Why Did Desperate Housewives Fade Away?

It originally started as a mystery and then devolved into a soap opera. There were a lot more DH shows than SATC, plus SATC tackled new ground and could explore R topics because it was cable.

Let's not forget - all the Real Housewives shows evolved from DH. There's enough of that in reality TV now.

HOUSEWIVES started strong but it grew tired and often ridiculous before it finally ended. I was a loyal viewer until the end but I don't have a fond nostalgia for it the same way I might for SATC (which really captured a place and moment in time, for all its faults). DH seemed to exist in a purely fictional universe of its own, and none of the characters was particularly endearing or memorable. By the finale, I just didn't care.

I can't imagine taking time to revisit it years later.

Sex & the City was about living your best life.

Desperate Housewives was about ... well, trying to make suburban living look sordid.

PS: is there anyone less interesting than an American housewife, when it comes down to it?

Season 1 was a masterpiece. It was like a novel had come alive on our screens. The subsequent seasons couldn’t quite hold up and the women became ridiculous and hard to root for. The time jump helped breathe some new life into the show but it came too late. I watched to the end but only out of habit.

After the first couple of seasons the plot lines became more like a cartoon than real life. It really turned into shit.

Sex and the City is promoted eternally by the indefatigable SJP.

Season One was the crème de la crème of 2004 television. Season 1 was magnificent- the death of Mary Alice, the murder of Martha Huber, "who is Dana?", affairs, raising kids, emotionally distant husbands, etc. All of season one and the first episode of season 2 (it wraps up season one) are a novel, like R5 said. I have watched season one probably four times.

Season 2 had a good mystery, but it did not have the same magic. Alfre Woodward keeping her son locked in the basement was good.

Season 3 brought it Kyle MacLachlan, Dixie Carter, and Laurie Metcalfe. The mystery behind Bree's new husband, his family, who ran over Mike, and the grocery store shooting was ingenious.

Season 4, however, is where you could tell they were suffering. Dana Delaney is the new neighbor who is now a main housewife?!

They jumped the shark with the time jump. Season 5 was a mess, it lost it's magic and luster.

Just watch season 1 and the first episode of season 2 and consider it a mini series. You will be better off.

I agree with the above posters that Season 1 was magnificent. It's what hooked so many people on the show. Season 2 was a big letdown. One of the main reasons for that was because of the tension on the set. Teri Hatcher didn't get along with the other women, so they separated Teri's character Susan way too much from the other housewives in order to make working conditions better. The camaraderie of the women in the first season was what lifted the show.

Also, I don't think the show was planned out beyond Season 1. As R8 observes, watching the first season and episode one of the second could be viewed as a miniseries. That's what had been planned. Marc Cherry freaked out when it became a hit and he had no plan for Season 2, and boy did it show.

Still, the show improved in Season 3. However, it never reached the heights of the first season ever again. I watched up through Season 6 and some of Season 7 then gave up after a few episodes. I've never seen Season 8.

That show stunk (stank?). It did stink. It sucked. I watched it and I tried to like it, but there was nothing likable about it.

It became a shitshow right after season two, an unsalvagesble shitshow.

A new neighbour has moved in to Wisteria Lane? And they have a secret? OMG how original?

And there's a new male character who is objectified and made to be shirtless most of the time?

What fun!

R12 - exactly my point - the latter seasons are cut from a daytime soap opera template.

Tell me about it, r4.

I recently rewatched from start to finish on Hulu. It took me about 6 weeks. Thoroughly enjoyed every minute of it, except when Tom. ‘S ex girlfriend and daughter showed up.

Another great show ruined by Hollywood egos. I fucking hate when that happens.

One of the side effects of a long, lingering run for a series (and decline in quality): I have no burning need to see the lead actresses in anything, anytime soon. Perhaps ever again.

8 seasons is a pretty good run.

I hated the lame “alcoholism” and insta-lesbianism.

