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Real Housewives Recap

Real Housewives of Dallas devolves into dull crapfest for season finale

Elaine Liner
Jun 14, 2016 | 12:07 am
Real Housewives of Dallas reunion
The ladies get together for the Real Housewives of Dallas reunion show on June 20.
Photo courtesy of Bravo

We have spent 10 Monday nights getting to know the Real Housewives of Dallas on Bravo. Six women, their spouses (barely seen), cute children, and incontinent pets.

We have glimpsed artsy aerial shots of the distinctive city skyline during opening credits and enjoyed overhead views of tree-lined suburban streets, which may or not have been in or near Dallas. The producers and editors of RHOD were loose about the authenticity of images on this show. Look quick and you could see the Fort Worth Stockyards, party cruises on Lake Austin, and other non-Dallas locations passed off as local sites.

First episode to last, it was pretty clear that the team behind this show just wasn’t feelin’ it. Scene after scene had that “let’s use it anyway” attitude toward trivial footage and relationships that didn’t go anywhere. So many contrived luncheon apologies. Too many awkward confrontations about personal slights, the kind of behavior grown women rarely display in real life (especially if they were raised right in Texas).

This show made its women into overdressed mean girls. Interactions among them were edited down into snippets of rude tipsy talk at parties; shallow gossip over kitchen counters; and some of the ugliest, dumbest verbal blow-ups ever used on reality TV.

The best reality shows capture the real behavior, good and bad, of the participants. RHOD presented half a dozen women trying way too hard to act the way they thought they should to look good on TV. The crew behind the scenes got lazy and let them be fakey-fakey.

Shoot, they didn’t even bother to tell their cast that no woman outside of clown college would be caught in daylight wearing that much blusher.

LeeAnne Locken could have been the RHOD breakout star, the Bethenny Frankel of Dallas with her snappy wit and rustic vocabulary. She was introduced as the “carny kid” who became a model and who now works tirelessly for Dallas charities (perhaps to boost her social status). She lives in a modest home with her good-looking boyfriend Rich and does good work for good causes.

But LeeAnne’s anger became the issue the show use as a plot device and thus she came off as a wild-eyed loon seen punching a camera, kicking an Arts District trolley, and flying into rages at the mildest provocations. “Bow at me!” she shouted at plastic surgeon’s wife Cary Deuber over a brunch argument at Bread Winners. She didn’t mean curtsy.

With LeeAnne cast as villain, the comic relief became Brandi Redmond and her pal Stephanie Hollman. They actually are housewives and longtime friends, raising kids in mansions outside the Dallas city limits. (Stephanie’s abuts the Four Seasons golf course in Irving.) These two were the best at bringing the funny to the “confessionals,” the solo chats to camera in which they could freely comment about what was happening in each episode.

They cackled about their consumption of daytime “Jesus juice” (wine) and mocked their husbands’ flatulence and bedroom habits. In this week’s finale, Stephanie admitted she’d rather pick up dog poo from her backyard than have sex with overly controlling husband Travis.

Ah, poo. Each hour of RHOD was heavily fertilized with mentions of excrement, both human and animal. LeeAnne’s verbal attack on the nearly-wordless one, Marie Reyes, was retaliation for Marie spreading off-camera gossip about an unfortunate pants-soiling incident in LeeAnne’s past. Brandi got crossways with LeeAnne when she hot-glued fake No. 2 to a hat for a charity luncheon, a No. 1 no-no among LeeAnne’s personal etiquette rules.

This week featured a close-up of Stephanie’s dog taking a steaming dump. Dog poop, rabbit poop, people poop — they talked about it, fought about it, and stepped in it week after week.

So it’s not surprising that the season finale was a dull crapfest that didn’t set up any cliffhangers, a strong indication that there won’t be a second season. (Bravo hasn’t announced a renewal.) There weren’t many loose ends to tie up, just some catch-ups on what the ladies wanted to do in the future.

LeeAnne has decided to use her mouth to make money and was seen this week seeking the expertise of Dallas PR guy Jeff Crilley to see if she could take her “story” to the high-dollar speaking circuit. She also realized her anger management needs a tune-up.

“I feel like nobody loves me,” she says. She could’ve been talking about cable viewers. Ratings for this show fell off week after week.

