The first season of ''

Desperate Housewives ''Desperate Housewives'' is an American comedy-drama soap opera television series created by Marc Cherry and produced by ABC Studios and Marc Cherry, Cherry Productions. It aired for eight seasons on American Broadcasting Company, ABC from Octobe ...

'', an American television series created by

Marc Cherry Marc Cherry (born March 23, 1962) is an American television writer and producer. He is best known for creating the ABC dramedy series ''Desperate Housewives''. Personal life Early life Marc Cherry was born in Long Beach and lived briefly in ...

, commenced airing in the United States on October 3, 2004, concluded May 22, 2005, and consisted of 23 episodes. It tells the story of

Mary Alice Young Mary Alice Young (previously Angela Forrest) is a fictional character from the ABC television series '' Desperate Housewives''. The character was created by television producer and screenwriter Marc Cherry and is portrayed by Brenda Strong, who ...

, a seemingly perfect housewife who commits suicide, fearing that a dark secret, involving her, her husband, and their son would be exposed. At her wake, Mary Alice's four close friends and the main characters,

Susan Mayer Susan Delfino is a fictional character played by Teri Hatcher on the ABC television series '' Desperate Housewives''. The character was created by television producer and screenwriter Marc Cherry. She first appeared in the pilot episode of the ...

Lynette Scavo Lynette Scavo is a fictional character on the series ''Desperate Housewives''. The character is played by actress Felicity Huffman, who won the Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series for the role in 2005, and was nominated for ...

Bree Van de Kamp Bree Van de Kamp is a fictional character on the ABC television series ''Desperate Housewives''. She is played by actress Marcia Cross, who has received multiple awards and nominations for her portrayal, including an Emmy Award nomination, thr ...

and

Gabrielle Solis Gabrielle "Gaby" Solis () is a fictional character portrayed by Eva Longoria on the ABC television series ''Desperate Housewives''. Longoria was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Television Series Musical or Comedy for her ...

, are introduced. All of them live in the suburb of Fairview on

Wisteria Lane Wisteria Lane is the name of a fictional street at the center of U.S. television drama series ''Desperate Housewives''. ''Desperate Housewives'' storylines primarily center on the residents of the street. The set for Wisteria Lane is located insid ...

. Narrating the series from the grave, Mary Alice describes how her friends try to find out the reason for her suicide, while trying to deal with the problems of their personal lives. ''

first season aired in the United States (U.S.) on Sundays at 9:00 pm ET on

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

, a

terrestrial Terrestrial refers to things related to land or the planet Earth. Terrestrial may also refer to: * Terrestrial animal, an animal that lives on land opposed to living in water, or sometimes an animal that lives on or near the ground, as opposed to ...

television network A television network or television broadcaster is a telecommunications network for distribution of television program content, where a central operation provides programming to many television stations or multichannel video programming distributo ...

. In addition to the 23 regular episodes, a special, Sorting Out the Dirty Laundry, aired on April 24, 2005. The season garnered an average of 23.7 million viewers in the U.S. per all 23 episodes, ranking as the fourth most-watched television series during the 2004–05 American television season. In the United Kingdom, the season premiered on

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned enterprise, state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a four ...

on January 5, 2005, and subsequently aired Wednesdays at 10 pm on the network. It aired in Canada on

CTV Television Network The CTV Television Network, commonly known as CTV, is a Canadian English-language terrestrial television network. Launched in 1961 and acquired by BCE Inc. in 2000, CTV is Canada's largest privately owned television network and is now a divis ...

and in Australia on the

Seven Network The Seven Network (commonly known as Channel Seven or simply Seven) is a major Australian commercial free-to-air Television broadcasting in Australia, television network. It is owned by Seven West Media, Seven West Media Limited, and is one of ...

. The season was released on DVD as a six-disc box set under the title of ''Desperate Housewives – The Complete First Season'' on September 20, 2005 by

Buena Vista Home Entertainment Buena ( ) is a borough in Atlantic County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the borough's population was 4,603,Region 1, in Region 2 on October 10, 2005, and in Region 4 on November 28, 2005. The season is also available for purchase by registered users on the U.S.

iTunes Store The iTunes Store is a digital media store operated by Apple Inc. It opened on April 28, 2003, as a result of Steve Jobs' push to open a digital marketplace for music. As of April 2020, iTunes offered 60 million songs, 2.2 million apps, 25,00 ...

