After a hiatus due to the writers’ strike, Desperate Housewives is back. The antics of the women of Wisteria Lane continue with the usual angst, drama, and secrets. Although the last show before the break in episodes featured a major tornado striking Fairview, the show resumed with most of the debris cleared away and damage repaired.

I’ve watched the show since the first episode, and although I am glad to see the show return both to the ABC lineup and Sunday evening, I’ve been a little disappointed. I expected to see more of the tornado clean up and aftermath, but it was magically gone. As a tornado survivor myself, that seemed a little too good to be true. While I realize that television is not reality, more realism would have worked far better in this circumstance.

And, I am amused at the title of the show, Desperate Housewives, in an age when few women want to be identified as a housewife. The term itself seems as dated as platform shoes and bouffant hairdos. Women who do stay home today seem to prefer to be called either a stay-at-home-mom or simply a homemaker. And, of course, the obvious is that the housewives of Wisteria Lane are anything but ordinary.

We don’t see the ladies ever struggling with bills or complaining about rising gas or food costs. We are privy to their secrets, sins, and sickness, but some of the everyday struggles women face are curiously absent. None of the gals worry about their weight or much about money. Although Carlo now says he is a blind, poor man, the Solis couple dwells in a beautiful mansion and doesn’t seem to want for any material items.

None of these housewives are ever REALLY desperate, but they are fun to watch.