Total Divas

Production

Total Divas was revealed in May 2013, as a part of a partnership with E!. It was announced on August 14, 2013, that E! had ordered an additional six episodes to the already eight episode first season, bringing the total episode number up to 14 episodes. The mid-season finale aired on September 15, 2013, with the season continuing on November 10, 2013. WWE commentator Josh Mathews revealed on November 20, 2013, that Total Divas had been renewed for a second season. The second season premiered on March 16, 2014, with Summer Rae joining the cast, replacing JoJo Offerman as she decided to focus more on wrestling.

Unlike other WWE programs, most of the performers use their real names instead of their ring names, leading to Cameron, Naomi, Natalya, Jimmy Uso, and Tyson Kidd being referred to as Ariane, Trinity, Nattie, Jon, and TJ respectively. During the first season, Daniel Bryan was similarly credited as Bryan Danielson. Beginning with the second season, performers are credited with both their ring name and real name on lower third graphics where applicable (exceptions include Daniel Bryan now being credited with his ring name even though he is still usually addressed as "Bryan", and Natalya still being credited as just "Nattie"). Summer Rae, Paige, and Alicia Fox along with other performers mentioned or rarely appearing (such as Brodus Clay, Fandango, and Titus O'Neil) are referred to solely by their ring names.

On May 19, 2014, E! announced that the third season of Total Divas would premiere on September 7, 2014, with Rosa Mendes joining the cast. On February 24, 2015, Paige announced Total Divas was renewed for a fourth season, with filming commencing at the end of the month. It was then announced at the end of season three, that the fourth season would premiere on July 7, 2015, moving from Sunday to Tuesday nights. On April 1, 2015, E! announced the show had been renewed for a fourth season via a press release. In the press release, it was confirmed that Naomi would return as a series regular with Cameron and Rosa Mendes being removed from the main cast. All of the other Divas would return as series regulars.

On September 5, 2015, an online article stated that there could be a strong possibility Total Divas will be renewed for a fifth season. It read that season four will "wrap up this fall" and the new season "won't air till 2016 some time". After the September 22 episode of Total Divas aired, it was announced that the following week's episode would serve as the season finale, rather than a mid-season finale. On September 9, 2015, Naomi revealed on Twitter that she had been taken off the main cast after the season four finale, which aired on September 29. WWE Tough Enough runner-up Mandy Rose joined the cast for season five.

Season 5 was announced on October 6, 2015, which started airing on January 19, 2016 with majority of last season's cast returning. Naomi was officially removed from the main cast with Mandy taking her place and Rosa Mendes returning as a series regular.

Season 6 was officially confirmed on April 18, 2016, by the E! Network with a fall premiere date and the majority of last season's cast returning, along with Naomi returning as a series regular and Renee Young, Lana, and Maryse replacing Rosa Mendes, Alicia Fox, and Mandy Rose. Additionally, the E! Network announced that the Bella Twins (Brie and Nikki) would be getting their own spinoff show also with a fall premiere date, titled Total Bellas, that will be following the lives of the twins and their family.

On July 7, TJ, Nattie's husband, confirmed via Twitter that he would not be appearing on the upcoming season of Total Divas, making him the first partner of a current cast member to not be featured on the show in a recurring capacity.

On January 28th, 2017, it was announced that Nikki Bella will serve as an executive producer of the show when the series returns in April 2017.

Episodes

As of January 25, 2017, 82 episodes of Total Divas have aired.

Ratings

The series premiered on July 28, 2013, drawing 1.34 million viewers, as well as becoming the series' highest rated premiere to date. The highest rated episode is "Planet Funk is Funked Up" garnering 1.67 million viewers. The lowest rated episode of season one is "Seeing Red" garnering 0.92 million viewers. The season two premiere episode "New Diva On The Block" received 1.07 million viewers. The following episode "The Braniel Bus" had a strong rise in viewers garnering 1.28 million viewers. The lowest rated episode of season two is "Red and Gold" garnering 0.75 million viewers. The season three premiere attracted over 1.2 million viewers and 821K Adults 18-49, the series was up +15% and +17% respectively versus the season 2 premiere, as well as garnered 26,000 tweets and ranked as the #1 ad-supported cable program of the night. The third-season premiere of Total Divas did not post spectacular ratings. It did, however, outdraw last season's opener.

Critical response

Melissa Camacho of Common Sense Media gave the show 2 stars out of 5. Tom Conroy of Media Life Magazine said the show is uninteresting. Tom Conroy of Media Life Magazine said of the show, "Total Divas feels real-ish. If the stars are doing any damage to their reputations, it's that they appear to be too nice. That might make their fans happy, but viewers expecting a smackdown can and will go elsewhere." Diva-Dirt.com stated "Meet Your New Guilty Pleasure!". Eric Gargiulo of Camel Clutch Blog said "I tuned in to WWE Total Divas expecting to see a scripted reality show in the vein of Hogan Knows Best. Instead I got an interesting look behind the scenes of the WWE and its superstars more in the same vein as Beyond the Mat."