Production

Marc Cherry wrote the script for the ''Housewives''

pilot An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its directional flight controls. Some other aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are also considered aviators, because they a ...

and his agent appealed it to six networks, (

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an Television in the United States, American English-language Commercial broadcasting, commercial television network, broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Enterta ...

Fox Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush''). Twelve sp ...

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American premium television network, which is the flagship property of namesake parent subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is ba ...

Showtime Showtime or Show Time may refer to: Film * ''Showtime'' (film), a 2002 American action/comedy film * ''Showtime'' (video), a 1995 live concert video by Blur Television Networks and channels * Showtime Networks, a division of Paramount Global w ...

and Lifetime) only to have all of them turn it down. Later, after his previous agent was arrested for

embezzlement Embezzlement is a crime that consists of withholding assets for the purpose of conversion of such assets, by one or more persons to whom the assets were entrusted, either to be held or to be used for specific purposes. Embezzlement is a type ...

, he hired a team of new agents, who saw the script "as a soap opera with dark comedy in it". After Cherry edited parts of the pilot script and pitched it to

, network executives were impressed, causing ABC to order 13 episodes. Filming for the season started around March 2004 at the

Universal Studios Hollywood Universal Studios Hollywood is a film studio and theme park An amusement park is a park that features various attractions, such as rides and games, as well as other events for entertainment purposes. A theme park is a type of amusemen ...

backlot

Colonial Street Colonial Street is one of the backlot street sets at the Universal Studios Lot in Universal City, California. The street set has a long history, spanning over 60 years of movies and television. From 2004 to 2012, it was used in the filming of the ...

. This season was produced by Touchstone Television (now

ABC Studios ABC Signature is an American television Filmmaking#Production, production studio that is a subsidiary of Disney Television Studios, a division of Walt Disney Television, which is part of the List of assets owned by The Walt Disney Company#Disne ...

) and Cherry Productions and aired on the ABC network. The executive producers were Cherry,

Michael Edelstein Michael Edelstein (born February 20, 1968) began his career in episodic television working CBS Entertainment. There he worked on a number of series on the network’s primetime schedule such as CSI. He then went on to work for NBC Universal To ...

Charles Pratt Jr. Charles Pratt Jr. (born January 6, 1955) is an American television writer, producer and director. In September 2014, it was revealed that Pratt had been hired as head writer and co-executive producer of ''The Young and the Restless''. In Septembe ...

, and

Tom Spezialy Tom Spezialy is an American television producer, director and screen writer. In 2007, began serving as executive producer of ''Reaper''. Career Spezialy began his career in 1989 writing for the CBS television series '' Doctor Doctor''. He has als ...

with Pratt Jr., Chris Black,

Oliver Goldstick Oliver Goldstick (born January 9, 1961) is an American television screenwriter and executive producer, working on Netflix’s new series Bridgerton. Prior to this, Goldstick launched High School Musical: The Series for Disney + and spent seven y ...

Joey Murphy Joey Murphy is an American screenwriter and television producer. Murphy has written episodes of the cartoon, '' Doug'', '' The Crew'', and Cybill Shepherd's sitcom, ''Cybill'', the last two for which he also served as producer. He also collabora ...

, and

John Pardee John Pardee is an American screenwriter and television producer, and was an executive producer for ''Desperate Housewives''. During the 1990s, Pardee wrote episodes of several television series, including the cartoon '' Doug''; the short-lived s ...

serving as consulting producers. The staff writers were Cherry, Goldstick, Spezialy, Pardee, Murphy, and Black; producers

Alexandra Cunningham Alexandra Cunningham (born 1972/73) is an American playwright, screenwriter, and television producer. Biography From 1998 through 2000, she attended the Lila Acheson Wallace American Playwrights Program at The Juilliard School. Her plays inclu ...

