Desperate Housewives - Series 1 & 2 (Box Set) (DVD)

...am actually a fan of Desperate Housewives, the American produced television show that Channel 4 unleashed on the UK as the new 'Sex in the City'. Now I never watched that show, but from what I've heard of it being a long running womens show I can understand how for many Desperate Housewives could be the perfect filler. Seriously storylines but not forgetting about the comedy with a womens edge. Something I'm sure some groups of women get together ...
...about something that's happening in Desperate Housewives. It's more of a filler show for me on a Wednesday night at 10pm when there's nothing else to watch, but that doesn't stop me looking forward to it. There's definitly some comic relief in there as well. I mean it was just the other week that I was reading the weekend paper and they had a big picture of something that was coming up on DH, I was annoyed but if this was any other show I would have ... more

As a heterosexual teenage male it may seem quite unusual to read that I am actually a fan of Desperate Housewives, the American produced television show that Channel 4 unleashed on the UK as the new 'Sex in the City'. Now I never watched that show, but from what I've heard of it being a long running womens show I can understand how for many Desperate Housewives could be the perfect filler. Seriously storylines but not forgetting about the comedy with a womens edge. Something I'm sure some groups of women get together to watch over a tub of ice cream.. or is that just cliche?

Obviously America are ahead of us as far as episodes go, although whilst I usually hate problems like Prison Break and Lost being ruined for me, I'm not all that upset if I find out about something that's happening in Desperate Housewives. It's more of a filler show for me on a Wednesday night at 10pm when there's nothing else to watch, but that doesn't stop me looking forward to it. There's definitly some comic relief in there as well. I mean it was just the other week that I was reading the weekend paper and they had a big picture of something that was coming up on DH, I was annoyed but if this was any other show I would have probably wrote an angry letter.

Currently on it's third season, the show originally premiered back on October 3rd 2004 on American screens. Before the show had even aired in the UK it was gaining publicity for an infamous Vanity Fair photo shoot where apparently a lot of the actresses involved were not getting along because one of them got a better bathing suit than the other. All these rumours were strongly denied, and it appears that the cast get along fine now. The first series featured 23 episodes, whilst the second featured 24.

Series one episode listing; Pilot, Ah But Underneath, Pretty Little Picture, Who's that Woman?, Come in Stranger, Running to Stand Still, Anything You Can Do, Guilty, Suspicious Minds, Come Back to Me, Move On, Every Day a Little Death, Your Fault, Love Is in the Air, Impossile, The Ladies Who Lunch, There Won't Be Trumpets, Children Will Listen, Live Alone and Like It, Fear No More, Sunday in the Park with George, Goodbye For Now and One Wonderful Day.

Series two episode listing; Next, You Could Drive a Person Crazy, You'll Never Get Away From Me, My Heart Belongs To Daddy, They Asked Me Why I Believe In You, I Wish I Could Forget You, Color and Light, The Sun Won't Set, That's Good That's Bad, Coming Home, One More Kiss, We're Gonna Be All Right, There's Something About a War, Silly People, Thank You So Much, There Is No Other Way, Could I Leave You?, Everybody Says Don't, It Wasn't Meant to Happen, I Know Things Now, No One Is Alone, Remember (1) and Remember (2).

There are four lead characters for the show, and they make up the 'housewives'.

SUSAN MAYER (Teri Hatcher) - Famed for playing Lois Lane in Superman and being a Bond Girl, Teri plays the dippy single mother in Susan. You know she's always going to make a fool out of herself, although it seems to have happened so many times she doesn't embarrass anymore. She has many love interest, her prime target being the plumber, Mike Delfino.

LYNETTE SCARVO (Felicity Huffman) - Happily married, Lynette is a stay at home wife in the first series to her four children. Of course like any marriage it has it's ups and downs, but you get the feeling if there is any solid relationship on the show it is Lynette's relationship with Tom. Can't help getting herself involved with pretty much everything, usually backfiring.

