"The Real Housewives of New Jersey" throw a family party

(CBS) "The Real Housewives of New Jersey" set the bar high for weeks of family squabbles when it debuted its new season - the third - Monday night on Bravo.

It was a dramatic introduction of newcomer Melissa Gorga, who is married to the brother of Teresa Giudice.

Melissa and Teresa have their own history of battlling but the fight at the family christening was set off with words between Teresa and her brother Joe, Melissa's husband.

When brother Joe calls Teresa garbage, her husband, Joe Giudice, comes to her defense. That's when fists fly and the two have to be pulled apart. Even after the Giudices escape with their kids, the battle rages, with Joe Gorga and his father engaged in a nasty, half-Italian, half-English assault.

Can the season get much better than this?