Desperate Housewives - Season 4
The series continues to focus on Wisteria Lane residents Susan Delfino, Lynette Scavo, Bree Hodge, Gabrielle Solis and Edie Britt, with Mary Alice Young returning as the series' narrator. Katherine Mayfair and her family are introduced in this season and are the center of the season's mystery. Critical reception for the season was positive,[3] and ratings increased from the third season. The series drew in an average of 17.9 million viewers per episode during the 2007-08 American television season, becoming the sixth most-watched program of the year and the most-watched scripted program for the first time.
Desperate Housewives - Season 4
Joe Keenan, one of the three executive producers during the third season, as well as writer of the critically acclaimed season episode "Bang", did not return for season four as executive producer, but as consulting producer.[6]Replacing Keenan, and joining Marc Cherry and George W. Perkins as executive producers, is season three writer and co-executive producer Bob Daily, whose previous work include sitcoms Frasier and Out of Practice, as well as cartoon series Rugrats. Keenan will serve as Cherry's second-in-command for the next two years. Also joining as executives producers are writers and former co-executive producers John Pardee and Joey Murphy who have been on the show since its first season.[7]
The fourth season had twelve roles receiving star billing. All eleven starring actors from the previous season returned for this season. The series is narrated by Brenda Strong, who portrays the deceased Mary Alice Young, as she observes from beyond the grave the lives of the Wisteria Lane residents and her former best friends. Teri Hatcher portrayed Susan Delfino, who is finally married after three seasons searching for a stable relationship. Felicity Huffman portrayed Lynette Scavo, who fights cancer during the first half of the season and deals with her step-daughter's behavior in the second half. Marcia Cross portrayed Bree Hodge, married for the second time and faking pregnancy in an attempt to protect her daughter. Eva Longoria portrayed former model Gabrielle Lang, now the wife of Fairview's mayor. Nicollette Sheridan portrayed Edie Britt, who faked suicide in the previous season finale. Ricardo Antonio Chavira portrayed Carlos Solis, now divorced from Gabrielle but still in love with her while involved in a relationship with Edie. Andrea Bowen portrayed Julie Mayer, the responsible and caring daughter of Susan. Doug Savant portrayed Tom Scavo, Lynette's husband and now owner of a pizzeria. Kyle MacLachlan portrayed Orson Hodge, Bree's second husband and the man that ran over Mike in the second season finale. James Denton portrayed Mike Delfino, now Susan's husband who starts using drugs. Dana Delany is introduced in the role of Katherine Mayfair, whose mysterious arc is the season's main storyline.[8]
Five out of six actors who received "also starring" billing from the previous season returned. Shawn Pyfrom, portrayed Bree's gay son Andrew Van de Kamp. Lyndsy Fonseca was cast in the new role of Dylan Mayfair, Katherine's daughter and part of the season's mystery.[9] Joy Lauren reappeared in the role of Danielle Van de Kamp, Bree's pregnant daughter. Brent Kinsman, Shane Kinsman and Zane Huett, played Preston Scavo, Porter Scavo and Parker Scavo, Lynette's troublesome children. Rachel Fox was promoted to regular after guest starring in several episodes in the previous season as Kayla Huntington Scavo, Tom's mischievous daughter and the result of an affair he had before meeting Lynette.
This season featured many established and new guest stars. Kathryn Joosten portrayed Karen McCluskey, one of the most prominent residents of Wisteria Lane, Richard Burgi appeared as Karl Mayer, Susan's ex-husband who is also married again, Pat Crawford Brown played elderly neighbor Ida Greenberg, whereas Tuc Watkins and Kevin Rahm made their debut in this season respectively as Bob Hunter and Lee McDermott, a gay couple from Chicago who move to the lane.[10] Part of Lynette's storyline were Polly Bergen in the role of Stella Wingfield, Lynette's mother who moves to the Scavo family home to support her daughter in her battle against cancer, and Jason Gedrick playing Rick Coletti, who had feelings for Lynette in the previous season and now opens his own restaurant to compete with the Scavo Pizzeria. Part of Bree's storyline were Shirley Knight returning as Phyllis Van de Kamp, Bree's first mother-in-law, and Dakin Matthews appearing as Reverend Sykes, reverend at the local Presbyterian church. Part of Gabrielle's storyline were John Slattery playing Victor Lang, Gabrielle's new husband and the mayor of Fairview, Mike Farrell in the role of Milton Lang, Victor's father, Jeff Doucette portraying Father Crowley, priest at the local Catholic church, Justine Bateman playing Ellie Leonard, a drug dealer who rents a room in the Solises' house, and Jesse Metcalfe reappearing as John Rowland, Gabrielle's ex-lover and former gardener. Part of the main mystery arc were Nathan Fillion portraying Adam Mayfair, a doctor and Katherine's second husband,[11] Ellen Geer appearing as Lillian Simms, Katherine's aunt, Melora Walters playing Sylvia Greene, Adam's former patient and ex-lover from Chicago, and Gary Cole in the role of Wayne Davis, a cop and Katherine's abusive first husband. Additionally, Gale Harold was introduced as Susan's new lover Jackson Braddock during the five-year jump featured at the end of the season.
