Set onWisteria Lane, a street in the fictional town of Fairview in the fictional Eagle State,Desperate Housewives follows the lives of a group of women as seen through the eyes of their friend and neighbor who commits suicide in the pilot episode. The series covers fifteen years of the women's lives, which includes a five-year timeline jump in the series' narrative. The women work through domestic struggles and family life, while being faced with the secrets, crimes, and mysteries hidden behind the doors of their on-the-surface—beautiful, and seemingly perfect, suburban neighborhood.
Desperate Housewives was well received by viewers and critics alike, receivingmany accolades. It won multiplePrimetime Emmy,Golden Globe andScreen Actors Guild Awards. From the2004–05 through the2008–09 television seasons, its first five seasons were rated amongst the top ten most-watched series.[2] And it remained in the top 10 for the key 18–49 demographic into its 6th season through the2009–10 television season. In 2007, it was reported to be the most popular show in its demographic worldwide, with an audience of approximately 120 million[3] and was also reported as the third-most-watched television series in a study of ratings in twenty countries.[4] In 2012, it remained 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.[5][6] Moreover, it was the third-highest revenue-earning series for 2010, with $2.74 million per half an hour.[7] The show was ranked at number fifty-six onEntertainment Weekly's "New TV Classics" list.[8]
In August 2011, it was confirmed that the eighth season ofDesperate Housewives would be the show's last; theseries finale aired on May 13, 2012.[9][10][11] By the end of the series, it had surpassedCharmed with the most episodes in an hour-long television series featuring all-female leads.
The Applewhite house, focus ofDesperate Housewives' season-long mystery from 2005 to 2006
Thesecond season premiered on September 25, 2005, and its central mystery is that of new neighborBetty Applewhite (Alfre Woodard), who moves onto Wisteria Lane with her son Matthew in the middle of the night from Chicago.[12] She keeps someone prisoner in her basement who tries to escape multiple times. Throughout the season, Bree tries to cope with being a widow; unknowingly begins dating the man who had poisoned her husband; fightsalcoholism, is unable to prevent the gap between her and her son Andrew from growing to extremes: and deals with her daughterDanielle's new romance withMatthew Applewhite. Susan's love life becomes even more complicated as she has serious conflicts with Mike, and her ex-husbandKarl Mayer (Richard Burgi) who is engaged to Edie, also starts to lean towards Susan. Lynette goes back to her career in advertising while her husbandTom Scavo (Doug Savant) becomes a stay-at-home father, and Gabrielle decides to be faithful to Carlos, who is now in prison after being double-crossed by a business partner, 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. Paul's son Zach reconnects with his wealthy maternal grandfather.
Thethird season premiered on September 24, 2006. In the third season, Bree marriesOrson 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 (Kayla) and her mother (Nora) to the family.[12] The Scavos also experience tension as Tom wants to start apizzeria. Gabrielle goes through a rough divorce, tries to get back into modelling, and finally finds new love in Fairview's new mayor, Victor Lang. After being run over by Orson in theprevious season finale, Mike falls into a coma and suffers from amnesia when he wakes up. Edie 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, Ian Hainsworth (Dougray Scott), whose wife is also in a coma. Meanwhile, her daughterJulie Mayer (Andrea Bowen) starts dating Edie's nephew, Austin McCann (Josh Henderson), of which Susan disapproves. Elderly neighborKaren 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.
Thefourth season premiered on September 30, 2007,[13] and its main mystery revolves around new neighborKatherine Mayfair (Dana Delany) and her family, who return to Wisteria Lane after 12 years away. Lynette battlescancer; 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 on behalf of her daughter (Danielle Van de Kamp)[12] and plans to raise her teenage daughter's illegitimate child as her own; and Edie schemes to hold on to her new love, Carlos, who has moved in with Mike as an interim arrangement. A gay couple from Chicago—Lee McDermott (Kevin Rahm) andBob Hunter (Tuc Watkins)—become residents of Wisteria Lane. Atornado threatens to destroy everything, and everyone, that the housewives hold dear. In the closing minutes, the characters and their story have flashed forward by five years.