Tracey Stern Tracey Stern is an American television writer and producer. Stern made her television debut writing for the first two seasons of '' ER''. She has also worked as a writer on '' Pacific Blue'', '' Sports Night'', ''Angel'', '' Law & Order: Special ...

, and Patty Lin; co-executive producer Kevin Murphy,

Jenna Bans Jenna Bans is an American screenwriter. Bans is a producer and writer on ''Grey's Anatomy'', and is the creator and the co-producer (along with Shonda Rhimes) of '' Off the Map'', a series which premiered on ABC in January 2011, and was cancelled ...

David Schulner ''David Schulner'' is an American television writer and producer. His production company is Mount Moriah. The company signed an overall deal with Universal Television. Television filmography Producer * ''What About Brian'' (2006) * ''Despe ...

Adam Barr Adam Barr is a television screenwriter and producer best known for his comedy credits including the hit NBC series ''Will & Grace''. In the early nineties he teamed up with best friend Peter Ocko, with whom he wrote 12 episodes of ''Parker Lewis ...

, Katie Ford, and Joshua Senter. Regular directors throughout the season included

Charles McDougall Charles McDougall is a Great Britain, British Emmy Award and BAFTA-winning television director, director. Biography McDougall has directed for popular television series which include the pilot episode of American Broadcasting Company, ABC's ''De ...

Arlene Sanford Arlene Sanford is an American film and television director. Sanford has directed for several notable television series and several motion picture and television films which include ''A Very Brady Sequel'' (1996), ''I'll Be Home for Christmas'' ...

, Larry Shaw,

Jeff Melman Jeffrey L. Melman (born May 18, 1947) is an American television director and producer. Melman has directed for several present-day network television series. More recently Melman has directed episodes of ABC's ''Grey's Anatomy'', ''Private Pract ...

Fred Gerber Fred Gerber is an American film and television director and television producer. Gerber has directed several popular television series which include ''The X-Files'', ''Desperate Housewives'' and ''House''. Gerber has also served as a producer o ...

David Grossman David Grossman ( he, דויד גרוסמן; born January 25, 1954) is an Israeli author. His books have been translated into more than 30 languages. In 2018, he was awarded the Israel Prize for literature. Biography David Grossman was born i ...

, and

John David Coles John David Coles is an American director and producer. Coles was nominated in 2015 for an Emmy and PGA Award for his work as an Executive Producer and Director on the Netflix phenomenon, ''House of Cards (American TV series), House of Cards. '' ...

. Its

orchestral score Sheet music is a handwritten or printed form of musical notation that uses List of musical symbols, musical symbols to indicate the pitches, rhythms, or chord (music), chords of a song or instrumental Musical composition, musical piece. Like ...

was composed by Steve Bartek and

Steve Jablonsky Steve Jablonsky (born October 9, 1970) is an American composer for film, television and video games, best known for his musical scores in the ''Transformers'' film series. Some of his frequent collaboration partners include film directors Michae ...

, while the series' theme was composed by

Danny Elfman Daniel Robert Elfman (born May 29, 1953) is an American film composer, singer and songwriter. He came to prominence as the singer-songwriter for the new wave band Oingo Boingo in the early 1980s. Since the 1990s, Elfman has garnered internation ...

. Cherry also served as the season's

show runner A showrunner (or colloquially a helmer) is the top-level executive producer of a television series production who has creative and management authority through combining the responsibilities of employer and, in comedy or dramas, typically also the ...

Cast

Regular cast

Starring

Teri Hatcher Teri Lynn Hatcher (born December 8, 1964) is an American actress best known for her portrayals of Lois Lane on the television series '' Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman'' (1993–1997); Paris Carver in the ''James Bond'' film ''Tomor ...

Felicity Huffman Felicity Kendall Huffman (born December 9, 1962) is an American actress. Huffman began her acting career in theatre, and in the 1990s also had many supporting roles in film and television. She starred as Dana Whitaker in the comedy-drama '' Spor ...

Marcia Cross Marcia Anne Cross (born March 25, 1962) is an American actress. She acted in daytime soap operas such as ''The Edge of Night'', '' Another World'', and ''One Life to Live'' before moving to primetime television with a recurring role on ''Knots ...

