Desperate Housewives is celebrating its twentieth anniversary. In 2004, Marc Cherry takes over a fictional residential area called Wisteria Lane and tells the daily life of several housewives and workers brought together by their common passion for gossip and poker. The path of Mary Alice Young, who commits suicide in the pilot, accompanies the tribulations of Susan, Bree, Gabrielle and Lynette. For eight years, the production will be in the heyday of the American channel ABC. Alongside other television hits, such as Lost, Grey’s Anatomy et Dr House, Desperate Housewives appears to be a revival for the small screen. From its first burst of episodes, the series attracts 24.13 million viewers on average. In France, too, success is there, Desperate Housewives does not take long to shine as one of the cult series of the decade.
Rare enough to be underlined, no derivative series or reboot has yet seen the light of day. Even though the finale suggested that a sequel was possible, Wisteria Lane remains the main character of the story, the series is one of the rare ones not to have had a resurrection. Marc Cherry, interviewed by People, confides that the requests have been numerous. “70,000 people” would have asked him to do a reboot. If he has not consented, the creator has some ideas in his drawers. “I probably would have wanted to make this idea a reality in an earlier decade. The character I miss the most is Wisteria Lane. It was the most fun anyone had ever had in the history of television, because we owned the whole street.”.
“I wonder if I could write Wisteria Lane in 1996”
Throughout the interview, the screenwriter talks about the ideas that crossed his mind. “It was such a fun place to write. And there are times when I'm like, 'You know what? I ask if I could write Wisteria Lane in 1966.' If you're doing a reboot, you have to have a very good artistic reason to do it. And at some point, I'll sit down with someone and say, 'Okay, let's talk about whether there's a good enough reason to do this.'
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He adds that his experience over the first seasons would allow him to gain relevance, to do better the first time. If she was applauded in many ways, notably for her way of putting female characters at the epicenter of its story, Desperate Housewives has also been criticized for some of its positions seen as reactionary. While the narrative has tackled many social issues, from alcoholism to infertility to mental burden, others have been carefully avoided. This is particularly true regarding abortion which is never presented as a solution in the event of an unwanted pregnancy. There is also a form of communitarianism in this production which confronts its heroines with enemies from elsewhere. The fact remains that nothing has been officially ordered.
Knowing the interest of entertainment giants in recycling, Marc Cherry's statements undoubtedly did not fall on deaf ears. ABC, owned by Disney, might want to hatch a reboot, like Max did with Sex and The City or as for How I Met Your Father on Hulu. Without much success in both cases. Waiting for, Desperate Housewives is available in full on Disney+.
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