Template:Fast Facts


 * Before Touchstone offered Desperate Housewives to ABC, in the original pilot, Mary Alice Young was played by Sheryl Lee; Gardener John by Kyle Searles; and Rex Van de Kamp by Michael Reilly Burke. Lee was replaced by Brenda Strong; both had played regular roles as dead people before, Strong on Everwood and Lee on Twin Peaks. Strong also guest starred in two Twin Peaks episodes during their second season. Also, in the original pilot, when the camera is pulling away from the housewives after they found the note, there is a ghost of Mary Alice standing on her lawn looking at them.


 * Opening credits contain references to famous pieces of art, including Adam and Eve by Lucas Cranach the Elder, The Arnolfini Portrait by Jan van Eyck, American Gothic by Grant Wood, and Andy Warhol's Campbell's soup can. Also alluded to are the lesser known Couple Arguing and Romantic Couple by Robert Dale (drawn in a comic book style similar to that of Roy Lichtenstein) and a 1940s "Am I Proud!" poster by Dick Williams (showing a woman holding cans).


 * A majority of the episode titles are derived from songs by Stephen Sondheim: they include Every Day a Little Death, You Could Drive A Person Crazy, The Ladies Who Lunch, Your Fault, Don't Look At Me, It Wasn't Meant To Happen, No One Is Alone, and Children Will Listen.


 * Oscar-nominated British actress Miranda Richardson turned down a year-long stint in the second season of the show because "it snowballed into something that would be so disruptive", after producer Marc Cherry created a character for her, weeks after meeting her at the 2005 Golden Globe Awards. The character she was set to play was Bree's sister, inspired because of the visual resemblance between Richardson and Marcia Cross.


 * The show's set is on the Universal Studios backlot and has been used for decades in many TV and movie productions to represent a typical American suburban neighborhood. It includes the houses used in The Munsters and the 1989 film The Burbs. A photograph of the set (prior to production or filming on the show *picture believed to be taken late 2003-2004 seeing as the set does not match the set of Wysteria Lane) is available from Microsoft Corporation's Windows Live Local service.


 * Charles Pratt, Jr., former head writer of ABC's successful daytime soap General Hospital, is a consulting producer on the series.


 * Before the start of season 2, Eva Longoria and Jesse Metcalfe were Punk'd by Ashton Kutcher and his crew members. (Metcalfe appeared on Punk'd twice)


 * In the middle of the first season, there was a special on CBS, which showed families that lived on the real Wisteria Lane, in Wantagh, Long Island. The "desperate housewives" appeared on the cover of Newsday, and on the cover of the newspaper in England. These people stated that "some people take drugs, some people aren't always sane, and that's very different than what you see on the TV show." Another person stated that "it's a funny show, but I don't want their problems."


 * By the end of the first season, all the housewives were nominated for both a Golden Globe and Emmy with the exception of Eva Longoria. Longoria responded with a skit in the Emmys with Ellen DeGeneres mocking her situation.  The following year all four were nominated for the Golden Globe for Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series - Musical or Comedy.  None took it home, though.


 * At a 2005 dinner for White House correspondents First Lady Laura Bush famously quipped "I am married to the President of the United States, and here's our typical evening: Nine o'clock, Mr. Excitement here is sound asleep, and I'm watching Desperate Housewives — with Lynne Cheney."


 * Page Kennedy was fired from Desperate Housewives in November of 2005, because, as he understood, the writers "wanted to go in a different direction." It transpired in fact that Kennedy had flashed his genitals intentionally to two female cast members. Kennedy was replaced by NaShawn Kearse who took over the role of Caleb. During the broadcast of episode 30 "Color and Light", Kennedy was blurred out during his scenes. Whether this was a last minute change by the producers or how it was originally conceived, the episode marked the final appearance of Kennedy. Scenes from episodes 31 "The Sun Won't Set" and 33 "Coming Home" were reshot with Kearse. Reshot scenes from episode 33 "Coming Home" were originally planned for episode 32 "That's Good, That's Bad". Kennedy told TV Guide in April 2006 that "[Caleb] looks like he is more creepy now as opposed to how [Kennedy] was trying to play him."


 * The entire first season appeared for the first time on China's state-run CCTV8 in 7 days with 3 episodes being shown per night. Episodes were cut down and toned down to be less racy, by order of the Communist Party of China.


 * An Argentine version of the show is currently in production and it will start filming on May 8th. Spanish versions of the show will air in Argentina, Colombia and Ecuador, and a Portuguese version will air in Brazil. It will be on Argentina's small screen after the Football World Cup, on Canal 13.


 * Marcia Cross originally auditioned for the role of Mary Alice Young, but instead got the role of Bree Van de Kamp. Nicollette Sheridan (Edie) originally auditioned for the role of Bree, but Marc Cherry said it himself "She's a terrible Bree."


 * Calista Flockhart, Heather Locklear, and Mary-Louise Parker were considered for the role of Susan. Courteney Cox was also considered for the role of Susan but Marc Cherry didn't ask her because she was at the time pregnant with her daughter Coco.


 * Miranda Richardson turned down a significant guest part in the second season of the show.


 * When Susan fell into the cake in episode 1-5 Come In, Stranger, actress Teri Hatcher broke two ribs.


 * Buena Vista Games have recently announced a computer game based on Desperate Housewives, in which Brenda Strong reprises the role of the disembodied voice of Mary Alice Young. The game is due in September 2006 for Windows (XP or higher) computers, and conveniently deals with murder, blackmail, stealing, love and even husband-stealing. There were reports that Teri Hatcher is being paid $1 Million dollars US to lend her voice as Susan Mayer for the PC game, but there is no actual evidence to support this, especially considering her salary per episode.


 * In a reversal of the previous season, in the 2005-2006 season, none of the leading housewives nor the show itself was nominated for an Emmy award, although Alfre Woodard received a nomination for best supporting actress in a comedy.