Eva Longoria Eva Jacqueline Longoria Bastón ( Longoria; March 15, 1975) is an American actress, producer, and director. After a number of guest roles on several television series, she was recognized for her portrayal of Isabella Braña on the CBS daytime ...

Nicollette Sheridan Nicollette Sheridan (born 21 November 1963) is an English-born American actress. She began her career as a fashion model before landing a role in the short-lived ABC primetime soap opera ''Paper Dolls'' in 1984, as well as starring in the roman ...

Edie Britt Edie Britt is a fictional character created by television producer and screenwriter Marc Cherry for the ABC television series ''Desperate Housewives''. Nicollette Sheridan portrayed Edie from her debut in the pilot episode of the series until th ...

Steven Culp Steven Bradford Culp (born December 3, 1955) is an American actor. Culp appeared in films '' Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday'' (1993), ''James and the Giant Peach'' (1996), ''The Emperor's Club'' (2002), and most notably in the 2000 politica ...

as Rex Van de Kamp *

Ricardo Antonio Chavira Ricardo Antonio Chavira (born September 1, 1971) is an American actor. He is best known for his role as Carlos Solis in the ABC television series ''Desperate Housewives'' (2004–2012). He also played Abraham Quintanilla in the Netflix original ...

Carlos Solis Carlos Solis () is a fictional character portrayed by Ricardo Antonio Chavira on the ABC television series '' Desperate Housewives''. He is, for most of the series, the husband of Gabrielle Solis, portrayed by Eva Longoria. Past Carlos was ...

Mark Moses Mark W. Moses (born February 24, 1958) is an American actor, best known for his roles as Paul Young in the ABC comedy-drama ''Desperate Housewives'' (2004–2011) and as Herman "Duck" Phillips in the AMC period drama ''Mad Men'' (2007–2014). ...

Paul Young Paul Antony Young (born 17 January 1956) is an English musician, singer and songwriter. Formerly the frontman of the short-lived bands Kat Kool & the Kool Cats, Streetband and Q-Tips, he became a teen idol with his solo success in the 1980s. ...

Andrea Bowen Andrea Bowen is an American actress and singer. She began her career appearing on Broadway musicals, including ''Les Misérables'' and ''The Sound of Music''. In 2004, she began playing the role of Julie Mayer on the ABC comedy-drama series ''Des ...

as Julie Mayer *

Jesse Metcalfe Jesse Eden Metcalfe (born December 9, 1978) is an American actor and musician. He is known for his portrayal of John Rowland on ''Desperate Housewives''. Metcalfe has also had notable roles on ''Passions'' and played the title role in '' John T ...

as John Rowland *

Cody Kasch Cody Reed Kasch (born August 21, 1987) is an American actor. He is known for his role of Zach Young on the ABC comedy-drama series '' Desperate Housewives''. Early life Kasch was born in Santa Monica, California. He is of Scottish descent. H ...

Zach Young '' Desperate Housewives'' is an American comedy-drama series that aired on ABC (American Broadcasting Company). It focuses on the residents living on the fictional Wisteria Lane as narrated by their deceased neighbor, Mary Alice Young (Brenda St ...

Brenda Strong Brenda Lee Strong (born March 25, 1960) is an American actress. She began her career in television, including guest starring appearances in ''Twin Peaks'', '' Party of Five'', ''Seinfeld'', '' Scandal'', '' Star Trek: The Next Generation'', '' ...

*and

James Denton James Thomas Denton Jr. (born January 20, 1963) is an American actor and musician. He is best known for playing Mike Delfino on ABC's comedy-drama series ''Desperate Housewives'' (2004–2012) and Dr. Sam Radford on Hallmark Channel's comedy ...

Mike Delfino Michael Delfino is a fictional character on the ABC television series ''Desperate Housewives''. The character was played by actor James Denton from the show's inception, until the eighth and final season of the show. Storylines Backstory Michae ...

