Andy Cohen has an uncomplicated answer to how he gets everything on his to-do list done.
“I just hit my deadlines,” the host, producer and author says nonchalantly, as if his day-to-day consists of sending emails and building pitch decks rather than what it actually entails: emceeing his four-days-a-week SiriusXM radio show; anchoring the five-times-a-week late-night Bravo spectacle “Watch What Happens Live”; writing a book, which he’s just finished; and keeping himself abreast of the biggest pop culture happenings at any given moment. “I still do notes on every episode of ‘[Real] Housewives’ that there is,” adds Cohen, who is an executive producer of the Bravo franchise.
The night of our interview, a cut of “The Real Housewives of Atlanta” is on the docket, a season he’s feeling “really good” about following a “rebuilding phase.” Earlier in the day, Cohen had watched an episode of “Real Housewives of Orange County” between Radio Andy recordings, a “WWHL” taping, fit in a trip to the gym and school pickups. Now, lounging on his West Village home’s terrace, Cohen is ready to talk all things career, which he defines as “your job, basically,” to his inquisitive son, Ben, who alternates between climbing atop his shoulder and playing off-screen.
For Cohen, now is a good time to reflect. In March, he celebrated two decades of the “Real Housewives” churning out culture-defining, appointment television. Come July, it will have been 17 years since “WWHL” debuted. As late night’s relevancy has slipped, Bravo’s untraditional, reality star-focused format has strengthened, cementing Cohen as not just the network’s preeminent frontman but as one of unscripted television’s biggest names. To mark the occasion, Cohen will receive Variety’s Creative Impact in Television Award at the Newport Beach TV Fest on June 5.
“I can’t believe all these years into my career, this is what developed,” Cohen says. “I was told at CBS News I was too cross-eyed to be on television. Then I was in charge of programming at Bravo at a time when no network executive could ever be in front of the camera. I have bucked the system and won.”
Bravoholics are well-acquainted with Cohen’s origin story, from being a soap opera-obsessed, “All My Children”-watching adolescent in St. Louis to studying broadcast journalism at Boston University. To this day, he still considers himself a journalist first and foremost. “I’m just trying to get to the bottom of whether Brooks [Ayers] had cancer or whether Rulla [Nehme Pontarelli] knew about the affair,” he says.
Following his graduation, he embarked on a decade-long tenure at CBS, where, yes, Cohen really was told he would never work on-screen, though the comment didn’t deter him from climbing the corporate ladder from intern to producer. “It was just so exciting. I got to do everything,” says Cohen. “It was also a time when CBS News was in its former glory, which has now been completely chipped away.”
Then came a four-year stint running the cable network Trio’s original programming and development, which ultimately led Cohen to Bravo, where he had a hand in creating shows like “Project Runway” and “Million Dollar Matchmaker.” Although Cohen transitioned out of his executive role at the network in 2014 to focus on producing, hosting and, later, his eponymous book imprint, to many, Cohen is Bravo, an association that’s earned him the colloquial title of the network’s “ringmaster.” (To be fair, his Instagram username is @BravoAndy and an AI-powered Cohen will soon be available from NBCUniversal to guide viewers through Bravo’s catalog.)
While Cohen jokes the descriptor annoys Bravo’s PR team, it doesn’t bother him. “I’m proud of my association with this brand,” he says. “It’s ultimately a compliment.”
Of all the shows Cohen is responsible for, it’s hard to argue any is more epochal than the “fun, addictive, soapy, dramatic” world of “Real Housewives,” long beloved for showcasing the complicated behind-the-scenes happenings of affluent, mid-life, often married (and then divorced) women in well-to-do zip codes. (Could a show like “The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives” exist in a “Housewives”-less world?)
Its latest entry, “The Real Housewives of Rhode Island,” proves the format’s pertinence has yet to lapse. “The fact that 20 years into this we could shoot a brand new series and find women that are just authentically themselves makes me so happy,” says Cohen. There might be less glass-throwing and table-flipping nowadays, but, at its core, the series has always been about the “very real, personal issues” in these women’s lives, says Cohen. That’s why he’s willing to go to bat for the latest “Beverly Hills” season: “It actually was emblematic of what a great season of ‘Real Housewives’ used to be and still is.”
The franchise was one of the first to celebrate women over 50 “as beautiful and in charge and sexual,” says Cohen. “I always go to the mat saying this is a feminist show.” Indeed, “Real Housewives” has made stars of nearly 200 women, providing them with paychecks and platforms to build brands on. “I was talking to Lena Dunham about this the other day,” he says. “I go, ‘Do you think ‘The Housewives’ is a feminist show?’ She’s like, ‘100%.’”
Recently, he ran into Roxane Gay at a party and confirmed she was still watching. He quips, “I like to check in with feminists I respect to make sure they’re still on the train and still feel great about it.”
A similar sentiment could be shared about “WWHL,” which has long treated its Bravolebrity guests as equally spotlight-worthy as the actors. “We regard the people who are making unscripted television as the stars that they are in today’s culture, and no other show does that,” he says. And it’s been good for business; “‘WWHL’ has never fit in with the late-night shows. As it turns out, maybe it was great that we never fit in … In a world where other talk shows are trying to be spontaneous and trying to be authentic, we actually are.”
A testament to the show’s relevancy is the number of A-listers who have tried to fib their way on. “There’s a long list of celebrities who have lied to our bookers and say they’re Bravo fans,” says Cohen. “Then they come on, and it’s very clear to me that they’re not.”
All these years later, Cohen can’t quite believe he still gets to host “WWHL.”
“I’m so re-energized by the entire thing,” he says. The same is true for “Housewives.” Cohen can’t wait for Season 16 of “Real Housewives of New York” to premiere. “Expectations among the viewers are low, so we’re going to blow people away,” he promises. At this point, he’s done pretty much everything there is to do in entertainment, besides host a game show (which he’s open to). And while he does think about the day he might step down from his duties as Bravo’s mascot — “I’m realistic about the TV business,” he says — he’ll never say goodbye to it for good: “What I would do is think of another talk show for myself.”
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