The house of Katherine Mayfair on Wisteria Lane, as seen onDesperate Housewives from 2007 to 2010
Thefifth season premiered on September 28, 2008, with the time period jumping forward 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 because of a road accident Mike and Susan were involved in that killed Dave's wife and daughter). Susan and Mike are divorced due to the accident putting pressure on their marriage. Susan deals with being a single mother to son MJ Delfino,[12] and having a new romance with her painter, while Mike starts dating Katherine. Lynette and Tom learn that their now teenage son Porter is having an affair with a married woman whose husband's nightclub burns down with all of Wisteria Lane's neighbors inside. Gabrielle struggles with Carlos' blindness, triggered in an injury during the tornado in season 4; two overweight young daughters, Juanita and Celia;[12] and a financial crisis. Bree and Orson have marriage problems because Bree had pressured Orson into doing time in prison for running over Mike and he resents her. She has become too focused on her career as a successfulcookbook writer and caterer, and her daughter Danielle had come to claim back her son while Orson was in prison. Edie dies of electrocution after a car crash, before she can expose Dave's motives moments after she discovers his secret.
Thesixth season premiered on Sunday, September 27, 2009, at 9 pm.[14] The main mystery of this season is surrounding new neighborAngie 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 and her nieceAna Solis (Maiara Walsh); Karen McCluskey finding new love; Lynette's attempts to sue her new boss Carlos for firing her for getting pregnant; Katherine's eventual mental 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 him and Orson inside, killing Karl and leaving Orson paralyzed. The second half of the season focuses on Katherine experimenting with her sexuality; Lynette unknowingly 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 her; and the solving of the Bolen mystery.
Theseventh season premiered on September 26, 2010,[15] and its main mystery is Paul Young'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 still plans to get her own revenge on him. Lynette's best friend from collegeRenee Perry (Vanessa Williams) moves onto the lane and stirs things up among the other housewives. Gabrielle and Carlos learn an unsettling fact about their daughterJuanita Solis (Madison De La Garza) (who was switched at birth), which ultimately leads 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' mother Juanita at the hands of her son Andrew in the second season, consequently ending the friendship between Carlos and Bree.[12] Due to financial problems, Susan and her family have moved off the lane, and Susan is forced to earn money by doingpornography. Following a major riot on the lane, Susan is injured and put on the waiting list for a vitalorgan donation. Lynette persuades Tom to take an exciting new job, which leads to unprecedented problems in their marriage.
Theeighth and final season premiered on Sunday, September 25, 2011.[16] The main mystery of the season is the death of Gabrielle's perverted stepfatherAlejandro Perez (Tony Plana) at Carlos' hands, and its cover-up by the four housewives, which occurred in theprevious season finale. After the murder, Bree receives a blackmail letter from an unknown person similar to the one Mary Alice had received in the first season. Due to her relationship with detectiveChuck 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 onto 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 is eventually shot dead by the loan shark. 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 at the hands of Lynette's son Preston 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 finale, which aired on Sunday, May 13, 2012, featured the conclusion of Bree's court case. To bring the series to a conclusion, there was a wedding, a birth, and a death, and the future of the four main housewives was revealed.
During its premiere season, the show featured thirteen starring actors, all credited in theopening sequence. For the show's second year, several actors, mainlychild andteenage 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 the rest of the series.
^Metcalfe is credited as a guest star in all of his appearances during the second season with the exception of "Remember, Part 2" (2x24) where he is credited as a special guest star.
^abcdCredited as a special guest star in a recurring capacity.
^Joosten is credited as "starring" from "I Guess This Is Goodbye" (6x23) to "Come on Over for Dinner" (7x23). She is credited as "also starring" during the first 22 episodes of the sixth season.
^Mesure is credited as "starring" from "Who Can Say What's True?" (8x11) onwards. He is credited as "also starring" in the first 10 episodes of the eighth season.
