Thanks to Marc Cherry, suburbia would never be the same again.
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In a television landscape cluttered with reality shows and police procedurals, who would have predicted that a primetime soap (of all things) helmed by four actresses would generate so much buzz and make such a big impact on your television viewing habits in 2004? Not since the demise of "Melrose Place" has a primetime melodrama teased and captured the imagination of so many viewers. Well, drama is not really a good word to describe this show, as it is primarily a comedy with a good dose of intrigue and even a murder-mystery thrown in for good measure. And that is probably the secret to its success--a mish-mash of genres that seems to work pretty well. Some parts of the show even feels as if it is channeling the equally successful HBO comedy "Sex and the City", which by coincidence (or not), also stars four strong and gorgeous women.
If you don´t know already, I´m talking about the TV smash hit "Desperate Housewives" and like millions of other Americans and millions more worldwide, you were most probably hooked on it as well, like Bob Dole to his blue pill. The show became so immensely popular that even before ABC aired the show´s first season finale, its suggestive title not only latched itself onto popular American lexicon and pop culture, it also received the most unlikeliest tribute of all from a surprising source. The ringing endorsement came from none other than First Lady Laura Bush, who delivered her now-famous one-liner equating herself to a "desperate housewife" during a roast of her husband at a press event. Frankly, even if you have political connections up to the wazoo, you can´t get any better publicity than that, can you?
Suburbia has always been a place where nothing is always what it seems to be, a place where the next Stepford is just lurking in a quiet corner of a supposed utopia waiting to be uncovered by the unsuspecting. "Desperate Housewives" latches on to this all-too-familiar premise but throws in a few original curve balls of its own. Created by Marc Cherry (whose previous other well-known stint was as one of the writers for the sitcom "The Golden Girls"), the world of "Desperate Housewives" centers on Wisteria Lane, a community where the American Dream is a reality--where every house comes with manicured lawns and picket fences, where the streets are impossibly clean and safe and where friendly neighbors (or so it seems) abound. In short, Wisteria Lane is the perfect community, ready-made for the perfect families. Sounds too good to be true? Of course it is! For behind every smile and every hello, lie dark secrets and even darker sins. Wisteria Lane is more akin to Elm Street than one would expect.
This once tranquil neighborhood finds itself waking up one morning to a shocking revelation: one of its own is dead. The death may not have been so shocking but for the fact that Mary Alice Young (Brenda Strong) committed suicide by shooting herself in the head with a handgun. Why would a seemingly contented housewife with no enemies and a loving family kill herself so tragically? With that single shot, Mary Alice practically ripped to shreds the veil of innocence surrounding the inhabitants of Wisteria Lane, the once-perfect suburbia. However, her death only marks the start of a series of other strange behavior among the neighbors as dark secrets are revealed and more sins are committed. Death, fortunately, is not the end of the line for Mary Alice as she returns and narrates each episode, like an angel looking over the shoulder of her family, friends, acquaintances and even (gasp!) enemies.
Apart from Mary Alice´s own family--shifty husband Paul (Mark Moses) and troubled son Zach (Cody Kasch)--the only other people most affected by her suicide are her closest friends in the neighborhood: Susan Mayer (Teri Hatcher), Lynette Scavo (Felicity Huffman), Bree Van De Kamp (Marcia Cross) and Gabrielle Solis (Eva Langolia). Susan, a children´s book illustrator, is a recently divorced single parent with a teenage daughter, Julie (Andrea Bowen). A year earlier, her husband Karl (Richard Burgi) had walked out on his family and left Susan for his secretary, a much younger woman (why any man would leave his wife who happens to look like Teri Hatcher is beyond any type of reasoning!). Slowly, it becomes painfully apparent that Susan has not achieved closure with the divorce and is still trying to deal with some anger issues against her ex. Then there is the ever-flustered Lynette, whose previous job as a highflying corporate executive could not have prepared her for the overwhelming pressures of her new role as a fulltime mother to three young and hyperactive boys and an infant. As the tension in dealing with her highly-strung kids on a daily basis mounts, Lynette is beginning to deeply regret her decision to leave her successful career behind, all the while getting little to no help from her loving but ultimately clueless husband Tom (Doug Savant).
Unlike Lynette, absolutely nothing fazes the impeccably prim and proper Bree, who stubbornly refuses to let anything cloud her reputation as the perfect housewife and mother, not even after her husband of eighteen years, Rex (Steven Culp) reveals his desire to end their marriage. Unbeknownst to Bree, her Stepford-esque perfectionism and emotional rigidity is the main cause for her husband´s and her teenage children´s ire, leading to the near disintegration of her marriage and also her family. Bree, for the lack of a better description, is the personification of Martha Stewart gone awry. Finally, we have the sizzling hot tamale, Gabrielle, the trophy wife of rich entrepreneur Carlos (Ricardo Chavira). For all the luxury and riches that her husband showers her with, the highly materialistic Gabrielle can´t find love within their marriage and indulges in a torrid affair with her hunky teenage gardener, John (Jesse Metcalfe), leading to a series of messy outcomes. Other interesting characters who dwell on Wisteria Lane include the handsome new neighbor Mike Delfino (James Denton), who catches the eyes of the now-single Susan and the resident flirt, ultra-sexy Edie Britt (Nicolette Sheridan), snoopy neighbor Mrs. Huber (Christine Estabrook) and creepy pharmacist George (Roger Bart).
While there is no shortage of secrets among the many inhabitants of Wisteria Lane, the dark mystery behind Mary Alice´s suicide forms the basic foundation for the show. It is a classic web of mystery that entangles some that you would come to expect and some that you don´t. Although tidbits of information are slowly revealed as the season progresses, instead of shedding more light onto Mary Alice´s death, they only serve to deepen the mystery further. Throughout the 23 episodes of this first season, you will see new relationships form and old ones grow stronger or apart, death to characters that you would not have expect, many secrets revealed, blackmail and betrayal, tarnished truths and the disintegration of trust, all working its way up to the much-touted season finale. Ultimately, it is a long and winding road to get to the end but believe me, it is certainly a journey that is totally worth the patience and perseverance. Getting plenty of sidesplitting laughs along the way is just icing on the cake.
"Desperate Housewives" does more than to just blow the lid off the squeaky clean facade behind America´s suburbia. As series creator Marc Cherry divulges in one of the interviews that can be viewed on this DVD set, Smalltown, USA harbors as many, if not more, dark secrets as any big cities, citing the BTK and the Andrea Yates cases as examples. While acts of murder, treachery, betrayal and other sins do seem to sometimes overwhelm the show, the dark undertones are only but a clever disguise, used to subtly hide the show´s comedic excellence. Trust me, "Desperate Housewives" is an intelligent comedy at heart and it is really a riotous affair. Fusing some amusing physical comedy and plenty of witty banter, the cast and the writers have not only managed to create a highly entertaining show but also, dare I say it, a cultural phenomenon that serves up more truths than any serious melodrama could ever do, all while not taking itself too seriously.
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