It’s Sunday at 9 p.m. and a group is gathered, yelling at the television in the basement of Bean Complex. The young women are squealing and gasping, waiting to see just how desperate the housewives can get.
Desperate Housewives has remained a popular show all the way into its third season on the air. According to Nielsen Media Research, Desperate Housewives ranked fourth in the Top 10 Broadcast TV Programs for the week of Oct. 9 with 20.636 million viewers.
Winner of the 2005 and 2006 Golden Globe Award for Best Television Series – Musical or Comedy, Desperate Housewives has held audiences captive across America.
Mary O’Neil, a freshman at the University who lives in Bean and is part of the dedicated group that watches together every week in the basement, called the show “colorful.”
“Everyone on the show is good-looking. They’re appealing to look at,” O’Neil said. “It’s fun to watch.”
She said that women in her age demographic often wonder what married life is like, and watching Desperate Housewives gives them a glimpse, albeit into a glamorous fantasy.
Sabrina Sultzer, a freshman who also devotedly watches the show every week in the Bean basement, said the program is always pulling out new tricks and keeping it exciting.
It’s popular right now “because of the drama that takes place,” Sultzer said. “It’s always interesting and unexpected.”
Sultzer said the ever-changing characters keep viewers engaged in the show’s dynamics.
She began watching the popular ABC drama when her friends and family got hooked. She became more involved and it eventually blossomed into a social event. When the people surrounding her started watching, she got sucked in, too.
The only thing trendier than Desperate Housewives, apparently, is a herd of determined interns from Seattle Grace Hospital (which, conveniently, does not exist.) “Grey’s Anatomy” ranked first in the Nielsen’s for the week of Oct. 9.
“Grey’s” has slowly been sweeping the nation with its sex scandals in the hospital and the drama that occurs between doctors and interns.
Megan Taylor, a sophomore at the University, created the Facebook group “Grey’s Anatomy Fan Club,” which has 236 members at the University. Taylor believes the show is so popular right now because the stress involved in high-pressure internships appeals to college students.
She also said the show is trendy because of the male actors who charm audiences with their good looks.
“The male doctors appeal a lot to the female audience,” she said in a phone interview. “I don’t think there’s anything better than hot doctors.”