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WVRed
11-21-2004, 10:23 PM
I just watched it for the first time tonight. I kinda feel like a sheep for doing it right after the MNF fiasco, but ive been meaning to watch it for some time.

Its definitely one of the more interesting shows on television. Its almost like crossing a Lifetime movie with Melrose Place. Not to mention both Marcia Cross and Doug Savant play on there.:)

Sure did leave a good cliffhanger too :eek:

Anybody else seen it and have thoughts on it?

Reds4Life
11-21-2004, 10:32 PM
I watch it for one reason.

http://abc.go.com/primetime/desperate/images/gallery/ep101/ep101_03_240x360.jpg

:luvu:

RosieRed
11-21-2004, 10:36 PM
I've watched it since it started. It's definitely entertaining, if nothing else.

Unassisted
11-21-2004, 11:01 PM
Well-written, crisp dialogue. I like it a lot.

dman
11-21-2004, 11:58 PM
Teri Hatcher does it for me. :thumbup:

pedro
11-22-2004, 01:17 AM
it's some high quality trash. i like it.

TeamCasey
11-22-2004, 05:25 AM
I normally don't care for evening serials, but this one's pretty funny.

GAC
11-22-2004, 08:44 AM
Teri Hatcher does it for me. :thumbup:

They're real, and they are magnificent! :mhcky21:

Has anyone ever seen a housewife that good looking who was desperate?

FOR WHAT? :lol:

MuEconRedLeg
11-22-2004, 09:28 AM
Desperate Housewives,

Not a fan.

Teri Hatcher,

Makes just about anything worthwhile! oh yeah

CougarQuest
11-22-2004, 09:45 AM
This show should scare the bejesus out of every male. :MandJ:

I love this show.

RBA
11-22-2004, 11:11 AM
Rest easy, TV sinners, 'values' voters like to watch

November 22, 2004

By Bill Carter New York Times

The results of the presidential election of 2004 are still being parsed for what they say about the electorate's supposed closer embrace of traditional cultural values. But for the network television executives charged with finding programs that speak to tastes across the nation, one lesson is clear.

The supposed cultural divide is more like a cultural mind meld.

In a series of interviews, representatives of the four big broadcast networks as well as Hollywood production studios said the returns on display in the nightly television ratings bore little relation to the message apparently sent by a significant percentage of voters.The television choices of viewers, whether in Los Angeles or Salt Lake City, New York or Birmingham, Ala., are remarkably similar. And that means the election will have little impact on which shows they decide to put on television, these executive say.

It is possible that some secondary characters on new television shows will exhibit strong religious beliefs, and an occasional plotline may examine the effects of faith on some characters' lives. But television shows are far more likely to keep pumping from the deep well of murder, mayhem and sexual transgression than seek diversion along the straight and narrow path.

"It's entertainment vs. politics," said Steve McPherson, the president of ABC Entertainment. He dismissed the notion that program creators might be developing ideas specifically to chase voters who claimed moral values as an important issue in this election. "I have not heard an idea of that kind," McPherson said, "none whatsoever.''

As much as network entertainment executives believe in taking note of trends, the rating figures from Nielsen Media Research remain their bible.

"They tell you more about creative values than anything that's in the political zeitgeist," said Dana Walden, the president of one of the largest production studios, Twentieth Century Fox Television, which produces shows like "The Simpsons'' and "NYPD Blue.'' "It's those values that are striking a chord with the American people,'' Walden said.

So if it is true that the public's electoral choices are a cry for more morally driven programming, the network executives ask, why are so many people, even in the markets surrounding the Bush bastions Atlanta and Salt Lake City watching a sex-drenched television drama?

"Desperate Housewives" on ABC is the big new hit of the television season, ranked second overall in the country, behind only "CSI'' on CBS. This satire of suburbia and modern relationships features, among other morally challenged characters, a married woman in her 30s having an affair with a high-school-age gardener, and has prompted several advertisers, including Lowe's, to pull their advertisements.

In the greater Atlanta market, reaching more than 2 million households, "Desperate Housewives'' is the top-rated show. Nearly 58 percent of the voters in the those counties voted for President Bush.

And in the Salt Lake City market, which takes in the whole state of Utah and parts of Nevada, Idaho and Wyoming, "Desperate Housewives" is fourth, after two editions of "CSI" and NBC's "ER;" Bush rolled up 72.6 percent of the vote there.

"We say one thing and do another," said Kevin Reilly, the president of NBC Entertainment. "People compartmentalize about their lives and their entertainment choices."

