"Desperate Housewives" Rock Nielsens

They have done it again. Those vampy ladies on Wisteria Lane topped the Nielsen charts on Sunday scoring over 22 million viewers, a large enough of an audience to guarantee ABC's "Desperate Housewives" the #1 position for the week, once again exceeding figures posted by Thursday night rivals "Grey's Anatomy" (20,5 mil) and "C.S.I. - Crime Scene Investigation" (20,4 mil).

Since last week's supermarket killer episode the buzz has spread that Marc Cherry's show got back into prime form. Although critics were cautious to state the early episodes of the 3rd season were simply improvement over the lackluster 2nd season, there has now been strong agreement the writers have managed to bring back the signature dark comedy and wit of the first season.

As for the figures, the show has now topped the weekly Nielsen charts for three weeks in a row. This has already helped the drama surpass CSI on the Season-Thus-Far chart giving it the 2nd place, just behind Grey's Anatomy - the breakout hit of the last season.

Although it is almost certain that nothing (apart from special event programming) can eclipse FOX's "American Idol" as the #1 show in the US, "Desperate Housewives" might very well become this year's #1 scripted drama, an honor it had not earned even in the golden days of the 1st season. Congratulations, Marc Cherry.

Return to Televisionista Homepage
See also:
A Very Desperate Christmas
New Housewives Mystery Unfolds