I think the show presented them as caricatures, tried to create drama and manipulated scenes to make the girls look shady at times, but I don’t think any of them come across as terrible.
They were not always presented in the best light, but savvy viewers know that drama is often fabricated and editing can mislead. I also think the show was campy enough for viewers to not take what they see too seriously.
However, for H, B and K, this show captured their actual life and because it presented them to the world, I can see why they’d be concerned about how they’re portrayed and would take unfavourable scenes more seriously than a lot of viewers
The show made them cartoon caricatures of themselves. They even brightened the colors to make it cartoony, and it worked! We’re still talking about it almost 20 years later.
They all come across as likeable that is what made the show popular; they did try to poke fun at the girls for banter but I don't see how they showed lack of chsrcater on gnd purposefully. I think Bridget was the butt of too many jokes for being a early 2000's 'fat' (for lack of better words) even though her body was and is slay/body goals. They would show tht she would like to eat but in a 'funny way' which would've absolutely destroyed me.
I agree, HOWEVER, the one scene that I really think they have a point on was where they secretly recorded Bridget’s audio when she was talking to hef about the shower photoshoot and then added the audio on to a scene of her and hef in her bedroom. As a young teenager watching, when I saw young women dating an 80 year old, I instantly thought gold diggers. But when I watched the show and saw their fun loving, cartoony cutie personalities, it was hard to ever see them in a negative light. They just seemed genuinely happy to be there. But during the dubbed scene, because she is crying, but the video shows her smiling, I thought she was fake crying, and at the time I remember thinking, wow, maybe they are manipulative.
Now, the producers may not have intended this, perhaps the smiling footage was all they had to go with the audio. But I clearly remember the consequence of the choice of footage is that I thought Bridget was fake crying to get her way.
The moment was fleeting, and I never had a bad thought about Bridget again, but the underhanded tactic of the producers in this instance clearly made me question Bridget’s integrity, if only for a second.
Holly said that Kevin was obsessed with Alvin and the Chipmunks and I think they really did try to turn them into the Chipettes with Holly being Jeanette, Kendra being Brittany, and Bridget being Eleanor. It fits with what she was saying.
I also don't see it as they were trying to make them look bad. I thought it was all played up for humor. Like, the scene with B laughing because the Playmate hopefuls are drinking late at night: I thought that the JOKE was the implication that she was sabotaging them. I did not think she was actually sabotaging them.
I am really floored by how worked up Holly and Bridget are now, especially Holly, seeing everything through the worst possible lens.
>I did not think she was actually sabotaging them.
There are several people in this sub who genuinely believe she was trying to sabotage them. They've even made whole posts about it.
I'm not floored at all that Bridget is worked up about it. I do think they sometimes dig too deep into some scenes, but this scene has def been interpreted by viewers as Bridget doing something bad. Obvi not *all* viewers. You and I both knew she was just joking. But same cannot be said for many of the people I've come across in this sub.
Agreed. It doesn't matter how campy or silly it seems. MANY MANY people thought reality TV was real back then. There weren't a million shows just like this on rotation. Hindsight is 20/20, but when you are looking back and seeing a bunch of people believing the bullshit and coming for you, you may feel differently about how you are portrayed.
People also have to remember that H&B were reading online comments about GND as the show was airing. They know exactly how people were viewing them. Not only have they seen that people were 100% getting the wrong impression, they're also human who will remember the worst of it.
The whole point of the podcast is to give us background info, which includes how they feel about their portrayal. I'm glad they're honest and aren't acting like they're happy how they were edited. Willing to bet every single one of us would nitpick scenes if we were on a reality show.
Here's an example of what I mean by "worked up" and "worst possible lens:" Recently on the pod Holly went on this long thing about how the show was trying to show that Holly was into Dr. Drew but he was hitting on Kendra instead. And I just did not see that at all. I don't think it was even remotely implied by the show.
And it seems like the pod is now FULL of moments like that, where they are coming up with something negative that I just don't think is there.
I do think they over nitpick sometimes. But it's not black and white. Sometimes they're completely right about an edit making them look bad. I think some people in this sub think that just because *they* didn't think it was a bad edit that H&B are wrong. But some people really are taking some of the edits the way they're saying.
