Desperately dull

This, from the Philadelphia Inquirer, utterly conveys my opinion, though I didn't watch Bleak House (yet) and have never watched The Sopranos:

Desperate Housewives has plunged so far off the radar screen, Bode Miller couldn't find them. Personally I haven't watched the series in a while. Like all of 2006. The ladies of Wisteria Lane were preempted last week by the Academy Awards, but prior to that I had spent six Sundays at 9 p.m. wrapped up in the machinations of Jarndyce vs. Jarndyce on PBS's Bleak House. That would have been unthinkable last season when I never missed a minute with Bree, Susan, Lynette and Gabrielle. I didn't even answer the phone when they were on. Now I'd rather watch dark, plodding Victorian intrigue on Masterpiece Theatre than their airhead escapades. I don't know what made the show lose its mojo. Maybe it was the unsatisfying way Housewives wrapped up the Mary Alice mystery; maybe it was the way the plots started to feel recycled. Or maybe it was burnout from how overexposed the leading actresses became. All I know is that a series that was so fizzy and fun last year now seems artificial and cloying. Maybe I can catch up now, give the merry housewives one more chance. Oops, I forgot. The Sopranos returns to that time slot tomorrow night after its criminally long stay in the witness protection program. Forget about it. So long, ladies. It's been fun. For a shockingly brief period of time.

http://www.philly.com/mld/philly/entertainment/14071309.htm