Desperate Housewives-The End

Well...it took me a few months, but I am finally done with Desperate Housewives.

My overall impression is that it is definitely worth watching. The plots get a little silly from time to time with murders and extensive cover-ups, but I am chalking this up to lazy writing and bringing too many troubled characters on the show that they didn't know what to do with. Plus, we all know that when ratings drop, writers do stupid, attention getting things to try to bring them back up. I remember hearing the commercials claim that there was a killer on Wisteria Lane. Yeah, like every season. So each season, Desperate Housewives got...well, even more desperate. Especially during the years that Parenthood, The Good Wife, and Army Wives were created, becoming possible competition. I'm not condoning the ridiculous, but I do understand it. And honestly, it was easy for me to stick with it because what was central to the show never changed: the friendships between the women.

Taking it to the grave.

If you look past the episodes of riot on Wisteria Lane and the (too) occasional hit and run, I think you will enjoy what you see. The show comes full circle which I love. But what I really love is the writing of the relationships. The marriages and the friendships are deep and multi-faceted. They echo the real life ups and downs that happen for different reasons, struggles to forgive, struggles to trust, and just struggles.

In the end, I definitely like the Bree and Lynette story lines the best. Lynette's story stays the most true to life and I found myself being able to relate to her character the most, even though our lives are nothing alike.  Bree's character is intriguing, but her story is one of the more bogus. Even so, she manages to evolve in a believable way. A lot of what works in this show is the narration, which is where the "wisdom" and frame story gets delivered each episode. I remember that Grey's Anatomy and Desperate Housewives started around the same time and both of them had the narrations, which made them different from dramas before them. I love dramas with narration. They are like books. Think about it...if you read Hunger Games it's all told through what Katniss is thinking. So it stands to reason that the movie (which had no narration or the inner thoughts of Katniss) couldn't be as good. We miss out on too much. But back to Desperate Housewives....

All in.

The show didn't really do anything groundbreaking, but it did remain a solid, relationship driven drama that maintained most of the main characters for 8 seasons. It started well, it ended well. The middle got messy at times, but in some ways, I guess that's true to life too. If there is any lesson to really to be had from the show, it's to value your friendships. Do you have any who would among other things..."move a body" for you? More on that in a few days...

Did you watch Desperate Housewives? What did you think?

Poll: Should I start Gilmore Girls or How I Met Your Mother?

Desperate Housewives Update: They're Real!

I've just finished Season 4 of Desperate Housewives. I bought the entire series for super cheap at a local DVD store (along with LOST, Gilmore Girls, HIMYM, and a few movies). The super cheap part being why I bought all of those. That and I can rip them to my iTunes. Or I thought I could. But that's techy and boring, so back to Desperate Housewives.

Tell me this isn't real?

Bree is still my favorite, though Lynette is a second close.

I love the way this show gets to address the outlines of real problems between couples and friends and even neighbors, even with the slightly absurd plot lines. It's like digging through the jar of peppermints and finding a piece of chocolate. And honestly, are the plot lines really that absurd?

I mean, if you take the 300 people you know...not your Facebook friends, but the broader 300 that statistics say we all know...odds are you know someone having an affair or being cheated on, struggling with addiction, someone fighting cancer, dealing with domestic abuse, multiple pregnant women, those who have a hard time with their kids, or protect their kids at all costs, those who are dealing with their aging parents, finding jobs, keeping up appearances, comparing their lives to others, you might even know someone who has been to jail, and you definitely know someone hiding something. Gasp. And for most of us, in our smaller groups of 50 friends (statistically speaking of course) we can probably get a good sampling of those things as well. So while it's not all happening on our same street, it is happening.

My favorite part of this last season was Lynette going to church for the first time, with Bree, and raising her hand after the sermon. I wonder how differently preachers would preach if they knew they were gonna have a Q&A after!

The biggest missed opportunity in the show was early on when (SPOILER) Susan gets pregnant and she is showing off her newly enlarged breasts. Of course, Susan is played by Teri Hatcher, and even though her boobs are central to the episode NO ONE EVER CALLS THEM SPECTACULAR. I mean...have the writers ever even seen Seinfeld? I was watching waiting for the punchline, the Easter egg that never came. Sigh....

Mark Deklin

I have found a new answer to any questions revolving around my celebrity crush, my fantasy, or who I think is the hottest man in Hollywood. The answer...Mark Deklin.

McHottie!

He is perfect. PERFECT, I say. Here's how Deklin came to my attention. I'm in the midst of Season 3 of Desperate Housewives, and at some point, Gabriella has the hots for him. I knew I'd seen him before, because who could forget that face, but I couldn't remember where. Then it hit me, GCB. As I researched, I realized that I've seen him on a few shows over the years. 

He is mainly known for his roles on and off Broadway, and he's a very famous fight director, which I promptly learned is someone who choreographs sword fights for productions among other things. 