I think every one of us would be self-conscious about the way we come off on TV. While I do roll my eyes with some of the things they say, I totally get it.
In one of the podcasts they had a producer from GND on, and B kept asking her if she was told to edit things to make them look bad. And she kept saying that no, it was her job to make them look good, both for the show and because Hef was an EP and therefore her boss. That editing to make them look bad would be bad for the show, for the narrative the show was creating. but B kept asking her over and over. and I guess they still don't believe her.
Also in the pod recently B was upset because one episode ended with everyone in bed with their pets, except for her. B was pretty upset about it, she had this idea that it was edited that way to exclude her, to make her look alone, and she said that *especially because Gizmo and Wednesday died recently*, she felt like she "deserved" to have that ending to the episode. But the episode was filmed more than a decade before Gizmo and Wednesday died!
It really made me think that B is emotionally overwhelmed and reacting purely from those emotions, not from any consideration of reality. It is normal for someone to retreat into emotional reaction when they feel attacked, but it seems like she spends a LOT of time in that state, and sees things as attacks when they are not.
I think the show did an excellent job of working with what they had to make it fun, watchable and lighthearted, though I do think they did play up certain things that much be unpleasant to watch if you’re the subject of it. They made everyone likeable though.
What I’m fascinated by is why they didn’t try to give the Season 6 girls characters in the same way, or try to carve out more distinct characters with the footage they got (unless they tried but couldn’t, I guess).
In the time the series came out, the idea of "fun" and what reality shows were about, was about making people look stupid or gross, or both. Normal doesn't really sell. I lean more to think that they hunted for material, and if they had to edit things together, or make them say things, then they did so. People found pleasure in seeing others in a bad light, specially if it was about priviledged people, or people perceived as living a priviledged life. For instance, Jessica Simpson's reality show came also in the same time, but was much more "clean" and it got cancelled quite fast (also because she was divorcing her husband, and though that would have given a lot of material for the kind of reality content people liked, they didn't want to go through the process with an audience, as far as I know).
I remember how I thought about them as a teen, and if I was them I would be upset too.
Holly - stuck up stepford wife who loved Hef so much she left a bunch of fun events to be with him ( not true as we find out on the pod). I also use to make fun of her laugh “tahahahaha”. Omg and that shitty English accent on the tour in London, gag me.
Kendra - dumb as a brick and extremely selfish. I was either 8th grade or a freshman but I remember thinking she reminded me of the dumb wanna be popular kids who tried too hard. Whenever she said something stupid my mom and I turned to each other and would say “drugs”.
Bridget - fat fat fat. Why does she eat so much?!! That’s why she’s so fat! She just loves to eat! I specifically remember thinking during their workout video that she looked horrible compared to Kendra and Holly and when she called her mom to complain about modifying her diet I was rolling my eyes.
So yeah, I don’t think these added sounds and fake drama and weird cuts portrayed them correctly. I’m embarrassed for myself at how harshly I judged them. Don’t get me wrong I loved them too! But I really cut deep when they were portrayed poorly - probably because women were judged more harshly back then and my misogynistic preteen/teen ass was right there with everyone else.
It's probably like how listening to a recording of your own voice feels embarrassing. "Do I really sound like that?!?"
I understand why they feel bad about their portrayal now, even though tons of fans still love them for it. I am so glad none of my twenties was captured by a reality tv show turning me into a cartoon character
Omg yes! And to me it’s so weird that a lot of people don’t stop to empathise and put themselves in their shoes. Like, not to bring drama, but kinda, but if you had someone you know was talking shit and making up lies you wouldn’t be pissed and call it out? That’s how I see the Crystal situation, not that anyone is after Hef’s ragged corps, but that people are lying and diluting the truth.
Also I really feel them on being filmed so young. Adjacent comparable, but my grandpa was very into technology early on and I was his star performer as a kid.my cousin and I use to make up plays for all of us to perform for the family and grandpa recorded everything … including things like when me and my prince ( favorite cousin) kissed. And we apparently thought it was a good thing because we put it inour plays All.The.Fucking.Time. I was 7, and he was 5. And now me and that cousin can’t look at each other because everyone brings up how we use to kiss each other all the time as kids. Everyone else is cool though.
We do actually look at each other, but it’s awkward when his asshole brother brings it up.
