I've watched Desperate Housewives from the beginning, and you know what? I like the show. Yes, I'm a heterosexual male living in the United States who likes Desperate Housewives. There, I said it. But why did I have to make the sound like a confession? The show is funny, it has a season-long mystery that has you guessing to the very end, and an incredibly hot woman who's often seen shagging or bathing, or both at the same time. So what's wrong? Why do most other guys my age hate this show? Well, I'll tell you.5) Susan and Mike - The character Susan is a bit too much to take, and for the life of me I can't understand how Mike can stand her. Sorry, but she's an idiot. She's clumsy, manipulating, annoying and, of course, nosey. I'd have to say she is the character I like the least on this show. And can she even be called a "housewife" anyway? She's not married and I'll be damned if I see what she does all day long besides snoop around other people's business and make hell for herself and anyone she cares for.
4) The "soap opera" feel - Watch the promos for this show and it's no wonder why most guys my age wouldn't be caught dead watching it. Well, that and the fact that there are football games on at the same time (I'll get to that later). I admit that I used to watch Beverly Hills 90210 and Melrose Place when they first aired, and those were right-out soap operas - really nothing funny at all about them. Once I realized that I got tricked into watching nighttime soaps, I felt cheated and dirty, scrubbed myself clean with a brillo pad, then curled up into a fetal position weeping uncontrolably on the floor of my shower. I'm probably not the only guy who's afraid of that happening again.
3) Sunday Night Football - It's on at the same time! So, if you're a married man looking for some kick-back time after a long weekend of working more than you do during the weekdays, you can either flip to the 8:30 game or watch ... Desperate Housewives? Psssh! Yeah right! Their only hope is to catch guys who only care to watch their favorite team play (me), which means only missing a show every so often.
2) The neighborhood - It's too...perty. It's always sunny. Everybody's yard is clean and tidy. Chicks are washing their own cars outside in skimpy outfits. The only guy who's around all day long doing work outside is Mike, who's usually got his head burried under the hood of his truck. Nobody mows their own lawn, and the people who mow the lawns are always getting laid. Who knew the fringe benefits of high school landscaping? At the end of the weekend, after I've sweated my ass off chopping and dragging downed branches in my back yard, lugged bags of grass and leaves to the local dump, picked up dog crap, trimmed hedges, fixed cracks in my driveway and washed two cars, where the heck are the scantily clad women skipping over to flirt? I hate you, Wisteria Lane!
1) The title - Definitely the number one reason guys don't tune into this show. It's about Housewives. Not just any old housewives, but Desperate ones. Desperate for what? Oh lord, I'd have to sit and watch an hour long show about why these housewives are so miserable and desperate? The title just screams for a woman-only audience. I'm just picturing the guy who operates the wrecking ball truck when he goes to work Monday morning:
Worker 1: "So, did you guys see Corey Dillon last night? Man, that guy's a machine!"
Worker 2: "Uh, no, I was watching Desperate Housewives. Lynette spilled coffee on her boss's lap."
Get ready for the next edition of TV Squad Debate, where Bob and I will butt heads on these points and more. Coming soon...
The TV Squad Podcast: Vik Sahay of Chuck, Oprah talk, brutal timeslots, and more!
TV Squad Ten: Top Ten ESPN shows from worst to first
Andy Richter: The TV Squad Interview
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
10-11-2005 @ 12:56PM
Mike said...
I couldn't even tell you the exact time this show comes on in my time zone (Mountain- the time zone that the networks forgot) but I think it runs the same time as "Rome" (and before that "Deadwood") AND "The Simpsons" ... or the same time as "Family Guy"/American Dad". Thank God for my dual tuner DVR. Compared to shows of that quality, who cares (or is surprised) about declining quality of a broadcast network show?
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10-11-2005 @ 1:07PM
Edgar said...
I couldnt agree more with your analysis of Susan, she was bearable in the first season but she is getting out of hand and over the top this season. Her only redeeming characteristic is that she is hot, but even there she's starting to decline. And I dont mean that just because she is getting older but she just seems unnaturally skinny, whats up with those chicken legs?
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10-11-2005 @ 1:33PM
bc said...
As a man, I see nothing remarkable, new or entertaining going on here- like all TV dramas.
