List of Desperate Housewives episodes
Encyclopedia
Desperate Housewives
is an American television
comedy-drama
which premiered on ABC
on October 3, 2004, in the United States. The first season had a single special episode, while the second and third season each had two. As of November 13, 2011, 165 episodes of Desperate Housewives have been broadcast over eight seasons. To date, seasons one, two, three, four, five, six and seven have been released on DVD
in Regions 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5
.
Desperate Housewives follows the lives of four women—Susan
(Teri Hatcher
), Lynette
(Felicity Huffman
), Bree
(Marcia Cross
) and Gabrielle
(Eva Longoria
)—through the eyes of Mary Alice
(Brenda Strong
), their dead friend and neighbor.
The vast majority of the episodes are titled after lyrics by composer/lyricist Stephen Sondheim
.
. 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 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 behavior really make them wonder the mystery surrounding their deceased friend.
s. After discovering Mary Alice's dark secret, the housewives continue to move on with their lives. Bree, whose husband has just died, is not coping well with being a widow and is unwittingly dating the man who poisoned her husband. Susan, still searching for love after breaking up with Mike Delfino, 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. Gabrielle, who is now pregnant, decides to be faithful to her husband Carlos who is now in jail - but just as she starts accepting her upcoming motherhood, she suffers a miscarriage. While managing their busy lives, the women cannot help but notice something suspicious about the new neighbors: Betty (played by Alfre Woodard
) and Matthew Applewhite, who moved in during the middle of the night, are keeping a prisoner held captive in their basement.
s. It has been six months since Orson Hodge deliberately ran Mike over with his car. Gabrielle, who found out Carlos cheated on her with their surrogate maid, refused to take him back, and now they're getting divorced, but both want to raise the newborn child. Bree, who has finally put Rex's death behind her, marries Orson. A mysterious woman (played by Laurie Metcalf
) accused him of killing his wife at their engagement party, and Bree can't help but wonder if that's true. Lynette, meanwhile, tries to adjust to having another child around the house. Ultimately she quits her job at the advertising agency to start a pizzeria with Tom. Susan, who has been waiting for Mike to wake up from his coma is shocked when she finds out her nemesis Edie has been posing as his girlfriend, since he has amnesia. And Edie has her nephew Austin move to Wisteria Lane after she finds him trying to break into her house.
it only featured a total of 17 episodes including a two-hour season finale, making season 4 the shortest season to date. In season 4, Susan and Mike settle down into a married life and Susan finds out she's pregnant. Lynette is battling Hodgkin's lymphoma
and having problems with Kayla. Bree is pretending to be pregnant with Danielle's baby so she can adopt the baby and pass it off as her own. Gabrielle is in an unhappy marriage with Victor and is continuing her secret affair with Carlos, and after faking a suicide attempt, Edie tries to keep her relationship with Carlos intact by blackmailing him. New neighbors Katherine, Adam, and Dylan Mayfair move to Wisteria Lane with a dark secret of their own. Season 4 also saw the destruction of Wisteria Lane when a tornado ripped through the neighborhood and ultimately changed the lives of everyone. By the end of the season, a 5 year time jump takes place.
, who played Edie's husband, joined the cast as a series regular. Gale Harold
joined the cast as Jackson, the man kissing Susan
in the season four finale. James Denton
, who plays Mike Delfino, told People magazine
that he will definitely be returning in season five, although "Mike and Susan have definitely split up". Other cast additions for season five include Max and Charles Carver, who now play Preston and Porter Scavo respectively, Joshua Moore plays Parker, and Kendall Applegate plays Penny.
This was the last season featuring Nicollette Sheridan as a co-star, as the character of Edie Britt has been written out of the series.
for an eighth and final season. The season premiere episode was broadcast on Sunday, September 25, 2011.
Desperate Housewives
Desperate Housewives is an American television comedy-drama series created by Marc Cherry and produced by ABC Studios and Cherry Productions. Executive producer Cherry serves as Showrunner. Other executive producers since the fourth season include Marc Cherry, Bob Daily, George W...
is an American television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
comedy-drama
Comedy-drama
Comedy-drama is a genre of theatre, film and television programs which combines humorous and serious content.-Theatre:Traditional western theatre, beginning with the ancient Greeks, was divided into comedy and tragedy...
which premiered on ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
on October 3, 2004, in the United States. The first season had a single special episode, while the second and third season each had two. As of November 13, 2011, 165 episodes of Desperate Housewives have been broadcast over eight seasons. To date, seasons one, two, three, four, five, six and seven have been released on DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
in Regions 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5
DVD region code
DVD region codes are a digital-rights management technique designed to allow film distributors to control aspects of a release, including content, release date, and price, according to the region...