The idea for the series was conceived asMarc Cherry and his mother were watching a news report onAndrea Yates.[17] Prior toDesperate Housewives, Cherry was best known for producing and writing episodes ofTouchstone Television's hit comedy seriesThe Golden Girls and its successor,The Golden Palace. In addition, he had created or co-created three sitcoms:The 5 Mrs. Buchanans,The Crew, andSome of My Best Friends, none of which lasted longer than a year. Cherry had difficulty getting anytelevision network interested in his new series;HBO,CBS,NBC,Fox,Showtime, andLifetime all turned the show down.[18] Finally, two new executives atABC,Lloyd Braun andSusan Lyne, chose to greenlight it,[19] reportedly afterThe O.C. on Fox premiered in 2003 and showed that a soap opera could succeed in prime time.[20]Marc Cherry stated: "In April 2002, I was absolutely 'desperate.' I was broke, couldn't even land an interview for a screenplay, and was seriously worried about my future. I had just turned forty and was starting to wonder if I wasn't one of those poor deluded souls wandering around Hollywood convinced they were talented screenwriters when all evidence pointed to the contrary. But since I have a considerable amount of self-esteem [...], I started writing the first draft ofDesperate Housewives, convinced it could turn my life around. Guys, if I hadn't seen it right!".Shortly thereafter, Disney had both Braun and Lyne fired, following their approval of another new drama series:Lost.[21]
The ABC executives were not initially satisfied with the name of the new show, suggestingWisteria Lane andThe Secret Lives of Housewives, instead.[22][23] However, on October 23, 2003,Desperate Housewives was announced by ABC, presented as a primetime soap opera created byCharles Pratt Jr., ofMelrose Place fame, and Marc Cherry, who declared the new show to be a mix ofKnots Landing andAmerican Beauty (1999) with a little bit ofTwin Peaks.[24] While Cherry continued his work on the show, Pratt was credited as executive producer for the pilot episode only, remaining linked to the show as a consulting producer during the first two seasons.
On May 18, 2004, ABC announced the 2004–2005 lineup, withDesperate Housewives in the Sunday at 9:00–10:00 p.m. ET slot,[25] which it held all through the run of the show. After only three episodes, on October 20, 2004, ABC announced thatDesperate Housewives, along withLost, had been picked up for a full season.[26] A couple of weeks later afterHousewives 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.[27]
Second season conflicts arose among the executive producers. Subsequently, Edelstein left the show mid-season, and by the season's end, so did Spezialy.[28] For the third year, Cherry was joined by award-winning writer and producerJoe Keenan—ofFrasier fame—andtelevision movie producerGeorge W. Perkins, who had been a crew member ofDesperate Housewives since the show's conception. Although receiving praise for his work on the show, Keenan chose to leaveDesperate Housewives after one season to pursue other projects.[29] Replacing him as executive producer for season 4 wasBob Daily, who had joined the crew as a writer and co-executive producer during season 3. Daily's previous work include writing for theanimated seriesRugrats, and forFrasier. Also joining Cherry, Perkins, and Daily for season 4 wereJohn Pardee andJoey Murphy, who had been with the series since the beginning.[30] Both had also worked on Cherry's previous show,The Crew, in 1995, as well as on the sitcomCybill.
In the first four seasons,Larry Shaw and David Grossman have been the most prolific directors, together directing more than half of the episodes.
Interior sets were built on sound stages atUniversal Studios Hollywood, some of which were duplicated in some form on the Wisteria Lane back lot for filming when conditions required it.[36]
The initial idea for the show's opening sequence was Cherry's. After asking 16 companies to come up with suggestions for how best to realize it, the producers finally hiredHollywood-based yU+co to provide the final version.[37] 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."[38] The images featured are taken from eight pieces of art, portraying domesticity and male–female relations through the ages.[39]
In addition to the theme composed by Danny Elfman, the first two episodes scored by Elfman's formerOingo Boingo bandmateSteve Bartek, and the third episode scored by ex-PoliceStewart Copeland, the series underscore music, composed bySteve Jablonsky since the fourth 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 everyscoring session incorporates a live string ensemble. Jablonsky incorporates recurring themes for events and characters into the score.[42]Hollywood Records produced the first soundtrack album,Music from and Inspired by Desperate Housewives (2005), distributed byUniversal Music Group. Several of those songs have been used in subsequent seasons.
Desperate Housewives' unique style combined with the heavy dialogue and a quick-fire writing style limits the amount ofpopular 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 characters such as Susan Mayer singing along withRose Royce's "Car Wash" and Lynette's rendition of "Boogie Shoes", several characters have been accomplished musicians, such as Betty Applewhite (a concertpianist) and Dylan Mayfair (aprodigycellist).
In August 2009, Marc Cherry said thatDesperate Housewives would be on television for a few more years, stating that the series still "has a lot of life left in it." He toldThe 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.
