Desperate Housewives- Remember the infamous Vanity Fair drama?

The infamous article

Out of the five, who would have thought Longoria would have the most success post DH both personally and professionally?

R2 I would. She’s a hot Latina and that’s popular these days.

Marcia's head looks too big. How much airbrushing when into those arms and legs on all of them. Slim pins. I love Terri's stilettos.

At the time of the show, though, r2? Wasn't she the least known of the actresses? Being the youngest and most attractive of the bunch helped. I don't know about Marcia Cross, but the other three have had scandals and/or relationship nerouses/problems in their personal lives. She hasn't had any. And the hot Latino daddy husband!

Cosmopolitan, shot by Francesco Scavullo, 1984

R6 that has zero relevance to this

20 years ago now

God, only gpes to show tv is much better now. This was glorfied, badly written, soa

Thanks for posting OP, I can remember reading about this but I never read the actual article.

I always thought that Teri Hatcher was the diva and bitchy one behind the scenes, she comes across as the nicest one. Whilst Marcia Cross who was my favourite and who seemed really nice comes across as a complete cunt. It surprising just how quickly it all went to their heads given that for most of them this wasn’t their first time at the rodeo and they weren’t exactly spring chickens.

Teri Snatcher

I guess women really do hate other women.

OR this is an example of what happens when you don't pay all your co-leads equally.

That is the real problem r13 and was why Friends got along as well as they did. When you have 4-6 people doing basically the same work and you have one person making a lot more money than the others, it creates a huge feud for everyone.

Oh please. They didn’t all deserve the same pay. Especially for that first season. No one knew who Felicity or Eva were before this show. This is what made their careers what it became for a while.

Nicolette was a supporting role, as Edie was the neighborhood slut they all hated. She wasn’t part of the group until late season 1 when she forces Susan to start inviting her to their weekly poker games and even then she was still only with them here and there.

Marcia had a few soaps under her belt but Teri WAS the biggest star of the group in 2004 and was able to pull the biggest paycheck. Susan was the focus character during season 1 btw. It wasn’t until season 2 where they each got more equal screentime. Season 1 was heavily Susan.

They accepted the paycheck and signed on, don’t be upset after.

I read that once it became so popular and they were due to renegotiate their contracts, four of the actresses wanted to negotiate as a group to get mor money, like the Friends actors did, and Teri refused.

[quote] God, only gpes to show tv is much better now. This was glorfied, badly written, soa

It wasn't as badly written as your post.

The show was a fun dramedy primetime soap opera. I enjoyed it.

The men were hot. I crushed hard on Ricardo Antonio Chiavara.

How is felon Felicity Huffman doing these days?

Broadcast network piffle

That brought in much bigger ratings than your show SJP

Desperate Housewives season 1 averaged 23.7 million viewers a week and finished the season as the fourth most watched show of 2004-2005 season.

Season 2 averaged 21.7 million viewers a week

Season 3 averaged 17.5 million viewers a week

Season 4 averaged 17.9 million viewers a week

Season 5 averaged 14.8 million viewers a week

Season 6 averaged 12.8 million viewers a week

Season 7 averaged 11.8 million viewers a week

Season 8 averaged 9 million viewers a week.

The women were contracted for a season 9 but it got canceled.

[quote]I guess women really do hate other women.

There does seem to be a pattern in shows about groups of women. Either they all hate each other, or there is one that the rest of them hate and bully. When #1 on the call sheet is the most hated, you either have to suck it up or go rogue, but risk being ostracized by everyone else on set.

Sets with groups of guys don't seem to have these types of issues.

Because despite popular belief, men and women are very different. Men typically aren’t like that. Male culture is very different from female culture. But we like to pretend that it’s the same exact shit.

Gay male culture can be similar to female culture. But male culture as a whole isn’t like that. Most men, even if they don’t like each other, can work with each other and things are fine. Women can’t do the same.

I like that they're all wearing one piece swimsuits on the cover. Too much is exposed these days.

When Marcia Cross was on One Life To Live in 86-87, she caused a fuss over the undisputed star of the show (Erika) having it in her contract that she shoots all of her scenes first..

She always sounded like a total bitch to me.

Remember when we outed Marcia as a big ol’dyke and she had to refute it on The View?

Such a shame what happened to Felicity Hoffman when she got her Oscar nomination for playing a pre op tranny and used a prosthetic cock.

Imagine Laverne Cox's horror at seeing that scene! Laverne would have gagged.

