Critic says this season is not as EXPLOSIVE as last season and the show seems to be stuck in neutral. He also said too many scenes were rehashing stories we thought we left behind. And he also had a problem with the fact that the Housewives were not in a scene together at all in Episode 3 last night. Anyone agree with Robert Bianco review of the show so far?




BTW: I enjoyed the 3rd episode last night.

I've enjoyed every episode so far this season.

I completely agree with everything he said.

Critics what do they know :rolleyes:

Anyways I would rather have the season start out slow, then go to the big build up and have the explosive stuff towards the end of the season. If you have all the explosive stuff happen now, what's left for later?

I do agree what the critic said, but with that said I have enjoyed every episode so far. Even with a slow start, this show still manages to be great.. with great acting, great comedy, and interesting storylines.

While I agree it's not really "explosive" and that the first 2 episodes were slow, I thought last night was MUCH MUCH better. I think it's all about expectations. I was expecting a lot the first 2 weeks and didn't get it(especially last week). Last night I wasn't expecting much and got a lot.

Think Sweeps for the explosive stuff. :p

New York Daily News critic David Bianculli feels the same way. Here's his article:

Cleanup needed for 'Housewives'

Last year, when one of the opening images in the premiere episode of ABC's "Desperate Housewives" was that of cherry preserves being mistaken for blood, it signaled a sensibility and creativity that was fresh and funny.
Last Sunday, when one of the images in the latest episode of "Housewives" was that of Alfre Woodard's Betty claiming that the blood on her clothing actually was cherry preserves, it signaled something else entirely. In a word, laziness.

We're now three episodes into the second season of "Housewives," and the show still doesn't seem to have any traction. Even the twists aren't as twisted as they used to be: The climax of Sunday's show had George (Roger Bart) passing a lie-detector test, even though we know he killed Bree's late husband, Rex, by slowly poisoning him.

How did he pass the test?

As Norm Macdonald used to say when hosting "Weekend Update" on "Saturday Night Live," "Ripped from the pages of Duh! magazine ..." George has access to every pharmaceutical there is, and certainly one of them would keep him calm under the duress of such a test. It's a no-brainer. It's also a no-exciter.

What's wrong so far this season, for the most part, has been the tone. Seeing Felicity Huffman's Lynette back in the corporate world was a good touch, but not when her boss, played by Joely Fisher, is such a cartoonish shrew. Subtle digs, jabs and thrusts, not cartoon mallets and anvils, should be the weapons of choice. Think of the smug sexiness last season of neighborhood madam Maisy Gibbons (Sharon Lawrence), and her verbal jousts with Marcia Cross' Bree, to recall what's missing so far this sophomore season.

Splitting up the four main housewives, and giving them nothing unified to do, hasn't helped things, but this guy-in-the-basement thing with Betty thus far has wasted not only Woodard's talent, but our time as well. The Gabrielle-Carlos scenes, with Eva Longoria and Ricardo Chavira, have been the best-written this year, but there's only so much you can do when separated by a prison table. Longoria's scenes Sunday with Jesse Metcalfe, as her ex-lover John, close a story line that already ended. She did, however, get a new car - but when an Aston-Martin is more memorable than these leading ladies, the writing's to blame.

Perhaps George can snap, and start killing the residents one by one, and force the housewives to band together, Nancy Drew-style, to catch the murderer. Or the unresolved stories and departed characters from last season can return. Or series creator Marc Cherry can write a script for a change. Anything that would help is needed, before "Housewives" goes from stalled to stagnant.

By the way, this isn't knee-jerk-reaction, sophomore-season sour grapes. ABC's "Lost" is in its sophomore season, too, and it knocks my socks off. "Lost" isn't lost at all, but "Desperate Housewives" is leaning dangerously in that direction.

Originally published on October 11, 2005

Since when does anyone care about the critics; IT'S THEIR JOB TO RIP SHOWS TO PIECES! If I had a dollar for every time I heard a critic call what I thought was a good movie bad (or the reverse for that matter), I trully believe I would own half of Hollywood!

It's all subjective. I think that Edie trying to muscle in on Susan's daughter will only result in more of the classic Susan/Edie cheap-shotting that we have come to know and love.

I do agree that there does not seem to be much of the ladies all together, but I think it's coming. Susan has to be getting suspicious of Betty's weirdness which can only fuel the gossip fire. And who knows what rumors will start if George stays on (although I do think they got rid of Rex's mother too soon).

And lie detectors are hardly credible. They are easily manipulated and just as easy to fool. This is why most courts do not allow them as evidence.

Since when does anyone care about the critics; IT'S THEIR JOB TO RIP SHOWS TO PIECES! If I had a dollar for every time I heard a critic call what I thought was a good movie bad (or the reverse for that matter), I trully believe I would own half of Hollywood!


I can't agree with you there. That may be true of some critics but I read Bianculli's column all the time and he's rarely said anything negative about DH. It's a show he's constantly praised. If you read him often enough, you'll know he's a fan of the show so I'm sure he's not simply out to rip the show to pieces. He's simply saying the show has gotten a bit lazy and off track, which it has.

I think the start of the season was extremely wobbly, nowhere near as good as last season. That said, I've enjoyed the last two episodes immensely, especially the comedy bits (like when George threw the doctor off the bridge, my friend and I were in hysterics for 10 minutes).

It's interesting because I started watching this show first, then Lost around November or last season, and then Veronica Mars in June, arguably the 3 best series on network tv. I love DH right away, but my love for Lost esclipsed that for DH by February, and then my love for VM esclipsed both of them by late August. Given VM's sort of shakey season so far, Lost is back on top again.