DH Reviews

[ZKS]

NorthJersey.com

'Desperate' move is poised to pay off

Sunday, October 24, 2004

By VIRGINIA ROHAN

They're the biggest TV deal since Donald Trump hit prime time last January. And they've got much better hair. "Desperate Housewives" Susan Mayer, Lynette Scavo, Bree Van De Kamp and Gabrielle Solis - played by Teri Hatcher, Felicity Huffman, Marcia Cross and Eva Longoria - are TV's new "it" girls. Their ABC dramedy is this season's surprise hit — the No. 1 new television series, and Sunday night's top-ranking program.These stunning suburban "Housewives" are doing a lot more than just filling the void left by four gorgeous city gals who used to occupy half of the very same time slot - Carrie, Miranda, Samantha and Charlotte. Consider these figures: The final episode of HBO's "Sex and the City" in February drew 10.6 viewers. Since its Oct. 3 debut, "Housewives" has been averaging nearly 21 million viewers per week. If you haven't yet met these red-hot "Housewives," here's a primer.10 great things:

1. It's funny: Who would have thunk a show that starts with a suicidal bang could be so darkly hilarious? It often is, though - and the humor is definitely intentional.Creator Marc Cherry ("The Golden Girls") told The Associated Press that he conceived the show to be a "mixture of comedy and drama and mystery."It was crucial to find the right actress to play the seemingly happy Mary Alice Young, a friend and neighbor in the leafy and lovely subdivision, who shot herself dead after completing her household chores. She now narrates the show from the beyond. In the original pilot, |Sheryl Lee (Laura Palmer on "Twin Peaks") had the role, but her earnestness made it a little too sad. Her replacement, Brenda Strong, brings an ironic tone that's more fitting - and funny.

2. It's a nighttime soap for, and about, adults: "The O.C." may be fun for all ages, but face it, it's mainly for, and about, high-schoolers Ryan, Marissa, Seth and Summer. Cherry has said he wanted to create the kind of prime-time soap opera that's been missing since the demise of "Melrose Place."Viewer response has been positive; some advertisers have been less pleased. Last week, three sponsors yanked their spots from "Housewives," citing its racy content: Tyson Foods, Kellogg's and Lowe's, the home improvement chain. But others may go for product placement. Rumor has it that Home Depot has offered to rebuild the fire-ravaged home of serial divorcee Edie Britt, played by Nicollette Sheridan. (Susan accidentally set Edie's place ablaze while snooping to see if Edie was trysting with handsome new neighbor Mike Delfino.)

3. It may save a network: It's always fun to root for an underdog, and ABC was about as low as a network can go. Mired in fourth place last season, ABC was desperate enough to take a chance on "Housewives," a show that Cherry had also pitched, unsuccessfully, to HBO, CBS, NBC, Fox and Lifetime.NBC is now negotiating to make a pilot for "Five Houses," a comedy about five families living in a Los Angeles cul-de-sac. Sound familiar?

4. It's not reality, Part 1: Unscripted shows have been done to death. (If you haven't reached the enough-is-enough point yet, tune in to NBC's new "The Biggest Loser," a humiliation-fest featuring contestants of varying levels of obesity.) "Housewives" is a blast of fresh air.

5. It's not reality, Part 2: The reason why HBO reportedly rejected "Housewives" was that it didn't have enough grit. Hello? That's part of the charm. Who would want, or expect, to run into these women in the real world? This is a fantasy. Delightfully escapist fare.

6. It's got Teri Hatcher: The appealing actress who played Lois Lane to Dean Cain's Clark Kent had been conspicuously missing from prime time for six years, unless you count those silly commercials with Howie Long. She shows charisma and great comic timing as divorcee and single mom Susan, who sometimes acts like more of a schoolgirl than her teenage daughter - especially when it comes to her crush on new neighbor Delfino (James Denton), who claims to be a plumber. In one hilarious scene, Susan scrambled to make a drain clog in her kitchen sink in order to justify a house call. And last week, when she locked herself out of the house naked, it was Delfino who came to the rescue.

7. It's got Felicity Huffman: Talk about range. Her new character is a 180-degree departure from the hard-charging producer she played on "Sports Night." Huffman's frazzled Lynette is a former big-shot career woman who's going stir-crazy staying at home with four unmanageable kids and a husband who travels a lot.Bonus: In real life, Huffman's married to the wonderful William H. Macy, who says he might well make a guest appearance.

