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Basic Settings
The show takes place on the fictional street of Wisteria Lane in the American suburban town of Fairview, located in the fictional Eagle State. It follows the lives of four women, seen through the eyes of their dead neighbor - as they work through domestic struggles while several mysteries unfold in the background.
It stars Teri Hatcher, Felicity Huffman, Marcia Cross, Nicollette Sheridan, and Eva Longoria. Since the pilot episode, Brenda Strong has narrated the show in all episodes except for "My Husband, the Pig".
Origins
Cherry initially had pitched the series to HBO, CBS, NBC, Fox, Showtime, and Lifetime. ABC was the only network to accept Cherry's offer, although they initially weren't satisfied with the name, suggesting titles like Wisteria Lane and The Secret Lives of Housewives instead.
Before Touchstone offered Desperate Housewives to ABC, in the original pilot, Mary Alice Young was played by Sheryl Lee; John (the gardener for Carlos and Gabrielle Solis) by Kyle Searles; and Rex Van De Kamp by Michael Reilly Burke. Lee was replaced by Brenda Strong; both had played regular roles as dead people before, Strong on Everwood and Lee on Twin Peaks. Strong also guest starred in two Twin Peaks episodes during their second season. Also, in the original pilot, when the camera is pulling away from the housewives after they found the note, there is a ghost of Mary Alice standing on her lawn looking at them.
Opening credits
The show's opening credits contain references to famous pieces of art, which portray domesticity through the ages. The first image shown references Adam and Eve and a painting by Lucas Cranach the Elder A snake passes an apple to Eve before another larger apple falls on Adam with the words 'Desperate Housewives' written on it. Then the tomb paintings of Queen Nefertari in Egypt who was the Great Royal Wife of Ramesses the Great, an animation of Queen Neferatari is seen standing within her tomb surrounded (possibly) by the other wifes of the Pharaoh.The Arnolfini Portrait by Jan van Eyck painted in 1434 is seen and shows Giovanni Arnolfini eating a banana and throwing the skin on the floor, then his pregnant wife sweeps it into the corner of the room. The painting American Gothic by Grant Wood from 1930 shows the farmer smiling when he is touched on the chin by a pin up, before his now grumpy daughter appears on a tin of canned sardines. The can of sardines appears on a kitchen work surfance when the 1940s poster Am I Proud! is shown, it depicts a woman holding cans and jars including Andy Warhol's Campbell's soup can. The soup can then falls into the hand of a man in the artwork by Robert Dale, the two comic book like characters in Couple Arguing and Romantic Couple. The woman in this animation, has a tear run down her eye, before punching her husband in the face giving him a black eye. Then as that folds away, the tree from the first piece of artwork of Adam and Eve appears with a snake wrapped around a branch, before the four main characters Bree, Lynette, Susan and Gabriel appear under the tree, and they each catch an apple falling from the tree.
The show's theme is composed by Danny Elfman.
Plot
Season 1 (2004-2005)
Season one began airing on October 3, 2004 and featured a total of 23 episodes . The show opens with the mysterious suicide of housewife Mary Alice Young on a beautiful day in the suburbs, on a street called Wisteria Lane. Mary Alice, who narrates the show from the afterlife, had four friends: Bree Van De Kamp, the seemingly-perfect mother (of two teenagers) struggling to save her marriage; Lynette Scavo, the mother of four whose husband is always away on business; Susan Mayer, the divorced mother in search of love, who finds love in the form of her new neighbour Mike Delfino, who has a secret of his own; and Gabrielle Solis, the materialistic ex-runway model who cheats on her husband. While trying to be good wives and mothers, the four friends also try to find out why their friend committed suicide. The discovery of a blackmail note among Mary Alice's belongings, a therapy session tape in which she admits her real name was Angela, and her widowed husband's strange behaviour really make them wonder about the mystery surrounding their deceased friend.
Season 2 (2005-2006)
Season two began airing September 25, 2005 and featured a total of 23 episodes (including a two-hour season finale) and two clip shows. After discovering Mary Alice's dark secret, the housewives continue to move on with their lives. Bree, whose husband just died, is not coping well with being a widow, and is unknowingly dating the man who poisoned her husband to be with her. Susan, still searching for love after breaking up with Mike, ends up in bed with her ex-husband who is now dating the neighborhood hussy, Edie Britt. Lynette goes back to her career in advertising, as her husband Tom becomes a stay-at-home dad. And now-pregnant Gabrielle decides to be faithful to her husband Carlos who is now in jail; just as she starts accepting her upcoming motherhood, she suffers a miscarriage. While managing their busy lives, the women cannot help noticing something suspicious about the new neighbours: Betty (played by Alfre Woodard) and Matthew Applewhite, who moved in in the middle of the night, and are keeping a prisoner in their basement.
Season 3 (2006-2007)
Season three began airing September 24, 2006 and featured a total of 23 episodes and one clip show. It has been six months since Orson Hodge ran Mike over with his car. Bree, who has finally put Rex's death behind her, marries Orson. At their engagement party, a mysterious woman accused him of killing his wife, and as the season progresses, his horrific past is revealed. Lynette, meanwhile, has to adjust to having another child around the house when Tom's ex is killed and they have to take her daughter in. The Scavos also leave their careers to open a pizzeria. Gabrielle divorces Carlos after finding out he cheated on her with their former maid and surrogate mother and finally finds a new love in politician Victor Lang. Edie sees her chance when Mike is shown to suffer from amnesia, and Susan moves onto handsome Englishman Ian Hainsworth. Finally, Edie's son Travers McLain pays a visit, as well as her nephew Austin, who starts a relationship with both Julie and Danielle.
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