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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: May 16, 2011
PROGRAM ORIGINALLY AIRED ON THIS DATE: The Real Housewives of New Jersey, “In the Name of the Father” (Season 3, Episode 1) [Stream on Hulu]
WHY IT’S IMPORTANT: The third season premiere of The Real Housewives of New Jersey was a transition episode in every sense. The first two seasons were so dominated by the drama surrounding Danielle Staub, which spidered out into every corner of the show, leading to the show’s most explosive moments. With Danielle exiting after the end of season 2, the show needed to re-establish itself with new conflicts and new Housewives. Enter Teresa Guidice’s extended family.
The first two seasons revolved more around the Manzo clan: sisters Caroline and Dina (married to brothers!), and their sister-in-law Jacqueline. Season 3 saw the pivot to the dynamic that remains to this today: Real Housewives of New Jersey became The Teresa Show. Joining the cast this season were Melissa Gorga (Teresa’s sister-in-law) and Kathy Wakile (Teresa’s cousin). The dynamic was tense from the start. On-screen, the idea was that Teresa and Melissa’s not-as-close-as-desired relationship ended up fracturing Teresa’s relationship with her brother, the diminutive horndog Joe Gorga. Off-screen, the conflict that ended up animating the whole season (and beyond) was Teresa’s barely-restrained rage at her relatives hitching their carts to the fame wagon that was Teresa’s career.
This all added up to a blockbuster of a season premiere — one that begins in medias res like it’s some kind of crackerjack action thriller (which honestly? it kind of is) — where Teresa and Joe’s mutual enmity boils over at the Gorga family party for Joe and Melissa’s son’s Christening. And by “boils over,” yes, I do mean there was a fistfight in the banquet hall between Joe Gorga and Teresa’s husband, Joe Giudice. Watching these two muscled mini-men throw meaty punches at each other while their wives and various relatives screamed in the background was one hell of a way to kick off season 3 and ensure that viewers immediately had a new conflict to obsess over.
