The Real Head of Bravo Programming who developed and greenlit the Real Housewives franchise stops by the Bravo Breakdowns podcast to give a guest lecture on reality TV!

The funny, insightful, Peabody winning and overall insanely accomplished Lauren Zalaznick (former Executive VP of NBCUniversal from 2001-2014) tells Lauren and Michele the origin story of how she and her team built Bravo into the network we know today.

But before that, Lauren and Michele are breaking down part 1 of Season 7 of Real Housewives of Orange County- that’s right, we’re in the Golden Years of OC.

It’s the horrifying introduction of Vicki’s boyfriend Brooks who has no money, no job, no teeth, no car, but has a lot of weird riddles about love! We finally meet the glamorous, rich snob Heather Dubrow and see her go head-to-head with wannabe snob Alexis Bellino! And Tamra has her best season ever by pairing up with Gretchen to make Vicki’s head explode. )

And for true scholars, please buy Lauren Zalaznick’s new book, “Letters from the Corporation of Brown University: Lives of Usefulness and Reputation 1764-2023” on Amazon (you can Google all the great reviews it’s getting, and leave one of your own reviews on Amazon if you purchase and enjoy it!)

For even more LZ updates, subscribe to her newsletter “The LZ Sunday Paper”, fun updates and important world news and articles of the week- for women, by a woman- and follow her on IG.

Lauren Zalazncik Social Media:

@lzsundaypaper

Bravo Breakdowns Social Media:

IG : @bravo_breakdowns

TikTok : @bravo_breakdowns

Email: bravo_breakdowns@gmail.com

Timestamps : Interview 45: 55