Most Talkative

March 12, 2012
TV producer Cohen, an Emmy winner for Top Chef, is the host of Watch What Happens: Live. As Bravo’s executive vice president of original programming and development, he oversees production of The Real Housewives franchise, The Millionaire Matchmaker, and other series. In this lively memoir, he begins by telling us more than we need to know about his pop culture–obsessed childhood in St. Louis. In high school, where he was voted most talkative, he was popular, but “no one knew I was gay.” A full chapter is devoted to the “terror” of coming out to his parents and Boston College roommate. A 1989 sophomore high school class project prompted him to interview his idol, Susan Lucci, a plus when he applied for a CBS internship. Beginning at CBS This Morning, he was on his way. When he arrived at Bravo, he found the ideal venue for mingling with top talents. Riding the wave of reality programming as it began to dominate TV, he now asks, “Had I helped kill soaps?” There’s enough about his lifelong obsession with Susan Lucci that can distract. Others will be amused by Cohen’s ramblings about how his wicked wit and “lighthearted cultural commentary” brought him media attacks and embarrassing headlines. Still, many will appreciate his straightforward honesty in delivering an insider’s POV about reality TV with intimate and outrageous glimpses of housewives and celebrities, offscreen and on.

April 15, 2012
The Bravo network executive who green-lighted the Real Housewives franchise shares backstage insights into reality TV. In this uneven memoir/gossip fest, Cohen attempts to strike a balance between the story of his upbringing in a close-knit Jewish family and dishing on the antics of "Bravolebrities." In the former, he often succeeds, portraying his parents as warmly and humorously as you would expect from someone who implored his mom to send him updates on All My Children while he was away at camp. Cohen's youthful obsession with soap maven Susan Lucci further highlights his eventual lionizing of the Real Housewives, and he sprinkles his awkward encounters with his diva idol throughout the text. He also effectively captures the fear of coming out in the 1980s, a time when homophobic jokes and AIDS misinformation were rampant. Cohen is candid, but he will try many readers' patience with his devotion of several pages to the most mundane details of the Housewives' fame-mongering: e.g., tweets from their dogs, transcripts of interviews gone awry and defenses of their shallowness that ring--surprise!--hollow. In one tortured instance, he reveals how the Bravo team recut all episodes of the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills after a participant's husband committed suicide, then claims that what they presented on TV was "real life." The disclosure that the film crew shoots 85 hours of footage for every hour aired gives the lie to the claim that reality TV is any such thing. By the time that Cohen's father tells him, "I just can't get over that people speak to each other this way, in public places," most readers will agree and likely stop reading. Anyone except the most devoted Housewives fans will wish that Cohen were less talkative.

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May 1, 2012

Cohen is an executive for Bravo Network and host of Watch What Happens: Live, a position that made him the first openly gay late-night talk show host. In his first book, he tells amusing stories of his childhood and his passion for television, his interview of Susan Lucci in college and their subsequent meetings, three disastrous run-ins with Oprah, dancing for the B-52s, and keeping Diana Ross and Joan Collins happy when he worked for CBS. Cohen also writes about how he became a talk show host and dishes many juicy tidbits about the Real Housewives casts. VERDICT Cohen's lighthearted, funny memoir is highly recommended for his fans and others who appreciate humorous celebrity biographies and memoirs. Consider also for readers who enjoyed Ellen DeGeneres's Seriously...I'm Kidding and Mindy Kaling's Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? (And Other Concerns). [See Prepub Alert, 12/12/11.]--Sally Bryant, Pepperdine Univ. Lib., Malibu, CA

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