The number one show in the US, licenses secured in 150 ‘territories’, a blizzard of magazine covers and websites... It’s safe to say Desperate Housewives, Marc Cherry’s mystery drama comedy – uh, soap – has secured its place as a modern TV phenomenon. Even Laura Bush name-dropped it, claiming: “Mr Excitement’s asleep by nine and I’m watching Desperate Housewives. I am a desperate housewife!” In these poll-conscious times, you know the President’s advisers have told her that namedropping the TV show will ‘play well’ across America.

So far so good, then, for Cherry – a former writer/producer on The Golden Girls who spent a couple of years in the wilderness before his Housewives revival. “I was washed up,” he admits. “I had to write something smart.”

‘Smart’ would certainly cover this box set, lavishly packaged and laden with extras on all six discs. There are ‘director’s cuts’, commentaries that underline how much was based on Cherry’s own family (“God love ’em. They’re making money for me now”) plus outtakes, set visits and the usual gubbins involving designers, crew and scruffy scriptwriters.

The show itself? The female leads are excellent, and the men do a good job of finding layers that may not have been on the page. But, after an incendiary pilot and those brilliant opening credits, it’s hard not to feel that the ambition tapered off as the series progressed. Season Two will need to step up to resonate as more American Beauty than Knots Landing.

BEST BIT: Bree’s thwarted effort to spice up her sex life. You know the one. Is there even a choice?

DVD Extras:

Commentaries
Deleted scenes
On-set features
Extended episodes
Featurettes