Channel Four’s big new acquisition starts tomorrow night – Desperate Housewives. Much has already been written in the “quality” press about this, but somehow I don’t think that many of the commentators have quite got the tone of this show quite right.
You might think that shagging in the suburbs is the full nature of this programme, and while that’s certainly true to an extent, it’s by no means the sum of it. Some of the women are desperate in other respects too – and this isn’t a new Twin Peaks as several writers have said. The new Twin Peaks is Lost which has yet to arrive on C4/E4. There’s certainly an air of mystery to some extent with things, but don’t judge it all on the first few episodes.
I think that there are going to be some disappointed reviewers in 48 hours time, who thought that they were going to be getting a Sex and the City replacement. Very few of said writers will be aware that this is a US network television show, and not something from HBO with the expected quotient of nudity and swearing. And the US seems to be getting more and more prudish as the days go on, to the extent that material that might have been deemed suitable a couple of years ago, may not be now, lest they fall foul of the mighty Zeus of Mount FCC – Michael Powell. Shameless it ‘aint.
Desperate Housewives closest relation is the old-school primetime soap opera, with stories that move apace. We’ll see how it goes.
Incidentally, speaking of Channel 4, am I the only person who thinks that their new idents are pretty poor and overly long.