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".[43]
In October 2009, Cherry signed a two-year deal with ABC that could keepDesperate Housewives on the air until 2013.[44]The stars ofDesperate Housewives finalized new deals to make way for the eighth season and signed at the price of $12 million.[45][46][47]
Cherry hinted thatDesperate Housewives would end in 2013,[48] and in April 2011, Eva Longoria confirmed that there would definitely be an eighth season and expressed hopes for a ninth.[49]Desperate Housewives was officially renewed by ABC on May 17, 2011, for aneighth season.[9]
In August 2011, it was confirmed that the eighth season ofDesperate Housewives would be the final season.[10][11] Eva Longoria tweeted about the end ofDesperate Housewives:
It's confirmed! We are filming our last season ofDesperate 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![50]
Cherry, the show's creator, made a cameo as a mover in the last scene of the final episode.
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 for the year, the highest-rated show of the week, and the best performance by a pilot forABC, sinceSpin City in 1996.[103]
Along withLost andGrey's Anatomy,Desperate Housewives was credited to have turned around ABC's declining fortunes.[104] Many critics agreed with Cherry's initial comparison to the popularblack comedy filmAmerican Beauty,[105] while its themes and appeal to female viewers were compared to those of the award-winning seriesSex and the City,[106] and its mysteries were said to resemble those ofDavid Lynch's classic seriesTwin Peaks.[107] In its first review,USA Today proclaimed the show to be "refreshingly original, bracingly adult and thoroughly delightful" and naming it to be "sort ofKnots Landing meetsThe Golden Girls by way ofTwin Peaks".[108]
Following the initial success of the show, the term "desperate housewives" became a cultural phenomenon. This warranted "real-life desperate housewives" features in TV shows, includingThe Dr. Phil Show,[109] and in magazines.[110][111] Among the more prominent names to declare themselves fans of the show wereOprah Winfrey,[112] who also dedicated an episode ofThe Oprah Winfrey Show to her visit at the film set; and the formerFirst Lady of the United States,Laura Bush, who, in a comedic speech during a dinner withWhite House Correspondents' Association on April 30, 2005, stated, "Ladies and gentlemen, I am a desperate housewife", referring to the show.[113] The series ended up being the fourth-most-watched in the United States during the 2004–2005 season, with 23.7 million viewers each week.[114][115] The first-season finale was watched by 30.62 million American viewers becoming the most watched episode of the series.[116]
For its second year, the show still maintained its ratings—with 22.2 million viewers, it reclaimed its position as the number four most-watched series.[117][118] The second season's premiere was watched by 28.4 million viewers.[119] The episode drew in the second largest audience for the series in its history. However, several critics started to notice a declining quality of the show's script,[120][121] andUSA Today's Robert Bianco suggested that the part of the series getting "less good" was that showrunner Cherry had left much of the series writing in the hands of others.[122] Midway through the season executive producer Michael Edenstein left the show due to conflicts with Cherry and in May 2006, just a couple of weeks prior to the second-season finale, so did Tom Spezialy.[28] After the end of the season, Cherry agreed that the second year's script had been weaker and also agreed that it had been a mistake to let go of too much of the show. He now stated that he was back full-time, claiming that both he and the writing staff had learned from their mistakes.[123][124][125]
The critics generally agreed on the improved quality for the third year,[126][127][128] but the overall ratings fell notably from previous seasons. Due to complications from her pregnancy, Marcia Cross was put on bed rest. After filming one episode from her own personal bedroom she was forced to take maternity leave with eight episodes of season three still remaining. It was predicted that the ratings would be down by over 25% since the premiere year.[129] However, for the last three episodes of the season, the rating turned somewhat, and the season ended up with 17.5 million viewers, falling from number four to number ten on the list of most watched shows.[130] While Cross' departure allowed for the much-underused Edie to have more story, fans noticed a decline in the stories during Cross' departure. Stories such as Lynette's emotional affair with restaurant manager Rick proved unpopular. Furthermore, Susan's contrived triangle with Ian and Mike seemed tiresome to many viewers, particularly in an episode where Susan is lost in the woods trying to find Mike. Notable, however, was that the show's rating among viewers age 18–24 increased from the previous season.[131]
For its fourth season, the series proved to have staying power.[132] The series averaged 18.2 million viewers. Ratings rose in the ninth episode "Something's Coming", where 20.6 million viewers tuned in to see the heavily marketed tornado episode. The show once again moved back into the top five highest-rated programs in the 2007–2008 season, being the number-one ABC drama and beating popular medical dramaGrey's Anatomy after falling behind it for the first time in the third season. It also became for the first time the number-one scripted series, beatingCSI: Crime Scene Investigation.