Regional differences, of course, do exist in the country's entertainment choices. Mel Gibson's "Passion of the Christ" and Michael Moore's "Fahrenheit 9/11" both took in staggering profits, but the busiest theaters for "Fahrenheit" were in cities that could not be more Democratic territory, like New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco, while "The Passion" performed best in Republican states like Texas, Ohio and Florida.

But moviegoing requires active and out-of-home decision-making, and has a price attached, unlike broadcast television. Watching television has always been a passive activity, with people selecting their entertainment in the privacy of their homes.

Even on television there are modest discrepancies in the popularity of various shows. "Desperate Housewives" may make it into the top 10 in Birmingham, Ala., but in the eighth spot. And "Will and Grace," the NBC comedy with two gay main characters, ranks in the top 10 in New York but just 22nd nationally.

But any geographical differences are overwhelmed by the distinct viewership patterns among blacks and whites. A study conducted last year by the advertising-buying firm Initiative Media found that while "Friends" and "ER" were among the top-rated shows among whites, they were much less popular among blacks. And the highest-rated shows among blacks, like "One on One" and "Girlfriends," couldn't crack the top 100 of network shows.

The divide between what people accept as proper in public and what they choose to enjoy in their private lives is, unsurprisingly, nothing new in the history of the world or this country.

"When the Pilgrims who landed on Plymouth Rock left behind writing, it was William Bradford's, and you can clearly see what they believed in and what their values were," said Robert Thompson, professor of media and popular culture at Syracuse University, referring to the colony's first governor. "Then you look at the court records and you see all kinds of fornication, adultery and bestiality." Herbert J. Gans, a professor of sociology at Columbia University and the author of "Popular Culture and High Culture: An Analysis and Evaluation of Taste," said, "For some people it's a case of 'I am moral therefore I can watch the most immoral show."' That point was echoed by Gary Schneeberger, the senior manager of issues for Focus on the Family, an influential evangelical Protestant group that urged its supporters to vote based on values. "History has shown that even people who could be described as values voters are prone to sinful behavior and watching representations of sinful behavior," Schneeberger said. "Is it shocking that people would be enticed by it? It's not shocking, but it is tragic."

Schneeberger said he was encouraged by the criticism heaped on ABC last week for using a sexed-up opening for its "Monday Night Football" coverage, which included one of the stars of "Desperate Housewives" dropping a towel and jumping, apparently naked, into the arms of a football player. But even while ABC was apologizing for the segment, cable news and sports networks like ESPN (which is owned by ABC's parent, the Walt Disney Co.) were incessantly replaying the offending scene. It is a contradiction played out again and again in popular culture, where for all the backlash against everything from Murphy Brown's single motherhood to Janet Jackson's exposed breast, the boundaries of what's acceptable keep being pushed by the increasingly graphic shows on cable. like FX's "Nip/Tuck" and even offerings from the networks.

There have been successful series with religious overtones, like "Touched by an Angel."

But since that show went off CBS, the record is less impressive, said Leslie Moonves, the co-president and co-chief operating officer of Viacom, which owns CBS and UPN. On the CBS show "Joan of Arcadia," God is a recurring character. But he is not pulling in the viewers, and that goes for almost all states.If moral and religious values were truly what people most wanted to see depicted on television, Moonves said, "I guess we'd be seeing 'Joan of Arcadia' doing better than 'CSI."'

Moonves said his network had no plans to tinker with its shows. "As soon as you think of something that makes you start putting other things in a show, you change the nature of the show," he said.

Reilly of NBC, however, said, "I do think we tend to give short shrift to certain areas of the country."

"One of the things we're playing with is having characters with strong religious beliefs included in some of our new shows," Reilly added. "This would not be the premise of the show, but we could have a character who simply has this strong point of view."

And over at Fox, Preston Beckman, the executive vice president for program planning, said he had some advice, however marginal, for producers pitching the networks. "Make sure that a lot of them are at least located in red states, " he said. "And give the characters a dog."


http://www.timesargus.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20041122/NEWS/411220339/1002/NEWS01

Chip R
11-22-2004, 11:28 AM
I think I watched the pilot - or at least part of it - and the last 2 or 3 shows. Very interesting show. I could see that kid was going to have an accident from a mile away once he called his buddy from his car and said he was going to bet drunk before facing his mom but I didn't see him hitting Whatshername's mother in law. Good plot twist. I like how they have Teri Hatcher playing the comic relief role.