Being a huge Teri Hatcher fan, I was hooked from the jump. Season 1 was perfect, but the show lost its footing/sophomore slump in season 2, & it never went back to its former glory. The rest of the seasons were hit & miss, overall I think the show was too precious for most. I felt like it appealed to more conservative tastes, despite the campiness. I had an evangelical friend who was in her 60s, who had to get permission from hubby to watch tv shows, & he wholeheartedly approved of DH & was a huge fan himself (though he forbade her from revealing this to anyone, which of course she did).

As many have pointed season 1 was excellent and it should have ended after it. It became stupid drama with cheap jokes. No good storylines after the first season.

I believe Terri Hatcher is a republican.

I’ve only seen this show through the memes that have been going around. I can’t imagine what the series would be like to watch in its entirety. Can it give you brain damage?

Agree with those saying season 1 was a masterpiece, so much effort clearly went into all aspects and the acting was terrific.

Season 2 blew it's load too soon, making control freak Bree an alcoholic and sending the only actual desperate housewife Lynette back to work. The mystery was deadly dull mainly because it involved new characters with no connection to the lane.

Season 3 went back to the style of the first season with a mystery (Bree's new husband Orson) threatening the safety of the women. Due to Marcia's this was brought too quickly to a banal ending and the season languished for a few more episodes doing little.

Some episodes of season 8 were unwatchable. It at least tried to have a sharp ending.

Another reason, imo, that the quality faded is that became less of an ensemble show and more of a show about 5 different women who sometimes interacted. Obviously real life feuds and egos came into play, but Susan moving away from Wisteria Lane and not having much contact with the other three was dreadful. It happens a lot with shows that start out with a big group in season one that everyone loves and then that group splits up in subsequent seasons. The Walking Dead suffered from that, and Stranger Things has as well. In season one all the women had their own side stories but there was one major plot that brought them together and made it a cohesive plot.

R25 they tried to bring them closer together in season 3 after the separation in s2

They killed Rex off too soon IMHO. But I liked Bree's storyline about her battle with alcoholism and her two spoiled kids. Growing up, my parents (who were pretty affluent) divorced. It was just my mom and me. We have a relationship like Andrew and Bree in some ways.

Season 1 is about as perfect a season of television as you'll ever find. 2 was a little less thrilling, but 3 was pretty great and even 4 had its moments. 5 is when it really fell apart when they killed off Edie and 6 was totally unwatchable. 7 brings in Vanessa Williams as Edie 2.0 and she brought a lot of life back into the show. I've yet to watch the final season. I've heard it's terrible.

That first season, though...wow! At the time, it was huge and it's hard to even explain just how big it was. Everyone was watching it.

I'm surprised Eva Longoria's career hasn't gone as far as I thought it would. She had terrific comic timing. I've been rewatching it on Hulu and she keeps impressing me the most. She makes a selfish character like Gabby really likable and relatable. Not many could do that.

I agree Eva was terrific. Killing Rex at the end of season 1 was shocking and made for a great finale but really left Bree adrift in season 2 until they brought in Orson.

R30 Yeah, but Bree falling apart is great. I remember that scene when Lynette put all the wine bottles on Bree's driveway to show just how much she was drinking. That scene sticks with me.

I hated Gabby's "switched baby" plot. Who'd Eva piss off that season?

This show is the epitome of the phrase jumping the shark (well, I guess besides Happy Days from which the term derives). The last season is one of the most embarrassingly bad series of episodes in network TV drama history. Just horrendous what they cooked up for Teri Hatcher and Felicity Huffman’s characters, especially.

Bree's suicide attempt in s8 and Vanessa Williams rescuing her is brilliant acting.

One of the best episodes "Bang" was in s3. Supermarket siege.

Jesse Metcalfe's boobs started to sag.

[quote]Being a huge Teri Hatcher fan, I was hooked from the jump.

