Desperate Housewives

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Desperate Housewives is an American television comedy-drama-mystery series created by Marc Cherry and produced by ABC Studios and Cherry Productions. It aired Sundays at 9 PM Eastern/8 PM Central, on ABC from October 3, 2004, until May 13, 2012. Executive producer Marc served as showrunner. Other executive producers since the fourth season included Bob Daily, George W. Perkins, John Pardee, Joey Murphy, David Grossman, and Larry Shaw.

The main setting of the show was Wisteria Lane, a street in the fictional American town of  in the fictional . The show followed the lives of a group of women as seen through the eyes of a dead neighbor who committed suicide in the very first episode. The storyline covers thirteen years of the women's lives over eight seasons, set between the years 2004-2008, and later 2013-2017 (the story arc included a 5 year time jump). They worked through domestic struggles and family life, while facing the secrets, crimes and mysteries hidden behind the doors of their - at the surface - beautiful and seemingly perfect suburban neighborhood.

The show featured an ensemble cast, headed by Teri Hatcher as Susan Mayer, Felicity Huffman as Lynette Scavo, Marcia Cross as Bree Van de Kamp, and Eva Longoria as Gabrielle Solis. Brenda Strong narrated the show as the deceased Mary Alice Young, appearing sporadically in flashbacks or dream sequences.

The series was well received by viewers and critics alike. The show is a multiple Primetime Emmy, Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild Award winner. The series premiere drew 21.6 million viewers and the show's first season finale attracted over 30 million viewers. In 2007, it was reported to be the most popular show in its demographic worldwide, with an audience of approximately 120 million and was also reported that the series is the third most watched TV show in a study of ratings in 20 countries. In 2012, it remained as the most-watched comedy series internationally based on data from Eurodata TV Worldwide, which measured ratings across five continents, it has held this position since 2006. Moreover, it was the third-highest revenue earning show for 2010, with US $2.74 million per half hour. The show placed #56 on Entertainment Weekly's "New TV Classics" list.

Desperate Housewives was officially renewed by ABCon May 17, 2011 for an eighth season. The season premiere episode was broadcast on Sunday, September 25. The eighth season was the show's final season. The series concluded on May 13, 2012. By the end of the series, it had surpassed Charmed as the longest running hour-long television series featuring all female leads by two episodes. Housewives was also the most watched series finale of 2012.

Production
The idea for the series was conceived as Marc Cherry and his mother were watching a news report on Andrea Yates. Prior to Desperate Housewives, Marc was best known for producing and writing episodes of Touchstone Television's hit comedy series The Golden Girls and its successor, The Golden Palace. In addition, he had created or co-created three sitcoms: The 5 Mrs. Buchanans, The Crew and Some of My Best Friends, none of which lasted longer than a year. Marc had difficulty in getting any television network interested in his new series; HBO, CBS, NBC, Fox, Showtime, and Lifetime all turned the show down. Finally, two new executives at ABC, Lloyd Braun and Susan Lyne, chose to greenlight it,  reportedly after The OC on Fox premiered in 2003 and showed that a soap opera could succeed in prime time. Shortly thereafter, Disney had both Lloyd and Susan fired, following their approval of another drama series: Lost.

The ABC executives were not initially satisfied with the name of the new show, suggesting Wisteria Lane and The Secret Lives of Housewives instead. However, on October 23, 2003, Desperate Housewives was announced by ABC, presented as a prime time soap opera created by Charles Pratt, Jr. of Melrose Place fame, and Marc Cherry, who declared the new show to be a mix of Knots Landing and American Beauty with a little bit of Twin Peaks. While Marc continued his work on the show, Charles was credited as executive producer for the pilot episode only, remainig linked to the show as a consulting producer during the first two seasons.

On May 18, 2004, ABC announced the 2004-2005 lineup, with Desperate Housewives on Sunday at 9:00-10:00 PM ET slot, which it held all through the run of the show. After only three episodes were broadcast, on October 20, 2004, ABC announced that Desperate Housewives, along with Lost, had been picked up for a full season. A couple weeks later after Desperate Housewives premiered, the owners of NBC called to see who had passed on the series due to its ratings success.

Desperate Housewives was produced by creator Marc Cherry (Cherry Productions), Austin Bagley and, since 2007, ABC Studios. From 2004 to 2007, Desperate Housewives was produced in association with Touchstone Television.

Production Crew
Marc, Tom Spezialy and Michael Edlestein served as executive producers for the first two seasons on the show. Tom, who also served as a staff writer, left his previous position as writer and executive producer for Dead Like Me to join the crew on Desperate Housewives. He also worked as writer and co-executive producer on several shows, among them Ed, Jack and Jill, and Parker Lewis Can't Lose, while Michael has been the executive producer of Threat Matrix and Hope &amp; Faith.

