After critics praised the first season of mystery-laced soap dramedy Desperate Housewives, Marc Cherry and his five darlings of prime time were on top of the world. Teri Hatcher won the Golden Globe and the SAG award, Felicity Huffman won the Emmy, the show itself was awarded the Golden Globe for Best Comedy Series, and the ratings were through the roof. It was everyone’s guilty pleasure. But when season two began, even though the premiere’s ratings had outdone all the previous episodes, the show began to go downhill. The one-liners weren’t as sharp, the story lines were more predictable, and the central mystery was a dud. By the end of the season the show had begun hemorrhaging viewers and critics complained Desperate Housewives had lost its edge.

In season three Cherry attempted to regain some of the spark of season one, and for quite a while, he succeeded. “Bang”, an episode in which Laurie Metcalfe, playing a scorned wife whose husband was cheating on her, held up a grocery store, was the best episode the show had seen in quite some time. It even managed to get Felicity Huffman yet another Emmy nomination. But when Marcia Cross had to go on immediate bed rest due to her pregnancy, everything fell to pieces.

Everything seemed force and disjointed, and even though they beefed up Edie Britt’s role in the show, nothing really filled the void left when the resident anal retentive, red-headed NRA member left Wisteria Lane. The show suffered for the rest of the season until the finale when Bree re-appeared, wielding a fake pregnant belly to hide her teenage daughter’s pregnancy. But even then, audiences didn’t quite take. The finale averaged a lukewarm 18 million viewers, the lowest finale of the show’s three seasons.

So many fans of the show, myself included, were quite skeptical when it came time for the fourth season to premiere. But luckily, I found myself quite pleased with what Marc Cherry and his team of writers came up with — particularly the new mystery involving beloved actors Dana Delany (China Beach) and Nathan Fillion (Firefly). Katherine Mayfair has moved back to Wisteria Lane with her daughter Dylan, except this time with a new husband, Adam, who is a gynecologist. Katherine lived on Wisteria Lane back before any of the current ladies lived there except for Susan and Mary Alice. Dylan and Susan’s daughter Julie used to be best friends when they were little girls, but oddly Dylan doesn’t remember Julie or any of the other people they knew years ago.

Katherine is somewhat similar to Bree, which is ironic considering Dana Delany was the first choice to play Bree Van De Kamp, but turned it down three times, which is when the role was given to Marcia Cross. From even the first few minutes the ladies sit down and have lemonade with Mrs. Mayfair it’s obvious she and Mrs. Hodge are going to butt heads. Bree is the absolute best with feuds. And Marcia Cross with her soap background plays them wonderfully.

Lynette is now going through chemotherapy and is trying to balance her sickness with all her regular duties as a wife and mother, even if her mom tries to convince her she needs to tell everyone so they won’t expect so much of her. But Mrs. Scavo doesn’t want the pity. One of her funnier scenes is where she’s forcing herself to sit through Parker’s school play even with him having only a few lines, despite her feeling extremely nauseous. Not wanting to get up and leave, she pukes into what she thinks is her mother’s purse, only to find out it’s the purse of a snappy fellow third grade mom who’s been on Lynette’s case about doing her part in the PTA.

Gabrielle is not happy because after realizing she is still in love with Carlos, the two of them vow to run off together. Until of course, something really interesting happens (which I won’t divulge for those of you who haven’t seen the episode yet) that blows their plans to smithereens.

Susan goes for a routine visit to the gynecologist, only to discover her normal doctor isn’t available, and her old friend’s new husband is filling in. As Adam Mayfair examines Susan’s vajayjay (as Dr. Bailey on Grey’s Anatomy would say) he says, “It’s nice to finally put a face to a name.” Naturally, Susan is mortified, and it turns from bad to worse once Dr. Mayfair gives her some more unexpected bad news about the state of her health.

Some of the best moments of the premiere were given to Bree Hodge, who with the help of her husband is vehemently working to keep up the charade that she is pregnant. As she and Orson are out shopping, an elderly woman comes up to Bree and wants to touch her pregnant belly, and Bree nearly breaks the poor woman’s arm trying to keep her secret under wraps. Then later, doing Katherine Mayfair’s barbeque, Bree accidentally gets stabbed in the stomach with a jumbo fork, then when she finally notices goes, “Oh… my baby”, as if she had forgotten.