Recurring

Brent Kinsman Brent Kinsman and Shane Kinsman (born November 13, 1997) are American twin child actors who typically portray rambunctious twins, most notably, as Kyle and Nigel Baker in the 2003 film ''Cheaper by the Dozen (2003 film), Cheaper by the Dozen'' a ...

as Preston Scavo * Shane Kinsman as Porter Scavo *

Doug Savant Douglas Peter Savant (born June 21, 1964) is an American actor, known for his roles as Matt Fielding in the Fox prime time soap opera '' Melrose Place'' (1992–97), Tom Scavo in ABC comedy-drama '' Desperate Housewives'' (2004–12), and as Sgt. ...

Tom Scavo Thomas Scavo is a fictional character on the ABC television series ''Desperate Housewives'', played by actor Doug Savant. Tom was originally credited as a recurring role throughout Season 1, but became credited as a series regular in Season 2. ...

* Zane Huett as

Parker Scavo ''Desperate Housewives'' is an American comedy-drama series that aired on ABC (American Broadcasting Company). It focuses on the residents living on the fictional Wisteria Lane as narrated by their deceased neighbor, Mary Alice Young (Brenda Stro ...

Joy Lauren Joy Lauren Jorgensen (born ) is an American producer, director and writer and former actress. She is known for playing Danielle Van de Kamp on the ABC comedy-drama series '' Desperate Housewives''. Life and career Lauren was born Lauren Joy Jo ...

Danielle Van de Kamp ''Desperate Housewives'' is an American comedy-drama series that aired on ABC (American Broadcasting Company). It focuses on the residents living on the fictional Wisteria Lane as narrated by their deceased neighbor, Mary Alice Young (Brenda Stro ...

Shawn Pyfrom Shawn Caminiti Pyfrom (born August 16, 1986) is an American actor and singer, who has appeared in several television series and films, and is best known for his portrayal of Andrew Van de Kamp on American Broadcasting Company, ABC's ''Desperate Ho ...

Andrew Van de Kamp Andrew Van de Kamp is a fictional character in the American Broadcasting Company, ABC television series ''Desperate Housewives'' played by Shawn Pyfrom, and is the son of one of the title characters, Bree Van de Kamp, and her first husband Rex Va ...

Harriet Sansom Harris Harriet Sansom Harris (born January 8, 1955) is an American actress known for her theater performances and for her portrayals of Bebe Glazer on ''Frasier'' and Felicia Tilman on ''Desperate Housewives''. Harris won a Tony Award in 2002 as a Fe ...

as Felicia Tilman *

Christine Estabrook Christine Estabrook (born Mary Christine Estabrook; September 13, 1952) is an American actress, known for her roles on the television series '' The Crew'', '' Nikki'', '' Desperate Housewives'' and ''American Horror Story''; she had a recurring ...

as Martha Huber *

Roger Bart Roger Bart (born September 29, 1962) is an American actor and singer. He won a Tony Award and a Drama Desk Award for his performance as Snoopy in the 1999 revival of ''You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown''. Bart received his second Tony Award no ...

as George Williams *

Lupe Ontiveros Guadalupe Ontiveros ( Moreno; September 17, 1942 – July 26, 2012) was an American actress best known for portraying Rosalita in ''The Goonies'', and Yolanda Saldívar in the film ''Selena''. She acted in numerous films and television shows, o ...

as Juanita "Mama" Solis *

Lucille Soong Lucille Soong (born August 15, 1938) is a Chinese-American actress. She is best known for her main role as Grandma Huang in the television series ''Fresh Off the Boat'' (2015–2020). She has acted and appeared in films and TV series since the 1 ...

as Yao Lin *

Ryan Carnes Ryan Gregg Carnes
at TV.com (born November 21, 1982) is an American actor. He is most known for playing the ...

as Justin *

Bob Gunton Robert Patrick Gunton Jr. (born November 15, 1945) is an American character actor of stage and screen. He is known for playing strict authoritarian characters, including Warden Samuel Norton in the 1994 prison drama ''The Shawshank Redemption'', ...

as Noah Taylor *

Sam Lloyd Sam Lloyd (November 12, 1963 – April 30, 2020) was an American actor and singer, best known for his portrayal of lawyer Ted Buckland on the comedy-drama series '' Scrubs'' and the sitcom ''Cougar Town''. Early life Lloyd was born in Sp ...

