Yendi and I have been wading through the first series (we’re at #12). When I say wading, it is more like zipping, downing two at a time every time. It’s desperately addictive. Over the weekend in New York I was chatting with my friend Bob and we debated whether or not this series is a Soap Opera. At first, I was claiming that the “sophisticated script” and the “superior acting” were enough to give it another status. But Bob put things into perspective: “No, it’s a soap opera. Pure and simple.” Somehow I can’t accept that I am addicted to a soap opera (when I think of all those silly shows that THOSE people watch…). But it does speak to me in many ways and the plot drives you to want to keep watching. So what do you think?
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Into number 16, and the new consideration is that it is the sense of humour, the perversity as well as the well wound mystery that make it so much more than a regular soap opera…
This is a new genre – SLUT Opera – basically invented by Sex and the City. High heels, Cuban heels, high production values, high camp, high brow. The point is to satirise our conventions and, in the case of Sex ATC, blow them away. Soap Operas pander to our conventions; they are horrible but serve the purpose of showing us how low we have fallen. The SLUT Opera sets out to break all taboos – the underlying premise of DH is that even murder is fine…watch on, but in high comedy mode.
I would add that each “Desperate Housewives” episode ends with a philosophical comment for us viewers to think about and reflect on such as our visions of life, time passing, values and contradictions, … all so close to desperation.
No, it’s not a soap opera. Soap operas are typically lower budget and lack a sense of uniqueness because they pander to convention. Desperate Housewives was a comedy drama series involving satire; it was much slicker, very stylish, and actually broke convention. The main difference though is that soap operas are broadcast daily; Desperate Housewives was broadcast weekly like other shows that would fall into the category of drama. So it definitely was not a soap opera.
Hi Stevie, You make a cogent case. Funnily enough, we broke out an old episode of DH just a few nights ago. The philosophical comments of Mary Alice still ring true.