“It Was Threadbare”: An Oral History Of Watch What Happens Live

Fifteen years ago, Andy Cohen sat down with Real Housewives of New Jersey star Danielle Staub to debut a new show on Bravo. He’d spent much of the first half of 2009 preparing for this moment, and as the clock struck midnight, it was his make-or-break moment. The cameras started rolling, but the question remained: Would viewers like Watch What Happens Live?

“We were this ridiculous, low-budget show. I used my famous friends as guinea pigs in the early days,” Cohen tells Bustle, referring to folks like Sarah Jessica Parker, who called in for the premiere episode. “I wanted to prove WWHL could be something big; luckily, people immediately responded to it.”

Flash-forward to today, and WWHL has become both a Bravo juggernaut and late-night staple. The once-weekly show now airs five nights a week, is a continued ratings success — 13.9 million total viewers watched in 2023 — and has hosted the likes of Hillary Clinton, Cher, and Lady Gaga, among other “Bravolebrities,” who stop by Cohen’s “Clubhouse” to gab about all things pop culture and the network’s latest gossip.

Before launching the show, Cohen was working as the senior vice president of Bravo programming and wrote the aptly titled Andy’s Blog for BravoTV.com. His voicey commentary on Bravo content led to a 2007 web show named after the network’s tagline, Watch What Happens.

“It served as an after-show to Top Chef, Project Runway, and other network shows,” Cohen says of the early-aughts digital series, which first filmed at CNBC in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, before moving to a digital studio in NYC’s Rockefeller Center. “It was an extension of my original blog.”

The web show ultimately caught the eye of British television producer Michael Davies, who helped bring the show to cable TV.

In honor of WWHL’s 15th anniversary, Cohen calls in — from his NYC apartment, which closely resembles the famed Bravo Clubhouse set in Soho, New York City — as do two executive producers, Deirdre Connolly and John Jude Schultz. Together, they pull back the curtain on the show’s early days, from the very first episode to chaotic behind-the-scenes moments.

Making It To TV

Michael Davies, the founder of the Embassy Row production company, saw potential in the WWHL web show. With Cohen’s blessing, he pitched a TV adaptation to Bravo, which green-lit the series in 2009 and brought Deirdre Connolly on board as showrunner.

Andy Cohen: Michael, a great producer who specializes in game shows like Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, watched me host a Flipping Out reunion and took me out to lunch at The Palm, where he told me, “I think you’re going to be a big TV star.” That was a big conversation for me. Afterward, he pitched a Watch What Happens TV show to Bravo. They asked me if I’d be open to trying it out, and I absolutely was.

Deirdre Connolly: It was the summer of 2009 and Bravo had given WWHL a 10-episode order. I had already worked as a live television producer on MTV’s TRL, so when Bravo said they wanted to go live at midnight just once a week, I was like, “Great, sign me up!”

Cohen: I can’t overstate how small our budget was. We had a tiny studio and office in Soho, and four or five people working on the show in total. Myself, Michael, Deirdre, a talent booker named Robyn Baum, and a supervising producer, Caissie St. Onge. It was threadbare.

Connolly: Caissie was very instrumental in creating the voice of the show. She really understood Andy’s humor.

Developing The Show

Before hitting the airwaves — and for a while after — the WWHL team continued developing the show’s clubhouse, format, and tone. In 2010, supervising producer John Jude Schultz joined the team.

Cohen: We knew we’d have a couple of guests and a lot of viewer interaction. I eventually came up with a framework of having a game, a Mazel, and a Jackhole for each episode. As for the show’s vibe, I looked to people like Graham Norton and Howard Stern, this weird public access series The Robin Byrd Show, and Playboy After Dark.

John Jude Schultz: We’ve always been lucky to have great executives at Bravo [like] Eli Lehrer. I can’t recall one note [from him] asking us to change anything we were developing.

Connolly: We had a lot of creative freedom because of Andy’s existing position at Bravo. We’d come up with games like Plead the Fifth, and if we thought [something] worked, we’d just run with it. Sometimes we’d come up with a funny game title first and figure out the actual mechanics of the game later on.

Schultz: Maintaining the interactive format from the web show was super important. We had viewer phone-ins that eventually became video calls, a robust live polling system, and we used Andy’s Mazel and Jackhole as a way to comment on current events in real time, whether it be politics or pop culture.

Connolly: The show’s format seemed to grow week by week. We didn’t start with a studio audience, for example. But after we had one, we thought, “Wait, why not have an audience every week?”

Schultz: The Shotski is another example of how the show found its feet over time. Jimmy Fallon brought it to the Clubhouse several years into the show, [and now it’s] a permanent fixture at the end of each episode’s first act, which has guests feeling a little loose.