.
Desperate Housewives follows the lives of four women—Susan
Susan Mayer
Susan Delfino is a fictional character played by Teri Hatcher on the American Broadcasting Company television series Desperate Housewives. The character was created by television producer and screenwriter Marc Cherry and first appeared in the pilot episode of the series on October 3, 2004...
(Teri Hatcher
Teri Hatcher
Teri Lynn Hatcher is an American actress, writer, and presenter. She is known for her television roles as Susan Mayer on the ABC comedy-drama series Desperate Housewives, and Lois Lane on the ABC comedy-drama series Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman...
), Lynette
Lynette Scavo
Lynette Scavo is a fictional character on the series Desperate Housewives. The character is playedby 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 Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Television Series...
(Felicity Huffman
Felicity Huffman
Felicity Kendall Huffman is an American film, stage, and television actress. She is known for her role as executive producer Dana Whitaker on the ABC television show Sports Night , which earned her a Golden Globe Award nomination, and as hectic supermom Lynette Scavo on the ABC show Desperate...
), Bree
Bree Van De Kamp
Bree Van de Kamp is a fictional character on the ABC television series Desperate Housewives, played by Marcia Cross. Actress Marcia Cross was nominated from 2005 to 2007 for a Golden Globe Award in the category of Best Actress – Television Series Musical or Comedy...
(Marcia Cross
Marcia Cross
Marcia Anne Cross is an American actress. She is known for her television roles as Bree Van de Kamp on the ABC comedy-drama series Desperate Housewives, and as Dr...
) and Gabrielle
Gabrielle Solis
Gabrielle Solís is one of four main characters on the ABC television series Desperate Housewives. She is portrayed by Eva Longoria...
(Eva Longoria
Eva Longoria
Eva Jacqueline Longoria is an American actress, best known for portraying Gabrielle Solis on the ABC television series Desperate Housewives...
)—through the eyes of Mary Alice
Mary Alice Young
Mary Alice Young is a fictional character on the ABC television series Desperate Housewives. The character is played by actress Brenda Strong and narrates the series from beyond the grave; the character's suicide in the pilot episode served as the catalyst of the series...
(Brenda Strong
Brenda Strong
Brenda Lee Strong is an American actress and yoga instructor, known for her roles as as Capt. Deladier in the 1997 hit movie Starship Troopers and Mary Alice Young on the television show Desperate Housewives....
), their dead friend and neighbor.
The vast majority of the episodes are titled after lyrics by composer/lyricist Stephen Sondheim
Stephen Sondheim
Stephen Joshua Sondheim is an American composer and lyricist for stage and film. He is the winner of an Academy Award, multiple Tony Awards including the Special Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre, multiple Grammy Awards, a Pulitzer Prize and the Laurence Olivier Award...
.
Series overview
| Season | |Episodes | |Premiere | |Finale | |DVD release date | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Region 1 | |Region 4 | Discs | |||||||
| 1 | 23 | October 3, 2004 | May 22, 2005 | September 20, 2005 | October 10, 2005 | November 28, 2005 | September 18, 2006 | 6 (Reg 1, 2 & 4), 5 (Reg 5) | |
| 2 | 24 | September 25, 2005 | May 21, 2006 | August 29, 2006 | November 13, 2006 | October 4, 2006 | September 18, 2007 | 7 (Reg 2 & 4), 6 (Reg 1 & 5) | |
| 3 | 23 | September 24, 2006 | May 20, 2007 | September 4, 2007 | November 5, 2007 | October 31, 2007 | December 4, 2007 | 6 (All Regions) | |
| 4 | 17 | September 30, 2007 | May 18, 2008 | September 2, 2008 | November 3, 2008 | October 29, 2008 | March 17, 2009 | 5 (All Regions) | |
| 5 | 24 | September 28, 2008 | May 17, 2009 | September 1, 2009 | November 9, 2009 | October 21, 2009 | 7 (All Regions) | ||
| 6 | 23 | September 27, 2009 | May 16, 2010 | September 21, 2010 | October 4, 2010 | September 24, 2010 | 5 (Reg 1), 6 (Reg 4) | ||
| 7 | 23 | September 26, 2010 | May 15, 2011 | August 30, 2011 | October 31, 2011 | November 30, 2011 | 5 (Reg 1), 6 (Reg 4) | ||
| 8 | September 25, 2011 | May 2012 | |||||||
