The story : Wisteria Lane, a pretty street lined with charming houses and tidy lawns. A quiet neighborhood, or so it seems. Bree, Gabrielle, Lynette ans Susan learn to their horror that their friend, Mary Alice, has committed suicide. Why ? They try to understand what could have pushed this happy mother to this point. This will set off a chain of events that will reveal the little lies and dark secrets of the whole neighborhood, including their own.
What was new with this series ? In the history of series, there is a before and an after Desperate Housewives. More than just a few highlights, it’s a combination of assets that has made this series a worldwide success. The tone, well translated in the opening sequence, tackles serious, even dramatic subjects in a deceptively light tone. The dialogue is biting, really excellent. The characters are very deep and complex, crazy enough to be interesting, but at the same time normal enough to identify with. and for the first time, women eclipse men in the background. It’s also, long before GoT, the first time a showrunner hasn’t hesitated to have (quite a few) characters die. And finally, each episode begins and ends with a “moral” read by the voice of Mary Alice, a method that has since been copied many times over.
Marc Cherry has created another excellent series since : Why women kill ?
8 seasons, 180 episodes (42 mn), 2004-2012, ABC, today (2023) : Disney
Casting
- SHOWRUNNER : Marc Cherry
- Marcia Cross / Bree Van de Kamp
- Terry Hatcher / Susan Meyer
- Felicity Huffman / Lynette Scavo
- Eva Longoria / Gabrielle Solis
- The husbands (some of them) : Ricardo Antonio Chavira, James Denton, Kyle Mc Lachlan, Doug Savant
- And the friends (or not) : Dana Delany, Kathryn Joosten, Renee Perry, Brenda Strong…