I'm sorry: I don't think I understood one word of this. Can some native English speaker translate what this poster actually meant to say?

I thought the guy who played Lynettes husband Tom was hot as fuck.

R37 yeah Doug Savant, who played gay Matt on Melrose Place in the 90s opposite Marcia Cross as crazy Dr. Kimberly Shaw on Melrose

How do you not know that?

You're gonna have your gay card revoked

I loved when Bree left Andrew at the side of the road in season 2. I loved sociopath Andrew, but then I liked the way he grew out of it and became a tolerable and even rather good soon son to his mother.

Rewatching season 2 during the COVID lockdown made me realize it wasn't that bad at all. It just couldn't compete with the greatness of season 1. Season 3 came close to recapturing that magic, but the big twist was revealed so early because Marcia Cross was pregnant and couldn't film for the full duration of the season, which left the last few episodes a little directionless and without much suspense or intrigue.

4 was the one that really aged better than I'd imagined. I was on the fence about it at the time, but it was much stronger this time around and Dana Delaney was great as Bree's bitchy nemesis with a secret and that evil child of Tom's was great.

5 and 6 were total garbage and can hardly remember a thing about them except that they killed Edie, which ended up being a huge mistake.

Teri Hatcher does have excellent tits

Re: Nicollette Sheridan and Marc Cherry, the gay Republican who created DH:

[quote]On April 5, 2010, former Desperate Housewives cast member Nicollette Sheridan filed a $20 million lawsuit against Cherry and ABC, alleging that he had assaulted her on set and wrongfully terminated her contract. Sheridan also alleged in her lawsuit that Cherry was abusive to other actors and writers on the show. ABC said in a statement that they had investigated similar claims made by Sheridan and found them to be of no merit. The stars of Desperate Housewives (Teri Hatcher, Felicity Huffman, Marcia Cross and Eva Longoria) pledged their support to Cherry in his battle against assault allegations made by Sheridan. At the end of 2010, Sheridan removed abuse claims from the suit. The case finally went to trial in February 2012. On March 13, 2012, the judge dismissed the battery charge against Cherry due to lack of evidence, and Cherry was no longer a defendant in the lawsuit which then focused solely on Sheridan's alleged wrongful termination by ABC.[19] Closing arguments were heard in the case on March 14, 2012 and the jury began their deliberations. By March 19, 2012, the twelve members of the jury had failed to reach a verdict and a mistrial was declared. A retrial was scheduled to begin on September 10, 2012, but on August 16, 2012, the Los Angeles Court of Appeal determined that Sheridan had not been wrongfully fired and dismissed the retrial. A further appeal made by Sheridan to the California Supreme Court was rejected on November 16, 2012.

Why was the last season so horrible? I didn’t watch it but remember it was about Gabbys rapist pedo dad who was killed by Carlos and the housewives covered it up. But it seem here it is without a doubt the worst season?

I loved season one but like Twin Peaks, once the initial mystery was over, nobody cared. The show did go on and it had a talented cast, but Teri being a huge cunt, the rest of them trying to cope with her cuntiness and their own issues, started to show.

r42 were so over it. Even fans begged for it to die.

Sorry, r43, viewers were so over it.

I watched every episode from first to last. I recently watched some episodes on Prime and was surprised how good the first season was. The second and third seasons sucked balls. Killing off Edie Britt was a terrible idea. The last three seasons are virtually unwatchable.

I always felt DH benefitted from being on SATC's old timeslot, Sundays at 9 pm

The first season was great.

I was at a press event when it was announced that the show was done. All the women were there. Marcia, Eva, and Felicity all had a variation of the same story about them all calling each other when they got the news. Something like Eva saying: "Oh, Marcia called me and then after we hung up I called Felicity..."

This went on with all three of them. At no time did anyone say they were either called by Teri nor did they call her.

I almost pushed and asked about Teri, but...I focused on celebrating the show, not giving space to someone who likely wasn't a team player.

