This show is really bland right now. I loved the first season, but I have a couple of problems with this season:

1) Bree - They're making this a bit too predictable, and with Bree you like the unexpected. Bree shouldn't be boring, but I feel that the show is wasting her talents so far this season.

2) Betty - They pretty much gave out the mystery too early, and I don't like the fact that they are making it so easy for people to follow along, its quite annoying. But at least this story has the most potential to save the season.

3) Susan - The biggest annoyance of this and last season. She's doing nothing all season, so she's the one who's likely going to solve the Betty Applewhite mystery. She's just really boring, and its just a diluted version right now of last season with her and Mike, her and Edie, her and her daughter, blah blah blah. Before she had a problem with her daughter and Zack, now its her daughter and Edie, its just such a waste. Susan needs to have a story worth paying attention to.

4) Gabrielle - She's actually one of the few things keeping me interested. She's hot, and funny, and I like how she seems to be growing as a character, while the others are just playing musical chairs.

5) Mary Alice - They solved her mystery, and I understand how they have to keep her around, but they need to play around with the format a bit, the lessons being introduced at the beginning, and then being revisited at the end of the episode theme does get quite repetitive after a while. They should still keep her, but they need to play around with her narration.

6) Edie - She's way too predictable, like getting hit by Susan's car, etc. She's also getting a bit too nice, and its boring.

7) All the others - Quite boring, with the exception of George, Gabrielle's husband, and Bree's kid. George's creepiness, and ability to lie without getting caught makes him a very interesting villain for this season. Gabrielle's husband plays off Gabrielle's insults well, and their shouting matching are among the most interesting things left on the show. And Bree's kid (I think Andrew is his name) and George's confrontations should make for some interesting television.

8) Lynette - I saved her for last, because oddly, my least favorite main person on the show last year, is now my second favorite (after Gabrielle). Lynette seems alot more interesting balancing mom and work, and it plays to Felicity Huffman's strengths as an actress I think. And Lynette is the main one adding realism to the show, and is actually becoming more interesting now. I'm most surprised at this choice of mine, but she really is alot more interesting than she was before. I loved seeing her shake the table enough so the coffee would spill, and stuff like the mouse in the house, its alot more interesting.

YES! i actually cried. that was a very good scene. it felt very sincere and from the heart. she was truly sorry.

you know, another thing the erks me.. what happened to the whole bree's son is gay thing. that was such a promising story line and they totally backed away from it.

ugh.

the show is beginning to sell out.

grrrr.......

ABC very be smart enough to know that it will be suicide to compromise the show's original umph.

While the writers have been stuck in a creative rut with Susan's and Edie's stories, let's give them credit where it's due. They've given Felicity Huffman the meat she deserves with Lynette's working-mom struggles. Marcia Cross is now front and center -- and decked out in some ferocious black coutoure -- thanks to her husband's murder mystery (although we could do without the presence of Andrew). Her story's just going to blow up sometime this season and I bet it'll be a highlight. And plus, the Gabrielle and Carlos arc is FINALLY starting to look promissing with Gab's heatfelt apology. But still, for how much longer is Carlos going to stay in the slammer?

However, the biggest prop has to go to the inclusion of Alfre Woodard's Betty. Her story brings genuine menace to Wisteria Lane that, as of yet, hasn't been seen on the show. Her (alleged) husband's prison break illustrated that perfectly: sudden, violent, and out-right ugly for DH standards.

What does Hatcher's character do for a living, anyone know? I've never seen her work but maybe they showed her working one time in a quick scene and I missed it.

She writes and illustrates Children's books, or at least I think she does. I know she does something involving Children's books.

Fitting, because Susan is seven years old on an emotional maturity scale, heh.

Julie is really the adult of that house. Susan's antics have become steadily more tiresome since the series began.

My suggestion for how they can right this ship:

1. call a moratorium on guest stars, like bob newhart and such. New cast members and guest stars should be either unknowns or sorta knowns like the original cast was.
2. Less of the older generation, that got old quick, no pun intended.
3. Prop up the husbands more, they were killed, jailed and fired, get them back on their feet. The show is mainly about the women but the men being strong and realistic was a good pillar for the show to play off of. Hatcher and the guy she's involved with should get married asap. Not for moral reasons, but for show stability reasons.
4. Get a new voice over person. Mary Alice is a killer, seems creepy to take wisdom from her.

interesting point. had not thought of that.

Wow. Really good pointers and dicusion topics...