Second season conflicts arose among the executive producers. Subsequent to this, Michael left the show mid-season, and by the season's end, so did Tom. For the third year, Marc was joined by award-winning writer and producer Joe Keenan - of Frasier fame - and television movie producer George W. Perkins. who had been a crew member of Desperate Housewives since the show's conception. Although receiving praise for his work on the show, Joe chose to leave Desperate Housewives after one season to pursue other projects.

Replacing him as executive producer for the fourth season of the show was Bob Daily, who had joined the crew as a writer and co-executive during the third season. Bob's previous work include writing for the animated series Rugrats, as for Frasier. Also joining Marc, George and Bob for the fourth season were John Pardee and Joey Murphy, who had been with the series since the beginning. Both has also worked on Marc's previous show The Crew in 1995, as well as on the sitcom Cybill.

Filming
Desperate Housewives was filmed on Panavision 35 mm cameras (except for the final season, which was shot digitally on the Arri Alexa). It was broadcast in standard and 16:9 widescreen high definition, though it was framed for the 4:3 aspect ratio  until the final season.

The set for Wisteria Lane, consisting mainly of facades but also of some proper houses, was located on the Universal Studios Hollywood back lot. It was referred to by film crews as Colonial Street, and has been used for several motion pictures and television shows since the mid-1940s. Notable productions that were filmed her include: So Goes My Love, Leave it to Beaver, The 'Burbs, Providence, Deep Impact, Bedtime for Bonzo, The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, Gremlins, The Munsters, Psycho, and Buffy the Vampire Slayer. For the second season of Depserate Housewives, the street went through some heavy changes. Among the most noticeable of these changes was the removal of a church facade and a mansion in order to make room for Edie's house and a park.

interior sets were built on sound stages at universal Studios Hollywood, some of which were duplicated in some form on the Wisteria Lane back lot for filming when conditions required it.

Filming for the series ended on April 26, 2012.

Opening Seqeuence
The initial idea for the show opening sequence was Marc's. After asking sixteen companies to come up with suggestions for how best to realize it, the producers finally hired Hollywood-based yU+co to provide the final version. According to the yU+co's official website, the idea behind the sequence is, "to evoke the show's quirky spirit and playful flouting of women's traditional role in society." The images featured are taken from eight pieces fo art, portraying domesticity and male-female relations through the ages.

The music for the opening is composed by Danny Elfman, and has been awarded both a Primetime Emmy Award and the BMI TV Music Award. In 2005, it was included on the album Music from and inspired by Desperate Housewives. When an episode runs long, only the first sequence (the falling apple) is kept. From the episode "Now You Know" onwards, only the main chorus of the theme is heard, which is the falling apple scene, and the photgraph of the four lead actresses, crediting Marc Cherry as creator.

Music
In addition to the theme composed by Danny Elfman, the series underscore music, composed by Steve Jablonsky since the second episode of the first season, defines the overall sound of the show by creating a musical counterpoint to the writing style The score is electronic-based, but every scoring session incorporates a live string ensemble. Steve incorporates recurring themes for events and characters into the score. Hollywood Records produced the first soundtrack album, Music from and Inspired by Desperate Housewives distributed by Universal Records. Several of those songs have been used in subsequent seasons.

Housewive's unique style combined with the heavy dialogue and a quick-fire writing style limits the amount of popular music used within the series. The series' music supervisor, David Sibley, works closely with the producers to integrate these musical needs into the show. In addition to featured performances by central char0ters such as Susan Mayer sining along with Rose Royce's "Car Wash" and Lynette's rendition of "Boogie Shoes", several characters have been accomplished musicians, such as Betty Applewhite (a concert pianist) and Dylan Mayfair (a prodigy cellist).

Later Seasons
In August 2009, Marc Cherry said that Desperate Housewives would be on television for a few more years, stating that the series still "has a lot of life left in it." He told The Wrap:

"Steve McPherson (ABC Entertainment president) and I agree that we shouldn't keep the show going for more than a couple [of] years past my seven-year initial contract. We don't want it to just fade away. We've been in negotiations. I expect to sign my new deal soon to set up a future scenario for the show. Someone else will run the show after season seven and I will serve as executive producer from a distance."

- Marc Cherry

He went on to explain that he felt the program had been revitalized by the five-year leap forward for season five, saying:

"Yes, I think it worked well. It was a way to start fresh and let everyone start from scratch in a way."