This premiered with Lost and both were huge hits with great first seasons and then spiraled out of control.

I found Mary Alice's narration increasingly hard to take -- she delivered every line as if it were So Wicked and Naughty, with a cat-that-ate-the-cream quality of self-satisfaction. The wink-wink-nudge-nudge music that saturated every episode was unbearably pleased with itself too. Feh.

ITA R49

"And that is why, even though, the ladies of Wisteria Lane thought that they had everything they wanted in life they soon discovered that HAVING everything you think you have isn't want you thought you had after all..."

WHA?

Susan kept flashing the neighbours and they complained

This show is proof that homosexuality is gender dysphoria. Marc Cherry can only write heterosexual women remotely believably because that’s what she is.

Wrong r52. That’s not who he is thats who he wishes he was.

So many gay men have an obsession with rich white women. They’re so pathetic they actually think like Incels, and think women have easy fantastical lives whose probs can all be solved by showing pussy. Most of theses gay guys become trans. They all truly believe every woman is out there living some type of diva fantasy.

A gay TV writer once told me that (for a gay man) it's easier to write sassy women characters and get away with it (aka getting it on the air) than writing sassy gay men. I mean, just look at the success of Golden Girls or Sex & The City.

Gay men have always written for big, loud, sassy women. Mae West recognized the unique gifts of gay men (having been mentored by one) and collaborated with and even wrote about gay men in theatre before becoming a film star.

It's not exclusive, though. People forget that besides Michael Patrick Kennedy, most of the writers for SATC were, in fact, straight girls (particularly towards the end) and one token straight male (who created the "he's just not that into you" episode).

So, what was the real issue with Hatcher? Was she upset that she was billed as the star of the show and then it became more of an ensemble, because even from the first season, that seemed obvious. It wasn't the Susan show. She got just as much airtime as everyone else, so it's not like she didn't know what she'd signed on for.

And I wonder why Sheryl Lee was let go as Mary Alice after filming the pilot. Was her narration voice not as good as Brenda Strong's?

R56 No one's voice is as good as Brenda Strong's.

[post redacted because linking to dailymail.co.uk clearly indicates that the poster is either a troll or an idiot (probably both, honestly.) Our advice is that you just ignore this poster but whatever you do, don't click on any link to this putrid rag.]

Teri Hatcher may be a bitch in real life but I always got a kick out of her performances.

R56 I think Hatcher is a loner who didn't mix. Even though it was an ensemble, when it debuted Hatcher was billed more as the star as she had been the most famous and this was billed as her comeback.

R60 But Teri Hatcher had not really had a hit since 1997. This was 2004. She did Tango & Cash, Lois & Clark, Tomorrow Never Dies (as the first Bond girl), and then nothing. Then she was cast as a divorced middle-aged woman.

Wasn't Mary Louise Parker the first choice for Susan? She ended up doing Weeds a few years later which had similar vibes, but was probably a better fit for her.

I guess I didn't notice before, but no Edie in the final scene.

The score of this show was always amazing too.

I hated Dana Delaney's character and storylines and laughed out loud when she became a dyke.

Pierce Brosnan said Teri was difficult when they made that Bond movie. She sounds like a Borderline case.

Kathryn Joosten said before she died that none of the women interacted with each other onset, that between takes they were playing on their phones and Eva had three. She also slammed Nicollete Sheridan, saying she made the "assault" thing up, was always late to the set, and didn't know her lines.

[quote]Let's not forget - all the Real Housewives shows evolved from DH.

Um, no. "The O.C." – a show about affluent SoCal families, with a dual focus on both the kids & parents – isn't even that well remembered, but it spurred the creation of two exceptionally influential reality shows. The first was MTV's "Laguna Beach" – which, importantly, was subtitled "The REAL Orange County." That was in 2004. Then Bravo greenlit RHOC, which premiered 18 months later using the combined popularity of "The O.C." and "Laguna Beach."