But surely Felicity Hoffman shouldn't have been cancelled for that?

Why didn’t Jamie Denton get more work after this? He was easygoing, easy on the eyes, seemed to be an affable pro.

R29 you need help.

You know why she was canceled and it wasn’t for her Oscar nominated performance

Enough with the trolling

I suspect the marked lack of charisma had something to do with it.

[quote] Remember when we outed Marcia as a big ol’dyke and she had to refute it on The View?

added fun was Star Jones nodding knowingly about "that website"

R32 it’s because of her scamming the college to get her daughter in, same as Aunt Becky. They both went to prison for it.

This show shot its wad in the first season. Only other memorable episodes were the tornado and Laurie Metcalf terrorizing a supermarket.

Season 2 was awful. It got good again in the truncated, writer’s strike season, when we met Dana Delaney. Then it went to shit again. Killing Edie off was stupid-Marc Cherry had to know Nicollette Sheridan wasn’t easy to work with, and yet, he hired her.

Marc Cherry was quite full of himself. Is he still around?

I enjoyed Desperate Housewives and especially loved the series where a new family moved in to Wisteria Lane with a dark and mysterious secret.

R38 that was almost every season… lol.

Season 2 Alfre Woodard and her two sons move in and have a dark secret. She’s only around for that one season. A lot of people take issue with their storyline.

Season 4 was Dana Delaney and her daughter and husband and they have a dark secret.

Why should Marc Cherry have known Nicolette was difficult to work with? It’s not like she was working nonstop after Knots and a lot of time had passed. It had been a decade between shows. She was allegedly impossible to deal with (and she had that reputation while on Knots too) so he sent her a message by killing her off the show. He said the show won’t be able to continue with the main 4, but she was expendable and replaceable. Then she sued and lost.

[quote] Marc Cherry was quite full of himself.

I was full of him too.

Cherry isn’t gay if you believe what Sheridan claims, claiming he sexually harassed her. She lost that case though.

He’s gayer than a spring Ungaro frock! And a log cabin repug to boot.

That Vanity Fair article is fascinatingly gossipy. It makes Marcia Cross sound like a real pill.

Teri Hatcher's cunt antics were legendary. They wrote a whole season where she moved off Wisteria Lane so she wouldn't have to interact with the other women. Then there was the crew gifts from all the original ladies (plus Vanessa Williams, always a class act) minus Teri. I distinctly remember a later scene where the women talked to Teri and it was painfully obvious it was an over-the-shoulder shot of a standin, with cutaways to Teri without the women. She must have been a true cunt.

She wasnt a cunt. They were just jealous.

This article gives a clear indication on who the issue was and it wasn’t Teri. It was the others about Teri.

Teri really had only one cast member who was a friend, Twin Peaks "log lady" Kathryn Joosten.

[quote]Teri really had only one cast member who was a friend, Twin Peaks "log lady" Kathryn Joosten.

Really? In her last-days interview with the Television Academy, Kathryn was blunt and said she didn't care for any of the women.

Teri Hatcher was a Bond girl you know, alongside two Oscar winners. If Teri wins an Oscar then Tomorrow Never Dies will be the first Bond film to star 3 Oscar winners, provided no other living Bond actors win one before her.

I would have let so many of the men of Wisteria Lane cum in my mouth

Kathryn Joosten was the fan favorite actress and her character is the most beloved with DH fans. We aren’t gonna try talking shit about her. She was amazing as Karen.

And she made it clear she didn’t like any of the women

The late Kathryn Joosten, who played the curmudgeonly Mrs McCluskey on the series, also expressed some views on the dynamic between the main cast and others on set.

“In terms of their friendliness, [the cast were] friendly when you're right in their face,” she noted, before offering some praise to Hatcher for her conduct.

“Out of all of them, Teri was probably the friendliest to me. When I threw that Christmas-birthday party for the crew, Teri's the only one that contributed, and I thought that was very nice of her. She made a very nice contribution.”

R16 and rightfully so. The women were bitches to Teri from the start and bitter that the show was sold as a Teri Hatcher vehicle. When the show was being promoted it was “starring Teri Hatcher”. She was the shows star. Marcia had her Melrose moment under her belt but this was what made her a name. Most people didn’t know Felicity and no one knew Eva. Nicolette was a supporting character and always called “the 5th housewife” because she was literally #5 and it had been over a decade since Knots.