In the finale to the third season, we see Edie Britt hang herself after Carlos decides to break up with her. But many have speculated as to whether she died or not. In the season premiere, the first thing addressed is what exactly happened to Edie, and it’s truly in Housewives fashion.

The season premiere definitely wasn’t anything mind-blowing, and it’s too early to say the show has returned to form, but the forecast in Wisteria Lane looks sunny so far. I’m anxious to see if audiences gave them a chance and decided to tune in last night. Hopefully Marc Cherry and his team of writers won’t let us down and will get back to the dark dramedy we all have come to know and love.

A new Desperate Housewives promo just surfaced for the new season, and I’m loving it! It’s not as good as last year’s Juicy promo with all the apples and Marcia Cross with the knife and blood, but it’s still great. And I love how they’re all walking together at the end–they look fab! Well…except for Eva. Not sure what’s happening with that hair but it needs to get changed back..STAT.

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So it’s official. Meryl Streep and 20th Century Fox have decided to campaign her as Lead Actress for her role in The Devil Wears Prada for the upcoming awards season, including the Oscars. I think it’s a dumb idea–she has a better chance at winning in the supporting category–but Fox is obviously greedy. Dude…there’s no doubt about it. Anne Hathaway’s character IS the main character. This is some bullshit. Collateral, anyone?

This might even keep her from a Golden Globe nomination (-cough- Jake Gyllenhaal -cough-). Whatev.

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Christina looked gorgeous yesterday at the Letterman taping where she belted out her top 10 hit Ain’t No Other Man. The interview was cute too…even if Letterman did randomly mention Ikea. Vids in the forum, bitches.

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Gotta love Kelly Clarkson. She’s one down to earth bitch.

Many critics and even people within the show itself (Felicity Huffman, James Denton, Mehcad Brooks) admitted that the first season of ABC’s darling dramedy Desperate Housewives suffered a dip in the creative department during it’s second season–particularly at the beginning. Most say it had a lot to do with the weakness of its central mystery (which is why I’m boggled as to how Woodard landed an Emmy nom, but that’s another story)–others say it wasn’t as funny and that the storylines became too Melrose Place.

ABC Entertainment President Steve McPherson was asked by a reporter Tuesday about the “creative collapse” of the hit show–and he begged to differ that “collapse” was the right choice of word. After all, Desperate Housewives was ABC’s most watched series this past season–it must be doing something right to have 22 million viewers coming back every Sunday night. McPherson says the show will get back to its “wicked comedy” that the viewers and critics alike so enjoyed the first season, once the show’s third year begins. He says:

“I think everyone including [creator Marc Cherry] admitted that at the beginning of last year we stumbled a little bit, [We] answered so many questions at the end of the first season that he really spent too much time, I think, setting up the mystery, setting up the new arcs, and this year we’re going to jump right in.”

Due to the departure of Executive Producer Tom Spezialy, the show’s creator Marc Cherry will have more creative control this season, and has more of it mapped out, McPherson assures. He goes on to add:

“Marc has, partly because of the responsibility of 100 percent falling on his shoulders, has really stepped up and gotten out ahead of it, and we have seen more arcing of the entire season from a specific story standpoint and soap standpoint than we’ve ever seen so far.”

Desperate Housewives garnered about 22.2 million viewers a week during its second season, off about 6 percent from the 23.7 million it got in 2004-05. Additionally, it was the No. 3 show on TV among adults 18-49, trailing only the two editions of American Idol–hardly a flop.

In regards to the Emmy snubs, McPherson said:

“Who wins the Emmys is one thing, but to have that kind of oversight just, to me, is remarkable, I think for one year [for Lost] to win it and then the next year to not be nominated, for one year one of the Desperate Housewives to win the best actress and then for none of them to be nominated the next year, there’s a problem.”

Don’t even get me started on the unforgivable snub of Marcia Cross. Well okay, I suppose I could forgive if Elizabeth Perkins walks away with a statue come August.

This week’s Video Clip of the Week is the first episode of one of my favorite show’s ever Weeds, which of course stars the Goddess Mary Louise Parker and the divine Elizabeth Perkins (whoo! Emmy nominee). Check it out. There’s four parts.

Desperate Housewives hunk James Denton has Teri Hatcher and Nicolette Sheridan fighting over him in the hit show - but he’s flattered most of his fanmail is from gay men.

The 42-year-old sex symbol can tell most of the letters he receives are written by amorous male admirers, and he’s grateful they don’t send him any underwear.