Season Ratings
| Season | Timeslot (EDT) | Season Premiere | Season Finale | TV Season | Rank | Viewers (in millions) |
18-49 Average |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sunday 9:00 P.M. | October 3, 2004 | May 22, 2005 | 2004–2005 | #4 | 23.69 | 10.66 |
| 2 | Sunday 9:00 P.M. | September 25, 2005 | May 21, 2006 | 2005–2006 | #4 | 21.70 | 10.09 |
| 3 | Sunday 9:00 P.M. | September 24, 2006 | May 20, 2007 | 2006–2007 | #12 | 16.70 | 7.57 |
| 4 | Sunday 9:00 P.M. | September 30, 2007 | May 18, 2008 | 2007–2008 | #8 | 17.52 | 6.71 |
| 5 Desperate Housewives (season 5) The fifth season of Desperate Housewives, an American television series created by Marc Cherry, began airing on ABC on September 28, 2008 and concluded on May 17, 2009... |
Sunday 9:00 P.M. | September 28, 2008 | May 17, 2009 | 2008–2009 | #9 | 15.66 | 5.29 |
| 6 Desperate Housewives (season 6) The sixth season of Desperate Housewives, a television series created by Marc Cherry, began airing on September 27, 2009 and concluded on May 16, 2010.The season consisted of 23 episodes. The deceased Mary Alice Young continues to narrate the events in the lives of her friends and Wisteria Lane... |
Sunday 9:00 P.M. | September 27, 2009 | May 16, 2010 | 2009–2010 | #20 | 12.83 | 4.25 |
| 7 Desperate Housewives (season 7) The seventh season of Desperate Housewives, a television series created by Marc Cherry, began airing on September 26, 2010 and concluded on May 15, 2011. The deceased Mary Alice Young continues to narrate the events in the lives of her friends and Wisteria Lane residents, Susan Delfino, Lynette... |
Sunday 9:00 P.M. | September 26, 2010 | May 15, 2011 | 2010–2011 | #26 | 11.85 | 3.9 |
| 8 Desperate Housewives (season 8) The eighth season of Desperate Housewives, a television series created by Marc Cherry, began broadcasting in the United States on September 25, 2011.Desperate Housewives was renewed for an eighth season by ABC on May 17, 2011... |
Sunday 9:00 P.M. | September 25, 2011 | Spring 2012 | 2011–2012 | TBD | TBD | TBD |
Season 1: 2004–2005
Season one premiered on October 3, 2004 and featured a total of 23 episodes and one clip showClip show
A clip show is an episode of a television series that consists primarily of excerpts from previous episodes. Most clip shows feature the format of a frame story in which cast members recall past events from past installments of the show, depicted with a clip of the event presented as a flashback. ...
. 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 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 behavior really make them wonder the mystery surrounding their deceased friend.
Season 2: 2005–2006
Season two premiered on September 25, 2005 and featured a total of 24 episodes (including a two hour season finale of two episodes) and two clip showClip show
A clip show is an episode of a television series that consists primarily of excerpts from previous episodes. Most clip shows feature the format of a frame story in which cast members recall past events from past installments of the show, depicted with a clip of the event presented as a flashback. ...
s. After discovering Mary Alice's dark secret, the housewives continue to move on with their lives. Bree, whose husband has just died, is not coping well with being a widow and is unwittingly dating the man who poisoned her husband. Susan, still searching for love after breaking up with Mike Delfino, 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. Gabrielle, who is now pregnant, decides to be faithful to her husband Carlos who is now in jail - but just as she starts accepting her upcoming motherhood, she suffers a miscarriage. While managing their busy lives, the women cannot help but notice something suspicious about the new neighbors: Betty (played by Alfre Woodard
Alfre Woodard
Alfre Ette Woodard is an American film, stage, and television actress. She has been nominated once for an Academy Award and Grammy Awards, 17 times for Emmy Awards , and has also won a Golden Globe and three Screen Actors Guild Awards.She is known for her role in films such as Cross Creek, Miss...
) and Matthew Applewhite, who moved in during the middle of the night, are keeping a prisoner held captive in their basement.
