ABC’s big new hit “Desperate Housewives” is an amusing, mildly trashy bit of fluff, somewhere between “The O.C.” and “Melrose Place” on the guilt-o-meter. But one of the most delightful things about it for me is something subtle: the episode titles.
The first three (after the pilot) — “Ah, But Underneath,” “Pretty Little Picture” and “Who’s That Woman” — are all titles of Stephen Sondheim songs, as I’m sure you immediately recognized. I hoped they would continue with that trend — there are a couple hundred titles to choose from, after all — but it ceased after those three episodes. Additional episodes, however, have also been song titles, by various non-Sondheim people: “Come in, Stranger” (Johnny Cash), “Running to Stand Still” (U2), “Anything You Can Do,” (from “Annie Get Your Gun”) and so on.
I wish the Sondheim thing would have continued. I would like to have seen an episode called “Cinderella at the Grave.” Because what would THAT be about?!
