appears to be trapped in a Bravo purgatory. (It's not canceled NOR is it renewed, smh.) I'd just like to step in and demand justice, because this show is a true treat. Viewers get to peek into the lives of three generations of several Indian-American families living in Miami. While the cast can bring the drama when needed, the true highlight is the heartwarming and often hysterical family dynamics. Family Karma also gives insight into cultural Indian traditions in a nice departure from Bravo's usual fare.
The Rachel Zoe Project (2008)
Take the fashion prowess of Project Runway, add the drama of the Real Housewives, throw in a dose of Hollywood glam, and you've got The Rachel Zoe Project: a series that focused on the life and career of one of one of Hollywood's top stylists to the stars. Rachel herself is an absolute marvel to watch. I need to know: Has someone made a TikTok compilation of her catchphrases, which range from "I die" to "You look bananas." Pls send ASAP if so.
Ultimate Girls Trip (2021)
The wonder that is Ultimate Girls Trip is hard to rank because every season is SO different, so we'll let it sit right here in the middle of this list. Some genius working for Bravo decided it might be fun to select some of the greatest housewives of all-time and send them on an all-expenses paid trip, and for that, we are blessed. It doesn't hurt that some of the seasons—like season 2's Ex-Wives Club featuring women who have been fired (or in the words of Dorinda Medley, "put on pause")—have allowed for frank discussions that break the fourth wall.
Summer House: Martha's Vineyard (2023)
After the success of the OG Summer House, which follows a New York-based friend group who summers in the Hamptons, Bravo decided to journey up north with a spinoff set in Martha's Vineyard. In a fun twist, the cast spends two weeks together in one house (in the original series, cast members only spend weekends in the house), creating a pressure cooker situation that will most likely remind you of the most disastrous friends trip you've ever taken. Highlights include feuds over toilets left unflushed, an emotional support dachshund, and Survivor-esque meetings to kick each other off the island out of the house.
Top Chef (2006)
Whenever you need a palate cleanser from shows featuring people screaming at each other, might I recommend Top Chef? While this cooking competition show features top-notch drama (who could forget Season 7's stolen pea puree allegations?), it's also full of really fantastic insight into what separates a good chef from a great one. Because each season is set in a different city, it's a nice primer on different types of local cuisine. Just know that it's virtually impossible to marathon this show and not get hungry.
Married To Medicine (2013)
Although Bravo's most popular Georgia-based show is The Real Housewives of Atlanta, we have to shout out Married to Medicine, which is also set in the Peach State. The series chronicles the lives of female doctors and doctors' wives as they navigate the demanding schedules of working in medicine. While the show certainly takes from cues from the Real Housewives (fights, friendship drama, and searing one-liners galore!) it also never shies away from tougher conversations about the pressures of medical careers and the challenges Black women face when it comes to getting adequate healthcare.
Shahs of Sunset (2012)
While Bravo has aired a slew of California-based reality shows over the years, perhaps Shahs of Sunset, which ran for nine seasons, was the most unique of them all. The show—centered on a group of Iranian-Americans living in Los Angeles's Tehrangeles region—was one of the network's first to stray from a cast of all women. Sure, the drama on this show was unmatched (who can forget the explosive fight at a peacemaking dinner, or GG's cheating scandal coming to light at a horse race?), but it also showed what it's like to live as an Iranian immigrant in America.
Project Runway (2004)
Much like Top Chef, Project Runway is the Bravo show you watch when you want something that feels a little more sophisticated. While each season is typically stacked with big personalities who bring the drama, said big personalities are all incredibly talented people who have a knack for creating runway-ready looks in record time. The challenges—which range from inspired to absurd—provide some fun twists, as contestants have to do everything from designing red carpet looks to crafting evening gowns out of Coney Island-sourced items.
The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City (2020)
I must admit that I was initially deeeeeply wary of a Housewives franchise set in Salt Lake City. No shade to Utah, but it was not at the top of my "Dream Housewives Cities" list. BUT I found myself eating my words just minutes into the premiere episode, when Mary Cosby (who, btw, is married to her step-grandfather) told Jen Shah that she couldn't hang out with her because she smelled too much like a hospital. The drama only intensifies from there: We get everything from a season-long feud over a burner Instagram account to a SWAT team surrounding a Sprinter van in pursuit of Jen, who is currently in jail with Elizabeth Holmes of Theranos infamy.
The Real Housewives of Orange County (2006)
The franchise that started it all! Nearly two decades ago, the lives of reality TV fans and lovers of mess were forever changed when The Real Housewives of Orange County premiered. It's wild to think about the way Bravo has evolved since these wives first hit our TV screens in their Sky tops and $25,000 sunglasses. Like any other long-running show, the series has gone through lulls (I don't want to talk about the Kelly Dodd era), but it has given us 17 (!!) seasons of reality TV gold—from hilarious gags, like Vicki Gunvalson and her family van, to more vulnerable moments about marriage, motherhood, and friendship.
Below Deck (2013)
As we've discussed, the Below Deck franchise has expanded into what feels like infinite spin-offs, but I'm a firm believer that the original is far and away the best. Employees aboard a yacht must learn to live and work together for months on end as a rotating cast of demanding guests charter the ship. Captain Lee Rosbach brings a level of wholesomeness to a network that's often devoid of it. If Andy Cohen is the father of Bravo, then I hereby declare Captain Lee the grandfather.