I also think that one of the factors contributing to the show's decreasing appeal is that the tone has somewhat changed. The first season was very funny-dark humor but nontheless often laugh out loud humor. The season 1 finale was pretty dark and very well done and I think that's as dark as it should have gone.

The tone or the feel to all the episodes thus far this season have been sort of morose but a bit more dull. It doesn't have that light-hearted feeling to it and that does have alot to do with the dynamics of almost all the characters changing. They did an exellent job in steering the new season in a differnt direction for almost every character, but they haven't been successful in matching the "desperate Housewives tone" with the new spin.

Bree: What made Bree so irresistable in the first season was her quick and humorous jabs. But with Rex's death alot of that potential is gone. The mother-in-law was a great way to keep that going but for how long? (evidently 3 episodes)
I think it could seriously work for her to be a bit depressed and confused (especially with her feelings towards George) but they aren't executing it or writing it well enough... alot of the Bree stuff just seems forced.
They really should start re-intoducing the gay thing with her son, or at least start building on that comment he made to the priest in Season 1 ("I'm gonna play the perfect son until one day I'm gonna do something so huge...." or something to that effect). OR at least get an interesting story for the daughter for Bree to play off ("My daughter is considering having sex with you and I'd consider it a personal favor if you didn't" was one of her best lines last season).
And I desperately hope that it won;t take the entire season for Bree to find out that George poisoned Rex... it's waaay too long!

Gabrielle: The direction they're headed with her is still uncertain. Ya, she's really, truly sorry (one of the best Housewives scenes to date now) but what will she be doing now? Maybe start on the pregnanc storylines. I'm assuming she'll be either just about to or already had her baby by season's end. She has alot of potential to become the most dynamic character this year as well as the one with the most potential to be wasted, so I'm hoping they spend alot of time perfecting her story arc.

Lynette: I'm not sure if I like Season 1 or Season 2 Lynette more. I don't think one is coniderably better than the other. She just does very good work with her character and hopefully the writing will keep up with her talent because I see some potential to have aot of repetitive storylines for her this season and I hope that's not the case.

Susan: I agree with whoever was stating that she basically has nothing to do. Is it just me or does Teri Hatcher look alot hotter this season... and not only that, her acting has picked up quite a bit (could be due to the material they gave her for the premiere, but she has been a bit better, despite the fact that she's really not being developed much). They do need to start doing something with the Mike storyline... this can't be the on and off again relaionship that defined Season 1 (although I have to admit that having this Zach thing "break them up" again was probably the only thing that could have been believable... so for keeping the relationship off-again they really did pick the best excuse yet).

They need to give Edie something else to do... her and Susan can't keep clashing. Did they say she had a son or something and that they'd bring him in for Season 2?? Hopefully, they can add something more.

Just talking about all this is really getting me back into the "desperate" way I was last season watching the sho, so I really hope they pick it up!

Mrs. Huber supposedly took care of Edie's son one day, but he was never seen or talked about after that one episode.

Why does it seem like this show is getting treated like a sequel that some of you were disappointed in? It sounds like you want the same things over and over, and when people get that, what they apparently want, they bitch that it's the same old thing.

What's the problem with this season for some of you?

I think the show is doing just fine, so I have no problems with it. (It's not as good as Boston Legal, but then again, what is?)

I agree with Mav.

I'm just not into it this season. I'm not complaining about the show's creativity, because I know 25 million+ watch every week, but if I'm not into it, I'm not into it. I missed last week's show, and didn't really care to catch up on it. I'll watch tonight, though.

I think the show is fine, although Susan is irritating me lately.

Why? Is it because her act is wearing thin, or something else?

a lot of stuff is forced now, mav. like "I'll be serving fish" from bree just now. last season, she would have never said that or if she did it would have been in a different context.

and the plots are moving fairly slow. we're into the fifth episode and what exactly has happened?

i read that the creater has been MIA from the first few episodes and I think its been noticable.

so far, tonight has been pretty good though. so there is hope yet....

andrew is getting hot. hehe

what happened with him being gay??

George is quickly becoming my favorite.

Bree with the peach cobbler and Andrew's "That's it".

Priceless.

yay they're in the same room!!!!

oooh good point by Bree!! nice little loop back to the original storyline with mary alice...

This episode is a marked improvement over the last few, Susan trying to catch Zack with the ice cream and then running away just as fast when he swung the stick thing at her was actually kind of funny.

YES! the desparate is back in the wives! love it susan. it's shady and dark. woo hoo. awesome episode...