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12 Startling Behind-the-Scenes Secrets You Didn’t Know About ‘Desperate Housewives’

Can you guess which character was most inspired by creator Marc Cherry's mother?

The ABC nighttime soap, Desperate Housewives, wowed and scandalized audiences from 2004 and 2012, earning accolades from Primetime Emmy awards to Golden Globes. Though it followed in the long-running primetime series footsteps of Dallas from the 80s and Melrose Place from the 90s, the facts are that Desperate Housewives carved out it’s own special niche in the hearts of millions of fans in 180 episodes with its relatable characters and devil-next-door drama.

The premise of Desperate Housewives

The show starred Teri Hatcher as Susan Mayer, Felicity Huffman as Lynette Scavo, Marcia Cross as Bree Van de Kamp, and Eva Longoria as Gabrielle Solis and Nicollette Sheridan as Edie Britt, and begins with the suicide of Mary Alice Young (Brenda Strong), who acted as a narrator that revealed characters’ true nature to the audience. Each episode took us through various conflicts in the women’s day-to-day, from domestic drudgery to crimes and affairs.

And for most of these actresses, their time on Desperate Housewives was the role of a lifetime. Marcia Cross spoke with Digital Spy prior to the show’s end in 2012, saying, “During the show I got married, I had twins and I took care of my husband at one point when he was sick. I went from thinking I was giving up my acting career to working on a hugely successful show. I’ve been working so hard for the past eight years and I’m tired – but I’m also deliciously tired because what a wonderful life I’ve lived.”

Will Desperate Housewives ever get a reboot?

While many fans have anxiously awaited a reboot, as far as we know, the show’s creator, Marc Cherry, feels satisfied with the way things ended. “He feels like he’s fully explored those characters,” Eva Longoria told Good Day New York in 2022. “He really was like, kind of a ‘Why now?,’ like ‘Why now, what would they be doing?'”

Terri Hatcher reiterated the sentiment in an interview with E! News in 2023, saying “I don’t think there’ll be a reboot.” She continued, “I think it’s been a long time. We had amazing fans and I know everyone on that show is really grateful for the journey.”

Well, we still have hope that we’ll all return to Wisteria Lane, but in the meantime here are a few dramatic Desperate Housewives behind-the-scenes facts you may not have known!


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