David L. $Money Train$ Watts • FuTurXTV • HHBMedia.com • info

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David L. $Money Train$ Watts • FuTurXTV • HHBMedia.com • [email protected] • www.hhbmedia.com • David Velo Stewart
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A TV show that follows a group of up-and-coming movers and shakers in New
York's elite circles of real estate, fashion, and media. The all-female cast
includes former "video vixen" turned realtor Melyssa Ford, real estate
partner Brie Bythewood, modeling agency owner Mica Hughes, affordablestyle expert Daisy Lewellyn, A Belle in Brooklyn blogger and author Demetria
Lucas, and style and pop culture journalist Geneva S. Thomas. From Harlem
to Brooklyn, life in the big city often resembles a small town when the women
cross paths in their personal and professional lives. The self-starters built
their reputations and successes without the help of a man, but they never
underestimate the power of a girlfriend's support. These independent ladies
are aggressive in their pursuit of personal and career goals, but will the cost of
success prove too steep as they climb their way to the top? - Written by Bravo!
BLOOD, SWEAT AND HEELS (2014) TV REVIEW
& MELYSSA FORD 2.0 REBOOT – 3-20-2014
3-20-2014 - Written By: David L. $Money Train$ Watts – Journalist/Film Reviewer
FuTurXTV & HHBMedia.com - David Velo Stewart – Editor – HHBMedia.com - $$$$$
When I first saw the trailer last year for Bravo’s newest Black female driven Reality TV
series Blood, Sweat and Heels (#BSH) I instantly thought that this show could be a big
ratings winner and Black Twitter hit like Bravo’s The Real Housewives of Atlanta or
Married to Medicine. And I am sure that Bravo truly needs a new hit Reality TV series
because their much hyped The New Atlanta was a big disaster. I could barely even get
through the first pilot of Thicker than Water and its fake, boring and irritating themes of
gospel materialism. And the very brief Toned Up was a mediocre Reality TV show
about two goofy and cute white girls that had no business sense whatsoever. So Blood,
Sweat and Heels was about to launch after three of the worst new shows Bravo ever
produced. So the potential for failure was huge. And to top it off it was paired with The
Real Housewives of Atlanta, so there would be no excuse of #BSH not having a solid
lead in from a veteran and arguably Bravo’s most successful Reality TV show franchise.
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But luckily the hype for Blood, Sweat and Heels paid off because the show premiered
to 2.5 Million viewers and that is the highest Reality TV series debut on the Bravo
Network. And to be honest the sudden success of #BSH is also due once again to
“Black Twitter”. I am beyond certain Hollywood’s major TV producers really wish they
could make White Twitter or Twitter function as smooth as Black Twitter’s unique ability
to make TV shows like Scandal, The Game and Being Mary Jane into consistent and
huge ratings winners. But until that happens Black Twitter will still be a phenomenon
that will keep doing the impossible in Hollywood. And before I breakdown the entire first
season of Blood, Sweat and Heels I have to first acknowledge that I do know a few of
the cast members. I know Melyssa Ford because ten years ago as a producer on David
Velo Stewart’s classic Hiphopbattle.com Detroit vs. New York DVD I was the main one
that recommended hiring Melyssa to be one of our DVD hosts at the historic City vs.
City MC battle. And I have to disclose that Melyssa was many years ago attached as an
actor to my action/drama script The Fast Life, which the real life story of actor Auggie
Cavanagh of The Cavanagh Entertainment Group. And #BSH cast member Daisy
Lewellyn is one of my many Facebook friends. I do not know really know Daisy and I’m
not sure who friended who first on Facebook. But I had to mention those facts before I
get back to my review of the show. I have way more personal insight of Melyssa’s life.
Okay, so my overall impression of Blood, Sweat and Heels is that this show basically
had two dominant themes during the series’ first season. First, each women, Melyssa
Ford, Daisy Lewellyn, Brie Bythewood, Demetria Lucas, Mica Hughes and Geneva S.
Thomas, were given an opportunity to promote themselves or some activity or event
that enhanced their profiles on the show. For example, the pilot episode showed Daisy
having some “Sunday Brunch with Sistas” gathering that Daisy supposedly regularly
hosts. Yet after this episode Daisy is never shown doing one again. I had to feel this
was the easiest way for the show’s writers and producers to introduce the #BSH cast.