He says, “Most of my fanmail’s actually from gay men. I’m surprised I’ve become a pin-up, but it’s all very flattering. Sometimes they’re honest and tell me they’re men and sometimes I have to guess…

“I haven’t had any saucy presents or underwear yet though!”

Two weeks ago, I said that Desperate Housewives had returned. After months of lagging storylines and a mystery that put us all to sleep, the writing team over at Desperate Housewives gave us back that snappy dialogue and nail-biting drama that we so hungered for most of the season.

It’s no secret that the show’s writing has been nearly a disaster this season–even the cast have chimed in on their characters’ lackluster stories. James Denton says “Our cast grew too much this year and some of the characters got lost in the shuffle”. Which is true. We’ve hardly seen any of Mike Delfino this season which doesn’t make much sense. Susan and Mike are the Meredith and McDreamy of this show. Instead we get some crappy (and may I add, not as attractive) doctor who’s wet behind the ears.

And Edie Britt, quite possibly the juiciest villian you love to hate, got limited screen time this year, especially when we were promised a story about her 6 year old son we’ve yet to meet, and her alleged sister played by Sex & The City’s Kim Cattrall.

Marcia Cross, meanwhile complains about the sensational storylines for her character that have sent Mrs. Van De Kamp (my favorite Housewife) to the nuthouse. She says “I’ve been at Marc Cherry’s door going, ‘You’ve got to be kidding’.”

And then the infamous Applewhites, who I would argue, have nearly singlehandedly ruined season 2 of Desperate Housewives. Mehcad Brooks, who played Matthew Applewhite up until this past Sunday seems to agree. Brooks says his onscreen family have been “marginalised and segregated from everyone but the Van De Kamps”.

But luckily the show has come full circle and revamped its limp mojo, which was flawlessly displayed in Sunday’s 2 hour season finale (Full video can be found here. We got to revisit some of our favorite past characters on the series such as John the gardener (Jesse Metcalfe), Rex Van De Kamp (Steven Culp), and even our beloved narrator Mary Alice Young (Brenda Strong).

In a mix of flashbacks and unfolding of current impending dramatic storylines, we were given a fantastic 2 hours of television, that you almost didn’t want to end.

I must say, this finale was slightly better than that of its soon-to-be-separated sister show Grey’s Anatomy, which showed in the ratings as well (after months of Housewives being behind Grey’s in the ratings, its finale edged it out by a few million viewers). With the entrance of a few new mysterious characters, and the exit of a few we didn’t like anyway, it looks like Wisteria Lane is getting the reorganization that it needs.

The look on Kyle Maclachlan’s face in the close-up after he ran over Mike was creepy enough to have me running back and forth across my basement floor (that and the fact that Mike was laying unconcious in the middle of the street).

Finally Susan and Karl are over, even after he tried to win her over with a big house and a pool–a shameless attempt to thwart Mike’s proposal plans. We find out that Matthew was actually the one who killed Melanie Foster (who was an annoying little bitch anyway), not Caleb, Gabrielle has kicked Carlos out of the house for having sex with the newly pregnant Xiao Mei, and Lynette and Tom now have to deal with Nora, the mother of Tom’s 11 year old daughter.

And to top it all off, the creepy as hell Orson gives Bree flowers as a romantic gesture at the end of the episode–and as a friend pointed out–the same flowers no doubt that Mike was holding when he was hammered by Orson’s car and triple-axeled into the street. It should be an interesting season 3.

Hopefully the recent dynamism of Housewives can stay afloat through to the next season, which I’m assuming by the intrigue of the Orson storyline will be the case. Listen to your cast, Marc Cherry, if you won’t listen to us! And can we get some more hot guys with their shirts off? Honestly–without Jesse Metcalfe and the lack of James Denton, we’re left drooling over the slovenly Lee Tergensen. Sheesh.

Desperate Housewives star Nicollette Sheridan was close to scoring one of the lead roles in hit sitcom Will & Grace, but ended up narrowly missing out to Debra Messing.

The show’s creator, Max Mutchnick, claims the actress auditioned for the role of the kooky interior designer and succeeded in impressing producers. Referring to her role in Desperate Housewives, Mutchnick quips, “Nicollette came in - she did a great job, but the performance was just a little…desperate.”

Executives liked what they saw and decided to bring Sheridan back for a guest-starring role. The actress appeared on the sitcom in 2003, as a sexy doctor who comes on to Grace’s boyfriend Leo, played by Harry Connick Jr.