A few shows have potential to become hits
By: John Crook
Fans of "Sex and the City" were bereft when that HBO smash ended its long
run last season. But anyone who admired those strong, sharply drawn female
characters and their outspokenly witty points of view will recognize the
same qualities in ABC's "Desperate Housewives," a highly anticipated Sunday
ABC entry that laces the tired nighttime soap formula with laugh-out-loud
comedy. "Housewives" focuses on a close-knit group of friends and neighbors
trying to make sense of the fact that one of their number, who led a
seemingly perfect life, has just blown her brains out as the series
opens (9 p.m. WRTV , Oct. 3).
There's plenty of sexual tension courtesy of Gaby Solis (Eva Longoria),
a former model whose teenage lawnboy is putting in overtime with her,
and serial divorcee Edie Britt (Nicolette Sheridan, rekindling those
"Knots Landing" bad-girl memories).
What makes this show absolutely fly, however, are peerless comedy turns
by Marcia Cross ("Melrose Place") as Bree Van De Kamp, a Martha Stewart
in overdrive; Felicity Huffman ("Sports Night") as Lynette Scavo, a
former executive turned harried mother of four; and, first among equals,
Teri Hatcher ("Lois & Clark"), who is both touching and hilarious as
divorced single mom Susan Mayer.
Fresh, funny, high-spirited and original, "Desperate Housewives" seems
destined to succeed or fail in a big way. Either viewers will embrace
this very clever series on its own terms or it will go down as another
casualty in the heartbreaking genre of "TV that was just too good for TV."
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