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Of all the great things about television, the greatest is that it’s on every single day. TV history is being made, day in and day out, in ways big and small. In an effort to better appreciate this history, we’re taking a look back, every day, at one particular TV milestone.
IMPORTANT DATE IN TV HISTORY: June 18, 2009
PROGRAM ORIGINALLY AIRED ON THIS DATE: The Real Housewives of New Jersey, “The Last Supper” (Season 1, Episode 7). [Watch on Hulu]
WHY IT’S IMPORTANT: With all the hype going into its New Jersey Housewives spinoff, Bravo delivered a relatively low-key first season of the show. While the masses may have been expecting the down-the-street neighbors of Tony Soprano, viewers were instead treated to Caroline shopping around for a guard dog and Dina’s creepy-ass cat, Grandma Wrinkles. The saving grace, as far as drama was concerned, was Danielle Staub, the only outsider among the five wives, and one with a past.
First of all, can we all agree that Cop Without a Badge is a hilarious title for a book? It sounds like one of those fake movies they went to see on Seinfeld. Anyway, inside that infamous tome was the story of Danielle’s past life as the ex-wife of an undercover FBI informer, and accusations of arrests and indiscretions, including, allegedly, prostitution-whoring.
These were the secrets, whispered about all season, that Danielle decided to put on front street when she dropped that hardcover on the table in the middle of an otherwise pleasant dinner (or as pleasant as you can get with Teresa talking about the aftermath of her boob job). The resulting argument/chaos may well be the most legendary moment of the Housewives franchise (yes, more than “Herman Munster shoes”; yes, more than Allison Dubois’ e-cigarette), culminating in Teresa’s epic freak-out and flipping of the dinner table.
Bravo knew the goldmine it was sitting on immediately. In fact, today’s anniversary isn’t even of the table-flipping episode. That happened two days earlier. June 18th is the date that Bravo aired a special extended version of the dinner party, with additional scenes and commentary. Which I guess was warranted, if we’re still talking about it six years later. Certainly we’re all thankful to know that flipping the table got Teresa and Joe hot enough that they went straight home and “really got it on.”
[You can watch “The Last Supper” on Hulu.]
Joe Reid (@joereid) is a freelance writer living in Brooklyn. You can find him leaving flowers for Mrs. Landingham at the corner of 18th and Potomac.
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