The current panel from left to right: Jeannie Mai, Tamera Mowery-Housely, Loni Love, Adrienne Houghton, and Amanda Seales
The Real is an American syndicated talk show that aired from 2013 to 2022. The series initially received a trial run on Fox-owned markets in the summer of 2013. The series was developed as a talk show designed to appeal to younger female viewers who, like the co-hosts, were experiencing new events in their lives. It was green-lit for national syndication later that fall and officially premiered the following year. The panel consisted of actress Tamera Mowry-Housley from the 1990s sitcom, Sister, Sister; hostess and fashion expert Jeannie Mai; singer and actress Adrienne Houghton, known for being the lead singer in groups 3LW and The Cheetah Girls; comedian and actress Loni Love, known for being the runner-up on Star Search 26 and a panelist on Chelsea Lately and fellow comedian and actress Amanda Seales. The show formerly had R&B singer and television personality, Tamar Braxton, best known for her hit reality series Braxton Family Values as a co-host.Who's up for some trope naming:
- Catchphrase:
- "Who's up for some girl chat?"
- Comic Relief: Loni Love easily fits this trope since she is a comedian.
- Crossover: With The Ellen DeGeneres Show and it's hilarious
. Briefly, Loni Love was Ellen's DJ. Fun fact: Ellen was Loni's mentor as a stand-up comic. Ellen also made a surprise appearance on The Real's 1000th Episode. - Dark Horse Victory: Their first Daytime Emmy win in 2018 for Outstanding Entertainment Talk Show Host. Going up against Harry, Live With Kelly & Ryan, The View and The Talk (the latter of which being good friends with due to Loni Love and Sheryl Underwood's friendship) they were shocked but proud considering themselves "the little show that could." The ladies of The Talk also celebrated their win knowing first hand what it's like to be the underdogs. Sharon Osbourne hilariously celebrated their win on an airplane (as she was touring with her husband that night) believing The Talk won that category until her daughter Kelly told her The Real won (The Talk won an Emmy that night for Outstanding Talk Show/Entertainment). The Real thanked them for cheering them on (and also celebrating their Emmy win) sending the hosts, producers and crew some cupcakes.
- Dueling Shows: Subverted with The Talk mostly due to Sheryl Underwood and Loni Love's friendship. Not to mention this awesome selfie of Aisha Tyler and Sheryl Underwood with the ladies of The Real. Underwood even gave Love a shout-out when discussing Sean "Diddy" Combs' name change to Brother Love. Loni wished Tyler good luck on her directing career on Twitter and even congratulated Eve as well on Twitter when she got hired as a co-host on The Talk. Another fun fact: Eve and Adrienne Bailon once toured together◊ on the TRL Tour.
- Five-Token Band: The hosts (and guest co-host Amara La Negra) had a whole discussion about this trope. Tamera Mowry-Housley said she and her twin sister Tia were the first African American twins to have a TV show. Jeannie Mai said "I feel lonely" being one of three Asian-American woman (and the first one of Vietnamese descent) who co-hosted a daytime talk show. Adrienne Bailon was "sad" to find out she was the first Latino-American on an English language talk show. Loni Love joked that she was the second plus size African-American woman on daytime TV (referring to her friend Sheryl Underwood of The Talk as the first). They said their show was important so they can see more daytime TV hosts that look like them years from now.
- Guest Host: Unlike most talk shows, the guest host will join the panel rather than replace a co-host. When Tamera was sick, the hosts refused to find a replacement for the show and continued on without her. However, there was an exception during the week of February 26, 2018, when Tamera suffered the flu and Yvette Nicole Brown and Mel B filled in for her.
-
Hilarious in Hindsight: The ladies originally planned to go on spring break the week of March 9, 2020 with 4 weeks of prerecorded episodes of the show for viewers to watch with their fans choosing the topics for them. Because of the COVID-19 Pandemic many talk shows stopped production or will be shot without an audience the same week the ladies intended to go on a spring break. Beginning on April 13, 2020 The Real will now be shot entirely on Skype (with the ladies self quarantining in their respective homes) due to the coronavirus pandemic. - Keeping Secrets Sucks: Adrienne Bailon who competed on The Masked Singer as the Flamingo falls into this category. As all of the aforementioned show's contestants sign NDA's it can be tough to keep their participation a secret especially when Adrienne's co-hosts and social media grill her for it due to her distinctive voice. Adrienne's co-hosts and social media weren't falling for her lies on the show. Apparently, in a latter interview with Too Fab it seems that Adrienne's co-hosts have signed NDA's most likely due to their infamous segment about The Masked Singer that went viral. It should also be noted that both The Real and The Masked Singer are both FOX shows and this was most likely done to protect her identity. When The Real went on winter break FOX allowed Adrienne to film a private reveal to her co-hosts that was prerecorded which was aired the day after the season finale. Adrienne went into this further on her YouTube channel noting that she was only allowed to tell her family and husband about her participation on the show. She also noted that she was aware that her close friend Michelle Williams was on the show and they aren't allowed to talk to each other about their participation on the show.Adrienne Bailon: "I literally don't understand how people can think I can do this show at 4 o' clock in the morning and that show at night let's start there!"Jeannie: "I know my friend really well and based on my calculations you take off them big lashes and that head you remove those heels [the Flamingo] looks about 4'11" to me!"Adrienne: "I'm not the only short person [possibly in the competition]. I thought it was maybe Ally Brooke but she's doing Dancing with the Stars."Tamera: "It was a run that the Flamingo did and I heard a little bit of your voice and it was like the cha cha cha. If you were [on the show] you couldn't tell us anyway."Adrienne: "No but- (realizing she signed an NDA) NO!"
- Talk Show: One of the definitive American examples.
-
What Could Have Been: Adrienne Bailon talked about Fabolous' song "You Be Killin' Em" almost becoming her song. Loni Love told Adrienne that she was grateful that the song and her music career didn't work out because she was meant to become a host on The Real.
