7 Days In a McMansion: The Making of Hulu’s ‘Real Housewives’ Spoof ‘The Hotwives of Orlando’

Casey Wilson, Kristen Schaal, and Angela Kinsey headline series tearing Bravo down to the core with Paul Scheer as an Andy Cohen-like punctuation mark

Screaming is going streaming.

“The Hotwives of Orlando,” a full parody season of Bravo’s money-machine comes to Hulu on July 15.

On Tuesday night, the cast, crew, producers, Paramount Digital Entertainment, and Hulu celebrated with a double-episode premiere at the Sherry Lansing Theatre on the Paramount Lot.

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Bucking the the hierarchy of other Hollywood premieres, writers Dannah Phirman and Danielle Schneider gave the opening remarks: “Welcome to the Arclight,” they deadpanned.

A cardboard cutout of executive producer Paul Scheer stood in for the real thing until he arrived late. Jack McBrayer and guests in t-shirts and hoodies added to the un-Housewives vibe, a booze-free taco-truck and sodas affair that drew a refreshing contrast from the lubricated hysteria on-screen.

On-screen, the apotheosis of profanity in the west-central-Florida fantasy class was telling someone to “calm down.” Off-screen, the friends-and-family troupe from producers Abominable Pictures were already pretty calm.

The
The “Hotwives”: Kristen Schaal, Tymberlee Hill, actor/writer Danielle Schneider, executive producer Jonathan Stern, actor/writer Dannah Phirman, Andrea Savage and Casey Wilson. Angela Kinsey, playing a sequined cocktail dress version of her “The Office” character was in absentia. (Getty Images)

Except for hiring a one-man second unit shooter (who they never met) to pick off b-roll in Orlando, director Alex Fernie shot the series in Santa Clarita in a neighborhood of half finished “McMansions”.  Due to talent scheduling, budgetary concerns, and the material calling predominantly for group scenes, they shot seven thirty-minute episodes in seven days.

Your move, “Louie.”

Paramount Digital Entertainment President Amy Powell and EP Jonathan Stern outside the Sherry Lansing Theatre. (Getty Images)
Paramount Digital Entertainment President Amy Powell and EP Jonathan Stern outside the Sherry Lansing Theatre. (Getty Images)

After the screening, the first non-edit bay viewing for the team, executive producer Jonathan Stern told TheWrap he’s just been happy to keep his spoof-troupe together for so many productions. The Apatowian-tribe has previously carved up the acronym-overdosed crime procedural genre (“NTSF:SD:SUV”), “The Bachelor “(“Burning Love”), and medical dramas (“Children’s Hospital”).

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In “Hotwives”, Tymberlee Hill as Phe Phe Reed is the breakout.  She’ll be a much bigger name by the fall when NBC comedy “Marry Me” premieres, where she stars with fellow “Hotwife” Casey Wilson and spoof veteran Ken Marino. NBC has it slated for October.

By then, it will probably be too late to wrangle her back for the logical progression: Phe Phe’s parody spinoff “I Dream of Phe Phe.”

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