Why do people watch and like Desperate Housewives? It is very disturbing to me that it is a popular

it is a deeply cruel array of dysfunctional interactions full of lies, deception, and mean-spirited across the board. It is a night time soap opera and sucks people dry of compassion and being genuine. So, is this society so messed up that it is full of people who are drawn to watching such horrid displays of people doing nothing but hurting one another and hurting themselves?

Why do people watch and like Desperate Housewives? It is very disturbing to me that it is a popular program as

It's not unlike professional wrestling with its own interactions full of lies, deception, and mean-spiritedness.

Small things definitely amuse small minds. Many people (excluding myself) like their entertainment to require as little thinking, and/or as little refinement as possible.

Why do people watch and like Desperate Housewives? It is very disturbing to me that it is a popular program asopera mobile opera theater

yep, its no different than the news.
I wonder the same thing about american idol.
beats the reality shows!! but NOT by much!!!

My wife LOVES it... I'd rather have mace sprayed in my eyes than be forced to watch 99% of today's TV!!!

(netflix rocks:)
turn the channel but you seem to be pretty up on the show, seems you are watching.
i dont watch it, not even the spanish version
they ARE desperate, but entertaining,

in a sick soap opera world kind of way
I used to watch the first series, it's first and formost a comedy satire not a soap opera, it exaggerates and makes fun of that desperate lifestyle rather than being true to life. The Simpsons is also full of slobs, mean spirited characters, itchy and scratchy violence and dysfunctional familes but it makes it funny, that's what desperate housewives is about too
Well, the satirical nature of the show went way over your head didn't it? Do you have such a disdain for the human condition that you think people actually incorporate the values shown (superficially) on the show into their own personal moral conduct? Do you seriously think that because the 20 million people who recognize the show as a fictional dramatic comedy week to week, divorce rates and infidelity and domestic misconduct will rise? Or is that how you are influenced by TV shows?

If you don't like the show, if its content makes you uncomfortable just don't watch it. Simple as that.
relax a bit birdy! It is funny and bitchy like lots of women can be! It just shows that people with lots of money can still be as miserable as the rest of us! it also shows that you never know what goes on behind closed doors! And it is miles better than miserable soaps like "eastenders".

(plus there is the added bonus of the gorgeus Mike Delfino for the ladies, and lots of hot women for the guys!)
Well I love it.It also has some cherfull moments too.I can think of mutch worse shows
It's satirical. Have you ever seen American Beauty? Yes, there's dysfunctional elements, but it's a dramedy. It's about the hiliarious actions women take to keep their lives together.

But the series has also had many moments of compassion. In fact, the second episode of the 2-part tornado one had a character realize how much she could have been more friends and nicer to the woman who saved her family's lives.

I myself am tired of most of the crap Hollywood is producing and prefer to think about the content I watch. And if some people can't start thinking because of the storylines in Desperate Housewives, then they are not in touch with or have empathy about the families that endure death, adultry, teenage pregnancy and sex, and other things which do occur in today's hectic family.

You are only focusing on the negative. Try to be optimistic. If it isn't a program you just can't enjoy, then don't talk about it anymore.

EDIT:

I appreciate you reading my comment. I guess when it gets right down to it, I watch DH to escape my exhausting, annoying life. The best way to forget about your own troubles is to watch someone else's. But there are times of compassion.
Calm down, this is just a tv show of the "soap" genre, and people are drawn to it. Its happening out there in real life too, and alot of it is worse than what you see in a tv drama series. Sad facts but true. Its scary to think about all the real life dysfunction happening in our communities, but its life and we cant change it, and a tv show isnt going to help or hurt whats real in my opinion. Its just too far beyond that!
if your talking about the tv show because it is dam good and has fine good looking man on it.
you know the old saying..you don't like it don't watch it....no one forces you to!
Lighten up! It's a great,entertaining show.
For some of us, it's like real life, not a tv show. We actually KNOW people like this.

No one knows what goes on behind closed doors in someone's home - this offers us a peep.
It is an entertaining way to lose yourself in something other than your own problems. The women are funny, and not always hurtful. You may want to actually sit down and watch a few episodes before you take such a harsh critical stance.

Besides, it is just a TV show. Only idiots would use it as a guide for how to live life. Most people understand that TV is not real; it's just for fun.
First of all, you should not be so sensitive to what people respond. You asked. You also said that you have never watched more than 15 minutes of it. Really, not a fair judgement. Maybe if you watched it, you might get an idea of why other people watch it. But I am not lecturing you on that since, you are right...you didn't ask. Watch it or not; I don't care. You want to know why I watch it?

It's a break from reality. It is entertaining. It's a "black comedy." Sometimes in real life people are cruel to each other. Have you read a newspaper or watched the news lately? But the women on Desperate Housewives are not always cruel and violent. The show is about their friendship. They are friends deep down. Sometimes friends argue, say hurtful things and even betray one another. We're human. But we forgive each other also. The best friends to have are ones who will ignore your weaknesses and forgive your faults. That's why I watch the show.