And I also know intelligent, astute women who hate this show as well.
Read a book.
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10-11-2005 @ 1:50PM
Evadne said...
It's also on at the same time as L&O: Criminal Intent--which, though I am a woman, I watch instead.
The show has definitely been marketed to women, much like a zillion other shows have been marketed to men. I'm not sure why we need to think there's something "wrong" with the show if it doesn't automatically cater to a traditional construction of masculinity (which is not to say that the show doesn't reinforce that construction itself, or an equally harmful construction of femininity--but hey, I've never seen it). Why aren't men supposed to watch soap operas or like pretty things?
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10-11-2005 @ 1:51PM
Evadne said...
And, um, "read a book" at a TV blog?
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10-11-2005 @ 1:55PM
Keith McDuffee said...
Oh, I never meant it was wrong for EVERYONE for those reasons. Just why people dismiss it before watching more than one showing.
And yeah, go to Book Squad or something if you want to hype books. Bleh, books!
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10-11-2005 @ 3:19PM
Radioscott said...
I watched about the first half of the first season. Initially, I was pleasantly surprised that it wasn't an hour of man-bashing. Some of the wives were in the wrong and some of the husbands were in the wrong. The Marcia Cross character appeared to have a screw loose, and her husband was a good guy. That dynamic was suddenly reversed one day. Doug Savant's character went from being a good guy to being a jerk. And, Eva Longorria's character (I can't remember any of the character's names!!) was the evil, cheating "bitch" and her husband was just a guy who loved her, but was working so hard that she felt neglected. Again, one day she suddenly became the hero, and he was the "bastard."
So, at some point, all of the men became losers and/or villainous, and all of the housewives became saints. That's when I cancelled my TiVo season pass.
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10-11-2005 @ 5:17PM
Myron said...
Dude, check the Kinsey scale. You're in gay-ville.
- you watch desperate housewives
- you watched 90210 and melrose place
- you don't understand why the plumber likes having Teri Hatcher around
Sorry
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10-11-2005 @ 3:29PM
Keith McDuffee said...
Myron -- classic example of what's wrong with the show. It's funny and has mysteries worth watching, but you don't watch because you question how gay you'd be to watch it?
And yes, I question why Mike has Susan around because no lay is worth that much whine, idiocy and snooping. NONE. Now, if it really was Teri Hatcher, then we can talk. But it's the character, Susan, I'm talking about.
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10-12-2005 @ 7:41AM
Myron said...
My wife watches the show so I watch it sometimes. Its a good show; original, well written and well done.
As to this and that being unrealistic, thats entertainment. If it was average looking housewives in average houses with real problems you wouldn't need to watch it on tv, you could just look around.
The Teri Hatcher character is a pain in the ass, but I still think the plumber has a good thing going with her.
I can't let you off the hook for watching 90210 and Melrose. That's beyond the pale. You probably shouldn't admit that ever again.
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10-11-2005 @ 9:13PM
Keith McDuffee said...
Yes, I know I can't be let off the hook for that, hence the admition that I cried when I realized what I'd done.
OK, now you made me need to go show and bawl again. Bastard.
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10-12-2005 @ 12:33PM
Michael Sykes said...
Radioscott, you cancelled your season's pass prematurely, because the men don't stay the "villain" for long - seems to be going back and forth on the show.
I'm 29, male, straight and I watch Desperate Housewives. I also used to watch 90210, until they went to college and it stopped being "believable" (meaning everybody had slept with everybody else at least three times). I never watched Melrose Place.
Desperate Housewives is a fun show, and besides I hate football!
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10-12-2005 @ 12:40PM
Michael Sykes said...
Oh yeah, and Susan is incredibly annoying! I also really wish Teri Hatcher would eat a little more. She went from being hot to scary-skinny. I'm sure some guys dig that, but I don't happen to be one of them.
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10-21-2005 @ 6:15PM
Heather Anne said...
It's funny cuz I know my husband would enjoy the show if he gave it a chance, but in order to save our marriage I had to agree to stop making him watch my crap on tv. Sometimes when I am watching and he is at the computer, I catch him glimpsing over and grinning. Men are just dumb sometimes ;)
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