TV Hot Take

Bravo cuts off Real Housewives of Dallas' 'Jesus juice' after 5 overserved seasons

The Real Housewives of Dallas are cordially uninvited back to the party. Bravo has switched off the show after five seasons.

"There are currently no plans to bring The Real Housewives of Dallas back next year, and beyond that, nothing official has been decided," Bravo said in a statement.

That leaves the door slightly cracked for a return, perhaps to stream on NBC's Peacock, as The Real Housewives of Miami is doing after being canceled in 2013.

But as Newsweek points out, even a return in the digitalsphere would likely take a fan campaign, which — with a paltry 337,000 viewers for the Season 5 premiere and 578,000 for the season finale in May, one-quarter of the show's New York and Atlanta franchise viewership — isn’t likely to happen. Especially not in Dallas, which pretty universally face-palmed the show, or flipped it the bird altogether.

CultureMap was all in when RHOD launched in spring 2016 as buzzy bubble-gum TV — turn off your brain, grab your favorite carbs and a bottle of wine, and spend an hour spotting DFW hot spots and laughing as the rich Dallas women dissed Plano. In the first few episodes, we learned the fun new terms “Jesus juice” (white wine) and “charity world” and raised a Botoxed eyebrow or two at the amount of childish “poop and pee” talk we were subjected to. (Pour more Jesus juice! We’re having a good time!)

Despite low ratings, RHOD got another season, then another and another. Cast members came and went. On screen, they fought like cats and accused each other’s husbands of cheating like dogs; threw parties and threw glasses; drank too much and refused to eat weird food; took trips to Austin and trips to Mexico.

Off screen, the Dallas “Bravo-lebrities” launched beauty products and jewelry lines, and even a brand of pink dog food.

There were some beautiful and meaningful moments, like LeeAnne Locken’s State Fair proposal and glittery but heartfelt wedding. Stephanie Hollman shared her gut-wrenching experiences with suicidal ideation. Brandi Redmond let viewers along on her infertility and adoption journeys.

But by the final season — filmed and aired amid the COVID-19 pandemic, economic crisis, racial reckonings, and deeply divided political landscape — the show had gone off the rails in ways it couldn’t really recover from.

In a world experiencing so many harsh realities, this reality TV show didn’t provide the fun, carb-loaded, Jesus juiced-up distraction it could have. Instead it became a laborious exercise in who could out-"racism" and "non-racism" and "anti-racism" who, which carried over from the screen to social media.

In a year when nonprofits in the Dallas “charity world” were desperate for funds and local businesses were desperate for shoppers, the show threw one long, indulgent birthday party for one cast member and had the women stupidly spanking each other with charcuterie boards on a shopping expedition to a local business.

And in an economy where so many workers lost jobs and struggled to care for their kids at all, viewers were expected to sympathize with a doctor-"housewife," who is married to a kajillionaire, about the guilt she felt for wanting to stay home more so she could take her kids to the family’s hotel for tea parties.

Viewers were practically screaming, "Look, lady. Stay home or don't stay home. Make up your mind. You have a choice, K? BRB, headed to the food bank for pickup."

And then: So. Much. Fighting.

Mother-daughter fighting, tequila-shot fighting, dim-sum fighting, who's-the-bigger-bully fighting, who's-the-better-Christian fighting, secret-crickets-on-pizza fighting, you-insulted-Bigfoot-hunter fighting ... fighting is as much a part of Real Housewives franchises as designer bags, but for the love of Birkin, there'd already been enough fighting on the nearby cable news stations every night since early 2020. During the pandemic-slash-election season, they could have zipped their unmasked lips and done something interesting.

It seemed, more and more, like this once-fun, fancy-Dallas-people "fantasy" was just fake drama being put forth as throwaway entertainment in a world — and a city — that had moved on to more valuable investments. By the last season, RHOD wasn't a feel-good escape; it was a cringey crash-and-burn.

So, raise a glass of Jesus juice to the fun that was the first few episodes, and hope the next Dallas-set show treats charcuterie boards with a bit more kindness.

A vintage photo from Season 1, way back in 2016.