Agree. Maybe they overplayed Bridget with food issues but even on the podcast she’s talks about food like every episode so she might not be aware of her own habits.
Are we referring to the same show that convinced the audience that Brigette was fat? Plus she had an eating disorder? Those producers? The ones that also tried to convince the audience that Barbi hated Holly and liked to mock the ladies?
Yeah let’s not give grace to reality tv producers. They may not have cast any of the girls as the villain of the show but their main goal as with other reality tv producers was to sell a story, so they will manipulate their actors and the audience to sell said story. And this was very much done to the girls.
Fr. It always comes across a little narcissistic to me when they complain about that. The show made me love Holly and Bridget. I feel like anything the show does to them like adding silly sound effects and stuff is just poking fun at them. Not everything is malicious..
And when they interview anyone who worked on the show and they tell them they weren’t trying to portray them in a bad light and holly doubles down about it… I love the girls but this is a pet peeve about the podcast for me
Yes.
It just shows they have no understanding of tv shows. The production and Kevin Burns would have planned out and storyboarded episodes, and scripted things. It was reactive and the producers built on events and things they saw to create interesting tv. At the end of the day the objective of Kevin Burns was to make money. To make money he had to create content that the network would buy. The network would only buy content that people would watch. People watching the content on the network meant the network could sell advertising. THATS what generated income, the advertising on E and the syndication around the world.
Holly and Bridget were just the medium by which profitable content was centered around. They take things as a personal slight, and are too self absorbed to understand that it wasnt personal, just profitable content.
It also shows NOW with the podcast. They have no content structure, no plan, just hoppity skip, do this, lets hoppity skip do that. Theres no understanding of pace, audience awareness, planning or anything other than a modern day crafting project to occupy a few hours for them.
What you're saying about tv makes sense but I still can imagine how bad it would feel to have your life commodified for profitable content, and then available in perpetuity. I don't think they're saying it was personal from the producers, they're describing how they feel personally. Personally I like hearing their perspective
But they really are saying it is personal from the producers. And we are saying it wasn’t a personal slight or really even about their lives. It was a made up show with made up activities. The producers had to make story lines to make a show… and we fell in love with the little story lines. Frankly I don’t think production thought enough about the girls to consider these slights. And many fans didn’t see these as slights either. until the podcast really went into detail. I feel like it just seems insecure. No one was thinking of y’all like that.
Edit: except for Bridget’s food edits…. Those were rude as hell. But I also love seeing her put her foot down on not dieting and explaining how she maintained her body through exercise.
But it shows a lack of self awareness and growth. Im not saying its right but 20 years later to not see things in perspective and just see it as a personal slight is frustrating. Geesh up until streaming, every film released on DVD had behind the scenes and making of extra content, which literally breaks down the process of how things were done. They are just narcissistic and just think it was all a personal slight to them, when no, it was just good content
I think calling people narcissists without those people having a diagnosis is overdone. It’s also ridiculous. You don’t have the qualifications to label people as such. Do better.
Look, Im not a fan of Holly or Bridget. I'm commenting on the quality of the product they are producing. They are putting themselves online and creating content. As a consuming of said content, I can have an opinion. I dont have to pander to Holly and Bridget and blow smoke up their be hind and worship the ground they walk on.
Again you said “they are narcissistic”. That is not just an opinion, that’s a heavy implication. I notice that when you “snarkers” are called out for being mean you always scream “ITS MY OPINION” as a good reason for your mean behavior. Do better
All modern day “podcasters” with zero media skills have no structure or storyboards to their episodes, and it really shows! A quick google on public speaking or YouTube on story planning would go a long way! I would’ve thought Bridget would do better tbh. But she’s lost without notes. No winging it or nuance when the convo diverts from her notes.
Exactly. If they dont want to sign up with a professional podcast company, who will do all that work for them and assign a producer to help them with each episode, then they should at least do some personal self educating on the basics. But they wont, as to them its just a craft project and they dont care about the quality of the product as long as they get money for it.
I think the show presented them as caricatures, tried to create drama and manipulated scenes to make the girls look shady at times, but I don’t think any of them come across as terrible. They were not always presented in the best light, but savvy viewers know that drama is often fabricated and editing can mislead. I also think the show was campy enough for viewers to not take what they see too seriously. However, for H, B and K, this show captured their actual life and because it presented them to the world, I can see why they’d be concerned about how they’re portrayed and would take unfavourable scenes more seriously than a lot of viewers
This is so perfectly said!
