There's nothing like coming home to your many wives after a long hard day at work. And by that, we obviously mean the Real Housewives. Conceptualised by the franchise's infamous host and executive producer, Andy Cohen, this reality TV series may have been hit by sexism, racism and substance abuse allegations and featured an alarming amount of problematic behaviour over its 19-year history, but that hasn't stopped it from becoming one of the most successful reality TV franchises of all time. As it turns out, we as a society cannot resist watching ridiculously rich grown women being horrible, doing horrible things to each other and fighting about it on vicious reunion episodes gleefully helmed by Cohen. But the Real Housewives is about so much more than the absurdity. It's also about the noughties nostalgia, the memorable fashion, and the discussions on politics, gender, class, race, religion, sexuality and marital woes that these women (and their husbands) facilitate. The Real Housewives of Sydney (RHOS), back now for its third season, has given us many of these things since it premiered in 2017 — from Lisa Oldfield describing her son as a terrorist in season one, to season two's #furgate. But there's a whole, frankly overwhelming, empire beyond RHOS: there are 31 RH franchises, comprising 11 US versions and 20 international adaptations. Some are more intense than others. If you're looking to delve deeper into the Real Housewives universe, we recommend starting with these six — in very particular order. 1. Beverly Hills What makes Beverly Hills special: It's a 14-season (and counting) tightrope of extravagance, desperation and tragedy. Nothing's ever been more Hollywood.Where to start: Season one (sorry!)Must-watch seasons: Seasons 1-3, 5-7 As the sixth Housewives franchise, Beverly Hills could hit the ground running — by 2010, Bravo knew what made the series sparkle. The Tinsel Town setting also provided instant intrigue, as did celebrities in its cast: Disney child stars Kim and Kyle Richards, and Camille Grammer, aka Frasier's wife. (OK, not exactly A-listers, but still.) To begin with, it's petty fights and financial peacocking (including Lisa Vanderpump's actual pet peacock), but there's a greater wealth of darkness underneath. Grammer's marriage crumbles; Taylor Armstrong, who threw a $60,000 fourth birthday party for her daughter, is in an abusive marriage; and Kyle, furious with an erratic, out-of-control Kim, reveals her sister's alcoholism on camera. This is just season one. There's plenty of silliness in Beverly Hills, too, with a rotating cast of ridiculousness — including Lisa Rinna, Denise Richards and Yolanda Hadid (Bella and Gigi's mum). Countless one-liners, memes and pop-culture moments come from this show (even when they maybe shouldn't). But at its heart, Beverly Hills is about Kyle — the only constant Housewife on all 14 seasons — and her fractured family, with Kim and other sister Kathy Hilton (Paris's mum) peek-a-booing on and off the show as old wounds resurface. 2. New York City What makes New York City special: The unique level of derangement that the Big Apple inspires.Where to start: Season 3Must-watch seasons: Seasons 3-9 Most Real Housewives casts require a balance of level heads alongside the table-flippers, but New York is true to its city — it's a place where only the delusionally strong-willed can last. Launching in 2008 as the second Housewives franchise, New York's 15 seasons can overwhelm — don't start with the recent woeful reboot. The first season was created as a different show and re-skinned as Housewives due to the franchise's popularity, and it's a little janky. You'd miss so much wonderful madness, including Alex McCord and her Australian husband's desperate social climbing, but you could skip ahead to season three. Many icons come and go across the show. Or, in the case of Bethenny Frankel, they come, go, make millions, come back, go, and then campaign to re-haul the show. But (almost) all of these women give everything to the series, sometimes showing startling vulnerability. An exception is the one-of-a-kind Ramona Singer. A china-shop bull fond of a pinot grigio, she's constantly apologising for causing offence, and is the source of so many of the show's most jaw-dropping moments. While other characters live several lives on the show, Singer barely grows across her 13 seasons before the reboot — one that came, in part, due to her behaviour. While wine is the Housewives franchise's motor oil, alcoholism is very much the through-line of New York. The funniest antics are tinged with darkness: It's fascinating, and yes, a little exploitative. But it's not all Turtle Time (Singer's term for having a big night). RHONY is filled with sincere, grounded moments too. Widows Carole Radziwill and Dorinda Medley sharing their ongoing grief and love over the years is remarkably moving. As is, somehow, Sonja Morgan's ridiculous but emotional dog funeral, where the released ashes blow back onto the guests. 