Photo courtesy of Bravo

A vintage photo from Season 1, way back in 2016.

tv media real-housewives

The grass will be greener

AT&T Stadium glows pretty in pink as World Cup field takes root

Dallas Stadium pitch for 2026 FIFA World Cup

Photo courtesy of FIFA

Grass grow-lights suspended from the ceiling at AT&T Stadium are turning the pitch pink.

FIFA officials unveiled the soccer pitch taking shape at AT&T Stadium in Arlington for 2026 World Cup matches, and the most noticeable feature is that it's ... pink. At least for now.

Much like pink-hued LED lights that make indoor gardens grow at home, giant grow lights have been suspended from the ceiling to promote photosynthesis, as the stadium's retractable roof does not allow enough sunlight for grass to grow.

The innovative roof-suspended light system (which allows for lights to be raised or lowered) is the first of its kind for FIFA, says Ewen Hodge, FIFA World Cup 2026 head of pitch infrastructure. AT&T Stadium is the only 2026 World Cup venue employing the technology.

FIFA pitch, Dallas Stadium The lights are suspended on 18 rigs, which can be raised and lowered over the field.Photo courtesy of FIFA

"They've never been hung from the ceiling before," Hodge says. "Typically these systems have a set of wheels that they're wheeled in and out of the facility and these are able to be lifted up, and that means that we have one less thing on the field."

For soccer newbies, the "pitch" is the official term for the rectangular field where a match is played. And in FIFA World Cup world, that field is real grass - not the artificial turf that the Cowboys play on. It is 105 meters by 68 meters, which roughly converts to 115 yards by 75 yards.

Pitch prep at "Dallas Stadium," which AT&T Stadium will be called during World Cup, started about two months ago, Hodge says.

They started by installing ventilation and irrigations systems above the stadium's concrete floor, then laid down several inches of sand to support the natural grass surface - a mix of Kentucky bluegrass and ryegrass grown and shipped from Colorado, he says.

Dallas Stadium, World Cup pitch The pitch is a mix of Kentucky bluegrass and ryegrass, and there's a layer of sand underneath.Photo courtesy of FIFA

Nylon fibers are being stitched into the grass using specialized machinery to help reinforce the field.

A team of about 25 workers is mowing and irrigating daily, Hodge says, to ensure the grass will be ready and healthy for the first game (Netherlands vs Japan) on June 14. During matches, the grow-lights will be taken up 290 feet into the ceiling so they will not create sight lines, says Tod Martin, general manager of AT&T Stadium.

Between the nine matches that will be played at the stadium, the grow-lights will come back down from the ceiling, and grass will be fertilized, monitored for diseases, and adjustments will be made.

"We always say that our days from the pitch management side are busier than a match day," Hodge says. "On a match day, we're doing a mow and getting the line marks out there, so it's the final touches so we're ready for the game."

Dallas Stadium, World Cup pitch Nylon fibers are being stitched into the grass using specialized machinery to help reinforce the field. Photo courtesy of FIFA

Maintaining a grass standard across all venues for the World Cup tournament is a major challenge due to the climate differences between each city, he says.

Hodge, a New Zealand native, first visited AT&T Stadium in March 2023 to begin planning how the venue would accommodate a World Cup-caliber pitch. To gather ideas, AT&T Stadium's Martin traveled to Wembley Stadium in England, where he met with officials to learn firsthand how they manage one of the world's most famous soccer fields.

"They're impressive. It was a sight to see for sure," Martin says.

"Test games" at AT&T Stadium have been used to evaluate things like how the field feels under the players' feet and how fast the ball travels, Hodge says.

World Cup pitch, Dallas Stadium The field is longer and wider than it would be for an NFL game to allow for things like corner kicks.Photo courtesy of FIFA

By the numbers, Martin offered, the pitch at the stadium has involved 10 contractors, 45,000 man hours, 15,000 tons of materials hauled in, and 24 refrigerated trucks to transport the pitch from Colorado; the grass came in four-foot-wide rolls, 50 feet long.

The biggest installation challenges, Martin says, involved structural modifications to the stadium, including extending the field into the patio suites. "We had to take out roughly three feet in our corners to get a little bit more room for those corner kicks," he says.

After the tournament, Martin says, the grass will be taken out and recycled by a contractor for other projects.

pitch world cup arlington stadium at&t stadium fifa world cup 2026 soccer sports

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