Second, the other main themed explored was either Mica was an alcoholic in denial or
just a misunderstood, carefree, sexy woman that just happened to be shown drinking
wine almost 90% of the time she was on the screen. The way these two themes played
out during the show is that a pattern was established early where Mica is always the life
of the party after she gets her drink on. Mica was shown being tipsy at Daisy’s brunch
event or she was more drunk and loud with Melyssa at Geneva’s Uptown Magazine
event. And when we showed Mica at home with her man Terry or with Melyssa there
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is more drinking. If she goes out to meet the girls anywhere there is of course more
drinking. Now the fact that Mica’s father was dying could have been the trigger that
allowed her to drink to avoid the pain of his imminent death. I’d like to give Mica the
benefit of doubt, but seems more likely that Mica would be pounding down wine whether
her dad was dying or not. So predictably when Mica’s dad does die she wants to grieve
in her own way and that means not actually telling any of the girls of his death, while
she goes on weekend visit to the Hamptons. I knew as soon as saw Mica being driven
to the Hamptons that she was going to get hammered. And sure enough they show her
making her driver pull over so she can buy some booze for the trip. It was really quite
funny and sad to watch Mica arrive at Brie’s house so drunk that she could not hold a
coherent conversation with Brie, Demetria, Greg or Geneva about why she had been
heavily drinking that day. And I know well before this “Detox, Dear, Detox” Episode 5
Bravo tried their best to hype next week’s #BSH ads or teasers that made it seem like
Mica was losing her mind trying to break into Brie’s Hampton vacation home. Or we saw
Demetria bare-foot fleeing for her life yelling, “This is not how I’m goin’ out”. The set-up
was very dramatic and confrontational, but when you actually watched the episode it
was never clear why the women freaked out over Mica being drunk. And how could
Geneva think yelling “Detox! Detox!” at Mica would not drive her bat-crazy. And I am
100% sure that if Melyssa and Daisy were not back in New York at one of Melyssa’s
celebrity club events than this big drunken Mica blowup would have never gone down.
And what follows after the chaotic Hamptons episode is that Blood, Sweat and Heels
basically divides into “Team Party Girls” with Melyssa, Daisy and Mica and “Team Mean
Girls” of Demetria, Brie and Geneva. One of the main reasons why Blood, Sweat and
Heels is a very successful show on Bravo was that it easily gave its viewers two distinct
camps to root for or scream at. Bravo has tried before to break #RHOA into “Team
Talls” vs. “Team Smalls” on their infamous South Africa trip. But the “Talls” vs. “Smalls”
storyline only really worked over there and did not catch on when the women got back
to the ATL. And Bravo has also tried to split the latest season of The Real Housewives
of Beverly Hills into two different camps over Brandi’s antics and sudden drinking
problem. But this time #BSH made it work in a big way as Mica, Melyssa, and Daisy felt
Mica was entitled to drink away the pain of her dad’s passing. Yet, Demetria, Brie and
Geneva were just as stubborn saying that the death of Mica’s dad was just an excuse to
mask her being a closet alcoholic. So whatever team you chose you could guarantee
that you would get to argue on social media 24/7 with other fans who was really right.
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I will briefly score in order what cast members on Blood, Sweat and Heels came off
the best and who came off the worst in my personal opinion over the nine episodes:
#1 is Melyssa because she was most complete person on the show. Melyssa had a
simple and relatable narrative of wanting to leave behind her sexy video girl persona
and start fresh in the highly completive world of real estate in New York. We got to see
Melyssa learning how to be an agent, actually going to work at her real estate gig and
also show off an apartment to a potential client. We even saw Melyssa get chewed out
by her boss. We also got see Melyssa’s financial advisor to convince her to still take
lucrative personal appearances jobs until she starts making real estate sales. Melyssa’s
mentor Professor Michael Eric Dyson got to counsel her and it showed she had a highly
respected person of color people outside the Hip-Hop biz that had her back. Melyssa
also was probably the only one on the show who could show up or was invited to all of
the women’s events. Melyssa could be on “Team Party Girl” and support Mica while still
allowing her to invite Demetria to her inner-city teen book club or go to a charity event
with Brie and Demetria. Melyssa opened up about her private life on the season finale
by conforming that her mother is white. This fact has never been intentionally hidden by
Melyssa, but it was not fully known by many of Melyssa’s fans either. I feel Melyssa was
the lead dog of the #BSH group because she is a known celebrity, but never rubbed it in
the other women’s faces. Melyssa could have easily been the most hated woman on the
show, but she has skillfully managed to be portrayed as highly relatable and respected.
