Tehran TV

Not Desperate Housewives, but Barareh Nights, a comic soap opera:

On Iran's nuclear program, "Barareh" firmly backs Iran's right to nuclear technology and criticizes the Europeans for requesting that Iran enrich its uranium abroad. Tehran insists its atomic program is peaceful.

An Anglo-American, the epitome of Western duplicity to many in Iran, persuades the villagers to let him "enrich" their peas abroad. He fattens the peas by soaking them in water, then sells them back to the villagers at twice the price. The villagers realize the foreigner is conning them.

Beyond the big questions of bribery, censorship, and uranium enrichment, "Barareh" also tackles social issues. The village is divided into "Upper" and "Lower" Barareh, a divide that mirrors class boundaries in Tehran.

"The ones from Upper Barareh are funny because they put on airs and try to mix English in with their Persian, but make lots of mistakes," said Maryam, a teacher. The football game between the two parts of the village mirrored the match between Tehran's two teams, Persepolis and Esteghlal -- a grudge match which has several times sparked vicious clashes between rival fans.

State television's survey center said the show was drawing a huge audience, being watched by 90 percent of people with access to a television, now most of Iran's 69 million people. It cited surveys that said 67 percent of viewers appreciated the show for tackling contemporary social issues through humor.

There were, however, plenty of complaints. "I was listening to state radio the other day and one village council complained that the accent they use in Barareh was mocking them," said Khosro.

State television's survey center said some viewers had complained the show was an insult to rural morals and degraded "distinguished" figures such as poets. Barareh's poet is manifestly gay, breaking a taboo in a country where homosexuality is illegal.