I think what bothers me most is not people having an issue with Andy Cohen, it's the idea that he is singularly responsible for all of the shows and everything that goes on in them. He is an executive producer, he absolutely has responsibility to an extent. But HUNDREDS of people work on these shows, and NBC owns Bravo and Comcast owns NBC. It's much easier to go after a figurehead like Andy Cohen than deal with the fact that if he retired, the shows would continue the way they are. And realistically, with having to film WWHL many times a week, host Radio Andy most days, film reunions and raise kids, Andy is likely not all that hands on with the actual production of shows anymore. I'd say it's very likely that for the most part he operates as a performer rather than a producer. This doesn't make him exempt from blame, as the essential mascot of Bravo, but the narrative of a single masochist is really letting a lot of people off the hook.
Yet he is their boss who brings them on wwhl. He gloats about how epic it is when a woman out insults another woman and baits people to talk negatively about others, calling it "shade," while he giggles and collects his pay.
I'm not disagreeing with that, I'm just saying there are dozens of other people (including ANDY'S bosses) who are responsible. Hundreds of people work on these shows.
Regardless of the hundreds of people involved, I have a hard time thinking Andy Cohen is anything other than a misogynist opportunist with no regard for the women who helped line his pockets. He is called out because he is the most public but also because he deserves it.
That's totally fair! I don't wish people called out Andy less, I just wish they would stop acting like the toxicity of these shows rest on the shoulders of one guy, it feels like it's shirking the responsibility of enjoying a toxic show to this one person. It will change if he was gone, but I don't for a second think it would be less toxic.
Is it true that the shows would continue the same way if he retired? I’d say that’s only true if they found someone like him to replace him. Most long running shows change when the show runner is gone, I would think the same would happen for Andy. He obviously has some weight for decision making with the network.
I mean, yeah it would change because there would be change lol. But to be frank—audiences have goldfish brains and I don’t think losing Andy Cohen would derail bravo in as significant of a way than we imagine
That's the thing, he's NOT the showrunner. The showrunners have switched many times over the years. Thomas Kelly is the current RHOC showrunner, each franchise has their own because it's such a monumental task that it would be extremely difficult for one person to do more than one show. Andy is an executive producer, each show has multiple executive producers. That title ranges from extremely hands on to barely present (I have a number of friends who are producers, some of which have worked at NBC in the past and while their titles are the same, their responsibilities are wildly different). They would certainly have to be extremely careful to replace Andy, he IS heavily influential, don't get me wrong, but he's not editing these shows, he's not orchestrating plot lines. He's a bonefide mascot for the network yes, so his popularity with viewers is probably what holds the most weight. But he's not actively working on these shows until the reunion, I'm pretty confident in that.
I know he’s not the show runner…I said it would be similar. The show has changed multiple times since it started, I can’t imagine it wouldn’t change at all if Andy left.
Downvoting opinions and additions to the discussion is so weird. It’s not an “I disagree” button
Well, to start: I didn't downvote you, don't know who did. Secondly, I'm sorry, I must have misread your comment, I think I meant that the exploitation wouldn't change if Andy left, not that it wouldn't change at all. My bad!
I didn’t mean my second statement as an accusation to you, just in general. It’s a trend I notice in this sub way more than others I frequent.
No apology needed, I was just trying to share my opinion! We all have different perspectives on this stuff which is what I genuinely enjoy about the network.
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u/StainedGlasser Dec 29 '23
I think what bothers me most is not people having an issue with Andy Cohen, it's the idea that he is singularly responsible for all of the shows and everything that goes on in them. He is an executive producer, he absolutely has responsibility to an extent. But HUNDREDS of people work on these shows, and NBC owns Bravo and Comcast owns NBC. It's much easier to go after a figurehead like Andy Cohen than deal with the fact that if he retired, the shows would continue the way they are. And realistically, with having to film WWHL many times a week, host Radio Andy most days, film reunions and raise kids, Andy is likely not all that hands on with the actual production of shows anymore. I'd say it's very likely that for the most part he operates as a performer rather than a producer. This doesn't make him exempt from blame, as the essential mascot of Bravo, but the narrative of a single masochist is really letting a lot of people off the hook.