US comedy series Desperate Housewives has become a ratings hit in the UK, attracting an average of 4.4 million viewers on Wednesday.
It drew 23.1% of the available TV audience to Channel 4, the second highest rating show in that timeslot behind BBC One's 10pm news bulletin.
Seen as appealing to the Sex and the City audience, Desperate Housewives has received five Golden Globe nominations.
The Sex and the City finale attracted 4.1 million UK viewers last March.
The Guardian Review
Desperate Housewives killed off the wrong character
Bring back Edie Britt – and give Teri Hatcher's character the chop instead
Nicollette Sheridan as the shy, retiring Edie in Desperate Housewives. Photograph: ABC
So, farewell then, Edie Britt, platinum-haired siren of Wisteria Lane. Bumped off this week in a car crash scene so laughably lame it could have been in EastEnders, Edie checked out of Desperate Housewives for ever, leaving behind a large collection of hotpants and a fruitcake husband with an alarming revenge fixation.
But, oh, what a tactical error for the show. They've only gone and bumped off the wrong housewife. Serial divorcee Edie was always the most underwritten character, and all the more interesting for it, balancing an air of mystery with endearing vulnerability and a neat line in snappy comebacks (Susan Mayer to Edie: "How do you sleep?" Edie: "Soon … with your ex-boyfriend on top of me").Now the place just won't be the same without Ms Britt, with her penchant for beer, half-hearted suicide attempts and stealing other women's blokes. But here's a question: why wasn't it Susan? It would have been much more cliffhanger-worthy, and a more spectacular loss. Plus, who wouldn't want to see Teri Hatcher meet a grisly end on national television? Winsome, self-absorbed, jaw-achingly quirky, Susan Mayer has been cranking up the cringe factor for four years, one carefully rehearsed pratfall at a time.Then there's Bree. It may not be a fashionable view, I'm aware, but she was so much more fun as an alcoholic. Those halcyon days of hiding chardonnay in the dishwasher and passing out at the mall are sadly gone, and she has morphed into a corporate cookbook queen – nice to her kids, dismissive of her husband (the sublimely mad Orson) and boring around her friends. Would anyone really have noticed if she'd been collateral damage in a tragic baking incident?
Even feisty Gabrielle and everyone's favourite housewife, Lynette, would have made my hitlist before Edie. Mired in ludicrous plotlines about her obese kids, her blind spouse and something about baseball memorabilia (I may have dozed off), lovely Gabby lost her mojo this season. So did Lynette, a character so badly in need of a decent story-arc that crashing into the business end of a live power cable (à la poor Edie) would probably count as a career high point. It's not a good sign when your husband's midlife crisis is the most exciting thing that's happened to you all year.
Talking of husbands, in Edie's last hours, she discovered that hers – creepy Dave – is not what he seems. Strangely, it wasn't the glassy stare, wiggy hair or briefcase full of anti-psychotic medication that gave him away, but a simple fax, and it's a shame the writers didn't let her live long enough to deliver his comeuppance. I sense a Bobby-in-the-shower opportunity: OK, so it says something grim when Dallas is held up as a shining example of excellence, but reality has never been Desperate Housewives' strong point, so why start now? The campaign to Bring Back Edie starts here. So does the Kill Susan one, while we're at it.<>
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