Season 3: 2006–2007
Season three premiered on September 24, 2006 and features a total of 23 episodes and two clip showClip show
A clip show is an episode of a television series that consists primarily of excerpts from previous episodes. Most clip shows feature the format of a frame story in which cast members recall past events from past installments of the show, depicted with a clip of the event presented as a flashback. ...
s. It has been six months since Orson Hodge deliberately ran Mike over with his car. Gabrielle, who found out Carlos cheated on her with their surrogate maid, refused to take him back, and now they're getting divorced, but both want to raise the newborn child. Bree, who has finally put Rex's death behind her, marries Orson. A mysterious woman (played by Laurie Metcalf
Laurie Metcalf
Lauren Elizabeth "Laurie" Metcalf is an American actress. She is widely known for her performance as Jackie Harris on the ABC sitcom Roseanne, Mary Cooper on The Big Bang Theory, the voice of Mrs. Davis in the Toy Story film series and as Debbie Salt in Scream 2...
) accused him of killing his wife at their engagement party, and Bree can't help but wonder if that's true. Lynette, meanwhile, tries to adjust to having another child around the house. Ultimately she quits her job at the advertising agency to start a pizzeria with Tom. Susan, who has been waiting for Mike to wake up from his coma is shocked when she finds out her nemesis Edie has been posing as his girlfriend, since he has amnesia. And Edie has her nephew Austin move to Wisteria Lane after she finds him trying to break into her house.
Season 4: 2007–2008
Season four premiered on September 30, 2007 and was supposed to feature a total of 23 episodes, but due to the Writers Guild of America strike2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike
The 2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike, more commonly referred to as simply the Writers' Strike, was a strike by the Writers Guild of America, East and the Writers Guild of America, West ....
it only featured a total of 17 episodes including a two-hour season finale, making season 4 the shortest season to date. In season 4, Susan and Mike settle down into a married life and Susan finds out she's pregnant. Lynette is battling Hodgkin's lymphoma
Hodgkin's lymphoma
Hodgkin's lymphoma, previously known as Hodgkin's disease, is a type of lymphoma, which is a cancer originating from white blood cells called lymphocytes...
and having problems with Kayla. Bree is pretending to be pregnant with Danielle's baby so she can adopt the baby and pass it off as her own. Gabrielle is in an unhappy marriage with Victor and is continuing her secret affair with Carlos, and after faking a suicide attempt, Edie tries to keep her relationship with Carlos intact by blackmailing him. New neighbors Katherine, Adam, and Dylan Mayfair move to Wisteria Lane with a dark secret of their own. Season 4 also saw the destruction of Wisteria Lane when a tornado ripped through the neighborhood and ultimately changed the lives of everyone. By the end of the season, a 5 year time jump takes place.
Season 5: 2008–2009
Cherry had stated that flashbacks would be used infrequently to advance or illustrate a current plotline of the new season following the five-year leap. Nicollette Sheridan, who played Edie, was speculated to have left the series after her character's departure in the fourth season. However, it was later confirmed that she would be returning for the new season. Neal McDonoughNeal McDonough
Neal P. McDonough is an American film, television and voice actor.-Career:In 1991, McDonough won the Best Actor Dramalogue for "Away Alone". McDonough has made many television and film appearances since then, including Band of Brothers, Boomtown, Star Trek: First Contact, Minority Report and The...
, who played Edie's husband, joined the cast as a series regular. Gale Harold
Gale Harold
Gale Morgan Harold III is an American actor widely known for his roles on Queer as Folk, Desperate Housewives and Hellcats.-Early life:...
joined the cast as Jackson, the man kissing Susan
Susan Mayer
Susan Delfino is a fictional character played by Teri Hatcher on the American Broadcasting Company television series Desperate Housewives. The character was created by television producer and screenwriter Marc Cherry and first appeared in the pilot episode of the series on October 3, 2004...
in the season four finale. James Denton
James Denton (actor)
James "Jamie" Thomas Denton, Jr. is an American film and television actor, best known for playing Mike Delfino in the television series Desperate Housewives.-Early life:...
, who plays Mike Delfino, told People magazine
People (magazine)
In 1998, the magazine introduced a version targeted at teens called Teen People. However, on July 27, 2006, the company announced it would shut down publication of Teen People immediately. The last issue to be released was scheduled for September 2006. Subscribers to this magazine received...
that he will definitely be returning in season five, although "Mike and Susan have definitely split up". Other cast additions for season five include Max and Charles Carver, who now play Preston and Porter Scavo respectively, Joshua Moore plays Parker, and Kendall Applegate plays Penny.
