‘Real Housewives of Atlanta’ preview: What to expect from Kandi Burruss, Phaedra Parks in premiere

Atlanta -Sunday night is going to be an eventful one for Bravo, given that “The Real Housewives of Atlanta” is finally kicking off a new batch of episodes!

The first thing that we should do here is address some of the changes that happening with the show in its ninth season. First and foremost, the cast: Kim Fields is no longer a cast member, and Sheree Whitfield is getting a full-time promotion. NeNe Leakes is also nowhere to be seen after making her presence felt near the end of season 8. There’s a slightly different dynamic coming up as a result of all this, but we’ve seen much bigger changes in the franchise in the past. There’s no real new kid on the block this time, so from that vantage point everyone will be starting things off this time on a relatively-even playing field.

As for the story of the premiere, we’ll be picking things up with Kandi Burruss getting adjusted to having a new child while relationships change for Phaedra Parks and Cynthia Bailey. By the end of the episode, there’ll also be some trademark fighting between some of the ladies, as hinted at further by the synopsis for this first episode on the air:

“Kandi and Todd juggle parenting as Kenya and Sheree inch closer to completing their homes. Phaedra ponders the idea of dating again, while Cynthia’s marriage to Peter reaches a point of no return. Porsha is forced to take a look in the mirror and Kenya invites some of the ladies over to celebrate. Sheree is shocked by what she sees at Kenya’s soiree.”

Why can’t anyone have a soiree where everything goes according to plan? Maybe that’s not “good” TV, but at this point we’d find something wonderfully entertaining in having everyone chill out and have a good time; the entertainment would come solely out of anticipation for some sort of crazy moment that never happens. Also, we typically enjoy the “Real Housewives” franchise most when the ladies are rolling around in all the money, diamonds and furs they have and give us an escape into a fabulous life we could never afford.

Below, you can see the introductions to each one of the Housewives for the season. Sure, some of them are insanely corny (see Sheree), but it’s a show tradition.

We’ll be covering “The Real Housewives of Atlanta” all season long at this link, so stay tuned for further updates. (Photo: Bravo.)

Love TV? Be sure to like Matt & Jess on Facebook for more updates!