- Marc Cherry

In October 2009, Marc signed a two-year deal with ABC that could keep Desperate Housewives on the air until 2013. The star of Desperate Housewives finalized new deals to make way for Season 8,  and signed at the price of $12 million.

Originally, Marc Cherry hinted that Desperate Housewives would end in 2013  and in April 2011, Eva Longoria confirmed that there would definitely be an eighth season and expressed hopes for a ninth. Desperate Housewives was officially renewed by ABC on May 17, 2011 for an eighth season.

Final Season
In August 2011, it was confirmed thaat Season 8 of Desperate Housewives would be the final season. Eva Longoria commented about the end of Desperate Housewives on her Twitter account:

"It's confirmed! We are filming our last season of Desperate Housewives! I am so grateful for what the show has given me! We always knew we wanted to end on top and I thank ABC for giving us our victory lap! And a special thanks to Marc Cherry who forever changed my life!"

- Eva Longoria

Marc Cherry, the show's creator, made a cameo as a mover in the last scene of the final episode.

Series Synopses
The first season premiered on October 3, 2004, and introduces the four central characters of the shoe: Susan Mayer, Lynette Scavo, Bree Van de Kamp and Gabrielle Solis, as well as their families and neighbors on Wisteria Lane. The main mystery of the season is the unexpected suicide of Mary Alice Young, and the involvement of her husband Paul Young (Mark Moses) and their son Zach Young (Cody Kasch) in the events leading up to it. Susan fights Edie Britt (Nicollette Sheridan) for the affection of new neighbor Mike Delfino (James Denton), Lynette struggles to cope with her demanding children, Bree fights to save her marriage to Rex Van de Kamp (Steven Culp), and Gabrielle tries to prevent her husband Carlos Solis (Ricardo Antonio Chavira) from discovering that she is having an affair with their gardener, John Rowland (Jesse Metcalfe).

The second season premiered on September 25, 2005 and its central mystery is that of new neighbor Betty Applewhite (Alfre Woodard). who moved onto Wisteria Lane in the middle of the night. Throughout the season, Bree tries to cope with being a widow, unknowingly begins dating the man who posioned her husband, fights alcoholism, and is unable to prevent the gap between her and her son Andrew Van de Kamp (Shawn Pyfrom) from growing to extremes. Susan's love life becomes even more complicated as her ex-husband Karl Mayer (Doug Savant) is engaged to Edie and is also started to incline towards Susan. Lynette goes back to her career in advertising while her husband Tom Scavo (Doug Savant) becomes a stay-at-home father, and Gabrielle decides to be faithful to Carlos, and begins preparations to have a child. Paul is framed and sent to jail not for the murder he committed in the previous season, but for a fake one.

The third season premiered on September 24, 2006. In the third season, Bree marries Orson Hodge (Kyle MacLachlan), whose past and involvement with a recently discovered dead body becomes the main mystery of the season. Meanwhile, Lynette has to adjust to the arrival of Tom's previously unknown daughter to the home. The Scavos also experience tension as Tom wants to start a pizzeria. Gabrielle goes through a rough divorce, but finally finds new love in Fairview's mayor. After being run over by Orson in "previous season finale, Mike falls into a coma and suffers from amnesia when he wakes up. Edies sees her chance to make her move on Mike, and her family relations are explored throughout the season. Susan loses hope that Mike's memory will return and in the process moves on to a handsome Englishman whose wife is aso in a coma, while her daughter Julie Mayer (Andrea Bowen) starts dating Edie's nephew. Elderly neighbor Karen McCluskey (Kathryn Joosten) hides something in her freezer. A shooting at the local grocery store leaves two characters dead and changes everyone's lives forever.

The fourth season premiered on September 30, 2007, and its main mystery involves around new neighbor Katherine Mayfair (Dana Delany) and her family, who return to Wisteria Lane after twelve years away. Lynette battles cancer. The newlywed - but unhappy - Gabrielle starts an affair with her ex-husband, Carlos. Susan and Mike enjoy life as a married couple and learn that they are expecting a child. Bree fakes a pregnancy and plans to raise her teenager daughter's illegitimate child as her own. Edie schemes to hold on to her new love, Carlos. A gay couple from Chicago - Lee McDermott (Kevin Rahm) and Bob Hunter (Tuc Watkins) - become residents of Wisteria Lane. A tornado threatens to destroy everything, and everyone, that the housewives hold dear. In the closing minute, the characters and their story have flashed forward by five years.