Roy Tucker
11-22-2004, 11:59 AM
Interesting to see what the coasts like vs. the inbetween

missionhockey21
11-22-2004, 12:13 PM
Lost is my favorite new show of the year. It's great IMO.

I havent seen Desperate Houswives, not really interested to either. Not because I dont doubt it is a good show but because my DVR is filled up plenty of shows I record every week. Got Arrested Development to watch after my Calc class this evening. :)

15fan
11-22-2004, 12:27 PM
I caught some of it a few weeks ago.

It's horrid.

(With the emphasis on the ***** part of horrid.)

I'm still trying to find the contact person at ABC who can give me back those 15 minutes of my life.

If this is an example of the best programming that the tv folks have to offer, then I'm really glad I don't have much time to sit around & watch the tube.

Doc. Scott
11-22-2004, 12:29 PM
Two and a Half Men? Never was there a less funny sitcom on television. Good lord, is that show stupid.

missionhockey21
11-22-2004, 12:31 PM
Two and a Half Men? Never was there a less funny sitcom on television. Good lord, is that show stupid.
I am not a fan either. To be honest, after seeing a few episodes last season I was surprised to see it still on TV this season.... let alone one of the biggest ratings draws. :eek:

smith288
11-22-2004, 04:00 PM
I have to admit, I love Desperate Housewives.

The show is witty, smart and has a great plot that continues on and on between the shows.

Each character is great and Terri Hatchers role is comedic relief in the midst of the dark and ominous Paul Young (husband of the suicide mom).

Parts of the show seems to have grown boring to me like Gabrielle's long term affair with the high school kid... Cant she do better than a high schooler?

My wife loves Bree... A flat out looney clean freak who removes herself from all blame and converts frustration and anger towards cleaning and gardening.

The pilot was meant to appeal to the sexual desires of an audience which ended up driving people like my mom away. She thought it was porn light on ABC. Ends up the show would have caught on much quicker if they would have appealed to the humorous side of our daily lives where nosey neighbors and marital relations is poked and prodded at with a funny bone to our delight.

WVRed
11-22-2004, 04:19 PM
Two words,


Eva Longoria

:luvu:

Reds4Life
11-22-2004, 04:21 PM
Two words,


Eva Longoria

:luvu:

I posted about her first, she's mine! :mhcky21:

;)

WVRed
11-22-2004, 04:21 PM
My wife loves Bree... A flat out looney clean freak who removes herself from all blame and converts frustration and anger towards cleaning and gardening.

I loved the woman who plays Bree(Marcia Cross) when she was on Melrose Place as Kimberly Shaw. I've gotta admit I like the psychotic housewife better than the psychotic doctor.:)

CougarQuest
11-23-2004, 11:06 AM
"Sometimes Evil drives a mini-van". :mhcky21:

westofyou
11-23-2004, 11:17 AM
Interesting to see what the coasts like vs. the inbetween

I haven't ever seen any of those shows.

I feel somewhat liberated

Johnny Footstool
11-23-2004, 12:33 PM
I watch CSI on Spike while I ride my stationary bike, simply because there is nothing else on during that time.

It's mildly entertaining, but it certainly doesn't warrant multiple spin-offs. However, I hear the new "CSI: Augusta, Maine" is actually pretty good -- even better than "CSI: Knoxville" and "CSI: Galapagos."

RFS62
11-23-2004, 12:36 PM
It's mildly entertaining, but it certainly doesn't warrant multiple spin-offs. However, I hear the new "CSI: Augusta, Maine" is actually pretty good -- even better than "CSI: Knoxville" and "CSI: Galapagos."



:MandJ: :MandJ: :MandJ:

Chip R
11-23-2004, 12:48 PM
Interesting to see CSI: New York is not doing as well in NY as it is nationally.

savafan
05-23-2005, 10:59 AM
Okay, I'm coming out of the closet as a DHW fan.

I have to ask, is Zach really Mike's son?

Red Leader
05-23-2005, 11:15 AM
Okay, I'm coming out of the closet as a DHW fan.

I have to ask, is Zach really Mike's son?

That's what we were led to believe. Also led to believe that Zach shoots Mike when he walks in the door. Guess we'll have to wait til the fall to confirm both.

savafan
05-23-2005, 11:20 AM
That's what we were led to believe. Also led to believe that Zach shoots Mike when he walks in the door. Guess we'll have to wait til the fall to confirm both.

