Though Bravo has long staked out its basic-cable niche with unflinching, cinema verite studies of human sass, it has rarely stepped into the scripted series fray, unless you count every would-be catchphrase uttered by a Project Runway contestant after Christian Siriano hit accidental paydirt with “fierce.” But Andy Cohen, feeling particularly jazzed after one of his dreams where he’s a Real Housewife, has made the bold decision to add an expressly contrived drama to the network’s upcoming lineup—though from the description in the press release, it’s essentially a greatest-hits compilation of all the reality-TV tropes Bravo has long sought to combine into one show, but could never find a living locus to center it on.
So instead they just bought Lionsgate’s Face Down, which follows “a charming and irresistibly flawed make-up artist as he navigates through a world of dodgy politicians, demanding stars, and privileged socialites, while dealing with a complicated ex-wife, wildly eccentric parents, and a long overdue nervous breakdown.” All that’s missing is his side-project of flipping a mansion for the plastic surgery-addicted girlfriend of a fading rock star, but then, there’s always a season two. In the meantime, Bravo continues to fill its reality slate with only slight variations on its current lineup, picking up shows about another celebrity stylist, two guys who deal in vintage couture, go-getter New York gals who work in art galleries and on Wall Street, a jeweler in Beverly Hills, a wedding planner, and, yes, a guy who flips mansions. Yet more unvarnished looks at the real world, in other words.