The finale had Brandi and Stephanie swigging Patron among the swells at the Hollmans’ backyard soiree for 400 close friends during the AT&T Byron Nelson golf tournament. (Looked like a fun party except there were little kids in the pool, and no one seemed to be watching them.)

Cary and Mark Deuber were seen making plans for a summer in Switzerland. Cary is one of those mean girls who thinks she’s smarter than everyone in the room. Then she pronounces it “Sont More-RITZ” and gives herself away.

Tiffany and Aaron Hendra went house shopping. They didn’t buy the $675K house they looked at. Marie was at the Hollmans’ Byron Nelson party but, as usual, didn’t say or do anything interesting.

Brandi and husband Bryan took their little redheaded kiddos to Pinstack bowling in Plano. Has any other Real Housewives show ever resorted to sending a family bowling?

Next week brings all the gals onto facing couches with Bravo exec Andy Cohen for what had better be some lively chatter. (Here’s a short preview.) If this show’s gonna bow out for good, somebody needs to bow at somebody.

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The reunion episode of Real Housewives of Dallas airs June 20 at 8 pm on Bravo. You can also watch episodes online.

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Movie Review

New movie Being Heumann spotlights rousing fight for disability rights

Alex Bentley
Nov 13, 2026 | 2:30 pm
Ruth Madeley in Being Heumann
Photo courtesy of Apple TV
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The presence of building ramps, curb ramps, wheelchair-accessible stalls, accessible parking spaces, and more accommodations for people with disabilities is now so ubiquitous in the United States that it’s hard to remember a time without them. But as the new film Being Heumann ably demonstrates, the fight to get those things was as difficult as any civil rights battle.

The film focuses on a specific period of time in 1977 when disability rights activist Judy Heumann (Ruth Madeley) led a movement to try to get U.S. Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare (HEW) Joseph Califano (Mark Ruffalo) to sign Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. After years of no progress under Presidents Nixon, Ford, and Carter, Heumann and her group of other disabled people and allies decide to stage a sit-in at the HEW offices in San Francisco.

What begins as a temporary event turns into a prolonged ordeal, with Califano initially unmoved and the protesters unwilling to leave the building. The strong-willed Heumann, helped by fellow leaders like Kitty Cone (Madeline Delp) and TV reporter Evan White (Dylan O’Brien), not only puts pressure on Califano and other HEW staffers, but also members of her own group, some of whom are unable or unwilling to stay as long as she wants.

Directed by Sian Heder (CODA) and written by Heder and Rebekah Taussig, the film features a rousing story made all the more effective by the presence of actual disabled people. In addition to people in wheelchairs like Madeley and Delp, the cast features people who are blind, deaf, are short-statured, and more. Some of the cast members are professional actors, some aren’t, but they all bring a realism that enhances the story.

Heder and her team underscore the importance of the story by taking their time telling it. That doesn’t just mean giving Madeley and others extra scenes to demonstrate their skills, although the 127-minute film provides plenty of time for that. More pointedly, Heder allows the disabled people to take however long they need to do something, like trying to navigate inaccessible stairways or using a pointer to spell out words. The respect this approach shows the actors brings extra heft to the story they’re trying to tell.

There are multiple moments in the film where audience members may scoff at what’s happening to the disabled people, most notably when they are met with derision by government officials and even regular passers-by. Heder occasionally overplays her hand by either showing Califano as being overly callous or White being supremely helpful, but she mostly plays things straight, allowing the difficulties the protestors face speak for themselves.

Madeley, a veteran actor with over 30 credits to her name, puts in an award-worthy performance. While the reality of her disabled body plays a part in her role, it’s mostly the fieriness and determination that she shows that make it stellar. Others like Delp, Antwan Tolliver, Rio Finnegan, and more prove crucial in supporting roles. Known actors like Ruffalo, O’Brien, and Rob Delaney are fine, but secondary to the main group.

Being Heumann is a great way to honor the legacy of Heumann, who passed away in 2023. There is still work to be done to ensure disabled people are given access and respect in the U.S., but the events in the film show that people like Heumann and the groups they lead have power when they choose to fight.

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Being Heumann is now playing in select theaters and streaming on Apple TV.

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