I knew that naming a new TV show with a title that could be a porn film would be successful. ABC’s new fall television show, “Desperate Housewives”, is not only a ratings smash, but is so far a darn fine TV program.
The series is set in a perfect suburbia setting, ala “The Stepford Wives”. A group of housewives in a planned community, with its perfect manicured lawns, find their lives of security thrown into chaos when one of them commits suicide out of the blue (the dead wife also is the narrator of the series).
Each character is forced to deal with the reality of the death of their friend, but also the reality of their own ridiculous existence. The dark funny moments of this show are a gem, and hopefully we don’t see this show digress into a mundane soap opera.
Teri Hatcher is excellent as the insecure single mom, and Andrea Bowen is also top notch as her daughter who exhibits the wisdom in the family. Marcia Cross is also excellent as the Stepford Wife of the bunch. She is the perfect wife and mother, much to the chagrin of her family and envy of her neighbors.
There is also the former corporate businesswoman turned stay at home mom, played by Felicity Huffman. Obviously not cut out for the housewife role, her kids are out of control and with a husband constantly out to town on business, look for some hanky-panky in the future.
Eva Longaria plays the bored rich housewife who is sleeping with the gardener. In a funny scene from the first episode, her husband is going to fire the gardener because he did not cut the lawn (instead he was sleeping with his wife). While at a dinner party she sneaks out and mows the lawn in the dark of night in her evening gown, to ensure her gardener friend is still employed.
There is also a neighborhood slut and gossip, as well as dark secrets that have yet to be revealed. Once again, this is a TV show that has promise, with its dark comedic moments, but will the writing hold up or will it just devolve into boring usual TV fare? Hopefully the former is true. If so, this could turn out to be a different and enjoyable television show in an otherwise boring TV season of more reality shows and “Joey”.
TV Commercial Hall of Fame
With television programming so lame, I would like to take the time out to salute a couple of my favorite commercials.
First off is the Geico commercial, “Tiny House”. This spoof on a reality series where a couple has to spend a year in a tiny house actually sucked me in the first time I saw it. It still draws chuckles when I see it.
Second, is the Bud Light commercial where a window washer is washing windows at a pet store and a bird flies into the window. Then the same window washer is washing a window at the beer store (?) and beer drinkers run into the cleaned window. I laughed out loud seeing this for the first time, with images of Homer Simpson, “Beer!” flashing through my mind.
Zombie 2004 Injection Remix
If you would to hear the “Zombie” 2004 Injection remix by yours truly, it is available for download from www.dharmahead.com. (Note: Crazedfanboy.com does not condone stealing copyrighted material and anyone here caught doing so will be punished in the PCR dungeon.)
Keep the cathode ray home fires burning (and buy some battery powered camping lamps and a battery powered radio and television, cause when the grid goes out we are whiny babies).
"Couch Potato Confessions" is ©2004 by Vinnie B. Couch Potato main graphic by Vin Blesi and Nolan Canova. Webpage design and all graphics herein (except where otherwise noted) are creations of Nolan B. Canova. All contents of Nolan's Pop Culture Review are ©2004 by Nolan B. Canova.