GABRIELLE SOLIS (Eva Longoria) - Perhaps the most easily recognised cast member, whether it be for her famed role in DH after having an affair with her underaged gardener or for appearing in a Jessica Simpson music video. The former model has a very rocky relationship with her husband, Carlos, although the latino pair make a good couple who are all about the money!

BREE VAN DE KAMP (Marcia Cross) - They say this show has brought back the more attractive older woman, and Bree is the most particular character on the show as everything has to be right for her. She does have a mean streak however, and tries her best to keep her son and daughter in check. This doesn't go very well for her, especially after the shocking death of a character related to her at the end of the first season.

Edie Britt is also fairly re-occuring character, played by Nicollette Sheridan. A cult favourite for her rivalry with Susan, these pair always seem to have confrontations that end in laughs for the viewers and tears for the characters. What is great about Edie is her doesn't care attitude, and oh yeah - she works in real estate.

Whilst the show did start to great success there has been discussion of perhaps a housewife being killed off or even a new one being brought in to up the ratings again. For me however, the show has been going from strength to strength with not many signs of slowing down so I can't really see them killing off any of these all important characters. What was the instant appeal of Desperate Housewives storyline wise? Well a murder mystery of course!

Every Desperate Housewives episode is narrated by an ex-housewife who apparently committed suicide, Mary Alice Young (Brenda Strong), however there are strong suspicions that she was actually murdered by her creepy husband, Paul Young. Zach Young is raised by Paul after the death of Mary, although we are led to believe that Zach may not even really be his son. An on the surface, very simple mystery with twists and turns everywhere, made the first series compelling viewing. It is not until the last episode of the first series that the mystery is solved, in a flashback where we actually see a Mary Alice on screen appearance - although this is not her only one.

The show has a lot of characters that seem to pop up every now and again, a lot of them having connections to one another that we have to wait to get to the bottom of them, although it doesn't stop you trying to guess. I'm sure if you watch it with someone you will find yourself going, "I recognise them," and then you're friend going, "Yeah that's..." One character that is prominent in another key storyline to the first series is Bree's stalker, a pharmacist who is secretly trying to knock off her husband.

Of course a lot of you will know about another storyline, I mentioned it earlier, Gabrielle cheating on Carlos with the 'hunk' gardener played by Jesse Metcalfe. That just about sums up the main things you need to now about what happen in the first season of hour-long episodes, how does the second season match-up?

Well the writers had to bring a new family in to match the controversy and interest that surrounded the last seasons big storyline. Maybe for some the storyline was too out there to be realistic, but for me it was right on the money for what the show should be about. The Applewhite family was made up of the mother, Betty, and her two songs Caleb and Matthew. Caleb was mentally challenged and the story was that where they previously lived a young girl had been murdered, presumedly by Caleb, so Betty had to keep him locked up in the cellar of the house. As Betty struggled to keep her second son a secret, Matthew created a relationship with Bree's daughter that would see her put in danger. It would make for a very tense storyline, with a massive twist along the way.

Another child that Bree struggled to keep under control was her son, Andrew, who defied her at every oppertunity and even ended up sleeping with her new sex addict boyfriend. Bree also wrestled with a drink problem, that would make for slightly frustrating TV at times, but a good watch none the less.

Lynette found herself in the workplace and Tom became the stay at home dad. Susan and Mike continued their will they/won't they relationship. And things would become even more complicated between Carlos and Gabrielle as a pregnancy became involved.

Besides the fact that the cast has been made to be as goodlooking as possible, all the acting is pretty well done whether it be Julie Mayer (Andrea Bowen) or Rex Van De Kamp (Steven Culp). I think if you didn't get into the show at the beginning it maybe a little hard to now, although I see no reasons why women of all ages shouldn't be interested by this show. It can be a little hard to follow at times, which will put many guys off viewing it I'm sure, because the eye candy can be only worth so much. If you truly appreciate the writing though you will see it's very well put together, and everything seems to climax perfectly in the end. A 15 certificate for swearing and sex references, there's never any nudity, will make it an awkward watch anyway infront of parents sometimes but still a good show. I think you'd be hard pressed to find something better to watch on a Wednesday night.  

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