The latter, of course, later produced "The Hills," but their combined "shot with a professional production values, not shaky-cam crap" and "literal pre-scripted 'reality' TV with season-long 'storylines' crafted by stars & producers" were then brazenly repurposed for "Keeping Up With The Kardashians." Miss Seacrest really should be paying Fox royalties!

Wow, this many posts and no mention of the Andrew-coming-out storyline? I realize it seems tame by modern standards – considering half the new shows premiering on TV seem like they have LGBTQ leads of some sort – but showing a high school boy making out in his pool with the hottie neighbor (Ryan Carnes) circa 2005 (well before marriage equality was the law of the land) was legitimately groundbreaking for network TV at the time. And let's not forget the reason Bree kicked Andrew out: he seduced her sex-addict fiancé just for spite! (and despite him being straight, assuming the "sex addicts will fuck anything with a hole" ethos which may or may not be accurate)

OP, it faded away for the usual reason: the writers ran out of interesting storylines, viewers got bored, and ratings plummeted as a result. Considering TV shows invariably become more expensive to produce, not less – and this particular show had four lead actresses each making north of $400K per episode by the final season – this was basically a given. And I'm sorry, but DH never had the same type of cultural influence as SATC (which did after all spawn two movies – still *extremely* unusual for a TV show), so I wouldn't expect a reboot anytime soon. Disney still owns ABC, of course, and unlike NBC/Peacock they're focusing more on their film brands (especially Marvel & Lucasfilm) for content versus old TV series.

I did, however, watch every episode. (Not sure why I stick with TV shows to the bitter end, but I do even after they devolve into shitfests, as DH definitely did.) And I still remember DataLounge ending up with a mention in EW after the infamous "ABC Insider" posted extremely detailed – but, as we later found out, entirely fake – info stating Marcia would be coming out soon, but also including how the show would also be handling Andrew's coming-out. Literally nothing stated about the show's storylines was accurate, and Marcia of course went on "The View" to deny the lesbian allegations.

The Andrew storyline was great. I love how he went from being a terrible little demon to a sweet little cutie by the end.

[quote] Pierce Brosnan said Teri was difficult when they made that Bond movie.

from IMDB's trivia page for Tomorrow Never Dies

[quote] Pierce Brosnan and Teri Hatcher feuded briefly during filming, due to her arriving late onto the set one day. The matter was quickly resolved, though, and Brosnan apologized after realizing she was pregnant, and was late for that reason.

I wonder how many times Jesse Metcalfe showed Marc Cherry his hole.

I always tried to figure out the net worth each family had.

Carlos and Gaby were the richest, probably about $10 to $20 Million total.

Rex and Bree were a solid $5M in investments and probably like $10M total net worth. Bree definitely was in regular contact with their stockbroker.

Lynnette and Tom probably had about $100,000 net worth. Kids are expensive as hell.

Susan probably had some money when married to Karl but the divorce split it. Karl definitely had money hidden. Susan ended up doing okay though with the book thing.

I felt Bree had the most money, after Rex's death she was able to live in that big house, pay bills, host plenty of parties, drink A LOT and have her own life without even showing any worry about getting a job or running out of funds and I always felt when she started her own business it was more to keep herself busy, than about having to earn money.

Their money situation varied depending on the storyline.

Carlos had embezzled millions he could not declare in their divorce (the documents for this got destroyed during the tornado). Even when poor after he went blind they never had to sell their house, just Gabi's couture.

Susan was apparently so broke she had to remarry Karl to get health insurance. Then a couple of episodes later when Edie burned her house down and invalidated her home insurance, Susan was apparently such a hotshot kids book ILLUSTRATOR that all she needed to do was take on more work to rebuild her house.

Apparently Lynette and Tom had a NYC penthouse after leaving the lane. In the beginning they were often struggling. And Tom almost ruined them with the pizza parlour.