as Dr. Albert Goldfine *

Richard Roundtree Richard Roundtree (born July 9, 1942) is an American actor. Roundtree is noted as being "the first black action hero" for his portrayal of private detective John Shaft in the 1971 film '' Shaft'', and its four sequels, released between 1972 and 2 ...

as Mr. Shaw *

Pat Crawford Brown Pat Crawford Brown (June 29, 1929July 2, 2019) was an American actress. Life and career Brown married Calvin B. Brown on January 3, 1961, and they remained married until his death in 1976. They had one daughter, Charlotte Brown Swanson. She beg ...

as Ida Greenberg *

Lesley Ann Warren Lesley Ann Warren (born August 16, 1946) is an American actress and singer. She made her Broadway debut in 1963, aged 17, in '' 110 in the Shade''. In 1965 she received wide recognition for playing the title role in the television musical prod ...

as Sophie Bremmer *

Richard Burgi Richard William Burgi (, born July 30, 1958) is an American film and television actor best known for the roles of Det. Jim Ellison on '' The Sentinel'' and as Karl Mayer on ''Desperate Housewives''. He also portrayed Paul Hornsby in the ABC dayti ...

as Karl Mayer *

Jeff Doucette Jeffrey Doucette (born November 25, 1947) is an American character actor. Growing up in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, he was the second of eight children born to Elizabeth (Betty Andres) and William (Bill) Doucette. Jeffrey attended Marquette Universit ...

as Father Crowley

Guest

Terry Bozeman Terry Bozeman (born 1 January 1950) is an American actor. He appears as Dr. Lee Craighttps://www.imdb.com/name/nm0102462/ Retrieved: October 12, 2010. on ''Desperate Housewives''. He played Richard Armus on the thriller '' 24''. He also plays la ...

as Dr. Lee Craig *

Mehcad Brooks Mehcad Jason McKinley Brooks (born October 25, 1980) is an American actor and former fashion model. He is known for his roles as Matthew Applewhite in the second season of ABC's series ''Desperate Housewives'' (2005–2006), Jerome in '' The Gam ...

as Matthew Applewhite *

Nick Chinlund Zareh Nicholas Chinlund (born November 18, 1961) is an American actor. Early life and education Chinlund was born in New York City. He attended the Friends Seminary in Lower Manhattan, later moving to Albany, New York in order to participate in ...

as Detective Sullivan *

Kathryn Joosten Kathryn Joosten (born Kathryn Rausch; December 20, 1939 – June 2, 2012) was an American actress. Her best known roles include Dolores Landingham on NBC's ''The West Wing'' from 1999 to 2002 and Karen McCluskey on ABC's '' Desperate Housewives'' ...

Karen McCluskey Karen McCluskey (née Simonds) is a fictional character from the ABC television series '' Desperate Housewives''. The role was played by Kathryn Joosten, who won the Primetime Emmy Award twice for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series in ...

Alfre Woodard Alfre Woodard (; born November 8, 1952) is an American actress. She has received various accolades, including four Primetime Emmy Awards (tying the record for the most acting Emmys won by an African-American performer, along with Regina King), ...

Betty Applewhite Betty Applewhite is a fictional character played by actress Alfre Woodard on the ABC television series ''Desperate Housewives''. The character is introduced in the last episodes of the series' first season, and becomes the center of the mystery o ...

The first season features a cast of thirteen actors who receive star billing.

narrated the series as the deceased

portrayed

, the klutzy, lovable divorced mother in search of love.

played

, a former career woman who is now a full-time mother of four.

acted as

, the uptight, perfectionist homemaker and mother of two teenagers who is struggling to save her marriage.

starred as

, the materialistic ex–

fashion model A model is a person with a role either to promote, display or advertise commercial products (notably fashion clothing in fashion shows) or to serve as a visual aid for people who are creating works of art or to pose for photography. Thoug ...

who cheats on her husband.

played the neighborhood

slut ''Slut (archaic: slattern)'' is an English-language term for a person, usually a woman or girl, who is considered to have loose sexual morals or who is sexually promiscuous. It is usually used as an insult, sexual slur or offensive term of d ...

and Susan's rival,

played Rex Van de Kamp, Bree's emasculated, sexually dissatisfied husband.

