‘Desperate Housewives’ Prequel Series & Wisteria Lane as a Character Addressed by Creator Marc Cherry

A trip back to Wisteria Lane might be in the cards if creator Marc Cherry has his way. Fresh off the series celebrating its 20th anniversary last month, the Desperate Housewives creator is revealing that he would love to revisit the series, but he would want to do it during a completely different era and to be able to write a very specific character again.

During a chat with People, Cherry revealed that he would love to do a Desperate Housewives prequel series set in the ’60s. The Emmy-nominated showrunner said, “I would probably want to do the idea maybe in an earlier decade. Because the character I miss writing the most is Wisteria Lane. That was the most fun playground anyone in the history of television has ever had, because we owned the whole street.”

Desperate Housewives ran from 2004 to 2012, and it was pretty popular throughout much of its run, becoming a ratings hit and a TV awards favorite. Talk of a reboot has been discussed in un-serious terms by some of the series stars, with Eva Longoria, who played Gabrielle Sollis, saying in 2023 that she would be one of the first to sign on for a reboot if it were to happen, although she believed that some of the show’s themes might be too taboo today, while Teri Hatcher, who portrayed Susan Mayer, believed a reboot would never happen. When asked if there was a specific moment in the ’60s that he would like to tackle, Cherry stated that a trip back to 1966 would be his top choice.

“I know that street like the back of my hand. When someone shoots a commercial on that street, I know it instantly, because I know all those houses, I know the geography. It was such a fun place to write for. And there’s times I go, ‘You know what? I wonder if I could write Wisteria Lane in like, 1966.”

Desperate Housewives Was One of The Biggest TV Hits of Its Era

Desperate Housewives served as a dark comedy with a mix of drama that was set in the fictional town of Fairview on Wisteria Lane. The series followed the lives of a group of women and their stories were told through the lens of their friend and neighbor who commits suicide in the first episode. Over eight seasons and 180 episodes, the show chronicled fifteen years of their lives told through present stories, flashbacks and flashforwards. The show featured a large ensemble cast that included Teri Hatcher, Felicity Huffman, Marcia Cross, Eva Longoria, Nicollette Sheridan, Dana Delany, Vanessa Williams, Brenda Strong, Ricardo Chavira, Jesse Metcalfe, James Denton, Doug Savant and many more.

The show was a ratings juggernaut and represented one of the last few series to truly see ratings of its kind, with its first five seasons rating among the top ten most-watched series. The show was also a worldwide hit, with the series hitting a peak in 2007 of 120 million viewers globally. In addition to high ratings, the show also received several accolades, including winning multiple Primetime Emmy, Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild Awards across its eight-season run.

The show wasn’t without its drama, with rumors that some of the cast didn’t get along with Sheridan and the series’ star, Hatcher. A long-running series is sometimes destined for that kind of behind-the-scenes drama and intrigue, but Cherry admits if he did a reboot now, he would be coming from a place of knowing much more than he did twenty years ago. The creator said, “I feel like if I ever got a chance to do that show again, I’d be better at the job. I learned so much.” However, no matter what happens, Cherry knows that they would need a great artistic reason to really make it happen.

“If you do a reboot, you have to have a really good artistic reason to do it. And at some point, I’ll sit down with someone and go, ‘Okay, let’s talk about if there’s a good enough “why” to do it.”

Release Date

October 3, 2004

Seasons

8