BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. — After seven seasons of
tangled mysteries, messy marriages, nervous breakdowns and salacious
secrets, ABC executives and the producers of “Desperate Housewives”
announced the eighth and upcoming season would be the show’s last.
“The only thing harder than creating a hit television
show is knowing when to end it,” executive producer Marc Cherry said
Sunday at the Television Critics Association press tour in Beverly
Hills. “Because I have been working in television for 23 years, I am
very aware of people overstaying their welcome.”
Cherry was an out-of-work former writer for “The
Golden Girls” living in a cramped L.A. condo in 2004 when ABC plucked
from the pile his script about the scheming women of Wisteria Lane and
shepherded it onto the small screen.
The series exploded into a blockbuster hit that
transformed not only the fortunes of Cherry and the
then-down-on-its-luck ABC network but also actresses older than 40.
“Desperate Housewives,” starring Teri Hatcher, Felicity Huffman, Marcia
Cross and Eva Longoria, demonstrated that middle-aged women could be
sexy.
The show — a dark comedy and soapy drama rolled into
one — reinvigorated the genre of prime-time soap operas, which had been
dormant for more than a decade. It reminded TV programmers that hourlong
dramas, not just 22-minute sitcoms, could be effective vehicles for
comedy.
Not only that, but “Desperate Housewives” improved
the financial health of the entire television industry. The program,
along with ABC’s other 2004 breakout hit, “Lost,” turbocharged
international demand for U.S.-produced network dramas. Ever since,
higher license fees from foreign sales of network shows have helped to
subsidize the high cost of production of scripted programming.
The plan had been to end “Desperate Housewives” in
2013 after nine seasons. But declining ratings and disjointed story
lines with characters who seemed shoehorned into the cul-de-sac helped
to persuade the network to end the show earlier than scheduled.
Its creative force — Cherry, who has been trying to
develop another drama for ABC — also cited the suffocating workload of
producing 22 episodes a season and a near nervous breakdown two years
ago. He had planned to be less involved this year but now will plunge
back in to assist with its send-off.
“I wanted to go out while the network still saw us as
a viable show and when we were still doing well in the ratings,” Cherry
said. He said the timing question had long weighed upon him. He had
seen too many dominant shows deteriorate creatively and in the ratings,
only to be unceremoniously booted off the schedule.
“I didn’t want that to happen to ‘Desperate Housewives,'” Cherry said.
Down considerably from its heyday, when it routinely
attracted more than 20 million viewers on a Sunday night, “Desperate
Housewives” continues to be one of television’s most popular dramas.
Last season, the show averaged nearly 12 million viewers an episode.
“I just wanted to make sure that this show, that sort
of put this network on the map, would have its victory lap,” said Paul
Lee, president of ABC Entertainment.
The decision to end “Desperate Housewives” a season
early puts more pressure on Lee to field new hits to replace what has
long been one of the network’s pillars in prime time.
Cherry promised to reel back the stories of
“Desperate Housewives” to its beginnings and its original mystery
surrounding Mary Alice Young (Brenda Strong), who kills herself rather
than reveal the true identity of her son.
The move could invite back millions of viewers who
drifted away from the series over the years with the introduction of
characters whose stories did not seem central to the lives of the
original four characters.
Cherry said he didn’t envision creating a “Desperate
Housewives” spinoff. The show, he said, is incredibly complicated to
write. The show has had more than its share of diva drama, both on the
screen and behind the scenes, including a lawsuit filed last year by
former cast member Nicollette Sheridan, who claims Cherry was abusive
and slapped her in 2008 before devising her untimely on-screen death.
The show, Cherry said, is incredibly complicated to write.
Season after season, the writers have tried to
artfully stitch together story lines of the four key characters that
intersect with the exploits of newly introduced characters.
Simultaneously, they had to thread into the plot the ongoing mysteries
that have been central to the show.
“I swear my next show is going to be just two guys in
a prison cell,” Cherry said. “I need something easier than ‘Desperate
Housewives.'”
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