TCA Sneak Peek - Desperate Housewives

So how exactly do you make Eva Longoria look haggard and unglamorous? 

That’s one of the many unique challenges facing the producers of Desperate Housewives this upcoming season since the characters on Wisteria Lane have jumped five years into the future. 

“It is really hard to make Eva Longoria look bad,”  Housewives creator Marc Cherry told the assembled press at the TCAs this week.  “The problem was she wasn’t looking bad enough, so we said, ‘Take off all her make-up.’  They did and she looked like a twelve year old girl!”

The combined talents of the DH hair and make-up crew were marshaled for the nigh-impossible task, and with some fake split-ends, dark circles under the eyes, and some extra butt padding they transformed her into, well, a desperate housewife.

Longoria’s vain and chic character Gabrielle will have two little girls that are running her ragged.  Her husband Carlos is still blind (at least for part of the season anyway) and frankly, she’s just let herself go a little.

“Gabrielle has had two kids and she’s just had to let go of her vanity for the past five years,” Longoria explained.  As she was talking, she suddenly sneezed into the mike clipped to the neckline of her dress – that was LOUD.  It sounded like a T-Rex with hay fever.  I don’t know why that amused me so much, but it did.  I am a simple man.

Anyway, Longoria said that she really enjoyed the opportunity to play with a different aspect of her character’s personality.  A bonus for her was that she now had to spend a fraction of the time in hair and make-up every morning.

But not to worry, Cherry says.  “We’ll get her back to looking glamorous somewhere in the middle of the season.”

All the Housewives joined Marc Cherry and producer Bob Daly onstage at the TCAs to talk about how excited they were about the seismic changes to Wisteria Lane.  That was a heck of a lot of star power on one stage.

Marc Cherry did say that he felt the lifespan of Desperate Housewives was seven seasons and no longer. “I’ve made the decision that after seven years I will probably keel over in a hump and die,” Cherry said. “I love my baby, and I love working with these gals, but the idea of letting anybody else take the show from me makes me sad and sick to my stomach.  I’d rather just--” 

Suddenly ABC Entertainment President Stephen McPherson shouted out from the back of the ballroom, “Not gonna happen!  Not gonna happen!”

“This could just be some clever ruse on my part to get tremendous amounts of money in season eight,” Cherry said slyly.

What else is in store?  Well, Dana Delaney’s character Katherine Mayfair, having survived last season, is now a full-on member of the cast.  The fan reaction to her character was overwhelmingly positive and I’m not alone in thinking that she’s a fantastic addition to the show.  I mean, come on!  She’s Dana Delaney!

“We’ve had the best time with her and we’re all so grateful for the energy she brought to the show,” Cherry said.

Last season Edie left Wisteria Lane, but will she return?  Nicolette Sheridan’s presence onstage seemed to bode well for Edie’s return, and Cherry did confirm that she would be coming back.  Sheridan interrupted, blurting out, “It will be HOT.  So hot!”  Clearly she’s excited about where things are going for her character next season.

There will be some new men in the lives of the Housewives as well.  Gale Harold will play the new man in Susan’s life who was seen kissing her at the end of the fourth season.  But what happened to Mike?  Word on the street is that James Denton will return to the show, but that Mike and Susan are definitely broken up.  Details may be revealed via flashback… or maybe not.  Also joining the cast is steely-eyed actor Neil McDonough (pictured), who is moving on to the street with Edie.  McDonough’s unnamed character has sinister motives – Cherry said that he has “revenge on his mind.”  The object of his revenge?  Your guess is as good as mine.

The jump forward in time allows Cherry and the cast to explore some of the fundamental themes of the show.  “This was a chance for us to re-set,” Cherry said.  “The soap tends to build up and I wanted to get back to where we were that very first season where it was just the problems of some ordinary women.”  He admits to taking some inspiration from the time jump on LOST.  When LOST producer Carlton Cuse heard this, he cracked, “Next season he’ll have a polar bear on the show.”

How will they explain the gap between last season’s finale and the five year jump?  Cherry said that although they characters will talk about past events and there will be the occasional flashback as needed, but it won’t be overly explained.

Personally, I think the five-year jump is a brilliant and gutsy idea.  It’s nice to see a show like Desperate Housewives deliberately strike out into new territory but in a way that allows them to explore their core concept in a fresh new way.  Thumbs up for creators and actors who are willing to take risks – even if it does involve butt padding and bad hair.

--Dave Campbell

Comments

[brett]

great blog

[Colleen]

Anxious to see Gale Harold. He and Teri are great together

[Elleanna]

Yay!
I can't wait to see more of Dana!
In my opinion she helped the show greatly!