For the 14th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards, Fillion, Joosten and Slattery were nominated along with the rest of the main cast for the Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series award due to their many appearances this season.[12]
Season four was met with critical acclaim. Adam Geller of Rotten Tomatoes wrote "While the last two seasons of Desperate Housewives definitely suffered to live up to season one's standards (especially season two), season four improved not only from seasons two and three, but also from the critically acclaimed first. Delivering great storylines such as Bree's fake pregnancy, Lynette's cancer, Gaby's affair and even Susan's real pregnancy, season four was considered a vast improvement.
The late season start in the United Kingdom was because of the strike. Channel 4 intended to begin showing season 4 in January, but it did not want to begin showing the season, only to have to take a break halfway through because of lack of episodes available.
As E4 is one episode ahead of Channel 4, but does not air the season premiere before the host channel, E4 did not begin airing the new season until four days later on March 30. Episodes after this were aired on E4 three days before the Channel 4 airing, with the exception of "Sunday", which was treated as a season premiere.
Plot Synopsis: Several residents of Wisteria Lane are faced with deadly threats when Katherine's ex-husband wants to see his daughter again. Susan realizes she will soon lose her daughter when she goes off to college early, and Katherine Mayfair's secrets are finally revealed. In the closing moments of the season finale, the show flashed ahead five years, which brought many surprising changes in the lives of the Housewives.
ABC's hit series Desperate Housewives aired for eight seasons; however, season 4 was cut short due to an unexpected challenge with the show's production. Desperate Housewives followed the mysteries and stories of four housewives in the fictional town of Wisteria told through the eyes of their deceased neighbor Mary Alice. The series began in 2004 and ran for several seasons before concluding in 2012.
During its long run on television, Desperate Housewives' eight seasons became an immediate success and cultural phenomenon. Its combination of female-led suburbia stories and dark mystery undertones led audiences to not only enjoy the series but, at times, relate to it as well. While the show covered macabre topics of murder and affairs, other parts of the series, such as problems of substance abuse and motherhood, spoke to viewers more intimately. Unfortunately, despite the show's success, the fourth season did not receive the typical 23 episodes that Desperate Housewives typically generated and instead had 17.
Desperate Housewives season 4 had fewer episodes than the previous and following seasons because of the 2007 writer's strike. During the fall of 2007, Desperate Housewives' behind-the-scenes production of season 4 had to be put on hold because the series' creators and writers decided to strike against the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers. Desperate Housewives was the first major network show to be negatively affected due to the strike.
Although the writer's strike made Desperate Housewives season 4 different from other seasons, the change might have been good. Despite being cut down, the season still had 17 episodes which, by 2023 standards, is an overwhelming amount. Most series that air these days have an average of eight to ten episodes, which is far more binge-able but also improves the storytelling. A show with too many episodes often has filler episodes or dragging storylines. Therefore, the series cut down on useless storylines and forced writers to use their allotted time more wisely because of the lessened load in episodes in Desperate Housewives season 4.
Desperate Housewives season 4 may have had fewer episodes than the rest of the series, but this didn't hurt the show in the slightest. On the contrary, the difference benefited the series and gave a sneak peek at the future structure of television. If Desperate Housewives were made in 2023, it probably would look much different from the original series and, potentially, could parallel what was seen in Desperate Housewives season 4.
While those who've watched all eight seasons of this captivating program might be familiar with the characters and storylines, Desperate Housewives contains many hidden details that only true fans would have known about. How many of the below had you already noticed? 041b061a72