Desperate Scousewives

Desperate Scousewives
Genre	Reality television
Created by	Tiffany Ballou Louise Cowmeadow
Directed by	James Abbadi Stten Agro Philip Wood
Starring	Amanda Harrington Elissa Corrigan Gill O'Toole Debbie O'Toole Jodie Lundstram Chris Johnson Mark Johnson Jaiden Micheal Sam Wools Layla Flaherty Chloe Cummings Joe McMahon Danny Latimer
Country of origin	United Kingdom
Original language(s)	English
No. of series	1
No. of episodes	8
Production
Executive producer(s)	Michael Massey Mal Young
Location(s)	Liverpool
Running time	60 mins (inc. adverts)
Release
Original network	E4 E4 HD
Picture format	1080i (HDTV)
Audio format	5.1
Original release	28 November 2011 (2011-11-28) – 16 January 2012 (2012-01-16)
External links
Website	www.e4.com/scousewives/

Desperate Scousewives was a British scripted-reality television series based in Liverpool.^[1] It premiered on E4 at 10:00pm on 28 November 2011.^[2] It ran for eight episodes before being cancelled due to stagnating ratings and a perceived lack of interest in cast members from viewers.^[3] The show gained favourable viewing figures for its first episode, debuting with 500,000 viewers, 24% up on the E4 channel's slot average. However, episodes for the rest of the series were regularly below this figure and outside of the E4 top-10 weekly rankings.^[4]

The show's name is a play on words of the American comedy-drama Desperate Housewives and was said to be "Liverpool's answer to The Only Way Is Essex and Made in Chelsea".^[5] Repeats began airing on 4Music from 26 April 2012,^[6] sparking speculation from cast members that it may be a test run to recommission a new series on 4Music instead of E4.^[7][8] However, E4 reaffirmed their decision several times about the show's cancellation via their official Twitter page despite cast members continually claiming that a second series is in production.^[9]

Overview

Liverpool, the Pool of Life, centre of the universe, no contest. Why live anywhere else when you've got it all here? The amazing buildings, the brilliant shops, the coolest nightlife and music - we invented that and all you know. Chop us in half and we've got Scouser written all the way through us. We're loud and we're proud, it must be something that they put in that water, the Mersey that is. This is Liverpool and these are our very real stories.

— Jodie Lundstram, in the opening scene

When Desperate Scousewives debuted, E4 described it as: "Meet the strong, independent women who quite literally run this town, looking to make a name for themselves in the city famous for its big personalities, big dreams, and even bigger hair. In a world revolving around football, fierce fashion, and that famous WAG style, Scouse girls and boys are all about having a boss night out on the town. But looking good is a 24/7 job as the ladies dress to impress to bag themselves the man of their dreams. The next generation of Liverpudlians determined to show the UK just what they're all about. Behind the blonde hair, 'Scouse eyebrows', football matches and club nights are real guys and girls determined to make a name for themselves, work hard and achieve a dream no matter how big or small. The girls spend every hard earned penny making sure they stand out from the crowd. And the boys of Liverpool have to work hard to keep up with them, woo them, and win their hearts. But they're not adverse [sic] to a bit of Premiership style preening themselves; some of Liverpool's most handsome and sought-after guys are pros at living a footballer's lifestyle, even if it is just off the pitch."^[10]

Reception

Critical reception

The reaction to Desperate Scousewives was largely negative and prompted strong criticism from both the mainstream media and audiences alike. On social networking site Twitter, local Liverpudlians claimed that the show's cast were not representative of Liverpool and that they exploited it purely for entertainment purposes, as, despite its title, many cast members are not married and some did not even originate from Liverpool.^[11] The content of the show was also criticised heavily as being scripted and devoid of plot or substance^[12] and produced simply to establish a show based upon Merseyside following the format of other successful regional 'structured reality' shows such as The Only Way Is Essex, Made in Chelsea and Geordie Shore.^[13]

Panned by critics, Keith Watson of Metro described Desperate Scousewives as "depressing viewing" adding that the show "simply takes the TOWIE template up the Mersey Tunnel, at the bleached bottom end of which you’ll find the most depressing bunch of faked-up, vacuous wannabes we've suffered since, well... the last of these unreal reality shows was launched. Five minutes in the company of Amanda, Joe, Layla and poison blogger Jaiden, and my faith in human nature was hitting zero. Not one of them can hold a conversation that’s not about themselves. They all live in a toxic, self-absorbed bubble. And they’re not even funny."^[14] Television critic and columinst Ian Hyland of the Daily Mail also criticised the show, claiming that "even the best actors in the world couldn’t fake these levels of empty-headed, fame-hungry idiocy".^[15]

Ratings

Episode viewing figures from BARB.^[16]

Desperate Scousewives gained favourable viewing figures for its first episode debuting with 500,000 viewers, 24% up on the E4 channel's slot average. However, episodes for the rest of the series were regularly below this figure and outside of the E4 Top 10 weekly rankings.^[4]

Cancellation

On 2 February 2012, E4 executive producers announced that they would not recommission Desperate Scousewives for a second series. A show insider claimed that "We had hoped Desperate Scousewives would really give TOWIE a run for its money, but sadly that's not been the case. For whatever reason people have just not warmed to the characters and there hasn't been a great buzz. Made in Chelsea, on the other hand, is really popular. People seem fascinated by their posh lives."^[17]

Cast members

References

External links

• Desperate Scousewives on IMDb
• 'Desperate Scousewives' at channel4.com
• Desperate Scousewives Sean Clancy Photoshoot at Rorylewis.co.uk