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Caroline, Dina and Jacqueline live in tony Franklin Lakes, which has mansions that make Tony Soprano's hacienda in North Caldwell look like the servants' quarters. Danielle resides in Wayne. Teresa lives in Montville, and has built a new home, an extravagant — some might say tacky — McMansion, all onyx and marble and chandeliers.

On Tuesday's reunion show, the Jersey housewives angrily bristled at the notion that they are anything like "The Sopranos", and furiously denied persistent rumors that they have ties to the Mafia, chalking it up to stereotyping of both Italian-Americans and New Jersey.

Caroline, the tough family matriarch, and Dina also complained that because of the show, an old family tragedy was brought out in the public again. Dina and Caroline's father-in-law was found shot and dumped in a car trunk in 1983, a death with the earmarks of a typical Mob hit. Not so, according to an angry Caroline.

"My father-in-law was the victim of a horrific crime," she said, while a teary Dina added, "It makes me feel horrible that it's even brought up."

Caroline then defended the integrity of her husband Joe, who owns the Brownstone in Paterson, a popular venue for weddings.

But it didn't help dispel any organized-crime rumors when Caroline at one point described said her family as "thick as thieves."

Billie Gold, vice president and associate director of programming at the ad agency Carat, is a huge "Real Housewives" fan, having seen every episode of all four of the show's versions — Orange County, New York, Atlanta and New Jersey. She is among those who believe that "The Sopranos'" factor played a big part in the success of the Jersey "Real Housewives", as does TV historian Brooks.

"It's like a real-life "Sopranos"," Gold said. "That's what really sold it."

Americans are intrigued by the mob and the Mafia and "its lore," according to Gold, who also noted that Bravo heavily marketed the show.

Bravo's Barcellos said he believes the show's success was due to "a confluence of factors." He agreed that "The Sopranos" played into viewers' expectations for the Jersey "Housewives", and that "worked in our favor"

But Barcellos said he thinks the biggest factor in the show's popularity was that it actually played more to people's expectations of New Jersey, home of the bridge-and-tunnel crowd, with Jersey "a body of water away from (from Manhattan), but a world apart."

The key to a reality TV show's success is who is chosen to participate, and Bravo did a great job with "Real Housewives of New Jersey", both Brooks and Thompson agreed.

"It all comes down to casting," Thompson said. "Reality TV is a casting director's medium. They (the participants chosen) have to be interesting, and they (the New Jersey housewives) were really fun to watch."

Bravo also credited the show's popularity to its cast.

"This group particularly popped in terms of cast," Barcellos said. He added that the fact that members of the group were related, had blood ties, "also raised the stakes of the conflict."

The show's most controversial character was Danielle, a 46-year-old tarty single mother who created many cringe-worthy moments on the show. At the start of the series she is dating a much younger man, 27-year-old Stephen Zalewski of Lincoln Park, and in the middle of dinner at the classy Highlawn Pavilion in West Orange she suggests they go into the bathroom for a quickie.

Danielle broke up with Zalewski, but they are still tangling. In the latest sordid chapter of Staub's life, Wednesday she won a temporary injunction in Passaic County to bar Zalewski from releasing an X-rated video of her.

Jacqueline is Danielle's only friend among the Jersey housewives. The rest distrust and despise Danielle, who they blame for creating a wedge between Jacqueline and her family.

"They (Bravo) clearly know who to play up," Brooks said, referring to Danielle. "You've got to have your villain."

All the show's drama and tension is sparked by Danielle, who Gold said "really stirred the pot."

And during Tuesday's reunion show, Caroline told Danielle, "You were the straw that broke the camel's back."

The show's popularity, and ratings, exploded when a book turned up, "Cop Without a Badge", that accused Danielle of being a stripper, a cocaine user, and says she at one point had been charged with kidnapping, extortion and sundry other offenses.

Barcellos said that Bravo had no idea about Danielle's shady past, or the controversial book, when it started shooting the show. The Manzo family later brought the book to the network's attention, he said.

In fact, that book led to Teresa's table-flipping incident in the show's finale. Danielle put one big damper on a dinner that Teresa was holding for everyone at the ritzy Lu Nello restaurant in Cedar Grove, prompting the table flip.

At the end of the dinner, which Bravo dubbed "The Last Supper," Danielle whipped out a copy of the book and put it on the table, denying its allegations. She accused Dina of finding and circulating the book, but Caroline stepped up and took credit for passing the book around at a Franklin Lakes beauty salon. At that point, all the women at the table start nastily arguing and shouting. It's then that an exasperated Teresa flips the table up, an event that Bravo replayed in endless promos touting the final episode.

Teresa created one of the "The Real Housewives of New Jersey's" other memorable moments, as well. She goes shopping for furniture for her new mansion, and picks out $120,000 worth of goods. Teresa then peels off bills from a big wad of cash to pay. Gold pointed out that Teresa later claimed she was only making a down payment on the merchandise, that she doesn't walk around with $120,000 in her purse.

Cable networks such as Bravo are adept at creating buzz for their shows. The surfacing of the book and Danielle's shady past helped hype the show and boost its viewership, according to Brooks.

"The way to get big numbers is stunts," he said. "You need to do things that surprise people."

Linda Moss, a Montclair resident, is a veteran entertainment writer. She can be reached at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .