Dangerous Housewives

There’s a problem with Desperate Housewives.
Oh, it’s not a problem of quality. This is pretty well done — the tale of four lovely women whose lives are in desperate straits (divorced, impending divorce, overwhelming motherhood, and in the midst of a heated affair) is total with humor, speed, and enough over-the-topness to give the humanity of the characters sharp contrast. Narrated by a suicide victim friend of the group, the characters are enthralling (and even endearing; the relationship between the divorced Teri Hatcher and her teenage daughter, who aids and abets Teri’s plans to snag a man, is particularly pleasing.) This is fun, frentic, human, and quite watchable.
The problem? It’s been scheduled against the other notable, narrated, frentic, human fun show on the schedule, Arrested Development. The shows are not the same, but they differ from other show in much the same ways, and they are likely to be attractive to much the same audience. With Arrested Development struggling in the ratings, this could harm the better show…
But hey, the first new episode of AD is still a month away. Take the time now to get friendly with this new show, then learn to work your VCR, your TiVo, your ReplayTV, or whatever.