This serialized comedy-drama was one of the biggest hits of its era. The housewives of Wisteria Lane, a pleasant little cul-de-sac of picket fences and manicured lawns in the quiet suburban town of Fairview, faced a mystery. One of them, Mary Alice Young (Brenda Strong), had put a gun to her head and committed suicide. Four of her friends set about to find out why. Susan Mayer (Teri Hatcher) was a divorced single mom and a children’s book illustrator who was raising a bright teenage daughter named Julie (Andrea Bowen) who was always trying to fix her up. Lynette Scavo (Felicity Huffman) was a high-powered advertising executive who had put her career on hold in order to raise her four rambunctious kids, including a baby. The young boys, Preston (Brent Kinsman), Porter (Shane Kinsman) and Parker (Zane Huett), were adorable little hell-raisers who were barely under control and amiable dad Tom (Doug Savant) was no help. Bree Van De Kamp (Marcia Cross) on the other hand, was a fussy, uptight Stepford Mom, a control freak who maintained the image of domestic calm but with roiling waters just beneath the surface. Her frustrated husband Rex (Steven Culp) wanted a divorce and her two teenage kids, Andrew (Shawn Pyfrom) and Danielle (Joy Lauren) were on the verge of open rebellion. The fourth wife Gabrielle “Gabby” Solis (
Eva Longoria Parker) was a glamorous former model married to suave but shady businessman Carlos Solis (Ricardo Chavira); she loved to spoil herself and live the good life off his wealth, although having come from a poor background she was pretty sensible underneath.
Rounding out the picture were sexy neighborhood flirt Edie Britt (
Nicollette Sheridan), a real estate agent who had many liaisons, Mary Alice’s secretive husband Paul Young (Mark Moses) and troubled teenage son Zach (Cody Kasch) and newly arrived bachelor Mike Delfino (James Denton), ostensibly a plumber – but was he really?
The first season was filled with intertwined, over-the-top stories. Susan accidentally burned down Edie’s house as she and Edie vied for Mike’s affections. Gabby had an affair with hunky young gardener John Rowland (Jesse Metcalfe), while Bree was pursued by creepy pharmacist George Williams (Roger Bart) who ultimately poisoned Rex. Lynette dealt with the kids and inept husband Tom’s career and Paul strangled nosy Mrs. Huber when she started poking into his murky background and uncovered the reason for Mary Alice’s suicide (Paul and Mary Alice had bought baby Zach from an addict; when the addict tried to take the baby back Mary Alice had killed her and Paul had buried the body).
In the second season Lynette went back to work at ad agency Parcher & Murphy, leaving Tom to become Mr. Mom; she later found out he had a love child from years earlier by Nora. Widow Bree dated George Williams (Roger Bart), until he committed suicide and later threw angry gay son Andrew out of the house. Susan was in competition with Edie for both Mike and Karl Mayer (Richard Burgi); this time Edie burned down Susan’s house. Carlos was sent to prison for fraud, but emerged to have an affair with cranky maid Xiao Mei (Gwendoline Yeo), who became his and Gabby’s surrogate when Gabby was unable to have a child. Mrs. Huber’s sister Felicia Tilman (Harriet Sansom Harris) arrived to cause trouble for Paul, who was sent to prison for murder; Zach inherited a fortune from his biological grandfather Noah (after turning off the old man’s respirator) and abandoned his faux father Paul. Probably the strangest story of the season, however, involved concert pianist Betty Applewhite (Page Kennedy), who moved in during the dead of night with her handsome, devoted son Matthew (Mehcad Brooks); strange noises from her basement turned out to be another son, mentally impaired Caleb (Nashawn Kearse), whom she thought had killed someone. It turned out Matthew was the murderer and when he was shot she left Fairview.
The third season brought another creep for Bree, a dentist named Orson Hodge (Kyle MacLachlan) whom she married but who was thought to be a murderer. It turned out to be his maniacal mother Gloria who had killed his former lover. Susan moved on to Ian Hainsworth (Dougray Scott), whose wife was dying. Lynette and Tom adopted Tom’s love child Kayla after Nora died in a shootout and Tom opened a pizzeria. Edie’s 18-year-old nephew Austin moved in and had affairs with both Julie and Danielle. Gabby and Carlos did not get a child (Xiao-Mei was carrying someone else’s) and divorced, after which Gabby was pursued by – of all people – Zach, who was now a billionaire. In the season finale she married scheming Mayor Victor Lang (John Slattery) and later the same day Susan and Mike were married in an impromptu ceremony.
In the fourth season Katherine Mayfair (Dana Delaney) and her family had moved to Wisteria Lane after twelve years away; Lynette was battling cancer; the newlywed Gabrielle started an affair with her ex-husband Carlos; Susan and Mike were expecting a child; and Bree faked a pregnancy with plans to raise her daughter's illegitimate child as her own. Lee McDermott (Kevin Rahm) and Bob Hunter (Tuc Watkins) – a gay couple from Chicago moved in next door to Susan. In the season finale Katherine's psychotic, cop, ex-husband killed and was then killed. Then the story flashed forward five years: Bree was a successful cookbook writer whose son worked for her, Gabrielle had children, Lynette's twins were teenagers, and Susan had a new lover Brian Kinney (Gale Harold) — leaving the viewing audience wondering what had happened to Mike?
Season five (2008 – 2009) continued where season four had left off - 5 years in the future, with flashbacks to events between the two periods. Edie Britt's new husband, Dave Williams (Neal McDonough), was out for revenge on Mike Delfino. Susan was a single mother in love with Jackson (Gale Harold). Lynette and Tom’s son had an affair with a married woman whose husband's nightclub burned down with all of Wisteria Lane's neighbors inside. Bree and Orson were going through marital issues and Orson started stealing from neighbors. The upside to his thievery was that he saw Edie running from her home when she found out that Dave was planning to kill Mike and his loved ones; Edie swerved to avoid hitting him, crashing into an electric pole and died of electrocution (she didn’t get to reveal that Dave moved to Fairview for revenge on Mike for having killed his wife and daughter). Susan later told Dave that she, not Mike, was driving the car the night that a woman and child ran a Stop sign (the sign had fallen over). Dave's attitude towards seeking revenge changed after that.
In the 100th episode, Eli Scruggs (Beau Bridges) appeared as the rather mysterious handyman who died while working on Susan Mayer’s roof. Through a series of flashbacks it was discovered that he had an important role in all of the ladies' lives. The season ended with a wedding taking place and the bride was not shown.
The sixth season (2009 – 2010) opened with the wedding that season 5 ended with and showed Mike marrying Susan while Lynette was struggling with the idea of another set of twins; Anna had an affair with Karl. Angie Bolen (Drea de Matteo), who had a dark past had moved to Wisteria Lane. Susan was determined to warn everyone that Danny Bolen was a dangerous kid and his mother Angie was doing all she could to protect him and got Porter to throw a party for him. Juanita swore during a school play, which led to the school principal (Marianne Muellerleile) and Gabrielle having a confrontation and Juanita was expelled from school. Gabrielle then worked at getting Juanita into Catholic school . Lynette learned that her husband was cheating.
All of these stories were played with such a wink-and-a-nod as to resemble comedy more than traditional soap opera and although there was no laugh track, the light tinkly music gave the show an appropriately irreverent tone.
Brenda Strong (Mary Alice Young) was the show's main narrator.
The show is a multiple Emmy,
Golden Globe Award and Screen Actors Guild Award winner.