#2 is Daisy primarily because she got extended scenes with both her parents supporting
her privately and professionally. Daisy was the only single cast member that went on an
actual date to show she had love life. Although the guy she dated was a complete joke.
And I do not count Geneva’s dinner/booty call with her ex as a real date. Also, Daisy
somehow smartly managed to get Bravo to feature two of her Never Pay Retail Again
eBook launch events during #BSH to help promote herself. Daisy always showed an
overt willingness to want to squash the many beefs between the women and keep a
positive attitude. Even the Daisy and Demetria dust up did not really last because to me
it was not in Daisy’s nature to carry on grudge. Daisy definitely enhanced her career on
the show and I thought anyone would not think she was talented stylist and hard worker.
#3 is Brie who to me was the most mysterious and most camera shy until #BSH’s last
three episodes. I would rate Brie over Daisy or a tie with Melyssa if I had learned
anything about her rich family, co-workers or dating life. I am not even sure why Blood,
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Sweat and Heels did not allow or aggressively explore the past friendship of Brie and
Mica. Brie should have been Mica’s biggest defender since she knew her prior to being
on the show. But the fact that Brie did not have Mica’s back after the toxic Hampton’s
episode only made her more interesting to me. Maybe Brie knew the real Mica? Brie
had way more justification to hate on Mica than Demetria and Geneva who really do not
know Mica enough to think she was an alcoholic. By the final episode Brie hosted a
Flywheel charity event to give some more depth to her character. But I also know it
seemed for this first season Brie had not convinced her parents, past friends or coworkers to agree to be on camera. Brie probably was featured the least on #BSH, but
she is ultimately is the one cast member I want to see as much as Melyssa and Daisy.
#4 is Demetria because she readily accepted or relished playing the “Hater in Chief” on
Blood, Sweat and Heels. I felt every time I saw Demetria on #BSH I thought she was
“camera conscious”. And that means Demetria was always keeping her emotions in
check when the cameras were rolling. I never thought she was acting herself when she
was getting into arguments with the other women. I felt she did not want to be portrayed
as the stereotypical “angry black woman” on a Reality TV series. And the only time she
was acting “real” was in the Hamptons when supposedly fleeing in terror from a drunk
Mica. But that highly emotional and vulnerable Demetria was never seen again on
#BSH. And even though Demetria was billing herself as an influential urban blogger I
never thought she dropped any deep insights or knowledge about practically anything.
Demetria seemed too calculating and cold and not acting as her real self when filmed.
#5 is Mica who is either really a troubled alcoholic or doing the best job of acting like
one to be the show’s lead villain. I said it before and I’ll say it again. Almost 90% of
every scene with Mica in #BSH had her drinking. Even when she went to see her dying
father she and her man, Terry Lyon, still had to get some drinks. And I felt that the only
times they showed Mica not drinking was when she was working at her modeling
agency called Mica Models. But since those brief Mica at work scenes were primarily
confined to Episode One “Six in the City” and Episode 9 “Heels on the Hudson” it
made me wonder if they were all shot on the same week. I think it would be highly
improbable for Mica to work many long hours in the demanding and competitive fashion
industry unless Mica was drinking at work and Bravo edited it out. I don’t think Mica
could be a selective drunk if #BSH was accurately showing her always having a glass of
wine super-glued to her hand. And why would her supportive and loving boyfriend not
step up and help Mica if she was really so out of control? Mica deserved better than
how she ended up being portrayed and hopefully get to redeem her drunken persona.
#6 is Geneva on my list and I felt she was the most one dimensional cast member
who’s only true purpose on the show other than hating on Mica was talking about her
sex life or lack of it. Also, Geneva’s mandatory #BSH event on Episode 3 “Turned
Uptown” felt like another forced way to get the women together. Geneva I wasn’t feelin’!
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Melyssa Ford 2.0 is the most intriguing cast member on Blood, Sweat and Heels and
not just because of her shapely figure or beauty. No, she intrigues me the most because
she is actually the least likely celebrity I expected to be on this Bravo Reality TV series.
