Varun Patel
One thing that television is good at, is making us desire things that might be unrealistic or a tad bit out of our reach. The perfect, cheesy sitcom relationship, for instance, or a flawless body, you name it. Ironically, “reality” television shows heighten our want for such unrealistic things the most. ‘Bethenny and Fredrik’ is a home-makeover reality show that does exactly that by stroking our super-rich fantasies.
Home improvement shows have enjoyed significant popularity ever since ‘This Old House’ showed viewers the delight of watching a house being remodeled for the first time. After that, multiple shows with such an idea have emerged and a lot of them have found success.
Some focus on providing home-makeovers at a limited budget, while others like ‘Grand Designs’ are more ambitious in their scope. ‘Bethenny and Fredrik’ takes the premise up a notch by focusing on remodeling multi-million dollar properties into ultra-luxurious spaces for affluent buyers.
Bethenny Frankel is a prominent entrepreneur known for kickstarting the Skinnygirl Cocktails, a spirit brand. She gained wider prominence for starring in ‘Real Housewives of New York City,’ ‘Bethenny Ever After’ and ‘Bethenny.’ On the other hand, Fredrik Eklund is a successful real-estate broker who is renowned for starring in ‘Million Dollar Listing New York’ which depicts the lives of three luxury real estate agents. Apart from being successful entrepreneurs, Frankel and Eklund are also close friends.
Highly ambitious, the two of them turn out to be a compatible pair for a television series that focuses on remodeling highly valued properties. Together, they begin by scouting properties with the potential to be converted into luxurious homes, that could make a huge profit. After finding and buying a suitable property, they start to redesign it.
Both of them often have varying ideas and a lot of the show’s drama is derived from their disagreements. For instance, Bethenny tends to get quite controlling at times while Fredrik has an almost impractical love for white marble. Moreover, Bethenny tends to consider the budget and financial viability of their remodeling projects a lot and Fredrik, on the other hand, gives more weightage to luxury.
The show has been moderately received, as per ratings, but the fact that reality television shows generally get rated relatively lesser on the website must be considered before judging it.
Bethenny and Fredrik Season 2 Release Date: Cancelled or Renewed
‘Bethenny and Fredrik’ Season 1 premiered on February 6, 2018, and ended on March 20, 2018. In all likelihood, ‘Bethenny and Fredrik’ Season 2 stands canceled due to a deteriorating relationship between Bethenny and Fredrik.
While Bethenny and Fredrik’s disagreements certainly added tons of drama, they were extremely intense. Many times, they would turn into full-fledged verbal spats. Several reports have emerged about how Fredrik was quite affected by and had had enough of Bethenny’s controlling attitude. Bethenny has become somewhat infamous for not treating other members of the cast and crew members well, on her previous television shows also.
That being said, Bethenny and Fredrik’s disagreements have not affected their friendship. In fact, Fredrik reportedly believes that not working with Bethenny will just ensure that they remain friends. However, these are just speculations. There haven’t been any confirmed reports about the show’s cancellation. And there are very high chances that this could be a publicity stunt, a way to garner more attention for an upcoming season.
Reality television shows have been notoriously known for deriving drama out of (sometimes petty) squabbles of the cast members. Moreover, both the entrepreneurs have very busy schedules and the pre-production and production phase for season one of ‘Bethenny and Fredrik’ took a long time because of that. Hence, the show might actually return if things work out. Its first season did receive fairly favorable reviews and ratings are not one of the concerns that might affect the show’s continuation.
Read More: Best Netflix Home Improvement Shows