Connolly: Andy also wanted the show to feel like he was hosting a cocktail party at his NYC apartment, where guests could come over to answer fun questions and be a little shady.

Cohen: I wanted the Clubhouse to look like my living room. I remember buying two chairs from a thrift store, thinking they looked perfect for a late-night talk show. I also knew we’d be drinking on the show. If I invited you over to my house at night, I would serve you a drink.

Connolly: I remember asking, “Are people allowed to drink alcohol on air?” I’d never heard of that before!

Cohen: Since I was in charge of programming at the network, I knew what we could and couldn’t get away with on air.

The First Live Show

WWHL was set to premiere at midnight on June 16, 2009. With the studio and format in place, Cohen, Connolly, and the rest of the team faced their biggest test of all — going live.

Cohen: There wasn’t a ton of pre-production for the first live taping. We rehearsed a lot, but ultimately, the show is live. You can’t really plan for that.

Connolly: The studio was so small and lacked proper air conditioning. Andy was sweating like crazy. The control room was also very tiny. I actually didn’t even have a seat; I had to stand the whole time in this crammed, horseshoe-shaped space.

Schultz: It was so tiny that it felt like we were working in the closet of a random office building in Soho.

Cohen: I was hot, but I wasn’t nervous. Looking back, I was surprisingly very calm and quite butch. I was trying to come across as super mellow and conversational to project authority, which is kind of incredible to me because I’m really hyper now.

Connolly: Our first guest was The Real Housewives of New Jersey’s Danielle Staub. She came in wearing this tutu dress. I had taken notes on the latest RHONJ episode and gathered fan questions, which we put on Andy’s interview cards.

Cohen: There was a lot going on, but I thrive in stressful situations. I was thinking, “Oh, this is fun.”

Connolly: It went great, but I was thinking to myself, “Is anyone actually watching this?” Once we’d wrapped, we celebrated in Michael’s office with champagne. We were scrolling through Twitter to see audience reactions. Viewers were asking, “What is this?” but seemed to love it. I wanted that feeling to last forever.

Cohen: I got the ratings the next morning and they were really good. I couldn’t believe it.

Chaotic Clubhouse Memories

Now 15 years on the air, Cohen, Connolly, and Schultz share a slew of memories from the show, from power outages to difficult celebrity guests.

Connolly: Being mostly live, the show has suffered its fair share of technical challenges. I remember having The Real Housewives of Atlanta’s Shereé Whitfield on for a fashion show extravaganza episode. Minutes into the show, I realized we weren’t live. Our signal was down. We ran a Housewives repeat while frantically trying to fix it. Andy had no idea.

Cohen: Deirdre [eventually] says in my ear, “We’re not on the air. Something’s gone horribly wrong, but keep doing the show and don’t tell Shereé.” I was sitting in my chair thinking, “What?!”

Connolly: We eventually got it out for the West Coast feed, at least.

Schultz: Andy leans into the messiness, which you have to do with live television. I remember the fire alarm going off mid-show. Cloris Leachman, Jeff Lewis, and Andy had to evacuate the studio. Also the lights went off during Patti LaBelle’s show, and Mariah Carey was once so late we had to start without her.

Cohen: One moment that stands out to me is when Regina King and Jackée Harry got really drunk on air. It was incredible. We also had a guest’s boyfriend throw up in the audience during a live taping.

Schultz: We’ve had some pretty awkward moments, too. When Scott Baio stopped by, he was not a fan of Andy or the game we asked him to play. I think it was called Andy Loves Crotchy. Amber Rose also wore her sunglasses for her entire interview and wouldn’t really answer questions. Andy’s dog, Wacha, once nipped at Carol Burnett’s chin and ate Maury Povich’s glasses.

Connolly: There was once a turtle on set in honor of Kim Richards, because she loves them. It took a horse-sized dump on the rug that stunk up the whole Clubhouse.

Cohen: And Kim Zolciak calling into the show to confront Nene Leakes on air was also wild. It was one of the first viral moments. The two of them were just going at it, and I was so uncomfortable but also incredibly amused. I didn’t know what to do.

What’s Next For WWHL

Cohen, Connolly, and Schultz are looking ahead, with plenty of ideas to spare.

Connolly: We’ve come so far in 15 years, but for the future of WWHL, I hope we stay true to our viewer-first, interactive format.

Schultz: I’d love to still be here in 15 years. I want to see the show evolve in terms of social media and technology, without messing with what works.

Connolly: I hope we stay true to our viewer-first, interactive format.

Schultz: Fans tell me they watch the show every night before bed because it’s dependable. While it can be chaotic and messy, there’s a sense of consistency to it, and that’s what people need in today’s crazy world.

Cohen: I would love to book some of my dream guests. We still haven’t gotten Madonna, and I’d really want Michelle Obama on the show.

These interviews were edited and condensed for clarity.