For a time, I used to watch various incarnations of Bravo’s reality franchise “The Real Housewives.” Brightly lit and filled to their Botox gills with aspirational bunkum, the shows require little by way of mental engagement. These tantrums of the wealthy (and pretend wealthy) function as an easy distraction from your real-life headaches. I’ve likened the shows to sucking on a pop culture sourball, as you become transfixed by the uncanny valley of dysfunction, plastic surgery and obsession with thin bodies. But something about it all finally turned too rancid — too cynical and ugly — even for me.
Which brings us to “Luann and Sonja: Welcome to Crappie Lake,” the reality show with an unwieldy title starring “Real Housewives of New York” veterans Luann de Lesseps and Sonja Morgan, the Frick and Frack of Bravolebrities. They’ve agreed to spend five weeks in Benton — a small town in southern Illinois that’s been struggling financially since COVID — to help give the place an infusion of … something. This involves questionably meaningful projects such as organizing a talent show and building a playground.
The premise is a straight rip-off of “The Simple Life,” which premiered 20 years ago with Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie scrunching their noses to spend time around people in (gah) Middle America. But “Crappie Lake” is also a riff on “Schitt’s Creek,” with Luann and Sonja bunking at the exceedingly modest local motel. Does an original idea exist anywhere in this project? To their credit, Luann and Sonja seem game for anything. But that’s not the same as watching the likes of Catherine O’Hara spin comedy gold from a more cunningly executed (scripted) idea.
