The Details

SIN CITY RULES

Sundays, 10 p.m., TLC.

For years, there have been rumors that Bravo was going to expand its Real Housewives reality-show franchise to Las Vegas, but that has yet to happen. Instead, the Housewives producers have come up with Sin City Rules, which is about as close to The Real Housewives of Las Vegas as it looks like we’re going to get. Airing on TLC rather than Bravo, the show follows five very Housewives-esque Vegas women as they party, shop, bicker and talk trash behind each other’s backs. In other words, it’s formulaic reality TV, although the show gives lip service to the idea that these are professional women and not just rich layabouts.

Of course, the stars of the show get screen time in inverse proportion to how much they focus on their careers. The clear breakout star (at least in the first episode) is Lana Fuchs of clothing line Billionaire Mafia, who spends all of her time making outrageous pronouncements (she says “I am God” twice in the first episode), dressing in absurd outfits and disparaging her fellow cast members (she has an inexplicable hatred of entertainment reporter Alicia Jacobs). At the other end of the spectrum is professional poker player Jennifer Harman, who seems relatively competent, friendly and well-adjusted, and consequently barely makes an impression.

There’s nothing new in Sin City Rules’ combination of glitz, glamour and manufactured drama, and while Housewives fans might get some enjoyment out of the familiar dynamics, the show is mainly a pale imitation of something that doesn’t really deserve to be imitated in the first place.