3. Melbourne What makes Melbourne special: The idea of these people existing in Melbourne and their commitment to the assignment that is being a Real Housewife.Where to start: Season 1Must-watch seasons: Seasons 1-3 RHOS is great, but it has nothing on RHOMelbourne. This is partly because the latter has had two more seasons to shine — it not only premiered earlier, but it continued to pump out episodes while RHOS went on hiatus after audiences couldn't take the unbridled chaos that was season one. And it's partly because the rebooted RHOS perhaps compensated too much for this former chaos, offering up a significantly more sanitised and earnest second season, with drama that sometimes felt overly contrived. The bulk of RHOMelbourne, on the other hand, was filmed in the golden Real Housewives era of the 2010s, when drama that felt real came first and the ethics of it all came somewhere near dead last. And yet, RHOMelbourne managed to keep far enough away from the line the RHOS crossed. Large swathes of RHOMelbourne's later seasons do feel scripted, but this is easily forgiven because these moments are ironically hilarious. The Melbourne backdrop is similarly comical, and the casting is what Real Housewives dreams are made of — from no-nonsense barrister and "ultimate drag queen" Gina Liano (sister to fashion designer Bettina) to Pettifleur Berenger, the confounding author of Switch the Bitch. And while the Real Housewives franchise is known for regularly featuring an episode with a medium who inevitably spouts divisive predictions or advice, RHOMelbourne goes one step further and has one on the cast: psychic Jackie Gillies, whose husband played the drums in Silverchair. What makes Dubai special: The rich people's playground that is the UAE, the multicultural cast and Chanel Ayan.Where to start: Season 1Must-watch seasons: There are only two seasons; both are worth watching RHODubai is a recent addition to the franchise, but its two seasons have had a significant impact on the universe for two reasons: the casting is impeccable, and there is no easing into this show. There's but one Emirati in RHODubai — the rest of the cast are expats from the UK, US, Lebanon and Kenya, and only two of the women have close ties. This means the drama is free-flowing from the start. It's vicious at times, but not overwhelmingly so. Points of conflict include age-gap relationships featuring older women (Caroline Stanbury and her besotted husband, Sergio Carrallo), the pursuit of femmepreneurship, religion and spirituality, Emirati customs and female genital mutilation. If there's a "villain" (and there usually is, even if it's an awful way to describe a real person), it's Caroline Brooks. Was she unfairly edited or a victim of Frankenbiting? Unclear. But if there's a hero, it's Chanel Ayan, for whom this show is worth watching alone. The Kenyan-born Somali model/businesswoman counts Rihanna as a fan and is simultaneously the most fabulous and funniest Real Housewife of all time. 5. Salt Lake City What makes Salt Lake City special: The spectre of Mormonism and the multi-season arc of Jen Shah going to jail for fraud.Where to start: Season 2 (1 is a great intro though)Must-watch seasons: Seasons 2-5 In its first episode, RHOSLC offered a brief sparkle of its full shine when Mary Cosby, the first lady of a Pentecostal church, established that she did not like fellow housewife Jen Shah because "she smelt like hospital". This is the sort of ridiculous one-liner that SLC is fond of. Thankfully, the show readily makes fun of how ridiculous its feuds can be, shown in campy flashback sequences with lots of reverb. It's Housewives for people familiar with Housewives tropes. Mormonism and religion overhangs the show. Cousins Heather Gay and Whitney Rose both left the church following divorces and ostracism, whereas Lisa Barlow remains a Mormon, despite owning a tequila company, among other apparent contradictions. Add in Cosby's church — which has been called a cult by former members, though Cosby denies this — and her "arranged" marriage to her step-grandfather, and SLC is operating on another level of bizarre. And that's before you get to the Jen Shah of it all, who was sentenced to six-and-a-half-years in prison for wire fraud in a scam that targeted elderly people. In season two, Homeland Security interrupts filming to arrest Shah. She maintained her innocence aggressively until the eleventh hour, something that divided the cast as evidence mounted. There was worry the show might collapse after Shah, but a run of expert casting has kept things fun, fresh and ridiculous. A special shout-out to one-season-and-done housewife Monica Garcia, who had spent years harassing her future cast mates via an anonymous Instagram account. The resulting confrontation — complete with Gay's NIDA-worthy monologue — is perfection. What makes Potomac special: The nearly all-Black cast and what they have to say on race, racism and colourism, closely followed by Monique's pet parrot, T'Challa.Where to start: Season threeMust-watch seasons: Seasons 3-6 It doesn't matter if you've never heard of Potomac. You'll learn everything you need to know about the exclusive Maryland community from RHOP, the Real Housewives' most slept-on franchise. Basically, it's an affluent but sleepy town that borders Washington DC. The RHOP cast — which is made up entirely of Black Housewives, ranging in age from 27 to 61 — makes up for that, although it does take a while to heat up. The first season features the conservative Karen Huger preaching about etiquette for an inordinate amount of time, but by the end of season two, the self-professed Grand Dame of Potomac has moved on. The real drama starts in season three; if wading through so many episodes to get to this point feels taxing, start here. And reality TV doesn't get better — or more unhinged — than season five, episode 13, when Monique Samuels seemingly enters a violent fugue state and refuses to let go of Candiace Dillard Basset's wig. This is part of the reason why RHOP isn't for the Real Housewives newbie. Only the connoisseur will appreciate its delivery of the classic Real Housewives tropes — from power struggles among queens to girls' trips gone wrong — and recognise the ways RHOP reinvents the Real Housewife. The Real Housewives of Sydney season three is streaming now on Binge. Find the rest of the Real Housewives universe on Hayu.