Desperate Housewives
(Series -- ABC, Sun. Oct. 3, 9 P.M.)
By Brian Lowry
An inspired wedding of sharp comedic sensibilities with primetime
soapiness, the series that launched a thousand billboards offers
enough cat fighting, mystery and muy caliente sex to give it a real
chance of ending ABC's desperation to finally establish an hourlong
show without "Makeover" in the title. If nothing else, there's no
more indelible moment in a new series this season than the dazzling
Eva Longoria mowing the lawn in evening gown and heels to cover up
her affair with the gardener, who has been shirking his more traditional duties.
Unlike most of this fall's promising newcomers, the residents of
Wisteria Lane have all kinds of fertile avenues to explore in future
episodes. The one cautionary flag is preventing the soapy elements
from bubbling over the top, as they threaten to do on only a few
occasions in the premiere.
At times, given conventions of the genre, "Desperate Housewives"
might be a little too smart for its own good. For the most part,
though, producer Marc Cherry ("The Golden Girls") has concocted a
program that's oodles of fun, chronicling the seemingly idyllic
lives of a handful of women after a member of their group, Mary
Alice (Brenda Strong), suddenly and inexplicably blows her brains out.
As with "The Big Chill," the suicide has a significant impact on
remaining friends, each of whom have their own particular issues. The
divorced Susan (Teri Hatcher), ends up longing for a newly arrived
bachelor (James Denton), placing her in competition with the "most
predatory divorcee in a five-block radius," a perfectly cast Nicollette
Sheridan.
Gabrielle (Longoria) is a former model who married for money and is
finding that late at night (and even in the afternoon) the big ol'
house gets pretty lonely. Meanwhile, Lynette (Felicity Huffman) quit
her high-powered job to be a stay-at-home mom, a role she's ashamed
to admit she hates -- in contrast to Bree (Marcia Cross), whom her
son accuses of running for "mayor of Stepford."
Although broadly comic in places and darkly so in others, the series
also layers on the mystery about Mary Alice, who becomes the omniscient
narrator for her surviving friends. It's an overused device that
nevertheless lends an air of gravity to the show, which, thanks to
the secrets and laughs, possesses a slightly broader appeal than
the average primetime sudsersudser of yester-decade.
Among the series' many accomplishments, most of the recasting from
what media buyers saw in the spring subtly improves the program.
And while Hatcher, back in daffy "Lois & Clark" form, ostensibly
provides the emotional core, nearly everyone is intriguing in one way
or another. Longoria, the least-known of the bunch, has the makings
of a breakout star, following a brief stint in ABC's "L.A. Dragnet"
and -- fittingly, given her character's nature -- "The Young and
the Restless."
Moreover, after years of futility on the drama front, ABC appears
to have gotten its act together in launching this one. In addition
to those ubiquitous eye-catching billboards, the series actually has
a compatible lead-in (the female-oriented "Extreme Makeover: Home
Edition") and is scheduled in the right timeslot. As a bonus, HBO
will be less of a competitive factor with its gritty "The Wire"
playing in that hour, and if "Housewives" is succeeding when usual
Sunday occupant "Alias" returns in January, well, that's a
nice problem to have.
In short, if these girls don't wind up being golden, it won't be
for lack of opportunity.
© Variety.com 2004. All Rights Reserved.
http://www.variety.com/review/VE1117924996?categoryid=32&cs=1