Although ratings were down for the fifth season, along with every scripted series on television,Desperate Housewives was still the most-watched scripted series on ABC, consistently beating the other ABC flagship shows,Lost andGrey's Anatomy, although the latter is still number one in the 18–49 demographic, followed byDesperate Housewives.
Similar to the fifth season, ratings were down for the sixth season because of heavy competition in many airings, but the show still managed to remain the second most watched scripted show on ABC and the eleventh most watched scripted show of all broadcast television. The series continued to hit lower ratings, because of competition like the67th Golden Globe Awards,52nd Annual Grammy Awards,2010 Winter Olympics, and the newCBSreality television seriesUndercover Boss. Nevertheless, the sixth season managed to finish in the top twenty overall, both in total viewers and 18–49 demographic audiences. Among scripted shows, it still ranked in the top ten, in both categories.[133][134][135][136][137]
The seventh season premiered on September 26, 2010, and averaged 11.85 million viewers. The season saw new lows for the series reaching for the first time below 10 million viewers, and saw lows of 2.7 in the 18–49 demographic. For the first half of the season, ratings started strong averaging 12.3 million viewers and 3.9 in the 18–49 demographic which is similar to the second half of the sixth season. However, ratings declined in the second half of the season, after two contiguous episodes had to compete against the68th Golden Globe Awards and then the53rd Annual Grammy Awards. The show failed to recover to viewer levels hit in the first half of the season, and continued to receive 9–10 million viewers and 2.7–3.1 in the 18–49 demographic. This was the first time in its history thatDesperate Housewives would not place in the twenty most watched shows of the season, although it would place in the twenty most-watched scripted shows.
The eighth season continued to see declines in the series' ratings. The season premiered to 9.93 million viewers and a 3.2 in the demo making it the least-watched season premiere in the series' history. The season began with ratings similar to those of the latter half of season 7, averaging 8–9 million viewers, and between a 2.8 to 3.0 in the 18–49 demographic. However, after the mid-season finale the ratings returned lower, hitting the seven million viewer mark and a 2.2–2.5 in the demo. The season also saw the lowest ratings in the show's eight-year run. Opposite the54th Annual Grammy Awards, which featured a tribute to the then-recently deceased entertainerWhitney Houston, and the mid-season premiere ofThe Walking Dead onAMC, the show fell to a 1.8 rating in adults 18–49 and 6.4 million viewers.[138] However unlike the seventh season, the show's ratings slightly recovered after the series low and leveled around the eight million viewer mark and a 2.6 in the demo. Despite the series lows, the season finale was able to go out on a season high in the ratings and the highest rated episode in over a year and a half, since March 2011 with "Searching". The series finale titled "Finishing the Hat" aired May 13, 2012, was viewed by 11.12 million viewers and a 3.2 in the demo.[139] Despite the lows in the ratings the show managed to remain in the top twenty-five-watched shows in the 18–49 demographic, placing at number twenty-five. However, the show dropped out of the top thirty most-watched shows in total viewers, coming in at thirty-fifth place.[140]
In 2006, the American cable networkBravo launched theirreality series,The Real Housewives of..., in the footsteps of the "real life desperate housewives" phenomenon.[141] That program has taken place in areas such asOrange County (California),Atlanta, and two series within the New York-Tri-State Region, within the City itself and theNew Jersey suburbs. According to a survey of twenty countries conducted in 2006 byInforma Telecoms and Media,Desperate Housewives was the third-most-watched television series in the world, after fellow American seriesCSI: Miami andLost.[142] During a fundraising auction for the British child charityChildLine in December 2006, a walk-on part inDesperate Housewives had the highest bid, £17,000, beatingDaniel Craig'sJames Bond tuxedo fromCasino Royale.[143][144]
In its first public release of online individual television program rankings,Nielsen Media Research announced that the series had 723,000 unique online viewers in December 2008.[145]Desperate Housewives was the seventh-most-pirated television show of 2009.[146]
In fall 2013, North Korea allegedly executed eighty people for watching banned South Korean soap operas,Desperate Housewives being the most common soap opera.Desperate Housewives was being secretly watched usingmp3 players,hard drives, andDVDs.[147]
In September 2015,Desperate Housewives ranked at number one hundred onThe Hollywood Reporter's "Hollywood's 100 Favorite TV Shows", as determined by television industry professionals.[148]
In 2006, the show continued to receive several nominations. It was awarded with yet another Golden Globe Award for Best Series – Musical or Comedy at the63rd Golden Globe Awards, and all the four leading women received Golden Globe Award nominations, although none of them won. The cast ensemble was awarded with another Screen Actors Guild Award, as was Felicity Huffman. Primetime Emmy Award nominations at the58th Primetime Emmy Awards included, among others, guest actressShirley Knight and supporting actressAlfre Woodard, although none of them resulted in a win. It was nominated for the Pioneer Award at theBAFTA awards but lost toDoctor Who, which at the time was recently revamped.