I kept waiting to hear the gunshot on the fadeout, but it never came...

Red Leader
05-23-2005, 11:55 AM
I kept waiting to hear the gunshot on the fadeout, but it never came...

I did too. My guess is that Mike walks in the house, the kid is caught off guard and goes to get up and Terri Hatcher tackles him or something like that, saving Mike. I just can't see them killing Mike off right now with what's going on with Zach and the guy stranded in the desert.

LoganBuck
05-23-2005, 12:20 PM
Red Leader, Problem is that they showed the kid watching Hatcher and the window when Mike pulled up. Unless he has severe ADD he knows Mike is home. I don't like Bree at all and was kind of hoping she was going to be offed.

Unassisted
05-23-2005, 12:27 PM
Remember that Mike is armed too, though.

Red Leader
05-23-2005, 12:28 PM
Red Leader, Problem is that they showed the kid watching Hatcher and the window when Mike pulled up. Unless he has severe ADD he knows Mike is home. I don't like Bree at all and was kind of hoping she was going to be offed.

I know Terri Hatcher's character knew Mike was coming and heard his car pull up, that's when they showed her look over to Zach. Maybe I'm wrong, but I thought they showed Zach kind of "nodding off" or "deep in thought" or whatever, not paying attention, so maybe that's how they allow for him to be "caught off guard" when Mike walks in the door? I honestly don't know how they're going to pull it off, but I just have serious doubts that Mike is killed. Having said that, I was surprised that Bree's husband died as well, so who knows?

Red Leader
05-23-2005, 12:29 PM
Remember that Mike is armed too, though.

Ah-ha! I forgot about that. Very good point, U. :thumbup:

remdog
05-23-2005, 02:47 PM
....the show would have caught on much quicker if they would have appealed to the humorous side of our daily lives....

It's been number one most of the year, IIRC, so how much quicker should it have caught on? :D

Like you, I regard it, to a great degree, as a comedic approach to everyday life. After all, is anyone's neighborhood this convoluted? :)

I think it's a very fun, campy, tongue-in-cheek show and, since I'm usually on an airplane when it's on, I didn't get to see all the episodes but the ones that I did see were really fun.

Rem

BuckU
05-23-2005, 04:12 PM
Was I the only dude that got teary eyed when Bree actually showed emotion?

:cry:

BTW, My wife & I have a deal. I get Susan (Teri Hatcher) for one night if she gets John the gardner for one night.

LoganBuck
05-23-2005, 10:13 PM
BuckU, please go rent Terminator this weekend.

Ibleedblue
05-23-2005, 11:05 PM
I was a fan at first, but the act got old, really quick.

HotCorner
05-24-2005, 10:11 AM
For Teri Hatcher fans ... :evil:

http://www.thesun.co.uk/article/0,,2004580002-2005230584,000.html



By BECI WOOD
Sun Online

DESPERATE Housewives star Teri Hatcher has revealed she would pose topless for Playboy for $10 million.

It was recently reported that her co-stars Nicolette Sheridan, Eva Longoria, Marcia Cross and Felicity Huffman turned down the offer for all of them to strip off for the men's magazine.

But Teri admits the offer would be far too tempting.

She told US chat show host Jay Leno: "I didn't hear that offer, because if I had, I'd be in Playboy!

"I mean, really, everyone has a price and $10 million is mine. So I've put it out there.

"(My cleavage) you get for free. I mean, it's not much further."

BuckU
05-24-2005, 03:47 PM
For Teri Hatcher fans ... :evil:

http://www.thesun.co.uk/article/0,,2004580002-2005230584,000.html

That would be sooooooo nice....

Matt700wlw
05-24-2005, 05:14 PM
http://www.maximonline.com/girls/eva_longoria_2/gm_l4.jpg

This is all I have to say...

Red Leader
05-24-2005, 05:16 PM
Can't get the image to work.

Matt700wlw
05-24-2005, 05:17 PM
Works now :D

Red Leader
05-24-2005, 05:19 PM
Works now :D

Indeed it does. :eek:

Ibleedblue
05-24-2005, 06:47 PM
Eva Longoria is the most overrated woman in the world.

Larry Schuler
05-24-2005, 09:51 PM
Eva Longoria is the most overrated woman in the world.^

savafan
05-25-2005, 01:10 AM
For Teri Hatcher fans ...

http://www.thesun.co.uk/article/0,,...230584,000.html


I won't believe this unless someone actually heard her say it on Leno. The Sun is a rag.