Katherine became rich with her frozen food business.

Bree said in season 2 that dead Rex was such a good Doctor he left her enough money to sue "the sorry asses" of the police who dared accuse HER of poisoning Rex. She also had that hugely successful catering business and her book deal.

Eva Longoria was really the breakout star when this premiered.

Eva's movies weren't really that successful during DH. Huffman definitely had the most critical success

Eva got the most commercial deals, though, which were worth a lot of money, including a lucrative contract with L'Oreal. From what I read, that REALLY pissed off Teri Hatcher.

When Eva turned up as a side character in the Overboard remake, I couldn't help but think how much more entertaining it would have been had she played the Goldie Hawn character. She really is incredibly funny and I hate to see that talent going to waste.

Marcia should really have won the Emmy for season 1, Felicity didn't come into her own til later.

Felicity should have then won when she was nominated for season 3 "Bang" - her best episode.

The show only started to go sour in season 4. The awkwardness of Lynnette's cancer treatments and hairloss being an excuse for dress-up role play sex was....um....tasteless? As was the bizarre "in what world would this be necessary" plot of Bree faking being pregnant to cover up her daughter's pregancy. Come on. They were acting like it was such a Scandal! but it was only an excuse for more drama and dress-up.

It was also super weird because everyone knew Marcia Cross had just spent the entirety of Season 3 pregnant in real life. She had to hide her belly behind pots and purses for most of the season. But then, when she comes back to her normal size....they whip up this fake baby bump BS storyline? Weird.

The writing got desperate and it showed...but there were still bright spots. Katherine Mayfair was a good addition (until the "lesbianism") and it was fun seeing the Scavo boys all grown up (more or less). I liked Susan with the painter dude, and Bree's catering business with Andrew was cool....

....but crippling Orson was stupid, killing off Edie was lame, Vanessa Williams never fit in, and the plane crash/tornado/terrorist bomb threats were laughable.

People hated the last season because it made no sense for Carlos to kill Gabby's geriatric stepfather when he could have just thrown him out of the house or called 911. It wasn't plausible for him to try to rape her as an adult either. He did it when she was a teen...because he had power over her. I don't think pedos come back once someone gets old enough to stand up for themselves. And then the Ladies covered it up and hid the body...only for Susan to paint a picture of the cover-up for her art class. *eye roll*

DUMB.

It's all about writing. The first season or so was adapted from a carefully plotted story Marc Cherry refined for years. After it blew up, Cherry hired other writers, gave them the major plot points, and started working on selling another show Switch/Kill. He had no financial incentive to maintain the good writing on Housewives.

I think season 8 had the same problem as season 2, Marc Cherry handled most of the day to day show running roles to other people on those seasons, both strange seasons to do it. Normally a showrunner lasts 4 or 5 seasons before getting bored and taking off and then returns to their old role for the final season, but he pretty much left right after the extremely successful first season and then couldn't be bothered with the final one.

[quote]Their money situation varied depending on the storyline.

Yep, and to add a few things here: Susan & Mike had the most money problems – this was one of the reasons they broke up, IIRC during the five-year jump between seasons 4 & 5 – and Carlos's blindness combined with the real-life Great Recession during the fifth season was covered at length in terms of reining in all of their previously lavish expenses (e.g. Aston Martins and the like). I definitely remember a haves-and-have-nots vibe when Bree's cooking business started doing really well, including her showing up one day in a top-of-the-line Lexus sedan while one of the other housewives (maybe Lynette?) had just been forced to downsize to a shitty used minivan or something. Renee OTOH was always depicted as affluent, and renovated Edie's old place to a significant degree.

