Desperate Housewives: The Complete Sixth Season
ABC Entertainment
Cast: Terry Hatcher, Eva Longoria, Felicity Huffman, Marcia Cross, Ricardo Chavira, Kyle MacLachlan, Dana Delaney,
Extras: Bloopers, Deleted Scenes, Featurettes, Favorite Scenes
Rating:
"Desperate Housewives" is abc's hot ticket, of course, one of the most successful shows the network has ever had in production, and it is easy to see why.
As many of you may have figured out by now, underneath the glossy facade of beautiful people on the show, abc's "Desperate Housewives" has a lot more to offer than one might first expect. Yes, the show is funny – in fact it it hilarious – and full of conniving plot twists, but the thing that impresses me the most, over and over again, is the fact how it tackles very serious aspects of modern day life.
Adultery might be a common theme even in sitcoms, but this show takes it on a whole new level but not poking fun at it and instead zoning in on such things as guilt, hurt feelings and the impact these actions have not only on the one person, but on everyone surrounding them. In fact, that is pretty much the prevalent strength of the show, as it illustrates how our behavior impacts the entire little little bubble-world around us. Issues, such as cancer, murder, suicide, and greed are just some of the themes explored in surprising depth and with remarkable panache on the show, as well as more subtle issues, such as a parent's fear for their children, male macho, or problems with our country's education and immigration system.
Traditionally every season of the show was jock-full of such unexpectedly serious explorations of our lives and this sixth season is no different, as it explores accidents, Lynette's struggle to come to peace with the fact that she is pregnant with twins again at her age, a strangler in the neighborhood, and Katherine's mental health, to name but a few. Overall, it is à propos to say that there is never a dull moment on Wisteria Lane.
Arriving as a 5-disc DVD set – sadly no Blu-Ray version is on the horizon yet – the release features all 23 episodes of the show's sixth season in a 1.78:1 widescreen aspect ratio. The video transfer is absolutely beautiful and free of any blemishes or defects. Colors are vibrant and rich binging Suburbia to life in all of its lush glory, while deep black levels make sure the images has solid visual depth. The level of detail is good throughout and no compression artifacts mar the presentation.
On the audio side, the Dolby Digital 5.1 language track is well-balanced, making sure dialogues are integrated properly and understandable at all times.
Among the bonus materials on the release you will find a series of bloopers and delted scenes, along with a few season highlights, cherry-picked by series creator Marc Cherry.
"Miss Piggy Gets Desperate" ends up exactly as you would expect, when the Muppet diva visits Wisteria Lane for a series of one-on-one interviews with the cast members, so make sure to check it out. It is a hoot.
In the featurette "Master Class" you will gain some insight into the work of the cast on the show. While it all may look like fun and games on the screen, being on a show like "Desperate Housewives" can be very demanding, given the show's incredibly wide variety of themes and angles. Every character has to be dimensional – funny one moment, down on their luck, brought to tears in the next, only to bounce back with a will to survive and fight back. The cast members of the show talk about how they attack their parts in the attempt to bring them to life believably.
I have been eagerly anticipating the release of this sixth season of "Desperate Housewives" and believe me, it is very hard to interest me in any TV show at all. But with its cleverness, its humor and its solid grasp on what makes people tick – and fall apart – "Desperate Housewives" is without a doubt one of the best shows on the air these days. I think it is needless to tell fans to go get this DVD set, because it is a must, but if you've read this far and have never watched the show, I will tell you to run – not walk – to get this set and see for yourself what this is all about. Despite its title and looks "Desperate Housewives" is anything but a girlie show.