8. It's about women - and they're old enough to drink (without using false IDs): Strong female characters have been disappearing from prime time over the past few seasons, so it's nice to see a show where the men aren't driving the action.It's also nice to see women over 35 portrayed as sexy and desirable. Of the four main characters, only Longoria is below 30 (and barely so). The other actresses are 43 (Cross), 41 (Huffman) and 39 (Hatcher). By Hollywood standards, that makes them eligible for roles as parents of adult children, or maybe even grandmothers.

9. It's got mystery: At the end of the first episode, the women came upon a letter their pal Mary Alice had apparently opened - and read - the morning she killed herself. It said, "I know what you did. It makes me sick. I'm going to tell."What does that mean? And why has the widower (Mark Moses) been digging under the swimming pool in the middle of the night? (Now he's putting the house up for sale.)And what is the mysterious Delfino really doing in the neighborhood? Is he a good or bad guy?The possibilities are intriguing.

10. It's quirky: That adjective can be the kiss of death for an innovative series, as David Lynch discovered with "Twin Peaks." But in an era of chip-off-the-old-franchise dramas, there's much to be said for originality. Cherry, the show's creator, has said that he wanted to do something "different," because he sensed a hunger for something new. Amen. 5 potential pitfalls:

1. The setting could get a little claustrophobic: Most of the action takes place on the same little picture-perfect street in Anywhere USA. Much as I love picket fences, they could prove confining. Field trips, anyone?

2. Give the kids a break! Huffman's character is too harried a mom. Please show us you like some aspect of being a mother, Lynette.

3. Do women have to behave quite so badly? Ex-model Gabrielle (Longoria) is having an affair with her 17-year-old gardener. Yes, her husband's a creep. But the cradle-robbing is starting to feel icky, especially since she's now being blackmailed by a young neighbor girl.And though Susan didn't mean to burn down her romantic rival's house, she still hasn't fessed up to it. In this week's episode, she, too, may face an extortioner.

4. Enough Martha stuff already! Bree Van De Kamp ("Melrose Place" veteran Cross) is the perfect suburban homemaker - "Martha Stewart on steroids," as ABC puts it - much to the chagrin of her miserable, mutinous husband and kids.Bree is a caricature, whose façade never cracks, even when she realizes her marriage is in deep trouble.Lighten up, Bree. We get the joke, and it's getting tiresome.

5. Will it run out of gas? Some industry observers wonder about the show's staying power, speculating that it might have worked better as a television movie. Will it defy their predictions, or follow the trajectory of another "quirky" ABC series - "Twin Peaks"?

E-mail: rohan@northjersey.com
Copyright © 2004 North Jersey Media Group Inc

[ZKS]

The Trentonian

11/12/2004
‘Housewives’ turning guy into mush

Column by Jeff Edelstein

Confession time: I am one of the 24 million Americans who watch "Desperate Housewives."That’s right. Me. Watching "Desperate Housewives."And while I’m the first to admit I’m not exactly Mr. Macho McMacho, I am, more or less, a guy’s guy, and one who normally would never watch such Lifetime-esqe trash. So why do I watch? Well, as with most things that knock my masculinity down a peg, this all started because of my wife. She wanted company while viewing it. So being the great husband I am, I decided to plop down on the couch -- with a late-day Budweiser in hand -- and catch it with her. And now, five weeks later? I’m hooked, and last Sunday, instead of a beer, I found myself sipping a glass of white wine. White wine. What’s this show doing to me? Turning me into mush, that’s what. Now I’m reasonably sure there’s a lot of women out there who watch this show, all alone, on Sunday nights. They’re reading this column, wondering why their husbands and boyfriends can’t be more like me. Well ladies, I’d like to help you out. Only catch? I need some private time with the fellas in the audience. So go ahead, my fine female friends -- take a walk, call an old friend, run a bath. Let me chat with the guys for a second.- Are they gone? You sure? Dude, let me tell you right now, the chicks on this show are so unbelievably hot. It’s like porno on network TV. Seriously. Teri Hatcher’s body is still smokin’ after all these years. Watching her butt in a pair of tight jeans is a religious experience. And Eva Longoria? Holy cow. Words can’t describe. Tiny little thing. And she spends most of her on-screen time wearing lingerie, boinking the teenage gardener. And Marcia Cross? You remember her. "Melrose Place." Total babe. Last week, she stripped down to the skimpiest red bra and panties. I swear, she couldn’t have worn this on HBO ten years ago. Sizzling. Let’s not forget Nicolette Sheridan, who’s had enough plastic surgery to make Pamela Anderson look all-natural. Not my thing, but still -- yowza. And the other one, who’s kinda cute, Felicity something-or-nuther. Whatever. She’s boring. But cute. Still a cutie. Have I mentioned Teri Hatcher’s butt? I shudder. Seriously, guys, there may not be a better way to wind down -- after a hard day of watching football -- than by being a sensitive guy (wink-wink) and watching a little soap opera with the lady in your life. She’ll thank you for it. All right. That’s it. I think I’ve made my point. You can go get the women for the rest of the column.- Thanks for the minute, ladies.

