Desperate Housewives
Desperate Housewives is an American mystery comedy-drama television series created by Marc Cherry, and produced by ABC Studios and Cherry Productions. It aired for eight seasons on ABC from October 3, 2004, until May 13, 2012, for a total of 180 episodes. Executive producer Marc Cherry 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.
Set on Wisteria 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.
The series features 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. The supporting cast included Nicollette Sheridan as Edie Britt, Dana Delany as Katherine Mayfair, and Vanessa Williams as Renee Perry. Brenda Strong narrates the series as the late Mary Alice Young, appearing sporadically in flashbacks or dream sequences.
Desperate Housewives was well received by viewers and critics alike, receiving many accolades. It won multiple Primetime Emmy, Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild Awards. From the 2004–05 through the 2008–09 television seasons, its first five seasons were rated amongst the top ten most-watched series. And it remained in the top 10 for the key 18–49 demographic into its 6th season through the 2009–10 television season. In 2007, it was reported to be the most popular show in its demographic worldwide, with an audience of approximately 120 million and was also reported as the third-most-watched television series in a study of ratings in twenty countries. 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. Moreover, it was the third-highest revenue-earning series for 2010, with $2.74 million per half an hour. The show was ranked at number fifty-six on Entertainment Weekly "New TV Classics" list.
In August 2011, it was confirmed that the eighth season of Desperate Housewives would be the show's last; the series finale aired on May 13, 2012. By the end of the series, it had surpassed Charmed with the most episodes in an hour-long television series featuring all-female leads.
Premise
The first season premiered on October 3, 2004, and introduces the four central characters of the show: 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 and their son Zach in the events leading up to it. Susan fights promiscuous neighbour Edie Britt for the affection of new neighbor Mike Delfino ; Lynette struggles to cope with her four demanding children; Bree fights to save her marriage to Rex Van de Kamp while dealing with her rebellious son Andrew Van de Kamp ; and Gabrielle tries to prevent her husband Carlos Solis from discovering that she is having an affair with their underage gardener, John Rowland. The first season is also marked by mystery surrounding the murder of a neighbor and some secrets revealed about Zach, Mike, and Paul. At the end of the season both Paul and Zach go missing.The second season premiered on September 25, 2005, and its central mystery is that of new neighbor Betty Applewhite, who moves onto Wisteria Lane with her son Matthew in the middle of the night from Chicago. 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; fights alcoholism, is unable to prevent the gap between her and her son Andrew from growing to extremes: and deals with her daughter Danielle's new romance with Matthew Applewhite. Susan's love life becomes even more complicated as she has serious conflicts with Mike, and her ex-husband Karl Mayer who is engaged to Edie, also starts to lean towards Susan. Lynette goes back to her career in advertising while her husband Tom Scavo 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.
The third season premiered on September 24, 2006. In the third season, Bree marries Orson Hodge, 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 and her mother to the family. The Scavos also experience tension as Tom wants to start a pizzeria. 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 the previous 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, whose wife is also in a coma. Meanwhile, her daughter Julie Mayer starts dating Edie's nephew, Austin McCann, of which Susan disapproves. Elderly neighbor Karen McCluskey 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 revolves around new neighbor Katherine Mayfair and her family, who return to Wisteria Lane after 12 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 on behalf of her daughter 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 and Bob Hunter —become residents of Wisteria Lane. A tornado 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 fifth 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, who is looking for revenge on someone on Wisteria Lane. 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, 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; 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 successful cookbook 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.
The sixth season premiered on Sunday, September 27, 2009, at 9 pm. The main mystery of this season is surrounding new neighbor Angie Bolen and her family. The first half of the season consists of Julie being strangled by an unknown person; the conflict between Gabrielle and her niece Ana Solis ; 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.
The seventh season premiered on September 26, 2010, 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 college Renee Perry moves onto the lane and stirs things up among the other housewives. Gabrielle and Carlos learn an unsettling fact about their daughter Juanita Solis , 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. Due to financial problems, Susan and her family have moved off the lane, and Susan is forced to earn money by doing pornography. Following a major riot on the lane, Susan is injured and put on the waiting list for a vital 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 at Carlos' hands, and its cover-up by the four housewives, which occurred 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 first season. Due to her relationship with detective Chuck Vance, 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, 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.