R73, I think you may have forgotten that Susan not only had to leave Wisteria Lane entirely (and rented out her house while living out of a scuzzy apartment), she also signed up to do some online sex work! (She also inherited a tittie bar from her ex, Karl, IIRC, after he crash-landed into the Lane. She basically segued from being a Carrie to a Samantha!) I can't remember exactly how Tom & Lynette ended up living in a NYC penthouse, but I know both of them had comebacks in their careers near the end – after Lynette had a bunch of tumult working for Carlos earlier on.

[Quote] Um, no. "The O.C." – a show about affluent SoCal families, with a dual focus on both the kids & parents – isn't even that well remembered

Isn't well remembered? Are you sure about that??

[Quote] The latter, of course, later produced "The Hills," but their combined "shot with a professional production values, not shaky-cam crap" and "literal pre-scripted 'reality' TV with season-long 'storylines' crafted by stars & producers" were then brazenly repurposed for "Keeping Up With The Kardashians."

There may not have been any shaky cam. But the editing was atrocious.

Eventually everything about the show started feeling like Ruth Madoff at a Home Goods store. The best days were over.

R83 it wasn't a sex show, just doing the cleaning in her underwear. It led to he being fired from being a teacher's assistant. Then she got fired from the online cleaning gig as she lost many viewers when she bent Iver to hoover and accidentally farted!

There's a few reasons.

The noirish dark comedy bits were harder to sustain after the Mary Alice mystery was revealed.

The intense media attention killed cast unity at the end of season one, so it kinda splintered off into about three different shows.

But I think the two biggest factors were things that have been issues at other serialized shows.

One is that when a show gets into a space where it keeps feeding on promotional hype, then that starts to dictate story. Think Dynasty's wedding massacre. Once you've shot everyone in the fucking room, what do you do for an encore? Shoot them AND set them on fire? Scandal had this problem after a while - they went so far over the top that there was no more top to go over.

The other thing is that Marc Cherry did a lot of short term things and some of those ended quite suddenly, with no real impact on the story or characters, After a while, if you are just throwing distractions at the screen and the audience sees that the last four times you did this nothing really changed? Then they no longer get invested or give a shit.

I'd forgotten that Shawn Pyfrom and Lee Tergesen's characters had a fling. Damn, that was hot.

One thing I hate anymore is tv shows only having one good year in them. DH and Revenge are good examples.

I think these days there are a lot more mini-series on air than while Desperate Housewives was still on. I don't know if that has something to do with the rise of digital streaming, or a general shift in taste of entertainment.

Shawn Pyfrom was so cute. He always seemed like he'd be a fun fuck.

At least Desperate Housewives has the benefit of always being available on streaming. I remember it being one of the first shows Netflix ever offered when they first started up their streaming option. The O.C. has been M.I.A. for years until it was posted to Hulu for a few months a year or two ago and taken down abruptly.

Funny scene from Season One.

I always wondered why Edie's nephew Austin disappeared...Bree was raising his child FFS! There was story potential there...did the actor piss off someone?

R93 Wasn't he supposedly fucking the actress that played Edie?

Now listen here, R94. I won’t have been having any such talk about my beloved grandson. He may have sowed some wild oats in his time, but never would he be wrapped up with women of her kind in that advanced stage of life. Ya hear?

I watched is for Doug Savant hot body and most importantly, his fat ass.

I hated Lynette and Tom's relationship, they brought out the worst in each other.

R94 so he was fucking Nicolette and Marc? 🤢

Wha...? Who said he fucked Marc?

R98 and 99 That was Jesse Metcalfe

Seasons 1-4 were really good, and 5-8 were terrible.

R98 Maybe that's the real reason behind the court case, found out they were both sharing the same dick and got mad at each other.

R99 it was mentioned on another DH thread here. Both Josh and Jesse fucked Marc for a role.

And then Josh and Jesse both starred on the Dallas reboot a few years later. They were both hot to death on the show... I wonder if they ever fooled around? Plus there’s Juan Pablo Di Pace who joined in the second season and is equally gorgeous and out/gay. Hmm.

