Take Pickett Fences, mix it with a little Twin Peaks, throw in some of The Stepford Wives, and you get the entertaining hit television show Desperate Housewives.
Desperate Housewives – The Complete First Season is a six-disc set that collects the first 23 episodes of the show and comes loaded with special features, including extended scenes that never aired on television, for fans of the series.
The set is also perfect for anyone who missed the series when it originally aired on television and want to take a chance on finding out if the series lives up to all its hype. After the third episode, I promise you will be hooked thanks to great writing, a mysterious plot, and some great acting from the show’s ensemble cast.
The show does a great job of taking the picturesque suburb and showing that not everything is as perfect as it seems on the surface. This is illustrated in the opening minutes of the pilot episode when one of the wives, Mary Alice (who narrates the show), points a gun to her head and pulls the trigger.
Mary Alice’s death sends her friends (played by Terri Hatcher, Marcia Cross, Eva Longoria and Felicity Huffman) on a sort of “Scooby Doo” mystery hunt to find out why she killed herself and what was the sinister secret she was trying to protect.
We quickly learn that every person living on the block has some kind of secret that they have to keep from everyone, and no one is as perfect as they sometimes pretend.
Although the Desperate Housewives is very much an ensemble cast, Terri Hatcher and Felicity Huffman bring the most laughs to the show.
The wives of Desperate Housewives often find themselves in some kind of trouble
Hatcher’s character has just plain bad luck almost all the time, and the actress is great in the part. She constantly finds herself on the losing end of a bad situation and always tries to come up with some excuse for the being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Often all she can do is smile.
Hatcher’s competition with Nicollette Sheridan for just about any man on the block also leads to some really funny moments, and shows how desperate Hatcher’s character is for something to go right in her life.<!--page-->
Hatcher and Sheridan are great as rivals in the show
Although she doesn’t have as many “slapstick” moments as Hatcher, Huffman’s character often brings laughs to the screen as she tries to be a successful stay at home mom and manage her four children. Huffman, who was a successful career woman before becoming a mother, often finds herself doubting her ability to be a good mother, and trying to make sure her boys, who are real terrors, behave for at least a few minutes.
The actress does a great job in the part, and anyone with kids can identify with many of the situations that she stumbles into in each episodes.
The writers of the show do a good job of mixing the different stories from each of the characters and make sure that not one plot takes up the entire episode. There is also a good mixture of comedy with some suspense - thanks to the many secrets that Mary Alice took to her grave.
We also learn that the grass is not always greener on the other side, and that even the most “perfect” family, such as Cross’ character, have problems behind closed doors.
The DVD box set comes loaded with special features that any fan of the show will enjoy. The special features include unrated and extended versions of the episodes “Who's That Woman,” “Anything You Can Do,” “Every Day a Little Death,” “Impossible,” “Sunday in the Park with George,” and “Goodbye for Now.”
There is also a look into the writer’s room of the show where they discuss what some of the stories might be for the new season of the show, and where some of the characters are headed.
Other special features include Oprah Winfrey Is The New Neighbor; Bloopers from the Set; Behind the Scenes with The View's Meredith Viera; Dressing Wisteria Lane: A look at the costume and set design; and some commentary with members of the cast on some of their favorite scenes.
Huffman tries to be the perfect mom even with every disaster
Overall, I would recommend Desperate Housewives – The Complete First Season to anyone who never took the time to watch it when it aired on television. It really is a funny show, and one that does a great job blending several different kinds of genres. When I started watching it, I didn’t think I would enjoy the show, but was quickly hooked by the great acting, and outrageous plots.
If you are already a fan of the show, the DVD set is perfect for you to catch up on anything you might have missed when it first aired, to enjoy the unrated scenes of some of the episodes, and has enough special features to make it worth buying.
Desperate Housewives – The Complete First Season is available for pre-order at Amazon for a Sept. 20th release. It is available for pre-order at AmazonUK for an Oct. 10th release Visit the DVD’s database for more information.
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