Anyway, to wrap up: "Desperate Housewives" is a great show, and one that can be enjoyed by everyone, beer drinkers and wine sippers alike.

-- Jeff Edelstein’s columns appear every Sunday, Tuesday and Friday.

[ZKS]

http://www.southcoasttoday.com/daily/11-04/11-15-04/b01li982.htm

South Coast Today

The Standard-Times

Men love their 'Desperate Housewives'
By MARIA ELENA FERNANDEZ, Los Angeles Times


Those "Desperate Housewives" sure have a lot to hide, but here's one dirty little secret that has caught the television industry by surprise: Nearly 40 percent of the show's viewers are men. The gender that supposedly has been fleeing broadcast programming to play video games, surf the Internet, download music or watch sports on cable is tuning in to the Sunday-night misadventures of Susan, Bree, Lynette and Gabrielle on ABC.
Of the show's 22 million viewers, 8.2 million are men, making "Desperate Housewives" the No. 3 show this season among men ages 18 to 34 and 18 to 49. Only "Monday Night Football" and two other shows -- "CSI" for the older group, "The Simpsons" for the younger -- are proving stronger draws for a gender that advertisers and competing network executives predicted would ignore a prime-time soap with four female leading characters.
"How can it come as a surprise given what's on that show?" said Stuart Fischoff, a media psychologist at California State University, Los Angeles. "It's a babe show. A bunch of attractive women in various stages of desperation and looking for love in all the right and wrong places. This is a show for men of all seasons."
Mike Benson, ABC's senior vice president of marketing for prime-time entertainment, designed a promotional onslaught of TV commercials, billboards and print ads to attract women while subtly beckoning the men in their lives, too.
"There are a lot of men who can relate to thinking that their wife is desperate," Benson said. "I have to be careful how I say that, because I'm married. But my wife also jokes now, 'I'm just a desperate housewife."'
The idea, Benson hoped, was that women would bond with the cast the way they did with Carrie, Miranda, Charlotte and Samantha of "Sex and the City," while men would be titillated by Nicollette Sheridan in short shorts or Eva Longoria standing on her balcony in a dainty bra and panties --- and stay around to find out why Mark Moses' character was digging a hole in his pool in the middle of the night.
For Chris Martz, who circulates his "Desperate" videotapes to male friends to try to get them hooked with him, all it took was the sight of Sheridan, as predatory divorcee Edie Britt, trying to lure a man she's competing for by pouring water over herself as she washes her car. "The humor is just amazing," said the 33-year-old Indianapolis magazine editor. "This show is far from a soap opera, which is what I tell my friends. Quite frankly, this is a typical American neighborhood. I am president of my homeowners association, and I can see this exact show happening in our neighborhood."
Creator Marc Cherry, who has said he drew on aspects of his mother and some female friends to fashion the inhabitants of Wisteria Lane, said it's the pacing of his show that makes it more male-friendly than daytime soaps, which revolve around conversations.
"It's more of a soap opera oriented toward the way a guy is thinking," Cherry said.
Cherry's housewives don't just sit around talking, they get into all kinds of action-packed trouble. While arguing ill-advisedly with her ex-husband wearing only a towel, Susan (Teri Hatcher) ends up naked on the street, locked out of her house. Gabrielle Solis (Longoria), who is having an affair with the teenage gardener, is caught kissing him by a neighborhood girl and tries to buy her silence with a shiny new bicycle. Lynette Scavo (Felicity Huffman) teaches her rowdy young sons a lesson by driving off without them for a moment, only to return and find them missing. Perfectionist Bree Van De Kamp (Marcia Cross) doesn't want her friends to know she is in marital counseling, but when her husband reveals it at a dinner party, she takes things one step further by telling the group a humiliating sexual detail about him.
