New show Dallas Divas & Daughters is real-life version of Mean Girls

by Sarah Blaskovich

Ralph Lauer/Style Network

Here are your five rich girls: Laura, Hannah, Chanel, Courtney, and Jacky. But just to make things interesting, the show suggests that Jacky, on the far right, isn't actually rich.

Reality TV has invaded five ritzy households in Dallas in the new reality show Dallas Divas & Daughters on the Style Network. The 30-minute show follows the gossip sessions, ladies lunches, and soirees of mother-daughter duos in the big D, showing all the world just how much class money can buy.

Even before it all begins, the show it set up for girl drama. There are four sets of Dallas families who apparently really have the money to be buying their daughters Hummers for their 16th birthdays and Prada heels. They are: Pamela and Hannah, “the aristocrats”; Kenya and Chanel, “the princesses”; Cindy and Courtney, “the heartbreakers”; and Brenda and Laura, “the debutantes.” But then there's Patricia and Jacky, “the wannabes.” While they live in the Highland Park area and wear all the fancy clothing, Patricia and Jacky live in an apartment. Add to that, they're chronically late to every high society function (when they're invited) and Patricia is accused by other mom Pamela for always wearing (gasp!) bad make-up.

Let the fun begin.

The season premiere on Sunday, Oct. 4 showed the four mother-daughter groups getting along quite well as they waited for punctually-challenged Patricia and Jacky. The event this week was an afternoon at the Las Colinas Polo Club set up by Pamela, who informs us in an on-camera interview, “We've definitely earned our place in Dallas' high society.”

Most of the women are donning outrageous hats and fancy dresses, purchased from Dallas shops Tootsies and Terry Costa. Mom Cindy, who has been married three times and has the most outrageous Dallas hair on the show, is on the prowl. She tells us “she almost exclusively dates losers,” but is later seen flirting with the 20-something foreign polo player.

Ralph Lauer/Style Network

Brenda, Laura, Courtney, and Cindy gather at the Las Colinas Polo Club. Cindy, on the far right, tells us she "almost exclusively dates losers."

Meanwhile, daughter Chanel is trying to act cool around her mom, who she says desperately wants to be her friend and it's soo weird. Chanel is full of fun high school catchphrases, like this one to her mom: “If you wear gloves, I don't think I'm going to talk to you.”

During the polo game, the ladies are politely schmoozing and gossiping about “the wannabes,” who have yet to show. When they finally do, Pamela loudly mentions how rude it is to be late to one of the other moms. “You can't come two hours late to an event. Otherwise, people stop inviting you,” Pamela says. Fifteen minutes is as late as you can be; that's called southern grace, she says. You should be writing this stuff down.

The episode comes to a close rather quickly – you can't get much done in a 30-minute reality show – as mom Brenda calls Patricia “superficial” and a few other moms follow suit. Her daughter Laura's advice at the very beginning of the show couldn't be more true by the end: “There's a huge difference – don't forget it – between being spoiled and acting spoiled.”