Is ABC's new soap 'GCB' the next 'Desperate Housewives'?

"Desperate Housewives" may be about to fade off into the sunset, but ABC has another soapy suburban satire on tap: "GCB."

Originally titled "Good Christian Bitches" — the full title proved too controversial for network TV — the soap concerns divorcee Amanda (Leslie Bibb) and pal Carlene (Kristin Chenoweth), whose lives revolve around their Dallas church. Oh, and sex. And gossip.

Creator Robert Harling — best known for "Steel Magnolias" — understands the comparison with "Housewives" but stresses that "GCB" is its own thing.

"To be compared to a show that's one of the biggest hits in the history of television, that's maintained its crystalline point of view and wit and fun for eight years, yeah, I would love to eventually be compared to that," Harling told reporters Tuesday at the TV press tour in Pasadena.

But he added: "If you look at the two shows, the fabulous thing about 'Desperate Housewives' is it's sort of universal. Wisteria Lane and its dynamic — it could be happening everywhere. I think the fabulous thing about what these ['GCB'] actors do is they create a world that's also very specific.  Our world could only take place in Texas and only in Dallas and only in a particular part of Dallas."

However the shows are compared, Bibb hinted that the soapy antics on "GCB" won't be in short supply.

On the show, "everyone has a really beautiful, delicious moment of being bitchy and then a beautiful, great moment of sort of redemption and then they're a bitch again and we're nice again," she told reporters.

 

Do you intend to watch "GCB"? Sound off in the comments.

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— Scott Collins (twitter.com/scottcollinsLAT)

Photo: "GCB" executive producer Robert Harling, flanked by costars Kristin Chenoweth (left) and Leslie Bibb. Credit: Frederick M. Brown / Getty Images.