But even Cherry wasn't prepared for such a robust male response. "I'm thrilled that men love the show, but I'm also surprised. Maybe I just bought into what the advertisers were saying back in May, that men wouldn't be interested in this show."
"It's harder to reach men for broadcast entertainment programming," said Stacey Lynn Koerner, an executive vice president of ad-buying firm Initiative Media. "The young male demographic had moved away because it had become somewhat stale. They grew up with television and understand the formulas and format. That's one of the reasons they gravitate to reality, because it's unscripted and unknown. But for the first time in a long time, we are seeing scripted programming in 'Desperate Housewives' and 'Lost' that is not predictable and that is intriguing."
Jeff Norton, the 30-year-old founder of Lean Forward Media, a children's entertainment and educational production company, said he tuned in for the show's premiere because it was impossible to escape ABC's billboards this summer. There was "beautiful Teri Hatcher and the woman who plays Gabrielle, who is absolutely gorgeous," enticing him to take a chance.
"To be honest, this show brought me back to watching TV," Norton said. "It's really refreshing to see something that is invested in good writing and acting. I call this show 'Sex and the Suburbs.' Felicity Huffman is amazing. You don't see performances like that on television very often."
But some male fans prefer to stay in the closet. Joey Aucion, a 26-year-old screenwriter who lives in West Los Angeles, watches the show every week with his roommate. But don't ask his roommate about it -- he'll never admit he's watching a "girl show," Aucion said.
"He's very sensitive about it when you talk about it, but he's the first on the couch to watch it," Aucion said. "Guys are aware that they're not the audience intended for the show. But that tongue-in-cheek sensibility that it has makes us want to watch it. It kind of winks at the audience and lets you know that there are cracks in this perfect world."
Steve McPherson, president of prime-time entertainment at ABC, has some experience with closeted male fans as well.
"A lot of times what test audiences tell you is very different from what they actually do at home," McPherson said. "But I think that people have to give men more credit in general. Men won't watch a show just because some hot chick is on it. They're attracted to great entertainment and story lines, too. If you ask a guy on the street if he's watching this show, he'll say no. But when he's at home and his wife or girlfriend is watching it, he's right there watching it, too."
As Fischoff, the media psychologist, put it, "Men don't only think with their genitals. They also have gray matter, and the reason they don't drop off is because the story lines have remained clever and engaging."
OK, but what about the eye candy? Surely some men have noticed that the housewives are as beautiful as they are desperate? Oh yeah, said Aucion, whose 67-year-old father is as addicted to the show as he is.
"He likes that girl," Aucion said and laughed. That girl is Longoria, the 29-year-old Texas native who is the least familiar face among the cast. "That's basically all we talk about. That girl is ridiculously attractive. We all went and looked up who she is."
Longoria, who is in high demand and made cross-country appearances on "The Tonight Show With Jay Leno" and "Late Night With Conan O'Brien" recently, said she's overwhelmed by her "hot" label and tries not to dwell on that kind of attention.
"It's not just me, there's four other gorgeous women on the show," Longoria said. "When it comes to being the hot one and all this hype, it's grounding to have my family and friends around me. I'm just thankful that people are watching, because I hired a trainer since I was going to be wearing so much lingerie. He's very happy his work paid off."
In case there are any doubts, listen to Martz. "At the end of 'Desperate Housewives,' I'm mad," he said. "I want more! I need more!"

This story appeared on Page B1 of The Standard-Times on November 15, 2004.