starred as Gabrielle's neglectful, high-powered executive husband,

portrayed Mary Alice's mysterious widower,

played Susan's knowledgeable, level-headed daughter, Julie Mayer.

played the Solis' gardener and Gabrielle's

adulterous Adultery (from Latin ''adulterium'') is extramarital sex that is considered objectionable on social, religious, moral, or legal grounds. Although the sexual activities that constitute adultery vary, as well as the social, religious, and legal ...

lover, John Rowland.

played Mary Alice's and Paul's troubled and mentally unstable son

, and

portrayed the neighborhood plumber and Susan's love interest,

, who has a secret of his own. Numerous supporting characters have been given expansive and recurring appearances in the progressive storyline.

played

, Lynette's husband who is often away on business; Savant later became a series regular.

appeared as Bree and Rex's rebellious and headstrong son

acted as

, Lynette's neighbor across the street, and

portrayed the neighborhood

Martha Huber '' Desperate Housewives'' is an American comedy-drama series that aired on ABC (American Broadcasting Company). It focuses on the residents living on the fictional Wisteria Lane as narrated by their deceased neighbor, Mary Alice Young (Brenda St ...

Reception

Viewership and reviews

The pilot episode, which aired on October 3, 2004, garnered 21.6 million viewers, ranking first in its time slot of 9:00 pm

Eastern Time Zone The Eastern Time Zone (ET) is a time zone encompassing part or all of 23 states in the eastern part of the United States, parts of eastern Canada, the state of Quintana Roo in Mexico, Panama, Colombia, mainland Ecuador, Peru, and a small por ...

(ET) (8:00 pm

Central Time Zone (Americas) The North American Central Time Zone (CT) is a time zone in parts of Canada, the United States, Mexico, Central America, some Caribbean Islands, and part of the Eastern Pacific Ocean. Central Standard Time (CST) is six hours behind Coordinate ...

T. It was the most-viewed ABC season premiere since 1996's ''

Spin City ''Spin City'' is an American sitcom television series that aired from September 17, 1996 to April 30, 2002, on ABC. Created by Gary David Goldberg and Bill Lawrence, the show is set in a semi-fictionalized version of the New York City mayor's ...

''. After airing three episodes of ''Desperate Housewives'', ABC picked the series up for a full season. Overall, the first season averaged 23.7 million viewers for the 23 episodes aired in the U.S., including the season's largest audience of more than 30 million viewers of the season finale. Of the regular primetime programming that aired during the 2004–2005 American television season, ''Desperate Housewives'' ranked 4th out of 156 programs, according to the Nielsen Ratings system. Critical reception was overwhelmingly positive, and ''Housewives'' was considered the breakout hit of the season. Robert Bianco of ''

USA Today ''USA Today'' (stylized in all uppercase) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth on September 15, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headquarters in Tysons, Virgini ...

'' gave the pilot a score of four stars out of four, calling it " freshingly original, bracingly adult and thoroughly delightful", and going on to say that " esperateHousewives is a brightly colored, darkly comic take on suburban life, sort of

Knots Landing ''Knots Landing'' is an American prime time television soap opera that aired on CBS from December 27, 1979, to May 13, 1993. A spin-off of ''Dallas'', it was set in a fictitious coastal suburb of Los Angeles and initially centered on the lives of ...

meets

The Golden Girls ''The Golden Girls'' is an American sitcom created by Susan Harris that aired on NBC from September 14, 1985, to May 9, 1992, with a total of 180 half-hour episodes, spanning seven seasons. With an ensemble cast starring Bea Arthur, Betty White ...

by way of

Twin Peaks ''Twin Peaks'' is an American Mystery fiction, mystery serial drama television series created by Mark Frost and David Lynch. It premiered on American Broadcasting Company, ABC on April 8, 1990, and originally ran for two seasons until its cance ...

." Tim Goodman of the ''

San Francisco Chronicle The ''San Francisco Chronicle'' is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of Northern California. It was founded in 1865 as ''The Daily Dramatic Chronicle'' by teenage brothers Charles de Young and M. H. de Young, Michael H. de ...