The fifth season premiered on September 28, 2008, with the time period jumping five years after the previous season, with some flashbacks to events which happened between the two periods. The season mystery revolves around Edie's new husband, Dave Williams (Neal McDonough), who is looking for revenge on someone on Wisteria Lane (later revealed to be Mike). Susan deals with being a single mother and having a new romance with her painter, while Mike starts dating Katherine. Lynette and Tom learn that their now teenage son is having an affair with a married woman whose husband's nightclub burns down with all of Wistera Lane's neigbors inside. Gabrielle struggles with Carlos's blindness, two young daughters, and a financial crisis. Bree and Orson have marriage problems becuse Bree has become to focused on her career as a successful cookbook writer and caterer. Edie dies of electrocution after a car crash, before she can expose Dave moments after she discovers her secret.

The sixth season premiered on Sunday, September 27, 2009 at 9 PM. The main mystery of this season is surrounding new neighbor Angie Bolen (Drea de Matteo) and her family. The first half of the season consists of Julie being strangled by an unknown person, the conflict between Gabrielle abd her niece Ana Solis (Maiara Walsh), Lynette's attempt to sue her new boss Carlos, Katherine's eventual breakdown at losing Mike to Susan, and Bree's affair with Karl, which ends tragically when Karl's hired plane crashes into a building with the two of them and Orson inside. The second half of the season focuses on Katherine experimenting with her sexuality, Lynette inviting the Fairview strangler to stay with them before discovering the truth, the conflict between Bree and a son of Rex whom he had before meeting Bree, the solving of the Bolen mystery and Susan and Mike's financial problems.

The seventh season premiered on September26, 2010  and its main mystery is Paul's return to Wisteria Lane with a new wife and with plans of punishing the residents for shunning him during his incarceration, while an old nemesis of his stills plans to get her own revenge on him. Lynette's best friend from college Renee Perry (Vanessa Williams) moves to the lane and stirs things up among the other housewives. Gabrielle and Carlos learn an upsetting fact about their daughter Juanita Solis (Madison De La Garza), which ultimately takes them back to Gabrielle's home town of Las Colinas. A now divorced Bree starts dating her contractor, and reveals the truth about the death of Carlos's mother, consequently ending the frendship between the Solis family and Bree. Due to financial problems, Susan and her family have moved off the lane, and Susan is forced to earn money by somewhat untraditional means. Following a major riot on the lane, Susan is put on the waiting list for a vitual organ donation. Lynette persuades Tom to take an exciting new job, which leads to unprecedented problems in their marriage.

The eighth and final season premiered on Sunday, September 25, 2011. The main mystery of the season is the death of Gabrielle's perverted stepfather Alejandro Perez (Tony Plana) at Carlos's hands, and its cover-up by the four housewives, which occured in the previous season finale. After the murder, Bree receives a blackmail letter from an unknown person similar to the one Mary Alice had received in the 1st season. Due to her relationship with detective Chuck Vance (Jonathan Cake), Bree becomes the main character affected by the cover-up of Alejandro's murder, and is eventually accused of killing Alejandro herself. A new neighbor, Ben Faulkner (Charles Mesure), moves into the lane, attracting Renee along the way. Ben is going through severe financial problems, and resorts to a dangerous and unruly loan shark to bail him out. Mike meddles in the business of Ben's loan shark in an attempt to protect Renee, but he pays the ultimate price. During the first half of the season, Susan struggles with the guilt of her involvement in the Alejandro case, and during the second half, she tries to deal with both Julie's unexpected pregnancy and Mike's death. Following the cover-up of Alejandro's murder, Carlos develops an alcohol problem, but Gabrielle persuades him to recover in rehab, which eventually results in Gabrielle and Carlos switching house roles. Tom moves out of the family home, and Lynette struggles to come to terms with how quickly Tom seems to have moved on, until she accepts that she is still in love with him, and decides she will try to win him back. Mrs. McCluskey receives worrying news about her health and decides to end it all, but Bree manages to convince her otherwise.

The two-hour series finae which aired on Sunday, May 13, 2012, featured the conclusion of Bree's court case. To bring the series to conclusion, there was a wedding, a birth, and a death, and the future of the four man housewives was revealed.

Main Cast
During its premiere season the show featured thirteen starring actors, all credited in the opening sequence. For the show's second year, several actors, mainly child and teenage ones, who had guest starred during the first season, were promoted to series regulars without having their names included in the opening sequence. Instead they were billed as "also starring" during the first minutes of each episode, together with episode guest stars. This practice continued for season three and four.

Premiere Year
The show was the biggest success of the 2004-05 television season, being well received by both critics and viewers. The pilot episode had 21.3 million viewers making it the best new drama of the year, the highest rated show of the week, and the best performance by a pilot for ABC, since Spin City in 1996.

Along with Lost and Grey's Anatomy, Desperate Housewives was credited to have turned around ABC's declining fortunes.