STYLETHREAD -- LET'S TALK SHOP!

killa · Dooney & Bourke

Tuesday Night Book Club

Rica · Kenneth Cole

Yesssss I watched it and I liked it. It's very "scripted reality" but I sort of dismissed the whole reality bit and watched it as a drama. I liked all of the women really well, except for the newlywed. She and her husband are total assholes to each other. Any time they were onscreen, I was wondering why they even got married. I was happy to see them at least sort of getting along in the season preview. I liked the interaction between the loyal wife and her husband. The house warming stock-the-bar party was really awkward but they made it through okay. I'm definitely cheering for them. The trophy wifes husband is a total creepster. He seems to think any couples gathering should turn into a big partner swapping orgy. Ick. Someone needs to tell him there's a time and a place. And Rogaine. Oh, and Kirin's husband is SO cheating on her. Or gay. Okay, yeh, I'm totally looking forward to the next episdoe. Haha.

Tati · Chanel

im so hooked! i cant wait to see the next episode. i think that the couple that are married, the man older and rich,.... that they have swinging parties or something. and yeah, i also dont understand why the newlyweds got married.

halleybird · Hermes

I haven't seen the show, but this was in our local paper this morning -- very interesting. People around here are pretty ticked off about the show.

'Book Club' reality unravels

Locales, friendships not from Scottsdale

Kathy Shayna Shocket
The Arizona Republic
Jun. 24, 2006 12:00 AM

CBS may have pulled the plug on the Scottsdale-based Tuesday Night Book Club after only two episodes, but there's another chapter in this docu-soap.

The so-called reality show wasn't entirely real.

At least one of the seven women portrayed as living in Scottsdale didn't. At least one home depicted in opening scenes as being a book club member's wasn't. And as for all the sex-talking, book-skipping women being longtime gal pals, they weren't.

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Show producers and CBS would not comment. But one Book Clubber agreed to answer a few questions.

Lynn Carahaly, labeled by producers as the newlywed always bickering with husband Eddie, acknowledged that she lives in Chandler. Scenes of the couple in their new home were filmed in Chandler. However, Carahaly's child-therapy clinic is in Scottsdale.

She insisted the show was unscripted.

"My husband and I really do have first-year marriage conflicts," she said.

And as for their dog swallowing her ring in the first episode, she said, it really happened. Before taking the dog to the vet, they called the producers, who wanted to meet them there.

Dr. Michael Hayyeri, a Phoenix urologist, said he was shocked to learn that the exterior of his home was prominently showcased in episode openings.

Cameras zoomed in on the luxurious home as a narrator told viewers not to be fooled by where these women live.

None of them live with Hayyeri.

And his home isn't in Scottsdale. It's in the Biltmore area.

"I didn't see the show but I got a few calls from people telling me they saw my house in the show," he said. "I couldn't believe it."

Then there was Jamie, the "conflicted wife" and Scottsdale salon owner who admits having affairs during her marriage. In Episode 1, she separated from her husband and toured a place to live on her own.

The "apartment" she viewed is actually a condo conversion, one of 400 luxury units in Sunscape. Yes, it's a trendy Scottsdale place with a concierge and movie theater. Cambridge Properties sold 300 of the 400 units within 90 days after they went on the market. But the front entrance of the development shown in Book Club wasn't on the Sunscape property.

That surprised Cheryl King, Cambridge's executive vice president, who explained that the production company had intended to sign a contract to lease the unit. But after filming there twice for several hours, and taking up the Cambridge staff's time, the company changed its mind about any contract or payment.

The woman shown as Jamie's leasing agent was a Cambridge secretary asked to play the role of agent.

Brian Lowry, television critic for Variety magazine, pointed out that there wasn't much chemistry between the characters.

"It looked like a perfume ad and the characters appeared as if they didn't know each other very well," he said.

That's because they didn't.

Carahaly knew three of the women and said the show merged two social groups.

Model Laura Dean was asked to audition but didn't get a role. She only knew the Carahalys. She said producers told her if she were cast she would be paid.

"During the audition they said the payment would cover two years of school for my autistic child," she said, noting the annual tuition is $23,000.

Carahaly, a speech pathologist, said she didn't do it for the money but hoped other newlyweds with problems similar to hers would be helped by watching.

As for the show's quick demise, Carahaly said why she thinks viewers were dissatisfied.

"The high-quality production was so polished that I believe viewers could not connect with us as real characters."

"Criticism of the show hurt," she said.

"People were so fixated on whether we read the books or not."

"Am I upset how they portrayed us? Entertainment is entertainment. And talking about me graduating cum laude and owning my own business isn't what sells," she added.
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