What's the Good of Being Good

"What's the Good of Being Good" is the 169th episode of the ABC television series Desperate Housewives. It is the twelfth episode of the show's eighth season and aired on January 22, 2012.

Plot

Karen McCluskey finds out about Bree's sex life and plans to do something about it, by informing Reverend Sykes; Bree learns that her latest boyfriend is keeping a secret; Renee gets concerned about Lynette going out on a date with her hairdresser; after Claudia confronts Susan about her visit, Susan arranges for Claudia to meet with Gabrielle.

Reception

Although it was down from the previous episode, due to FOX's broadcast of the NFC championship Game on the same night, "What's the Good of Being Good" managed to place second in its time slot, scoring a 2.6/5 among 18-49s and a 4.9/7 overall, with 7.5 million viewers tuning in.^[1] The episode was competing against NFC Championship Game on Fox which was watched by 51.17 million viewers and held 19.3/39 rating in the 18-49 demographic. With 7.48 million viewers, "What's the Good of Being Good" is currently the second least watched episode in the history of the series. The episode gained an additional 2.1 million viewers and 1.0 rating in the week following the original broadcast due to DVR recordings.^[2][3]

Notes

• The title of this episode is taken from the Opening to Act I of the Stephen Sondheim musical Into the Woods.
• Although credited, Ricardo Antonio Chavira (Carlos Solis) and Doug Savant (Tom Scavo) do not appear in this episode.

International titles

• German: Mehr Sein als Schein (More Illusion than Reality)
• Polish: Co jest dobre w byciu dobrym? (What is good at being good?)

References