The show did continue to be nominated in 2007—Felicity Huffman was granted a Primetime Emmy Award nomination for the second time, and guest actressesLaurie Metcalf andDixie Carter also received Primetime Emmy Award nominations, at the59th Primetime Emmy Awards. The show, along with actresses Marcia Cross and Felicity Huffman, received Golden Globe Award nominations at64th Golden Globe Awards, and Huffman and the cast ensemble were also nominated for the Screen Actors Guild Awards. None of the Primetime Emmy Award, Golden Globe Award, or Screen Actors Guild Award nominations resulted in any actual awards.
2008 yielded the least nominations with none at the65th Golden Globe Awards and only the cast being nominated at the Screen Actors Guild Awards. The show was nominated for four Primetime Emmy Awards at the60th Primetime Emmy Awards, including acting nods towardsPolly Bergen andKathryn Joosten for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series. Joosten won the show's seventh Primetime Emmy Award and first since its debut year.
From 2006 to 2012, it was syndicated onLifetime in the United States. While the series no longer airs in the United States anymore, it still airs reruns internationally on channels such as Star World in the Middle East and Sky One, Sky Comedy, and Universal TV in Germany.
There have only beenDVD releases of the series. OnPrime Video andHulu, the series is available for streaming[150] in 1080pHD; otherwise for offline viewing, all episodes of the show can be purchased from Prime Video,Google Play orVudu.[151] It is also available onDisney+ in countries that have theStar brand. There has been noBlu-ray release as of 2025.
The Complete Collection has an extended version of the series finale, bringing the total number of episodes with extended versions to seven.[152]
Buena Vista Games released thelife simulationcomputervideo gameDesperate Housewives: The Game on October 5, 2006, in North America, featuring an original story line spanning 12 episodes.[182] The game is set on Wisteria Lane, but the player does not play as any of the housewives, although they frequently appear. A couple of months later,Gameloft released amobile game based on the series.[183] "The inspiration for Gameloft's take onDesperate Housewives comes from the most unlikely place, too—the originalMario Party on theNintendo 64."[184]
In 2007, British company Re:creation publishedDesperate Housewives Dirty Laundry Game, aboard game based on the third season ofDesperate Housewives.[185] Players attempt to guess their opponents' secrets by answeringtrivia questions, while keeping clues to their own secrets concealed.
Two books have been officially released within theDesperate Housewives franchise. In September 2005, ABC's sister companyHyperion Books releasedDesperate Housewives: Behind Closed Doors (ISBN978-1-4013-0826-1), a companion to the first season of the series, written by the production team behind the series.[187] One year later, in October 2006, Hyperion publishedThe Desperate Housewives Cookbook – Juicy Dishes and Saucy Bits (ISBN978-1-4013-0277-1).[188] In addition, officialwall calendars, featuring shots taken from the series, were published byAndrews McMeel Publishing for 2006, 2007 and 2008.[189]
Four unauthorized books written from different points of view were released in 2006.Delicious Housewives, A Novel of Erotica, by author Tamarias Tyree (ISBN978-0-930865-79-5), from RSVP Press, is aneroticparody of the series featuring the housewives' sexual misadventures which eventually lead them to an appearance on theJerry Springer Show.