Felicity and Eva straight up tried sabotaging Teri for this photoshoot and Marcia was a monster while shooting it, yelling and cursing out the workers like they were beneath her, storming off set and even crying because she wasn’t getting her way. Felicity and Marcia drove everyone on that set nuts to the point they put them on the inner fold of the cover, so you don’t even see them unless you open the cover and pull them out.

Teri was supposed to stand in the middle and they all threw such big tantrums. In the end Nicolette, who wasn’t part of their drama (this time) was placed in the middle standing behind Eva. It was supposed to be Teri.

The women were mad at Teri for not wanting to renegotiate their pay as a group but before season 5 started filming and they were renegotiating, Nicolette wanted to join forces with Eva, Felicity and Marcia for a raise and they blocked her out from it. Nicolette ended up not getting a raise for season 5 because they feared it would harm them from getting even bigger raises.

When Ricardo (who played Carlos) came to Eva about negotiating with the women so he can get a pay raise (the men all made much less than the women on this show, something that goes against the whole pay gap bullshit argument) she straight up told him no, that he needs to fend for himself. However, Felicity was kind enough to take a pay cut at some point so Doug (who played Tom) could get a pay raise. So there is that.

Oh, and Felicity, Marcia and Eva all testified against Nicolette during her legal battle against Marc Cherry. Teri didnt testify. Those three testified for Marc after Nicolette sued him for wrongful termination and retaliation, after screwing her over while she was working there too.

Oh, and during Felicity’s trial Ricardo called out both Felicity and Eva for abusing their privilege while working on that show, for being terrible to him and others, and said that the set had strong racist vibes, and he was treated very different from the other men working on the show and Eva was part of the problem.

Ricardo sounds like a bitch.

Marc Cherry revealing Eva and Felicity were relieved when Nicolette was fired.

Like I said, you all can keep jumping on the “Teri was evil bitch” bandwagon but it’s all bullshit. Eva, Felicity and Marcia were the real monsters, especially Felicity and Eva.

R53 he sounds like a bitch for wanting a pay raise and calling out the women for mistreating people? You sound like an uneducated GROWN MAN who still has no job…OH WAIT….

Eva speaking about “a man” (it was Ricardo) asking her to back him up on getting a pay raise and her refusing. She claims she refused to help him in the name of feminism. Seriously.

R52 If I remember correctly, Ricardo said he saw the womens privilege play out for all 8 years he was on the show and said accountability and responsibility don’t mean shit to those people. He said they were awful and I believe he was even referred to as a “half-breed” by someone on set. He also made the least of the husbands on the show despite being there since day 1.

Marc Cherry also put Nicolette on blast and said she called Teri the meanest woman when in reality Nicolette herself was the most problematic cast member and insanely difficult to work with to the point it was unreasonable.

That is the same reputation she had on Knots and later the Dynasty reboot, where, wait for it… she got fired from.

[quote]R57 I believe Ricardo S. Chavira was even referred to as a “half-breed” by someone on set.

DESPERATE HALF-BREEDS could be a good spinoff?

Cher could do a guest spot. Plus theme song, natch.

I believe Ricardo Chavira because he’s hot, and those actresses were all cunts because they weren’t able to eat solid food for 8 seasons.

My daughter went to Brown (and I didn't have to go to prison to get her in.)

From what I’ve read, Drea de Matteo was only contracted for the sixth season, but Cherry tried to persuade her to sign on for more after Dana Delaney left. Matteo refused because she hated it there.

R62 Matteo only signed on because it was a one season role. Her character was only meant to be there for one season, same as the actor who played Edie’s husband in season 5 or Alfre Woodard and her family in season 2. All of them signed on knowing they were one season characters and a part of that seasons mystery.

Dana Delaney was kept around but she should have just been a one season role as they didnt know what to do with her in seasons 5 and 6.

Delaney didn’t leave. Cherry decided it was time for her character to leave. They had nothing to do with her.

R63 Oh, I thought Delaney left to do “Body of Proof”.

R64 her character was being written out. She took the role because she was already leaving.

[quote]...Vanity Fair swooped in the ladies for this iconic front-page photoshoot...

[quote]The infamous article

Has Japan attacked the American fleet?

Fucking hell, are you a 10-year-old girl who just learned the words "iconic" and "infamous"? Next week: J words!

It's a thoroughly typical set of Vanity Fair photos. You would find the same sort of photos in one or more features in every issue of VF for years on end.

