New desperate housewives revealed in ‘ Why Women Kill’
BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. — If you’ve been missing “Desperate Housewives,” the new CBS All Access show “Why Women Kill,” debuting Aug. 15, is the series you’ve been waiting to see. But if you were over “Desperate Housewives” before it finished its eight- season run, well, “Why Women Kill” is kind of more of the same.
From “DH” creator Marc Cherry, “Why Women Kill” has its moments of enjoyably dark comedy, but after two episodes the whole endeavor felt used up and kind of recycled.
Sure, it’s more high- concept. Instead of neighbors with secrets, “Why Women Kill” explores three women and their husbands who live in the same Pasadena, Calif., home in three time periods. And many of these characters have secrets.
In 1963, housewife Beth Ann ( Ginnifer Goodwin, “Once Upon a Time”) is shaken to learn her husband, Rob ( Sam Jaeger, “Parenthood”), has been unfaithful.
By 1984, Simone ( Lucy Liu, “Elementary”) and closeted husband Karl ( Jack Davenport, “Smash”) are living in the house when Simone discovers Karl is gay, and she embarks on a tryst with an 18- year- old neighbor ( Leo Howard, “Santa Clarita Diet”), similar to Gabby in the “DH” pilot with the gardener ( Jesse Metcalfe).
By 2019, lawyer Taylor ( Kirby HowellBaptiste, “Downward Dog”) has an open marriage with screenwriter husband Eli ( Reid Scott, “Veep”) that gets complicated when they both sleep with the same woman.
There’s no constant narration, but the characters do directly address the camera in the premiere — in part to set viewer expectations and open up the notion that in every case it may not be the wife who kills the husband, making it a mystery as to what will happen — and then there is a little narration from a neighbor at the start of episode two.
It’s fine but quickly grows uninvolving, which makes it unessential, the last thing a series wants to be in the Peak TV era.
At a press conference earlier this month during the Television Critics Association summer 2019 press tour, Mr. Cherry said it occurred to him that “so much of our expectations for happiness are based on the era in which we live.
“We are told by popular culture and the rules of the day what should make us happy,” he continued, “and I suddenly became kind of entranced with comparing three decades of three women, three marriages, and all dealing with the exact same problem, and their reactions to it would be based on the decade in which they lived.”
If successful, “Why Women Kill” would return with a new cast, new characters and a new storyline in subsequent seasons. This year’s story will wrap at the end of the 10 episodes.
“The house becomes a symbol of marriage, and you can kind of decorate it differently, you can put your own stamp on it, but the fundamentals of it stay the same,” Mr. Cherry said. “And the issues — what can drive a couple apart — remain the same. That was what connected all these three women. There will be a big connective reveal at the very end of the 10 episodes.”
CHANNEL SURFING
CBS announced last week it has accelerated plans to launch its CBSN local service in markets with CBS- owned stations, including Pittsburgh’s KDKA- TV and WPCWTV, by early next year. CBSN — available through CBSNews. com, local station websites and CBS News apps for mobile and connected devices — offers 24/ 7 anchored programming, including live coverage of breaking news. … CBS All Access will add children’s programming in late 2019, including original series “Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs” and “Danger Mouse.”