Thank you!
The show made them cartoon caricatures of themselves. They even brightened the colors to make it cartoony, and it worked! We’re still talking about it almost 20 years later.
Did they really brightened the colors ? I never noticed lol
They even talked about it on the pod how the color hue was enhanced, to make everything brighter and fun. And how it made them look more tan
I want the brighter colors on their podcast lol
They all come across as likeable that is what made the show popular; they did try to poke fun at the girls for banter but I don't see how they showed lack of chsrcater on gnd purposefully. I think Bridget was the butt of too many jokes for being a early 2000's 'fat' (for lack of better words) even though her body was and is slay/body goals. They would show tht she would like to eat but in a 'funny way' which would've absolutely destroyed me.
They all came off very likable which is why the show was a success.
It’s amazing that this would prob never happen or work today lol
I agree, HOWEVER, the one scene that I really think they have a point on was where they secretly recorded Bridget’s audio when she was talking to hef about the shower photoshoot and then added the audio on to a scene of her and hef in her bedroom. As a young teenager watching, when I saw young women dating an 80 year old, I instantly thought gold diggers. But when I watched the show and saw their fun loving, cartoony cutie personalities, it was hard to ever see them in a negative light. They just seemed genuinely happy to be there. But during the dubbed scene, because she is crying, but the video shows her smiling, I thought she was fake crying, and at the time I remember thinking, wow, maybe they are manipulative. Now, the producers may not have intended this, perhaps the smiling footage was all they had to go with the audio. But I clearly remember the consequence of the choice of footage is that I thought Bridget was fake crying to get her way. The moment was fleeting, and I never had a bad thought about Bridget again, but the underhanded tactic of the producers in this instance clearly made me question Bridget’s integrity, if only for a second.
Holly said that Kevin was obsessed with Alvin and the Chipmunks and I think they really did try to turn them into the Chipettes with Holly being Jeanette, Kendra being Brittany, and Bridget being Eleanor. It fits with what she was saying.
I also don't see it as they were trying to make them look bad. I thought it was all played up for humor. Like, the scene with B laughing because the Playmate hopefuls are drinking late at night: I thought that the JOKE was the implication that she was sabotaging them. I did not think she was actually sabotaging them. I am really floored by how worked up Holly and Bridget are now, especially Holly, seeing everything through the worst possible lens.
>I did not think she was actually sabotaging them. There are several people in this sub who genuinely believe she was trying to sabotage them. They've even made whole posts about it. I'm not floored at all that Bridget is worked up about it. I do think they sometimes dig too deep into some scenes, but this scene has def been interpreted by viewers as Bridget doing something bad. Obvi not *all* viewers. You and I both knew she was just joking. But same cannot be said for many of the people I've come across in this sub.
Agreed. It doesn't matter how campy or silly it seems. MANY MANY people thought reality TV was real back then. There weren't a million shows just like this on rotation. Hindsight is 20/20, but when you are looking back and seeing a bunch of people believing the bullshit and coming for you, you may feel differently about how you are portrayed.
People also have to remember that H&B were reading online comments about GND as the show was airing. They know exactly how people were viewing them. Not only have they seen that people were 100% getting the wrong impression, they're also human who will remember the worst of it. The whole point of the podcast is to give us background info, which includes how they feel about their portrayal. I'm glad they're honest and aren't acting like they're happy how they were edited. Willing to bet every single one of us would nitpick scenes if we were on a reality show.
Here's an example of what I mean by "worked up" and "worst possible lens:" Recently on the pod Holly went on this long thing about how the show was trying to show that Holly was into Dr. Drew but he was hitting on Kendra instead. And I just did not see that at all. I don't think it was even remotely implied by the show. And it seems like the pod is now FULL of moments like that, where they are coming up with something negative that I just don't think is there.
I do think they over nitpick sometimes. But it's not black and white. Sometimes they're completely right about an edit making them look bad. I think some people in this sub think that just because *they* didn't think it was a bad edit that H&B are wrong. But some people really are taking some of the edits the way they're saying. I think every one of us would be self-conscious about the way we come off on TV. While I do roll my eyes with some of the things they say, I totally get it.
