The season 6 premiere of ABC's "Desperate Housewives" airs on Sunday, September 27, 2009 @ 9 PM ET.

Drea de Matteo and Jeffrey Nordling are new cast members. Andrea Bowen also returns to the series as Julie Mayer.

The season premiere was written by Marc Cherry and directed by Larry Shaw.

USA TODAY's review:
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"Desperate Housewives" returns in strong form
by Robert Bianco, USA TODAY

They're heading for a wedding on "Desperate Housewives" (* * * out of four stars, ABC, Sunday, 9 ET/PT), but you'll have to watch to find out who "they" are.

Don't fret. The answer comes almost immediately, and while it may not be the answer some fans want, it's well-delivered and likely to strike most as acceptable. And that's just the first bit of good news about a strong seasonal return that starts with a bang, ends with a cliffhanger jolt, and offers a good story for each of the wives in between while dropping a possibly worthy new addition in their midst.

The newcomer to this suburban lane is a tough city girl played by "The Sopranos"' Drea de Matteo, who moves into Mary Alice's now-empty house with her husband (Jeffrey Nordling) and possibly troubled son (Beau Mirchoff) in tow. They clearly have a secret, because if they didn't, they wouldn't serve much of a purpose on the show.

Intros are efficiently made, but the episode's real focus is on the four main housewives. Whether it's Susan's wedding or not, you know she'll be preoccupied by it, so that's her story. Bree is torn between Orson and Karl (Richard Burgi, who has one of his best episodes yet), Lynette is still reeling from her later-life pregnancy, and Gaby is struggling to deal with her now live-in niece.

There's humor and poignancy in all the stories and good work all around. In particular, the hour serves as a reminder of how strong and varied an actress Felicity Huffman is, and of how strong a comic force Eva Longoria Parker has become.

It's true that, over time, "Desperate" has lost some of its ability to shock. (How could it not?) And it's equally true that the removal of the Mary Alice story has cost the show some of its depth. But it remains a very good TV series, and this is a very good start. There are landmines and possible dead zones ahead, as there always are for TV series. But depending on how some of these stories play out — Lynette's in particular — there's also the potential for a season that returns this already-solid show to top form.

And you get a wedding. What more do you want from one hour?

The reviews for the premiere seem to be extremely positive. I think "Entertainment Weekly" gave it a B+ in last weeks issue.

Can't wait for it!

Episode Title: "Nice Is Different Than Good"

Synopsis: In the season six premiere to ABC's "Desperate Housewives," Mike Delfino reveals his bride choice; Lynette faces an unexpected, late-in-life pregnancy; Bree struggles to free herself from both Orson and her inhibitions while embarking on a tryst with Karl; Carlos' teen niece moves in; another family with a dark past moves onto Wisteria Lane.

Discuss.

DH always premieres strong, and some of their best episodes over the series run have been the premieres.

It will be interesting to see what the show looks like in the following weeks.

However, I'm very excited about the new season.

I AM SO EXCITED FOR DREA!!!!

As much as I was disappointed with the fifth one [IMO, the most boring season that they had, Longoria was the saving grace of the season and only four episodes are worth of a rewatch], I'd still tune in to watch this.

Excited much for Drea de Matteo. And yes, I agree to someone who said that DH always has good season premieres.

I agree season 5 was total crap. It's as if the Gaby storyline was the only one that got attention and the rest of the main characters were left floundering.

Good episode overall.

There air of mystery is back. They seem to be on the right track to redeeming themselves from Season 5.

Next week looks good.

"Nice Is Different Than Good"

The Mystery is intriguing me already. Julie being strangled was surprisingly shocking. I loved the scenes between Maira and Eva. It showed just how much the character of Gabby has grown. I also loved that they made Katherine crazy again. Loved Felicity admitting she doesn't love her unborn babies. Susan being the bride was not a big shock at all. The Promos gave that away. I'm looking forward tot he next couple of episodes. Drea De Matteo is a great addition so far. Marcia's affair is not in character, but the scene in the church with the prison joke was funny. Overall the season premiere was consistently great!

B+/A-
MVP:Dana Delany

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Critics were right, that was a pretty strong episode.

Lynette: I loved her breakdown in the doctors office. It was hilarious, and the woman she was with had the best reaction. I really like her struggle with this. However, you can definitley DH is a network show. On cable the word "abortion" definitely would have been uttered. Lynette is the most liberal of all the wives so I'd expect her to at least mention it(did she in the finale, I don't think so but maybe).

Bree/Karl: Kind of funny, and I love how confident Bree is with Orson now, but a little more needs to happen. I don't see why they're prolonging hitting the sheets, but I thought all the moving around was good for a chuckle. Cross was great here, probably better than she's been in a while.

