Hilarious might be one word to describe the situation over at the VH1 series ‘Basketball Wives LA‘.
Introduced as the sister show of the series ‘Basketball Wives Miami’, the series’ cast was shaken up by the arrival of ‘Miami’ wives Shaunie O’Neal and Tami Roman during its fourth season.
Why they were forced to abandon their own ship?
The departure of its leading lady and ratings-puller Evelyn Lozada.
This season, with Lozada back in the mix, the aforementioned Roman and O’Neal front a revamped version of the LA-based series sans some of the ladies who carried it prior to their intrusion.
So, why has the situation become hilarious? The ratings boost brought about by Brandi Maxiell, a ‘Wife’ O’Neal has spent three seasons trying to fire.
On April 17th, the show’s season six premiere pulled in 2.61 million viewers who tuned in to catch Lozada’s long-awaited return to the lowbrow fray.
However, by May 7th (only four episodes into the cycle) that number slipped to a worryingly low 650,000 as storylines fronted by O’Neal and the gang failed to sustain its high.
This is where things get interesting.
For, the following episode saw the show soar to the 1.8 million viewers point followed by another which swam to the 1.9 million mark.
What (or who) saved it from its slump?
Undoubtedly unimpressed by her “dismissal”, a total of 3,790,000 viewers tuned in to catch Maxiell’s comeback episodes between May 8th and May 15th.
Hilarious, as she is only credited as a recurring character on the show.