I loved that two different male characters were described as being hung.

Tom, and Zach Young.

R105 There was a hint that Mike was hung as well, I guess that's who Zach inherited it from.

Mr Solis had a big Mexican pinga

Mei was Chinese, anything over 4 inches would've been bigger than what she was normally used to.

Since this thread, I have been rewatching. I'm a halfway into Season 5 now. Season 1 was a novel. I think others nailed it on the head- the Mary Alice suicide mystery allowed for the girls to be together; their home lives were the subplots. Season 2 had so much potential with Alfre Woodward. Bree's drinking was the best part of the season.

S3 was just as good as S1 until Bree left. Orson is a great character and Kyle McLachlan is phenomenal (I noticed Andrew did not try to push him around like he did George Williams). S3 also brought in great guest stars- Dougray Scott, Dixie Carter, John Slattery, Mike Farrell, and, of course, Laurie Metcalf, who stole the show. She should have been in more episodes. At least she won the Emmy.

S4 was better than I remembered. Dana Delany and Gary Cole are good as bitter exes. The best line in that season was old lady Ida's "We gotta show those gays we mean business!"

The show could have ended with the five year jump, even with the Susan-Mike cliffhanger. I say stop there.

Season 5 is so-so right now. I don't remember the later seasons as much, but Edie's new husband is creepy as hell.

Regardless, Brenda Strong's narration is worth the watch.

Also- Susan from S1 is NOT Susan from S5. Idk what changed, but she is not the same. S5 she is more slutty and impulsive, not dorky and clumsy.

Susan looked great in season 1, especially in that dress she wore when Mike stood her up. Bree was quite severe in season 1 but started to look prettier later on when her hairstyle became less prissy. She looked terrific in later seasons.

Season 5 and 6 are almost completely unwatchable. It got back on track during season 7 with some good storylines and Vanessa Williams was a great substitute for Edie, but they didn't know what to do with her during season 8 and gave her that boring Aussie guy as a love interest. The series finale wasn't awful at least. I'll give them that.

God the guy playing Carlos (Gaby's husband) was soo hot. I think I had sexual awakening when I first saw him.

Teri Hatcher won a Golden Globe for season one?!

I guess I’m in the minority, I miss DH… they did have a few seasons that was not up to par, but overall great show

Teri Hatcher faded away

I got all the way to Season 7 Episode 2. I couldn't anymore.

PLEASE watch all the way to season four and then STOP! Trust me!

R116 but she'll always be Lois Lane.

She will indeed. A terrific Lois.

Season 1, 2 and the first part of 3, and 4 are novels.

Laurie Metcalf as Carolyn Bigsby in season 3 was amazing.

When this show was good, it was fantastic. I've rewatched just season 1 several times since it's been on the air. Always entertaining and everyone worked great as an ensemble. It never felt like anyone was being showcased more than someone else and everyone had a chance to shine.

R122 I think the rankings are 1, 3, 4, 2, 5, 8, 6, and 7.

In hindsight, Desperate Housewives looks like a great 21st-century cable or streaming series that, unfortunately, was on a network and suffered for it. If it had had 10 or 12 episodes per season and more freedom with what was permitted in content, it might have been better. At 22 hours per season, it always felt padded.

I liked the cast, the concept, and the arch, gossipy tone with the narration. I watched season 1 avidly, began to lose interest during season 2 (I love Alfre Woodard, but that plot was a mess), and then stopped at some point in season 3.

Season 3 had a great story and five great additions- Kyle McLachlan, John Slattery, Dixie Carter, Mike Farrell, and Laurie Metcalf.

R124, it is weird to think that that entire first season would probably be three seasons of a streaming show these days. A lot of network shows would have probably done better on streaming and not run out of ideas as quickly if they'd only had 8 or 10 episodes a year.

R126 Or they would cut some subplots out.

Maybe not even actual subplots, just repetition, wheel-spinning, and filler.