The Housewives of Lindström
| The Housewives of Lindström | |
| Genre | Reality television |
|---|---|
| Created by | |
| Country of origin | |
| No. of seasons | 62 (as of 1758 AN) |
| Production | |
| Production location(s) | Lindström, Natopia |
| Running time | 45 minutes |
| Release | |
| Original network |
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| Original release | 11.II.1694 AN |
| Chronology | |
| Related shows | |
The Housewives of Lindström, abbreviated HoL, is a Natopian and New Alexandrian reality television series set in Lindström, the capital of Natopia. The pilot installment of The Housewives franchise, it premiered on NAT-TV on 11.II.1694 AN and is carried in Nouvelle Alexandrie by Metropolis Television. The series follows the personal and professional lives of an ensemble of Natopian and Alexandrian women in the city. It has aired 62 seasons as of 1758 AN; it and its sister series The Housewives of Punta Santiago are the franchise's longest-running installments.
The show was created by Stannon Vertersberg, Christos Demetrius, and Constanza Vaela for NAT-TV's reality-television division. Its ratings led to the commissioning of a second series in Punta Santiago later in 1694 AN, and the format spread to other cities in Natopia and Nouvelle Alexandrie and to broadcasters abroad. Two spin-off series followed recurring Lindström cast members: Martina's Journey (1716 AN–1721 AN) and Ain't No Thang! with Angie Sanchez (1735 AN–1741 AN).
Format
The series shares the format of the wider franchise. Each season follows an ensemble of five to eight women and, since a franchise-wide format refresh in 1710 AN, is built around one or two cast trips and a run of themed events, and closes with a reunion special. Vertersberg has hosted every reunion since the first Lindström reunion. Cast members write their own opening-credits taglines, which change each season and are subject to producer approval. Confessional interviews are filmed separately and intercut with recorded events. Every season since the 1747 AN resumption has staged at least one charity gala.
History
Origins and early seasons
NAT-TV chief executive Lawrence Butterson established the network's reality-television division and hired Vertersberg, Demetrius, and Vaela to lead it. The Housewives of Lindström premiered on 11.II.1694 AN with an original cast of five: Maria Martinez, Lucinda Nieves, Claribelle Zalchak, Hera Butters, and Gabrielle Auchincloss. Metropolis Television carried the series in Nouvelle Alexandrie from its first season. A second installment, set in Punta Santiago, was commissioned later the same year.
1732 reboot
After 38 seasons, two seasons of declining ratings and rising production costs, including cast salary demands, led the producers to replace the cast in full, a reboot marketed as "Lindström: New Generation". The new cast of eight included technology entrepreneur Seren Moonoak, naval officer Freya Osterling, demesnial politician Kallista Xanthorr, and a religious leader.
War years and resumption
When the Fourth Euran War broke out in 1745 AN, NAT-TV and Metropolis Television suspended all four home-market franchise series within weeks, and no new seasons aired in 1745 AN or 1746 AN.[1] Production resumed in 1747 AN, and the first post-war premiere drew record audiences.
Recent seasons
In 1751 AN, former Chancellor Emmanuel Aristarchus appeared in an episode built around a charity gala hosted by a cast member; it was one of the season's highest-rated. Asked why he had agreed to appear, Aristarchus replied: "I was told there would be free food, free drink, and interesting people. Two of those things was true."
The series' sixtieth anniversary in 1754 AN was marked by Sixty Years of The Housewives, a special staged at the Lindström Opera House before a live audience, broadcast simultaneously on Metropolis Television and NAT-TV, and hosted by Vertersberg. Original cast members Lucinda Nieves and Hera Butters appeared, and Christina Aguilar, the longtime lead of The Housewives of Punta Santiago, returned to the franchise for the first time since 1735 AN. The special drew the largest single-broadcast audience in franchise history.[2]
Cast
The original 1694 AN cast consisted of Maria Martinez, Lucinda Nieves, Claribelle Zalchak, Hera Butters, and Gabrielle Auchincloss. In line with franchise casting practice, later seasons mixed socialites with women from business, sport, entertainment, and public life.
Notable cast members across the series' run include Clarissa Montebond, a fan favorite of the early seasons; the 1732 AN reboot generation of Moonoak, Osterling, and Xanthorr; and Angie Sanchez, whose opening-credits line "Ain't no thang." later titled her spin-off series. Cast-written taglines have produced some of the franchise's most-quoted lines, among them Moonoak's "I built mine. Most of you married yours." and Osterling's "I've commanded a warship. I can manage a dinner party."
Broadcast
NAT-TV broadcasts the series in Natopia and Metropolis Television carries it in Nouvelle Alexandrie. The Housewives of Lindström was the first television program broadcast in the Lanzerwald, where it aired from 1726 AN on imported Natopian receivers. Reruns of the franchise air in the afternoon Dramarama block of ESB Media Tiegang.
Reception and controversies
In the early 1710 ANs, NAT-TV dropped Clarissa Montebond after she compared the Dozan Bovic Church's tithing practices to a protection racket and repeated the remark on a Lindström radio program rather than retract it. Montebond never returned to the series and has declined every reunion invitation since. The affair led NAT-TV to introduce cast vetting and behavioral clauses in cast contracts, both later adopted across the franchise.
The Season 49 reunion, taped over 1743 AN–1744 AN during the Natopian withdrawal from Whales, included a two-hour argument between Osterling, whose sister's family had resettled from Whales, and Moonoak, who defended the withdrawal. The reunion was among the most-watched Natopian broadcasts of the year.
Spin-offs
NAT-TV commissioned two spin-off series around recurring Lindström cast members. Martina's Journey ran for five seasons, from 1716 AN to 1721 AN. Ain't No Thang! with Angie Sanchez ran for six seasons, from 1735 AN to 1741 AN.
See also
- Television in Nouvelle Alexandrie
- Media of Nouvelle Alexandrie
- NAT-TV
- Metropolis Television
- The Housewives of Punta Santiago
- The Housewives of Svorgas
- The Housewives of Parap
- The Housewives of Chryse
- The Housewives of Astérapolis
- The Housewives of Cherry Trees
- The Housewives of Sankt Rosa
- The Housewives of Dos Gardenias