'' thought that ''Desperate Housewives'' was "a brilliantly conceived and relentlessly entertaining new drama". Matthew Gilbert of ''

The Boston Globe ''The Boston Globe'' is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes, and has a total circulation of close to 300,000 print and digital subscribers. ''The Boston Glob ...

'' commented that the series had "marvelous tonal elasticity". Peter Schorn of

IGN ''IGN'' (formerly ''Imagine Games Network'') is an American video game and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa distri ...

felt that season one was "blessed with an attractive cast (sing the praises of older women!), sharp writing and a funky vibe of its own" and that "''Desperate Housewives'' was able to take some of the oldest formulas in the book and infuse them with their own subversive twists to whip up a frothy confection of sly wit and dark motives." Schorn gave the season a score of 9 out of 10. Some critics were not as enthusiastic, however. On reviewing the DVD release of the season, ''

Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular cul ...

s Dalton Ross gave it a B+ grade, selecting the pilot, "Who's That Woman?", "Guilty", "Children Will Listen" and the season finale "One Wonderful Day" as the season's best episodes, and "Suspicious Minds", "Your Fault" and "Love is in the Air" as the season's worst. Heather Havrilesky of ''

Salon.com ''Salon'' is an American politically progressive/ liberal news and opinion website created in 1995. It publishes articles on U.S. politics, culture, and current events. Content and coverage ''Salon'' covers a variety of topics, including re ...

'' felt that after a few episodes, "this dark exploration of the lives of women has not only slid quickly into clichés, but the acting feels forced and overplayed, the stories are wildly unrealistic, the direction is stuck in some awkward nowhereland between campy and leaden, and the voice-over is so grating and so peskily imitative of ''

Sex and the City ''Sex and the City'' is an American romantic comedy, romantic comedy-drama television series created by Darren Star for HBO. An adaptation of Candace Bushnell's Sex and the City (newspaper column), newspaper column and 1996 book anthology of the ...

'' that the whole package is almost unwatchable."

Awards

Season one was nominated for fifteen

Primetime Emmy Award The Primetime Emmy Awards, or Primetime Emmys, are part of the extensive range of Emmy Awards for artistic and technical merit for the American television industry. Bestowed by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS), the Primetime ...

s, winning six. They were in the categories of Outstanding Single-Camera Picture Editing for a Comedy Series,

Outstanding Main Title Theme Music This is a list of the winning and nominated programs of the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Original Main Title Theme Music. In the 1980s and early 1990s, the award was presented with the "possibility of one, more than one, or no award given, ...

which was awarded Danny Elfman, Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series which was awarded to Felicity Huffman for her portrayal of Lynette Scavo, Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series which was awarded to Kathryn Joosten for her portrayal of Mrs. McCluskey, Outstanding Directing for a Comedy Series which was awarded to Charles McDougall and Outstanding Casting for a Comedy Series.Emmy Awards official site
Program: "Desperate Housewives", Year Range: From "2004" to "2005" → Search ''emmys.org''. Retrieved on August 18, 2009 Teri Hatcher picked up a

Golden Globe Award The Golden Globe Awards are accolades bestowed by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association beginning in January 1944, recognizing excellence in both American and international film and television. Beginning in 2022, there are 105 members of t ...

in the category of Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series – Musical or Comedy for her portrayal of Susan Mayer. The season received four other Golden Globe nominations, winning one for Best Television Series – Musical or Comedy.Golden Globes for Desperate Housewives
''goldenglobes.org''. Retrieved on August 18, 2009 The season also won two

Screen Actors Guild Awards Screen Actors Guild Awards (also known as SAG Awards) are accolades given by the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA). The award was founded in 1952 to recognize outstanding performances in movie an ...

; one was awarded to Teri Hatcher in the category Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Comedy Series and the other was under the category of Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series.Screen Actors Guild Awards Nominee Recipient Database
Program: "Desperate Housewives", Year: "2004" → Search ''sagawards.org''. Retrieved on August 18, 2009

Episodes

DVD release

References

External links

*
Desperate Housewives episode list
at ''ABC.com''
Desperate Housewives episode guide
at ''Channel 4.com'' {{featured list 2004 American television seasons 2005 American television seasons