'Desperate Housewives' Season 8 Premiere: Why 'Housewives' Hit Home

Why Desperate Housewives Hit Home

WSJ Speakeasy:

This Sunday from 9 to 10 p.m., please don't call me unless it's really urgent.

I'm blocking out the hour to watch "Desperate Housewives," as I have for nearly every Sunday night the show has aired over the last seven years.

The only difference is that, as ABC has announced, this season will be the last.

There are reasons this show has earned a following. In essence, many viewers of "Sex and the City" grew up and became desperate housewives -- including those who are neither desperate nor housewives.

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Centered around the lives of four female friends in the suburbs, "Desperate Housewives" tapped into the same truism that animated "Sex and the City" before it: nothing anchors women like their friendships with other women. These bonds between women remain strong as their careers, their relationships, even their ties with their children sometimes falter.

The mushy stuff, though, isn't really what's distinguished this show.

With the final season upon us, I've been thinking a lot about what has made the show a standout. I called ABC, to run my theories by them. They put me on the line with executive producer Bob Daily.

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