Reading 'Desperate Housewives': Beyond the White Picket Fence (ISBN978-1-84511-220-2), fromI.B. Tauris, is an academic look at the show byfilm studies lecturers Janet McCabe and Kim Akass.[190]Welcome to Wisteria Lane: On America's Favorite Desperate Housewives (ISBN978-1-932100-79-2), published byBenBella Books, consists of seventeen essays written from afeminist perspective.[191] In Chalice Press'Not-So-Desperate: Fantasy, Fact and Faith on Wisteria Lane (ISBN0-8272-2513-X), author Shawnthea Monroe gives aChristian interpretation of the series.[192] Also, following the "real life desperate housewives" phenomenon, several books have been released dealing with life strategies for contemporary women.
In conjunction with season six, Marc Cherry was commissioned to write eight "mini-episodes" entitledAnother Desperate Housewife. The episodes were written after the previous season's extensive product placement proved unpopular with the fans. The mini-episodes were written to advertise mobile phone company Sprint and involve just three characters.[203] The two main characters are Stephanie (played byRebecca Staab) and Lance (played byDavid Chisum) who have moved into the former house of Edie Britt after her death. The third character, Elsa, was Stephanie's friend. It is eventually revealed that Lance and Elsa have been having an affair. Stephanie finds out and tells Lance to break it off. Elsa suggests killing Stephanie, but Lance gets a text message indicating he's seeing another woman and a furious Elsa shoots him. In truth, Stephanie had sent the message herself. The final mini-episode has Elsa being arrested and Stephanie attracted to a handsome policeman at the scene. Each episode ends with a Mary Alice-like narration saying things such as "This is suspicion on the Now Network" or "This is betrayal on the Now Network."[204]
For the sixth season of the series, ABC created "AskDesperate Housewives" to promote their website. It was presented and sponsored bySprint, and it was hosted by series creator, Marc Cherry. In each special, Marc Cherry and an actress/actor of the series would answer questions that fans submitted to abc.go.com.
In April 2025, it was reported that a new television series titledWisteria Lane was in development atOnyx Collective. The project is described as a darkly comedic mystery-drama in the vein ofDesperate Housewives, set on the same fictional street. The series is being written byNatalie Chaidez (The Flight Attendant) and executive produced byKerry Washington through her production companySimpson Street, along withPilar Savone andStacey Sher. While the series will not feature the original cast members or characters, it is considered a spiritual successor toDesperate Housewives, focusing on a new group of five women navigating secrets and scandal behind the façade of suburban perfection.
OriginalDesperate Housewives creatorMarc Cherry is not directly involved but is aware of the project and may participate in some capacity. The project marks the first official attempt to expand theDesperate Housewives franchise since the show concluded in 2012.[205]
On February 26, 2006,The Walt Disney Company announced that four South American versions of the show were about to begin production: one for Argentina, one for Colombia, one for Ecuador and one for Brazil.[206] Later on, the Colombian and Ecuadorean productions merged, leaving threeLatin American shows. The Argentine version, titledAmas de Casa Desesperadas, began being broadcast in 2006. The first year proved successful enough for a second season to begin production.[207] The first season of the version for Colombia (RCN TV) and Ecuador (Teleamazonas), also titledAmas de Casa Desesperadas, began being broadcast in Ecuador in May 2007, and was broadcast five days a week.[208] In addition,Donas de Casa Desesperadas began being broadcast onRedeTV! in 2008.[209] The Turkish version titledUmutsuz Ev Kadınları aired onKanal D in Turkey from 2011 until 2013 and onFOX Turkey from 2013 until 2014.[210] In fall 2013, theDisney Media Distribution and the Nigerian television network EbonyLife TV announced that they were producing an African version ofDesperate Housewives. The series, titledDesperate Housewives Africa, was scheduled to premiere in summer 2014 on EbonyLife TV. However, it aired its only season during 2015.[211]
^Feld, Rob; Oppenheimer, Jean; Stasukevich, Ian (March 2008)."Tantalizing Television".American Cinematographer.89 (3). Archived fromthe original on September 21, 2013. RetrievedSeptember 20, 2013.
^ab"Colonial Street – History".The Studio Tour. Universal Studios Hollywood.Archived from the original on September 27, 2007. RetrievedOctober 26, 2013.
^"Colonial Street – Church".The Studio Tour. Universal Studios Hollywood.Archived from the original on October 29, 2013. RetrievedOctober 26, 2013.
