"The Real Housewives of New York City" Deliver a Message

Memo to Bravo - enough Real Housewives of New York City! They plan to cram one more diva into the bunch (we'll get to her in a moment). There is such a thing as too much of a good thing. Perhaps all these extra Housewives running around are an indication that a few are being cut loose (Bethenny and Alex come to mind). They can barely fit the seven they have now into the credits. Stop the madness, Bravo!

Ok, enough with my rant. Of course there was plenty of ranting on last night's episode of "The Real Housewives of New York City." Bethenny railed against Perez Hilton, Alex went off on Jill (although nothing compared to next week, if the previews are to be believed) and Jill unloaded about Bethenny.

Bethenny's furious that celeb blogger, Perez Hilton has splashed news of her pregnancy across the blogosphere before she and Jason got to tell friends and family. Jason is also pissed, but they determine all that's left to do is let people know. Later, Jill, having received a Google alert, dials up Countess LuAnn seeking gossip about the situation. Countess LuAnn, who's with Sonja when she gets the call, immediately launches into a diatribe as to the pregnancy being the source of Bethenny's bitchiness. Jill is perturbed that Sonja and Countess LuAnn are out-talking her and launches into her own tirade about how Bethenny shouldn't be talking to the media at this point in her pregnancy. It's clear that Jill is having a hard time letting go of Bethenny, even though she's the one who cast her former BFF out into the street with barely a tear shed. Now, that she's no longer Bethenny's confidant, Jill still feels a need to somehow insert herself into the situation, so she goes running to Countess LuAnn to turn it into a gossip session. I almost feel sorry for Jill this season, because she's emerged as the housewife everyone loves to hate.

In other superfluous Housewives news, Jill meets with event planner, Jennifer Gilbert, the eighth Housewife. Jill wants to throw her holiday party at an ice skating rink and barks her demands to Jennifer, who can only sit there. Sonja visits with a plastic surgeon for a consult on a tummy tuck and brings Ramona as her Wingman. Ramona grills the doc about his qualifications, whose last board certification was during the Ford administration. Sonja also meets up with her psychic, though she leaves Ramona at home for that meeting.

Bethenny reaches out to Alex to share her pregnancy news and meanwhile gets a text message from Jill about how she should handle the situation. This sets Bethenny off and she tells Alex she is done and done with Jill. This gets Alex similarly riled up and she appoints herself as Bethenny's personal delivery gal and decides to give the "message" to Jill at Ramona's skincare launch party. Uh oh.

Jill shows up to said party on a rampage. Still fuming about Ramona's behavior at the Kodak party, Jill decides to show her how to be "classy." Except she spends the entire evening harping about the food and slamming the photo Ramona chose her for promotional brochure. Yup. Real classy. Speaking of class, seeing Cuckoo Kelly in her completely ridiculous hot pants, I was reminded about how in school we had dress codes to discourage inappropriate attire. I think someone needs to loan Cuckoo Kelly a manual on how to dress so that neither her peaches or v-jay-jay are hanging out at will.

Bethenny sent a congratulatory bottle of wine to Ramona with a card that revealed her pregnancy. Jill was hurt that Bethenny had extensive conversations with Alex and Ramona and "didn't call any of us." Can't have it both ways, Jill. You told Bethenny it was over, so...she's just acting accordingly. I think it kills Jill that Bethenny has moved on without her and that she is no longer privy to the details of her life. Her pride (and Countess LuAnn) got in the way of true reconciliation and it pains her that she is no longer close to Bethenny.

Alex and Simon breezed in and she honed in on Jill like a heat-seeking missile. At last year's reunion show, Alex was so articulate in explaining to Cuckoo Kelly and Bethenny about their failure to communicate over the whole Madonna/Brass Monkey debacle. Well, all her eloquence ran out the door and back to Brooklyn, because she couldn't deliver that damn "message" for anything. I could have taken a drink every time she said, "I have a message," "I'm the messenger," "I have a job to do." I'm pretty sure I would have been drunk inside of five minutes. The "message" landed with a thud and everyone was horrified. I think she was so focused on the "message," she didn't give much thought to the delivery. I did find it funny that Ramona, that arbiter of tact and good manners, thought Alex could have chosen another time and place. Jill held her head up high, but once outside, collapsed into tears.

Alex gives Bethenny (who's on bed rest) the lowdown and the Skinnygirl compares it to a Mafia hit that Alex carried out on her behalf. In a sweet moment, Alex bequeathed her maternity jeans to the mom-to-be.

I made the realization earlier this week that "The Real Housewives of New Jersey," which premieres on May 3, will run concurrent with "The Real Housewives of New York City." My TV may explode.

Next week, it's Alex and Jill part deux, Bethenny heads west and Simon falls down on the job.