Susan/Mike/Katherine: I love their rivalry and I love that it didn't work at the end. I thought both woman were great here, and Hatcher was on fire, delivering every line and every movement in a hilariously physical way - Susan at her best. Nice to see Delaney being put to good use. However, I have to say that in Hatcher's first scene in the dress (and really only there) she looked really old. I thought to myself "how did she age so much after 3 months". But she looked great throughout the rest of the episode, so it must have been bad lighting.

Gabby: Again, this woman is on fire, and it's clear that she is this show's comedy queen. She delivers a comedic tour-de-force week after week, and she looks to continue that this season. I loved her scene in the kitchen ("Lift it"). She delivers her lines perfectly, and it's a shame she wasn't nommed for an emmy last year. What really impressed me here was her final scene - she sold the drama and the emotion in that in a really authentic way.

Angie/her son/Julie: DeMatteo was really fun and funny in her role. I love how she controls her family. That scar at the end - totally reminded me of Kimberly pulling off her wig.
Did anyone get the feeling that the father was flirting with Julie in their one scene together.
Also, I think it's odd that a 24 year old is hanging out with an 18/19 year old and even tutoring. Does she really need that job or is she being a nice girl? And she's 24 so she should have realized what he wanted. I thought that was a little silly, but the choking at the end was SHOCKING. I did not see that coming. I wonder if all of this "bringing back Julie for the season" was just mis-direction and they're finally going to kill the kid off that they've been planning for years?

Overall, I thought the episode was good but I would much rather see more intertwining storylines like at the end of last year. Pacing as always is hard with so much storylines, but I felt like we barely saw Lynette.It was a good episode overall, and all of the storylines seem to be fun and interesting.

Episode Grade: B+/A-
MVP: Hatcher and the entire ensemble

Also, on another note, I thought Lee as the new Realtor was hilarious. Will he take Edie's place as the new suburban slut now that he has her job too?

It was good. Nothing great. Just good. They've totally ruined Katherine, and wasted Dana Delaney's talents, so I'm hoping that changes as the season progresses. I don't think the show will ever flourish again under Marc Cherry though.

That was really good. And that ending with Julie was insane. I wish that Marc Cherry could write all of the episodes for the show. Each of the regulars were given strong material to work with -- Susan battling with Katherine (the sauce scene was great) and the wedding scenes, Lynette going through some difficult emotions with her pregnancy (I'm glad that they're not sugarcoating her negative feelings about it, even though having an abortion will never be mentioned), Bree and her affair with Karl, Gabrielle and her niece (Eva's stepped up to the plate big time now -- she wouldn't have been capable of this in season 1), and Drea's introduction, which was awesome and will hopefully lead to something worthwhile instead of the awful Dave storyline that almost derailed last season. It all gelled with a great mix between the comedy and the drama. I'm excited about this season's prospects.

Grade for "Nice Is Different Than Good": A-

Yeah they need to sort out the pacing. We get two scenes of the Lynette and Bree storylines and then it was like a long stretch before they appeared again.

Oh and I agree with Atypical's write up on the episode.

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Great episode! I think this season could have some pretty promising Emmy bait for Felicity Huffman.

Loved the episode and hopefully more baity stuff for Bree so i can see Marcia finally snagging a trophy!!!

What a great episode and each and every woman was on fire!!!!

Susan/Mike/Katherine - Yes, it was quite easy to see who Mike was going to pick, but I am fine with it. Teri and Dana have such great chemistry! I think Katharine is gonna be Susan's new Edie and I love it.

Bree - I know people keep saying that this is so unlike the character, but aren't most affairs unlike most people's characters? Marcia was great in all her scenes and I am so excited to see where they take all of this.

Angie - I LOVE DREA! I just hope that she isn't here for one season and that it doesn't turn into a repeat of when Alfre Woodard joined the cast. P.S. Her son is hot even if he is nuts or so we think.

Gabby - WOW! Eva has grown into this role amazingly! I agree with G.Penn when he said she is a Comedic Tour de Force and I can't wait to see more!

Lynette - Felicity Huffman is Brilliant! What more is there to say! I hope that they continue to give her this kind of material all season, because it could be time for her to break thru again at the Emmys.

Overall, I loved this episode. I just hope that the mystery isn't as bad as it was when Alfre was on the show.

A-

Yeah, sorry...this show has officially jumped the sharks. Creatively speaking, Mike is marrying the wrong woman. and who the hell cared about another messed up family...it's all the same crap every single year. Sorry...think I'm done.

quote:

Originally posted by glfan:
Yeah, sorry...this show has officially jumped the sharks. Creatively speaking, Mike is marrying the wrong woman. and who the hell cared about another messed up family...it's all the same crap every single year. Sorry...think I'm done.

See I can agree with this! Not saying I agree with your views GLfan, and I respect your views on the matter, but this is a good time to say that you are done with a show. Instead of talking bad about it after only 4 episodes into season 1.

^^^I disagree with your logic. Who's to say that four episodes in the show doesn't improve? For the most part I agree with you glfan. I have nothing against Marc Cherry's mystery neighbours, however, none of them are ever compelling.