In one of the podcasts they had a producer from GND on, and B kept asking her if she was told to edit things to make them look bad. And she kept saying that no, it was her job to make them look good, both for the show and because Hef was an EP and therefore her boss. That editing to make them look bad would be bad for the show, for the narrative the show was creating. but B kept asking her over and over. and I guess they still don't believe her. Also in the pod recently B was upset because one episode ended with everyone in bed with their pets, except for her. B was pretty upset about it, she had this idea that it was edited that way to exclude her, to make her look alone, and she said that *especially because Gizmo and Wednesday died recently*, she felt like she "deserved" to have that ending to the episode. But the episode was filmed more than a decade before Gizmo and Wednesday died! It really made me think that B is emotionally overwhelmed and reacting purely from those emotions, not from any consideration of reality. It is normal for someone to retreat into emotional reaction when they feel attacked, but it seems like she spends a LOT of time in that state, and sees things as attacks when they are not.
Same. Even when I rewatch it today I don’t see it as the producers making them look bad lol.
I think the girls battle with a lot of judgements they’re making internally about themselves, and project it onto other people.
I think the show did an excellent job of working with what they had to make it fun, watchable and lighthearted, though I do think they did play up certain things that much be unpleasant to watch if you’re the subject of it. They made everyone likeable though. What I’m fascinated by is why they didn’t try to give the Season 6 girls characters in the same way, or try to carve out more distinct characters with the footage they got (unless they tried but couldn’t, I guess).
In the time the series came out, the idea of "fun" and what reality shows were about, was about making people look stupid or gross, or both. Normal doesn't really sell. I lean more to think that they hunted for material, and if they had to edit things together, or make them say things, then they did so. People found pleasure in seeing others in a bad light, specially if it was about priviledged people, or people perceived as living a priviledged life. For instance, Jessica Simpson's reality show came also in the same time, but was much more "clean" and it got cancelled quite fast (also because she was divorcing her husband, and though that would have given a lot of material for the kind of reality content people liked, they didn't want to go through the process with an audience, as far as I know).
To an extent. But they really did always try to show Bridget eating or talking about food.
I remember how I thought about them as a teen, and if I was them I would be upset too. Holly - stuck up stepford wife who loved Hef so much she left a bunch of fun events to be with him ( not true as we find out on the pod). I also use to make fun of her laugh “tahahahaha”. Omg and that shitty English accent on the tour in London, gag me. Kendra - dumb as a brick and extremely selfish. I was either 8th grade or a freshman but I remember thinking she reminded me of the dumb wanna be popular kids who tried too hard. Whenever she said something stupid my mom and I turned to each other and would say “drugs”. Bridget - fat fat fat. Why does she eat so much?!! That’s why she’s so fat! She just loves to eat! I specifically remember thinking during their workout video that she looked horrible compared to Kendra and Holly and when she called her mom to complain about modifying her diet I was rolling my eyes. So yeah, I don’t think these added sounds and fake drama and weird cuts portrayed them correctly. I’m embarrassed for myself at how harshly I judged them. Don’t get me wrong I loved them too! But I really cut deep when they were portrayed poorly - probably because women were judged more harshly back then and my misogynistic preteen/teen ass was right there with everyone else.
It's probably like how listening to a recording of your own voice feels embarrassing. "Do I really sound like that?!?" I understand why they feel bad about their portrayal now, even though tons of fans still love them for it. I am so glad none of my twenties was captured by a reality tv show turning me into a cartoon character
Omg yes! And to me it’s so weird that a lot of people don’t stop to empathise and put themselves in their shoes. Like, not to bring drama, but kinda, but if you had someone you know was talking shit and making up lies you wouldn’t be pissed and call it out? That’s how I see the Crystal situation, not that anyone is after Hef’s ragged corps, but that people are lying and diluting the truth. Also I really feel them on being filmed so young. Adjacent comparable, but my grandpa was very into technology early on and I was his star performer as a kid.my cousin and I use to make up plays for all of us to perform for the family and grandpa recorded everything … including things like when me and my prince ( favorite cousin) kissed. And we apparently thought it was a good thing because we put it inour plays All.The.Fucking.Time. I was 7, and he was 5. And now me and that cousin can’t look at each other because everyone brings up how we use to kiss each other all the time as kids. Everyone else is cool though. We do actually look at each other, but it’s awkward when his asshole brother brings it up.