The Real Housewives of Potomac (2016)
After a short-lived stint in D.C that was canceled after one season, Bravo broadened its Housewives horizons to the nearby Potomac region, a wealthy D.C.-adjacent enclave in Maryland. The Real Housewives of Potomac started with a bang, largely due to a cast of hilarious housewives. This franchise has given us moments like Monique Samuels' effortless presentation of a binder full of secrets and receipts (color-coded, no less!) during the season 5 reunion and the antics of T'Challa, a pet bird who is honestly a cast member in his own right. Although recent seasons have faltered due to conflicts that have played out off-screen, Potomac's early seasons are a marvel.
The Real Housewives of Miami (2011)
If you, like many others, wrote off The Real Housewives of Miami reboot after it was initially canceled in 2013, I'm gonna need you to clear your calendar and devour every last episode of this show. In 2021, Bravo rebooted the show for Peacock, and it's truly a delight. The series has everything from women uninviting each other from engagement parties by gifting them mirrors with notes reading "Mirror, mirror on the wall, who's the fakest one of all?" to one cast member writing a letter addressed to the liver of a fellow housewife. You had to be there!
Southern Charm (2013)
Pre-Southern Charm, there were very few Bravo shows that looped men into the antics. That all changed when cameras descended on Charleston, South Carolina, to follow a group of rich Southerners in a mixed-gender cast. This show is pure soap opera, packing in surprise pregnancies, emotional breakups, clandestine hookups, legal proceedings, and men who love sewing. (Lest we forget that a Southern Charm plot point miiiight have contributed to A-Rod and J.Lo's split!) And if we were ranking Bravo theme songs, just know that Southern Charm's signature "Ba da da doo" would be number one.
The Real Housewives of New Jersey (2009)
RHONJ will forever have a soft spot in my heart because it's the first Housewives franchise I ever watched as an impressionable young girl utterly transfixed by Teresa Giudice's table flip. This show did something that, up to this point, had never been done on Bravo before: The cast was largely comprised of people in the same family, creating a Sopranos vibe with storylines that hit emotional chords bolstered by years of family history. Although a frankly unsolvable family feud has caused more recent seasons to feel repetitive, the early years of this show are some of the best in Bravo history.
Vanderpump Rules (2013)
Vanderpump Rules has gone through somewhat of a renaissance thanks to Scandoval, thrusting the series into the cultural lexicon for those in this world who do not solely speak in Bravo quotes. This show began as a Real Housewives of Beverly Hills spin-off that followed a group of twenty-somethings working at SUR, the restaurant owned by RHOBH star Lisa Vanderpump. While most of the cast no longer works at the restaurant, the drama has truly never let up. It's also the show that gave us declarations like "It's not about the pasta" and "I’m not really sure what I've done to you, but I'll take a pinot grigio."
The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills (2010)
While all iterations of the Real Housewives display mind-boggling levels of wealth, The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills might take the gold when it comes to the level of transparent opulence. While you might start the series for the droolworthy fashion and home inspo (the things I would do to live at Villa Rosa!), you'll be hooked by the drama. Bravo once again capitalized on fractured family drama by casting Kim and Kyle Richards, Kathy Hilton's younger sisters. (And Kathy eventually joined the show for a few seasons.) Highlights of the series include the infamous Dinner Party from Hell and a feud over a dog named Lucy Lucy Apple Juice.
Summer House (2017)
"Summer should be fun." And this show? Very fun. Bravo tapped into the "work hard, play hard" theme with Summer House, a show that chronicles the exploits of New Yorkers who head to the Hamptons every summer weekend to drink rosé and dress in elaborate theme party costumes while partying poolside. This show also brought us Lindsay Hubbard, who—love her or hate her—is one of Bravo's most electric personalities once she's ~activated.~ It doesn't hurt that Summer House is currently enjoying a Vanderpump Rules-esque jolt of energy thanks to the bombshell breakup between Lindsay and fellow OG, Carl Radke.
The Real Housewives of Atlanta (2008)
You could argue that The Real Housewives of Atlanta is perhaps the most impactful show to ever air on Bravo. In season 6, it became the channel's first show to feature an all-Black cast, paving the way for shows like The Real Housewives of Potomac and Summer House: Martha's Vineyard. Beyond the show's cultural impact lies some of the best lines and catchphrases in Bravo history. From the never-ending saga surrounding the release of Sheree's line of joggers to Nene's truly incomparable use of "Bloop" to show that she was D-O-N-E with an argument, everything about this show is truly "Gone With the Wind Fabulous."
The Real Housewives of New York City (2008)
Without fail, when Bravo newcomers ask me what show to start with, I respond with The Real Housewives of New York City. As far as I'm concerned, there has never been another reality show on the planet that has churned out so many consistently perfect seasons. While we get all of the Housewives hallmarks in here—posh Park Avenue apartments, pithy one-liners, and glam galas—there's also a unique magic surrounding this series. Who can forget Aviva Drescher smashing her prosthetic leg on the table at a luncheon while declaring, "The only thing fake about me is this!"And the events that occurred during season 3's Scary Island trip deserve a Smithsonian exhibit of their own. Although Bravo rebooted the series with a fresh cast in 2023, the seasons we got with the OG Big Apple 'wives will go down in reality TV history as the genre's best.
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