[ZKS]

http://tv.zap2it.com/tveditorial/tve_main/1,1002,274|91826|1|,00.html

Zap2it Feature

ABC Continues to Be 'Desperate'
(Thursday, November 25 12:02 AM)
By Jay Bobbin

Feeling "Desperate" these days? If so, you're certainly not alone. The new TV season has had several big successes, but arguably the most amazing -- because of its offbeat approach and its huge out-of-the-chute audience, which made its premiere that week's top-rated show -- is "Desperate Housewives," ABC's seriocomic Sunday series about the women of suburban, deceptively tranquil Wisteria Lane. Creator-producer Marc Cherry's merger of heightened drama, mystery and overt wackiness was dormant for a while after he devised it, but it's put ABC back on the ratings radar in a major way (in tandem with the network's other new hits, "Lost" and "Wife Swap"). "Desperate Housewives" has had such an immediate impact, a repeat of the previous Sunday's episode has occupied many recent Saturdays on ABC. Many viewers can't wait for the next exploits of divorced mom Susan (Teri Hatcher), businesswoman-turned-domestic poster girl Lynette (Felicity Huffman), maritally separated perfectionist Bree (Marcia Cross), having-it-all-but-still-wanting-more Gabrielle (Eva Longoria) and much-divorced Edie (Nicollette Sheridan). How popular is the show? Consider that it took only a couple of weeks for Oprah Winfrey to devote an episode to the actresses, and that "Dr. Phil" recently did an installment on "The Real Lives of Desperate Housewives." Oh, there are men in the series, too ... such as frequently shirtless plumber and break-in expert Mike (James Denton) and hunky young gardener John (Jesse Metcalfe). The show is called "Desperate Housewives," though, so there's no question the women are the ones in charge. "That's really Marc Cherry's genius," Hatcher says. "It was all there in the pilot. All the female characters are very different but equally interesting and strong. "From the standpoint of camaraderie, there's really no competitive feeling. Susan would never be Bree, Bree would never be Gabrielle, and so on. That allows us to be very complementary to each other, and I think the casting hits that sort of chemistry that usually only exists between men and women. I don't know if that's just luck, or if it was the smarts of the producers. We never read with each other. It all just sort of happened." Despite her fame as crazy Kimberly on "Melrose Place," Cross claims she isn't used to the fanfare "Desperate Housewives" has attracted. "I'm more comfortable with being the underdog," she says, "but I guess that's not the case this time. It's so funny to have gone from (an extended guest role last season on The WB's) 'Everwood,' where everything was bare-bones soul work, to this woman who covers up everything and it only comes out through her neuroses. They couldn't be more opposite ends of the spectrum." Bree has been labeled an ersatz Martha Stewart by many "Desperate" observers, but Cross maintains, "I don't really see much similarity. It's probably easy for people to identify the character with her because she's so identifiable. But energetically and psychologically, this woman is so much different. You can't help but identify with one or several of these women." "Desperate Housewives" is a particularly sweet career chapter for Hatcher, who previously worked for ABC not only as Lois Lane ("Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman"), but also as a mermaid dancer aboard "The Love Boat" during that show's final season. She reflects, "The lovely thing about having been around for a long time, and having had ups and downs, is that you have a greater sense of appreciation when lightning strikes like this. I have a real sense of respect and giddiness about how lucky I am to be a part of this. "At the same time," Hatcher adds, "it's not like I have the sense of youthfulness that lets me go, 'Yippee; I'm on a hit.' I still go to work, I still take care of my daughter (whose father is actor Jon Tenney, Hatcher's ex-husband), and I still have my life. Other than having a great place to work with a lot of great people and great material, not a lot has changed, then. It's a terrific balance of being grateful and still being me." Another pivotal star of "Desperate Housewives" is heard but not seen. Mary Alice -- whose suicide launched the series -- is played by Brenda Strong, familiar to "Everwood" fans as the late wife of Treat Williams' character, and to "Seinfeld" devotees as Sue Ellen Mishkie (aka the "Braless Wonder"). As the background of Mary Alice's tragedy continues to unravel, Strong admits to feeling like "the guy behind the curtain in Oz. In some ways, it's really terrific. I get to be heard every week and to be an integral part of the show, yet there's an anonymity that goes with that as well. "I think it's the mystery of Mary Alice that holds the show together," Strong reasons. "Even though the other people are going about their lives, which are progressively spinning out of control and falling apart, it's the not knowing what happened to Mary Alice that was the impetus for all of that. She's sort of the center of the wheel, so when she drops out, it's like all the spokes don't have a grounding point." Sheridan had "Knots Landing" and Huffman had "Sports Night," so Hatcher enjoys being among other actresses who know the feeling of a TV comeback. She jokes that everyone else uses the nickname "the young one" for relative novice Longoria, formerly a regular on "The Young and the Restless." "Marcia told her once, 'Honey, your life is about to change.' The rest of us have been through it."