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A Bravo Executive Wasn't Sure Vanderpump Rules Would Be a Hit
It's hard to believe, but there was a time when people didn't know if Bravo fans would take to #PumpRules.
Vanderpump Rules has become such a hit, it's hard to believe there was ever a time someone doubted it would be a success. Vice President of Current Production Ryan Flynn has worked on the series since Season 1, but he wasn't always sure Bravo fans would watch it.
"We knew there was something really interesting and special about it," Ryan told The Daily Dish Podcast. "But I think the biggest concern in the halls of Bravo with Vanderpump Rules that first season is we are a network that's known for showing sort of exclusive luxury—you know people, places, houses that the average viewer never gets a view into and loves it. They love that exclusive look into a world that they don't have access to, and we were turning our cameras on to cocktail servers, hostesses and bartenders with apartments that have cottage cheese ceilings and window air conditioning units, something like a lot of places we've all lived in in our 20s."
But despite Bravo's concerns, there was someone who was able to help the series reach its full potential.
"You know, Lisa Vanderpump was really and still is in many ways our entree into that world. We knew we could always ground ourselves in the familiar Bravo world of Lisa Vanderpump," he said. "And you know a talented, successful restaurateur with her house and her dogs and her swans and her multiple businesses, and we could always deliver on that while also living in the world of small claustrophobic apartments and in cheap clothing. It just...it worked."
The other major concern was whether fans would like the SURvers themselves.
"I think the concern about Vanderpump Rules early on was just that [question] will people want to invest in these people who, you know not to be mean, but can be shallow and vapid and in many ways lives are very simple day to day," Ryan added. "And as you responded, the answer is yes."
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