Ten years ago she was featured in The New York Times in a very detailed and positive
article appropriately called “How to Succeed in Videos Without Really Dancing”:
“But Little X, the director who first got Ms. Ford started, predicts that she will be
the first to make the transition out of videos and into movies. “Melyssa would
have to be the blueprint for how it’s done,” he said. “As far as the male fantasy
image, Melyssa’s the one. If you drew her dimensions, people would say you’re
exaggerating”…Jeff Robinson, Ms. Ford’s manager, who also represents the
Grammy Award-winning singer Alicia Keys, said he sought her out after seeing
her in the video for “Knock Yourself Out,” by Jadakiss. “We brought her down to
New York, and we found her so articulate, talking about how she was in school
for psychology and forensic science,” he said. “I said, ‘This girl can put two
words together.’ Which is unusual for a video girl, to be honest.”…New York
Times...Douglas Century...May 2, 2004.
So it is hard for me to watch the young woman I met a decade ago at Alicia Key’s MBK
Entertainment, Inc. offices, and who had just released a highly successful calendar and
DVD, is also the same Melyssa Ford 2.0 Reboot that now struggles being a newbie real
estate agent. My past experiences with Melyssa is that she is one of the most articulate,
ambitious and resourceful people I have ever met in the entertainment biz. Myself and
Dave wanted Melyssa to interview the Detroit and NYC battle rappers. I had prepared
several questions on cue cards for Melyssa, but after talking with her for three minutes
on site I tore up the cards, handed her a microphone, wished her good luck and walked
away never doubting she would do a good job. You truly cannot teach smarts, taste or
confidence. Melyssa is way more than a video girl and never had to whore herself out
like Karrine “Superhead” Steffans”. Or she never got so desperate for cash or attention
that she had to pose naked in Playboy like Vida Guerra. In fact, to me Vida has hit rock
bottom so much that she is doing naked “selfies” of herself on Instagram. Melyssa has
always been in control of her image in popular men’s magazines and what roles she did
on TV or even an indie film like Datari Turner’s Video Girl. BET plays Video Girl all the
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time, so one can watch Melyssa almost any month you turn on that network. And in my
opinion Melyssa still looks better than Kim Kardashian who has built a multi-million
dollar career on doing nothing, saying nothing and standing for nothing. She also has
the most potential to become the most dominant cast members on #BSH just like NeNe
Leakes of #RHOA or Lisa Vanderpump of #RHOBH. Melyssa’s popularity will only grow
and I predict in the upcoming second seasons of Blood, Sweat and Heels we might
see Melyssa doing more film or TV roles than selling apartments on #BSH. I even think
Melyssa Ford 2.0 Reboot might get a spinoff series on Bravo when #BSH is in hiatus.
Where Blood, Sweat and Heels will go is whether Melyssa, Brie, Daisy, Geneva, Mica,
and Demetria have genuine friendships or fake “Hollywood” friendships that are only
developed on Reality TV shows. Will Brie and Melyssa ever do a co-listing? I wonder if
Demetria’s blog will eventually tear apart the group or will Daisy’s optimism always
make it stronger? Will Mica and Geneva need counseling to settle their differences?
And will Terry and Demetria’s fiancé Greg get together to do anything together without
their women? There actually were no events that the both of them were at during #BSH.
I wondered why that was. Anyway, I can say that the Bravo’s smart 24/7 social media
campaign was brilliant to promote Blood, Sweat and Heels. Just read the show’s
#BloodSweatHeels Twitter feed or the many opinionated comments on the photos on
Blood, Sweat and Heels Facebook page. Bravo needs not only younger Reality TV
shows, but better ones than their Southern Charm or 100 Days of Summer which are
both unwatchable to me. And I definitely could see Blood, Sweat and Heels spinoffs in
Los Angeles, Miami or Washington D.C. And Bravo has so much ratings high hopes for
Blood, Sweat and Heels that they will have a first and unprecedented 90 minute #BSH
reunion show on Sunday, March 23rd, 2014. Black Twitter will have a meltdown trying to
keep up with all the new drama that will be spilled at the reunion show or shows. And
one can watch a lot of good Reality TV and also watch and appreciate seeing excellent
dramas like House of Cards, The Good Wife, The Vikings, True Detective or PBS’s
Mr. Selfridge. I give Blood, Sweat and Heels $$$$$ because all #BSH episodes were
entertaining, engaging and designed to generate many heated social media debates.
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David L. $Money Train$ Watts • FuTurXTV • HHBMedia.com • info

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