Desperate Housewives

Good morning, everyone! So, how about that finale? I have to say that’s one of the best episodes yet in a season I already really liked. Looks like I’m not alone, either. According to various media outlets, Desperate Housewives came out a winner this year. It beat CSI to become the most-watched scripted series this season, ending the crime drama’s 5-year reign. Not only that, the finale averaged 16.8 million viewers this week.

In other not-so-great news… AFTRA is apparently having a tough time coming to an agreement with the Producer’s union over new contracts for their actors. SAG has already bowed out of the negotiations for now. Is another strike in the cards for Hollywood, already trying to recover from the writer’s walk out? Only time will tell. If there is one, it won’t start until the end of June and would mostly affect films for now, as the TV season just ended. Just like the writers, the actor’s unions are making new media (the internet/cell phones) the big issue in the talks. I’ll post updates as I find them. Hopefully, this will all be resolved quickly so we can get a more normal season in the fall.

The housewives are definitely keeping themselves busy during their summer break. They’re popping up in all kinds of places lately, from film premieres to charity events. The picture above shows Eva Longoria at the premiere of Kung Fu Panda. The picture below shows Teri Hatcher at the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research Poker Fundraiser.

Finally, check out the Housewives on TV! Felicity Huffman’s movie Snap Decision will be on Lifetime Movie Network on the 23rd at 4 PM eastern. Marcia Cross and Doug Savant can be seen on Soapnet repeats of Melrose Place. Episodes will begin airing again on May 27th at 12 PM eastern. Doug can also be seen on a repeat of CSI. That will air tonight at 7 PM eastern and again at midnight. How is that for timing? Well, I’m out of here for now. Check back tomorrow to see what Felicity and Marcia are up to during their time off. See ya then!

Good morning! Later on today, I’ll be dishing about Richard Burgi on Reaper, but for now… there’s plenty of news to talk about. Plus, a new promo! First off, everyone’s talking about Edie leaving Wisteria Lane and wondering if that means the end of Nicolette Sheridan on the show. Her reps aren’t talking and Marc Cherry is being a bit tight-lipped as well. The story’s so big, it even made the AP newswire. It seems to have done the ratings some good as well. The episode brought it over 15 million viewers.

Andrea Bowen is also in the news right now. I’ve read various reports saying that, like her TV parents, she has the music bug. She’s planning to record some songs over the summer. Look out, Teri and James! I’ll be looking forward to hearing what she can do.

Finally… I promised a look at the promo. I’m sad to see that the season is ending already, but at least we’re getting a two-hour episode! And what an episode it appears to be. It looks like Lynette’s in for some trouble thanks for Kayla’s phone call and Katherine appears ready to spill what’s going on with her and her family. My personal favorite moment of this promo is the housewives reaction to Susan’s choice in baby names. I have had that reaction many times myself… If you missed it, here it is:

What do you think of Susan’s choice? Will Edie ever return? And what on earth is Katherine hiding? Darned if I know, but maybe you do! Comment and share you thoughts.

The ratings this week were good, even better than last week when they got clobbered by the big NFL game.  This week, the “Housewives” came out on top.  They had 17.8 million viewers for the night and were first in the 18-49 demographic, even against the football game the White Sox winning the last game of the pennant.  It seems this season is building up a good head of steam so far, and word about how good the episodes are is being spread.  This can only be good news, right?

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In other news, Eva Longoria has chosen to take her husband’s last name.   Now, I’m unsure whether this means she will be Eva Parker or Eva Longoria Parker.  So until I know for sure either way, I’m just going to keep calling her Eva Longoria.  Besides, Eva Parker sorta weirds me out and Eva Longoria Parker is too much of a mouthful.  According to the newlywed, “I actually completely adopted the new name and I love it - I’m a Parker now!  I love every bit of it - I like the tradition of changing the name.â€? Also, everyone’s been calling her Mrs. Parker down in Texas and she’s just loving that as well.

I can remember how it felt when I got married and changed my last name so I can appreciate how she’s feeling.  It is exciting and one more way to make your new union all that much more real.  So more power to her, it’s nice to see someone else (particularly a celebrity) get excited about the little things in marriage.

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That’s all the “Desperate Housewives” news for today.  After the Filipino furor, things seem to be finally dying down thank goodness so we can finally get back to some normal news around here.

“Desperate Housewives” had quite a bit to contend with, ratings wise, on Sunday night.  Instead of being up against other sitcoms or dramas, they were up against football.  And not just one football game either, but two.  While “DH” easily beat out the Seattle Seahawks and New Orleans Saints game on NBC for it’s timeslot, it had a harder time vanquishing the New England Patriots and Dallas Cowboys game over on CBS.  The CBS game won the evening, what with being a showdown between two undefeated NFL teams and all.  Plus it went into overtime.  So that game ended up with a 10.4 rating/30 share for the evening (oh, and if you were wondering, the Patriots ended up winning the game).  The good news, however, is that “Desperate Housewives” was the top non-football program of the evening, bringing in a 7.3/17 for the evening and up quite a bit from last weeks bumpy ratings dip.  Last week, “DH” was crushed by the football game on NBC against the Bears and the Packers.  Those ratings even served well for “Brothers and Sisters” who gained some of the “Housewives” viewers and had decent ratings as well.

In other  “Desperate Housewives” news, the Filipino flap continues with a group of angry Filipinos (a chapter of the National Federation of Filipino American Associations or NFFAA) wants to sue ABC for $500 for what they consider to be a racist slur.  Not to diminish anyone’s feelings, but I’m surprised as heck that this is still news (and big news too, judging from my Google News alerts).  I thought apologies had already been made but apparently that isn’t quite enough.  Boy, I bet those writers are really regretting ever sticking that “joke” in there now.

The ratings were good, but not great. Last year, “Desperate Housewives” saw some of the worst ratings the show has ever seen. In fact, all of ABC was losing ground on Sunday night. And Sunday’s premiere night was little different. While there was a boost in the ratings and ABC led the night with “Desperate Housewives” at the forefront, the ratings were notably down across the board when compared to the ratings from last year’s premieres.

The numbers from Sunday were as follows: “Desperate Housewives” had 19 million viewers and a 7.4 rating/17 share among the 18-49 demographic that those advertisers love so much. Sounds good, but those numbers are down 23% from last years 9.6 rating/21 share. However, these ratings are still the best “Desperate Housewives” has seen since November 26 of last year.

“Brothers and Sisters”, which airs directly after “Desperate Housewives” saw a similar trend with their premiere. They were down 15% from their premiere last year, but also saw the best ratings since November 26 of last year.

Is this a disturbing trend for the network?  Is this the beginning of the end for ABC’s rule of Sunday night television?  I take a little comfort in knowing that this trend doesn’t seem to be isolated to just “Desperate Housewives”, but still hope that this doesn’t bode ill for our little show.  ABC insists that we won’t really know the status of “Desperate Housewives” and the other shows until the ratings come out in October.  I can only hope the numbers improve.