He's wearing glasses...he's smart!

He's 44 and has been everything from an English teacher, to a rare book dealer, to a construction worker. Hot. He is a jazz aficionado and an avid reader. HOT. You guys...he was a jazz pianist at a bar in Vienna for a little while. I want to go to there.

He's adopted and has a good relationship with both families. He played rugby in college, and started several bands before realizing that music was just not his thing. He's also broken all of his fingers on one of his hands, a few fingers twice even, but has never had any other broken bones.

He's the perfect mix of rugged and sensitive. Smart and sporty. He's tall, dark, and handsome. I mean, in the flesh.

I don't usually have a thing for cowboys, but I'll make an exception this time.

Since GCB has been cancelled, I'm not sure where Deklin's career will go, but here are a few things I'd like to see him in. I am sure it's been cast already, but I think he'd make an amazing Superman. And did they ever decide on the next James Bond? Hey, I'd even vote for him as Christian Grey in the 50 Shades of Grey movie, though I still haven't read it. Also, was he in Magic Mike? Because he totally should have been. More of this please!

Desperate Housewives (So Far...)

I've just finished Season 2 of Desperate Housewives. Here are my thoughts so far.

As crazy as Bree is, I love her. I love the way she is so obsessive and overly concerned about appearance. She has everything in place and NOTHING together.

I also adore Lynette. Her creative solutions to her problems are a little silly at times, but I like her heart.

Some of the storylines are boring to me. Like all the murder, bad guy stuff. I don't care about all that. It loses me. I like the day to day drama that happens between them better. Their lives are crazy enough within their own homes. I have heard the next few seasons get a little ridiculous, but so far, I think they have tackled some pretty basic emotional situations.

So far, I like it.

A Celebration of Guilty Pleasures a.k.a Confession Time

I missed blogging on Monday. I'd love to say it's because of some fabulous event that swept me up and took my time and attention away from writing, but it wasn't. It was just guilty pleasures. With all the Magic Mike hype, guilty pleasures have been on my brain lately.

Vanessa has never looked like that ever.

I haven't hidden the fact that I watched the entire series of Gossip Girl recently. I can admit it was redundant. I wanted the characters to depart a little from their totally predictable natures. I also wanted the dramedy of erros to stop. If they just let each other finish a sentence, then half of the problems would be quickly resolved. But they are just so fun to look at! Gossip Girl and many other shows fall (for me) into the guilty pleasure category. They really don't add a ton of value or knowledge to my life, nor do they deepen my character. If anything, they feed something very superficial and...fun...in me. It's summer...it's hot...who wants to think!? In the name of true confession, here is where I've been instead of blogging.

Can we crop the "kid" out of this picture?

Last week I watched Cougar Town. I even ordered some legit wine (not Moscato, which according to my friend Joni, should be my most embarrassing guilty pleasure) so that I COULD watch Cougar Town. Seems like a pre-requisite. It struck me more as a suburban Sex and the City. You think it's gonna be about the romantic relationships but it's really more about the friendships. After the first few episodes, the title becomes very misleading, it's not at all about cougars (of any kind). It's slapstick but kind of hip in a really aware of itself being dorky way. For example, they have these moments where everyone says something in unison. Now, I have a lot of friends, and a lof of different groups of friends, and I can't remember the last time we chimed in with some kind of impromptu unison chant. Totally too fabricated, and yet, I like it! The only thing that I hate about it is the mother/son relationship. It's so inappropriate and borderline gross. In fact, I kind of just hate the son altogether. His a man-child with his pale pasty skin and weird attempt at facial hair, and oily hair, no way can I begin to believe that he came out of Courtney Cox.

They should have named them all after cheeses. 

The natural follow-up to Cougar Town, is of course, Desperate Housewives. I have just started it from the beginning. I can't really speak about the show yet, it's too soon. But I've heard that it has some rough and ridiculous patches. I will give you my verdict in a few weeks.

Learning is Funtastic!

Other recent dips into the pool of guilty pleasures have been, GCB. I talked about this one a while back. It hit ridiculousness too early and ended up being cancelled. I also watched Bad Teacher again yesterday. I pretty much just love Ms. Squirrel and want to watch more movies with her. But it only made me hate Cameron Diaz more. The internet here in China is full of guilty pleasure movies. I even re-watched The Hangover last week. I'll admit, I laughed out loud a few times. 


I've never been a huge Jersey Shore fan, but I do enjoy some Real Housewives. New Jersey is of course my favorite, but I like OC as well. I know, I know...total trash.

I should probably let this be a July thing and try to move on to more sophisticated entertainment in August to get my brain back in shape for school. But for now, it's just so fun!

Your turn for Confession Time!!! 

What's your favorite Guilty Pleasure? 

What are you watching this summer?