Stream It Or Skip It: ‘Vanderpump Rules’ Season 12 On Bravo, Where A Dying Franchise Undergoes A Complete Cast Shakeup

Raise your glasses high, because a new group of SUR-vers is about to start the best days of their lives. Vanderpump Rules Season 12 is finally premiering on Bravo tonight with an entirely new cast at the helm. Gone are the days of Tom Sandoval, Tom Schwartz, Scheana Shay, and Katie Maloney, who starred in the show’s first 11 seasons. Now, the network has brought in some fresher faces to revive what could be considered by some to be a dying franchise. So, how did the new cast do in the premiere episode? Keep reading for our thoughts!

VANDERPUMP RULES SEASON 12: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?

Opening Shot: The opening scene brings us right back to SUR, with Lisa Vanderpump checking in on her staff and patrons, showing that while the OGs were no longer working in her establishment in the last few seasons of Vanderpump Rules, things in the restaurant never slowed down.

The Gist: In 2013, a little show called Vanderpump Rules premiered on Bravo. It followed a group of tight-knit waitresses and bartenders who worked for then-Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star Lisa Vanderpump at her West Hollywood restaurant, SUR. After 11 seasons, that cast finally ran its course and Bravo decided to reboot the show with an entirely new group of young employees who work at Vanderpump’s restaurant. Enter Season 12…

What Shows Will This Remind You Of? This may seem pretty obvious, but this show will remind you of the early seasons of Vanderpump Rules, when messy relationships, drinking on the job, and SUR back alley fights oftentimes took precedent over their actual jobs.

Our Take: Having come off of 11 seasons of pure, unadulterated chaos from the OG cast of Vanderpump Rules, I was convinced that a new cast would anger me more than it would entertain me. But as much as I love the original version of this show, there’s no denying that it was running on “e” for its final few seasons. With Stassi Schroeder, Kristen Doute, Jax Taylor, and Brittany Cartwright getting the boot after Season 8, Season 9 was practically a wash. Let’s be honest, did anyone really care about James Kennedy’s proposal to Raquel Leviss? I didn’t! Yet, somehow, the show was renewed for Season 10, which was only saved by Scandoval, the history-making affair between Tom Sandoval and Leviss. It made sense that the show would come back for Season 11 to capture the full aftermath of that mess, but as the episodes went on, it became inherently clear that this once tight-knit group of friends—none of whom worked at SUR anymore, by the way—were actually, for the most part, not friends at all. With the exception of certain duos, they started to feel less like people who had something in common and more like strangers who showed up to do a job and go on with their lives afterward. Needless to say, it was time for a shakeup—and that bittersweet Season 11 ending gave fans, like myself, the closure we needed to put a pin in that chapter.

With that being said, I have high hopes for the Season 12 cast. For one, we’re going back to where it all started: SUR. While it initially felt strange to not see Lala Kent at the hostess stand, Scheana Shay taking orders, or Doute smoking a cigarette in the back alley, there was an odd familiarity to it all, even with completely new people steering the ship. Servers are still sneaking shots in the kitchen, the SUR dating pool still feels vaguely incestuous, and Lisa Vanderpump is still holding her staff’s feet to the fire. The 10 main cast members primarily consist of budding models and actors, some of whom are compared to the likes of Robert De Niro and Ryan Gosling. Their egos are big, the drama is messy, and while it may be hard not to compare them to the original cast, they certainly deserve a standing chance. If Vanderpump knows one thing, it’s how to cast a show, and I am putting full trust in her to deliver a reboot that fans will actually want to watch (no shade, RHONY). I know I’m interested in finding out what happens next!

Sleeper Star: The premiere episode sets Natalie Maguire up to be a tried and true star of this reboot. As somewhat of a Crazy Kristen 2.0, Natalie is not afraid to confront an ex in the workplace or date someone who once belonged to her friend. She’s honest, she’s confident, and she’s bound to cause a lot of chaos on this season of Vanderpump Rules.

Sex and Skin? As of now, there is no sex and skin. But when you get a group of good-looking aspiring models and actors working together for too long, something naughty is bound to happen eventually!

Most Pilot-y Line: Per Marcus Johnson, “Working in SUR is a fucking playground for me. You gotta keep it interesting or else we’re just serving tables.” Some things never change!

Our Call: STREAM IT. We’ve only seen one episode, so it’s hard to say whether this new cast will actually resonate with the audience. But from what’s been shown so far, they certainly seem to have potential.

Vanderpump Rules Season 12 premieres on Tuesday, Dec. 2 at 9 p.m. ET/PT on Bravo. New episodes are available to stream the next day on Peacock.