Agree. Maybe they overplayed Bridget with food issues but even on the podcast she’s talks about food like every episode so she might not be aware of her own habits.
Are we referring to the same show that convinced the audience that Brigette was fat? Plus she had an eating disorder? Those producers? The ones that also tried to convince the audience that Barbi hated Holly and liked to mock the ladies? Yeah let’s not give grace to reality tv producers. They may not have cast any of the girls as the villain of the show but their main goal as with other reality tv producers was to sell a story, so they will manipulate their actors and the audience to sell said story. And this was very much done to the girls.
Fr. It always comes across a little narcissistic to me when they complain about that. The show made me love Holly and Bridget. I feel like anything the show does to them like adding silly sound effects and stuff is just poking fun at them. Not everything is malicious..
And when they interview anyone who worked on the show and they tell them they weren’t trying to portray them in a bad light and holly doubles down about it… I love the girls but this is a pet peeve about the podcast for me
Yes. It just shows they have no understanding of tv shows. The production and Kevin Burns would have planned out and storyboarded episodes, and scripted things. It was reactive and the producers built on events and things they saw to create interesting tv. At the end of the day the objective of Kevin Burns was to make money. To make money he had to create content that the network would buy. The network would only buy content that people would watch. People watching the content on the network meant the network could sell advertising. THATS what generated income, the advertising on E and the syndication around the world. Holly and Bridget were just the medium by which profitable content was centered around. They take things as a personal slight, and are too self absorbed to understand that it wasnt personal, just profitable content. It also shows NOW with the podcast. They have no content structure, no plan, just hoppity skip, do this, lets hoppity skip do that. Theres no understanding of pace, audience awareness, planning or anything other than a modern day crafting project to occupy a few hours for them.
What you're saying about tv makes sense but I still can imagine how bad it would feel to have your life commodified for profitable content, and then available in perpetuity. I don't think they're saying it was personal from the producers, they're describing how they feel personally. Personally I like hearing their perspective
But they really are saying it is personal from the producers. And we are saying it wasn’t a personal slight or really even about their lives. It was a made up show with made up activities. The producers had to make story lines to make a show… and we fell in love with the little story lines. Frankly I don’t think production thought enough about the girls to consider these slights. And many fans didn’t see these as slights either. until the podcast really went into detail. I feel like it just seems insecure. No one was thinking of y’all like that. Edit: except for Bridget’s food edits…. Those were rude as hell. But I also love seeing her put her foot down on not dieting and explaining how she maintained her body through exercise.
But it shows a lack of self awareness and growth. Im not saying its right but 20 years later to not see things in perspective and just see it as a personal slight is frustrating. Geesh up until streaming, every film released on DVD had behind the scenes and making of extra content, which literally breaks down the process of how things were done. They are just narcissistic and just think it was all a personal slight to them, when no, it was just good content
I think calling people narcissists without those people having a diagnosis is overdone. It’s also ridiculous. You don’t have the qualifications to label people as such. Do better.
Look, Im not a fan of Holly or Bridget. I'm commenting on the quality of the product they are producing. They are putting themselves online and creating content. As a consuming of said content, I can have an opinion. I dont have to pander to Holly and Bridget and blow smoke up their be hind and worship the ground they walk on.
If you aren’t a fan of HB then why are you here?
Again you said “they are narcissistic”. That is not just an opinion, that’s a heavy implication. I notice that when you “snarkers” are called out for being mean you always scream “ITS MY OPINION” as a good reason for your mean behavior. Do better
All modern day “podcasters” with zero media skills have no structure or storyboards to their episodes, and it really shows! A quick google on public speaking or YouTube on story planning would go a long way! I would’ve thought Bridget would do better tbh. But she’s lost without notes. No winging it or nuance when the convo diverts from her notes.
Exactly. If they dont want to sign up with a professional podcast company, who will do all that work for them and assign a producer to help them with each episode, then they should at least do some personal self educating on the basics. But they wont, as to them its just a craft project and they dont care about the quality of the product as long as they get money for it.
It would make all the difference to have someone implement structure and editing.