R66 wow. You’re slow.

[quote]r63 Matteo only signed on because it was a one season role.

She was that eager for her career to be over?

At the wrap party for the last season the crew got a set of luggage as a farewell gift. The card was signed by Felicity, Marcia, Eva and Vanessa Williams who was on the final 2 seasons. Teri wouldn’t/didnt contribute anything towards the gifts.

R69 because they didn’t inform her they were doing this.

We are aware Vanessa Williams was on the show.

Vanessa only keeps in touch with Teri, and only Teri was invited to her wedding. The other women weren’t.

Vanessa has also spoken against the season 2 Applewhites storyline in recent years, after finally starting to watch the show. She stopped watching after season 2 because of how distasteful she found it, and how the shows only black family were pretty much stereotyped and one of them was kept locked in the basement chained up.

Correct r70. Vanessa is close with Teri.

Teri is close to Vanessa, Andrea (who played her daughter Julie) and James Denton (who played Mike). She is close friends with James and his wife.

Kathryn Joosten made it clear Teri was the only one who would talk to her between takes and was very friendly and kind to her. The other three wouldn’t even look her in the eye.

R68 she joined during the shows 6th season. I don’t think she was looking to be a late arrival mainstay, but liked the idea of being a one season character. Dana Delaney was supposed to be a one season character (her family was the mystery of season 4) but they decided to keep her around longer and she had almost nothing to do seasons 5 and 6, besides become obsessed with Mike to the point she goes insane, work for Bree and then go lesbian for a few episodes before leaving. There were numerous episodes her character doesn’t even appear in.

Drea said she was told to stay out of the feud between the other ladies when she joined. She also said she was far removed from those women and they picked up that she’s not someone to fuck with pretty quickly so they left her alone lol.

I remember Drea, an Italian-American born and raised in Queens, saying she agreed to do the one season IF it was just one season. She was willing to do the show for that one year but not willing to do it for more. She wanted to do the season then go back home in NY to continue her life. She didn’t wanna have to relocate to LA.

Nicolette was only supposed to be in a couple of episodes then never seen nor heard from again. I believe she was supposed to die in the house fire of season 1, but Marc Cherry liked her so much as Edie as he watched the pilot back that he decided to promote her to series regular and keep her around.

He planned on killing her off during season 5 and told Eva and Felicity he was killing her off during the 100th episode celebration party to shut them up because they kept complaining about her potentially fighting for a raise and ruining their chances at even more money. He told them before he told her.

Marcia has manly hips..

Drea, meow!

[QUOTE]I felt like I let Marc Cherry down,’ she continued. ‘I felt like I wasn’t… I mean, watching Marcia Cross work was one of my favorite things on the planet. I loved that she was unapologetically Botoxed to the nines and she could perform her balls off without ever moving a muscle in her face.

I never believed the "Teri is the only evil one" narrative. Teri's career arc reveals a striking emotional trajectory. In her early roles, particularly in Lois & Clark, she was not only a lead but a dynamic center—critics and colleagues alike noted that she “carried the show". I felt an open, agile screen presence and a strong rapport with co-stars. Teri was for years a delight on talk shows - projecting genuine warmth and charisma as she easily matched hosts with wit and grace. Yet by the late 1990s and 2000s, reports from her stage work (Cabaret) and from the Desperate Housewives set described her as emotionally closed-off or isolated. In 2006 came the public disclosure of childhood sexual abuse—a trauma she had long kept private, which likely shaped her capacity for sustained interpersonal trust in high-pressure environments. In recent years, however, her return to the California stage in The Addams Family and her public media presence suggest a late-career serenity. Not a return to old openness, but a more grounded, authentic engagement—warmer, still witty, but now unmistakably her own. In any event, she never ever seemed like a bitch or cunt, unlike the vibes I occasionally got from a couple of her DH co-stars.

Whatever Teri’s issues, it’s admirable she’s adopted a “what happened on set, stays on set” attitude.

R58 Yeah, I want to find out what happened with Nicolette on Dynasty. She arrived with much fanfare but was gone a year later. The “sick mother” angle sounded very PR, a way for her to save face.

Some of the cast, while never saying anything straight out (they probably aren’t allowed to) have hinted she was difficult

I finally read the infamous article. I wonder if Marcia Cross had the self-awareness to be embarrassed once it came out. Her career went into rapid decline after DH, so I guess she became the new Nicolette.