This was the last season featuring Nicollette Sheridan as a co-star, as the character of Edie Britt has been written out of the series.
Season 6: 2009–2010
On April 23, 2009, it was announced that Desperate Housewives would return for a sixth season. The sixth season premiered on ABC on September 27, 2009. Season six aired a total of 23 episodes, which were broadcast in 2009-2010.Season 7: 2010–2011
On May 18, 2010, it was announced that Desperate Housewives would return for a seventh season. The seventh season premiered on ABC on September 26, 2010. Season seven aired a total of 23 episodes, which were broadcast in 2010-2011.Season 8: 2011–2012
On May 17, 2011, Desperate Housewives was officially renewed by ABCAmerican Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
for an eighth and final season. The season premiere episode was broadcast on Sunday, September 25, 2011.
Specials
| Season (No.) | Title | Episode Shown After | Narrator | Original Airdate | U.S. viewers (millions) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 (1) | Sorting Out the Dirty Laundry | 1-19 (19) | Tracy Fraim | April 24, 2005 | 23.7 |
| Memorable moments of the season combined with new insight into the many mysteries of Wisteria Lane and its residents and a preview of the season's remaining four episodes. | |||||
| 2 (2) | All the Juicy Details | 2-10 (33) | Brenda Strong Brenda Strong Brenda Lee Strong is an American actress and yoga instructor, known for her roles as as Capt. Deladier in the 1997 hit movie Starship Troopers and Mary Alice Young on the television show Desperate Housewives.... |
January 1, 2006 | N/A |
| This special features the best and most-loved moments from the show, while also bringing viewers up to date with the second season's first 10 episodes. The hour follows the story arc of each character with commentary by Mary Alice, who guides viewers, much as she does in the regular episodes, through the various twists and turns of their stories. | |||||
| 2 (3) | The More You Know, The Juicier It Gets | 2-19 (42) | Brenda Strong Brenda Strong Brenda Lee Strong is an American actress and yoga instructor, known for her roles as as Capt. Deladier in the 1997 hit movie Starship Troopers and Mary Alice Young on the television show Desperate Housewives.... |
April 23, 2006 | N/A |
| This special features the best and most-loved moments from the show, while also bringing viewers up to date with the remaining 5 hours of the show's second season. The special will bring viewers up to date with all the latest goings-on, including Bree and Andrew's escalating war, Susan's love triangle with Mike and Karl, Lynette's new job as her husband's new boss, Gabrielle and Carlos's quest for a child, as well as the ongoing mystery of the Applewhite family's secret life. | |||||
| 2 (4) | Time to Come Clean | 2-24 (47) | Marc Cherry Marc Cherry Marc Cherry is an American writer and producer, best known for creating the show Desperate Housewives.-Early life and career:... et al. |
September 3, 2006 | N/A |
| A 30-minute special in which Marc Cherry Marc Cherry Marc Cherry is an American writer and producer, best known for creating the show Desperate Housewives.-Early life and career:... and the writing/production staff offer the inside scoop on the next season and the upcoming Wisteria Lane wedding. In the new season, Bree wonders if Orson really did kill his wife. Susan meets a new love interest at the hospital, while taking care of Mike who's in a coma. Lynette starts to get concerned that Tom is spending too much time with Nora. Gabrielle promises Xiao-Mei that the moment she has the baby she will send her back to China. |
|||||
| 3 (5) | The Juiciest Bites | 3-16 (63) | Brenda Strong Brenda Strong Brenda Lee Strong is an American actress and yoga instructor, known for her roles as as Capt. Deladier in the 1997 hit movie Starship Troopers and Mary Alice Young on the television show Desperate Housewives.... |
April 1, 2007 | N/A |
| A clip show which features the most loved moments from the show, Seasons 1, 2 and 3, and prepares the viewers for the final episodes of the third season. | |||||
| 3 (6) | Secrets and Lies | 3-23 (70) | Brenda Strong Brenda Strong Brenda Lee Strong is an American actress and yoga instructor, known for her roles as as Capt. Deladier in the 1997 hit movie Starship Troopers and Mary Alice Young on the television show Desperate Housewives.... |
September 23, 2007 | 9.0 |
| A special to recap viewers on the current season's events on Wisteria Lane. To date, "Secrets and Lies" is the final special as subsequent seasons have not included a special. | |||||