‘Desperate Housewives’ And The Dreaded Season Four Fallout

Today marks the 10th anniversary of the premiere of the Desperate Housewives on ABC. Five frenemy neighbors — Susan (Teri Hatcher), Lynette (Felicity Huffman), Bree (Marcia Cross), Edie (Nicollette Sheridan), and Gabby (Eva Longoria) — begin to uncover darker truths within their picturesque neighborhood after the shocking suicide of their neighbor, Mary Alice Young (Brenda Strong). Ten years later, we’re analyzing what made the series so great, where it failed, and why it fell to the familiar fate of not knowing when to call it quits.

After fighting for its life to get on the air, Desperate Housewives, took primetime by storm. I distinctly remember my mom begging my father to watch with us. What other Sunday night plans did we have while waiting for the next season of The Sopranos? After a couple of weeks of waving his hand and writing it off as a silly soap for the ladies, he too, caved, succumbing to the engrossing drama of Wisteria Lane. Desperate Housewives was delightfully campy, a touch off-kilter, but most importantly, super clever. Mary Alice’s witty, slightly judgmental voiceover made us feel like we were being told the juiciest bedtime story ever, and we couldn’t get enough. That is, until Season Four.

To be fair, the fourth season aired in the middle of the infamous writers strike, but the series lost some serious pizzazz and viewers noticed. Ratings plummeted to roughly 15 million viewers for the season finale, which is about half of the number that tuned into the first three season premieres. There was some flash-forward nonsense towards the end, undoubtedly a ploy to hook new viewers who could all be on the same page for the next season, which was also, sadly, just as stupid.

It’s always a shame when your favorite shows take it a season or four too far. Though a primetime network show of mega-caliber like Desperate Housewives, probably slipped through the fingers of creator Marc Cherry faster than he could say “Wisteria,” becoming ABC’s most-prized, moneymaking possession since the days of TGIF. Unfortunately, a slew of amazing, unique series share the same fate of something I like to call the Season Four Fallout.

Ryan Murphy, creator of Nip/Tuck, Glee, and now, the chilling American Horror Story is the poster child of the Season Four Fallout, although we certainly have high hopes for the upcoming season of AHS: Freak Show, airing this Wednesday, October 8th. Other series that faltered faster than viewers had the chance to grasp include Alias, Big Love, Gossip Girl, and Lost. We sat down to watch the fourth seasons of each and were shocked, even upset, at how unfamiliar they seemed. What makes later seasons of these shows so disappointing is that the writers seem to cater their craft to acquiring new viewers rather than sticking to what original fans know and love about the series in the first place.

Surely this is because once a series gains major ground, the networks want to make them as profitable as possible and the only way to do so is by boosting viewership. Yet, there’s something to be said about the legend of shows that were either quickly cancelled or simply called it quits when they felt ideas had run dry. Twin Peaks and Freaks and Geeks are among the most famous cases that were cancelled too soon, but what would have become of Special Agent Dale Cooper or Lindsay Weir had we watched them another three or four seasons? Would we even care about them as much as we enjoy discussing their short television lives? Or Flight of the Conchords? Jemaine Clement and Bret McKenzie have an open contract with HBO, allowing them to reignite the jams whenever they please, but they have reiterated time and again that they simply ran out of ideas after Season Two and didn’t have the drive to come up with a season’s worth of new material.

Series that were cancelled early or closed up shop with their creative dignity still intact have been resonating more and more with viewers thanks to the streaming age. Freaks and Geeks is front and center when you log in to Netflix; that show has been off the air for 15 years. Twitter went bonkers when false rumors spread about a Flight of the Conchords HBO comeback. Not every series can be Game of Thrones or Mad Men and be increasingly successful the longer they’re on air. It’s rare and it’s a careful balance of keeping the integrity of the creator’s vision going while also dealing with an intense amount of pressure from network execs to gobble up as many viewers possible. But sometimes, it simply doesn’t work.

[Where to stream the first three seasons of Desperate Housewives.]

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Photos: ABC/Everett Collection