As we approach the three-quarters point of season five of "The Real Housewives of Atlanta," it's time to put the ladies under the microscope, purely from an entertainment standpoint.

The show is as popular as ever. It hit a series high 4.1 million viewers for the first time ever last month.

It's easy to pinpoint why: Kenya Moore. I've cited her week in and week out during recaps as the Queen of Drama, the person who keeps everyone on edge and propels the most interesting story lines.

But let's break down how each cast member is doing so far. I'm not grading them on their professional output, whether they're nice people or how good they look. Feel free to talk amongst yourselves on those subjects. Rather, we are viewers. We want to be entertained. Who is entertaining us the most?

Kenya Moore

She quickly became the straw that stirs the drama on this show. She arrived with a fierce determination to show she's worthy of being a celebrity. That could mean bringing a security guard to an event where nobody knows who she is or ending an argument by twirling away or mocking another real housewife by dressing like her at a charity event. That means wearing her Miss USA sash around (metaphorically, at least) as if it's still 1992. That means asking a former boyfriend to play her current boyfriend, then trying to get the poor man to marry her when he had zero intention of doing so. That means acting as if she's God's gift to video production and acting, a woman who was victimized in her y0uth but is now loud, proud and invincible, baby! If she doesn't make many friends along the way, so be it. Is she real or is she Memorex?  Probably a bit of both but one thing's for sure: she's become a true reality spectacle.  I expect she will get a big, big raise for season six. She's earned it.

Entertainment value: A

Phaedra Parks

In her third season, Phaedra remains deeply confident, a strong figure who is direct at times but oddly passive aggressive at times as well. For instance, she didn't directly go after Kenya for flirting with her man but badmouthed her to the cameras. She also isn't averse to making faces or muttering nasties behind people's back (e.g. being dismissive about Cynthia in a butt call she didn't mean to air in public.)  As Miss Lawrence told Kenya recently, Phaedra seldom reveals much about herself to the other ladies but will use their comments against them if need be.  Her parties for her son Ayden are comically over the top. Her interest in death and funerals is borderline creepy. Her young husband is ridiculously hot. Her comments about the other women are frequently side splitting. And her obsession with her booty (featured in  a Cher-like butt-exposing outfit in Anguilla) has spawned a best-selling exercise video. On the show, she is currently in major outs with Kenya after dropping Kenya as her exercise video producer because of Kenya's financial demands. Ultimately, she provides enough texture on the show to make her reasonably indispensable as long as Bravo wants her around and she's willing to stay.

Entertainment value: B-plus

Cynthia Bailey

In her third season on the show, Cynthia is easing herself into the warped reality show world. At first, she was a bit of a boring wreck as she prepared for her wedding. But with Peter and Cynthia on solid ground and her modeling agency seemingly doing well, she has opened up a bit more and become more relatable. And she's always easy on the eyes. She still has a tough time with confrontation and her ability to vamp is limited. (Her funniest lines are during the interview portions and were probably fed to her in advance.) She had an early tiff this year with Kenya but has quixotically sidled up to her to become her only ally on the show. She remains NeNe's closest friend on the show, keeping NeNe marginally involved.

Entertainment value: B

NeNe Leakes

Once the central character on "Real Housewives of Atlanta," she is now focused on her career in Hollywood as an actress. She is now more a bystander who pops in once in awhile on the shenanigans in Atlanta to roll her eyes. She is clearly staying on the show for the money, which is well into the six figures. And Bravo likes her because she gives the show some oddball credibility as the one housewife people know even if they don't watch the show. She remains larger than life and can always throw off a funny line when the moment calls for it.

Entertainment value: B/B-minus

Kandi Burruss

Kandi has leveraged the show well, helping her retail stores, her sex toy line, her music career and even her love life. (She met her squeeze Todd, who was working on the show last year in South Africa.) She is very likable and usually upbeat. Her sarcasm can be biting. She rarely starts drama but isn't afraid to stoke it. In the last episode, for instance, she gleefully passed along Phaedra's negative comments about Kenya directly to Kenya. While she is hardly a central cog in this machine, she isn't hurtful to the show either.

Entertainment value: B/B-minus

Porsha Stewart

Poor Porsha. She is sweet and energetic but also a shallow, spoiled ditz. Her life, based on her telling, has been blessed, with none of the dark underpinnings that make Kim, NeNe and Kenya interesting people. In other words, she's boring. And boring is not something that will keep her on this show for more than one season. Even when she faced off against Kenya, she got smoked. And she doesn't appear to have a job or any discernible hobbies. Even her connection to civil rights legend Hosea Williams, her late great grandfather, is limited because she is not really active with Hosea Feed the Hungry. Shame. 

Grade: C-minus

Kim Zolciak

She was a fun character season one on the show, a cartoon mistress with voracious spending habits, wigs galore and a goofy hit song, but her act became increasingly tiresome. Once she became pregnant season three, her interest in dealing with the other ladies fell off sharply. She spent more time in her home than with the other women and gradually became a secondary, then a tertiary character. Her second pregnancy last year sealed the deal. She was done. And the other women were sick of seeing her pocketing a hefty paycheck for doing practically nothing. So she's now off the show. If you still care about her, she has her second spin-off show coming.

Grade: D/ incomplete

TV preview

"The Real Housewives of Atlanta," 8 p.m. Sundays, Bravo.