DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES: ART ISN'T EASY (TV)
Summary
One in this darkly comedic soap opera about the denizens of Wisteria Lane, a suburban neighborhood with a seedy underbelly that is thrust to the forefront after the suicide of one titular housewife.
Bob and Lee install an abstract metal sculpture in their front yard which the other residents of Wisteria Lane find hideous. Bree, Susan, Gabrielle, Katherine, and Karen go to speak to them about it, and Katherine bluntly voices her opinion that it is an “eyesore” which should be removed, but they do not acquiesce. In response, Katherine proposes to reform the local homeowner’s association, with herself as president to replace the deceased Mary Alice. Susan’s opinion of the sculpture worsens when it is revealed that it doubles as a rather noisy water fountain, waking her up early in the morning, although they retort that it works to drown out the various noises coming from Susan’s house and leave with the matter unresolved. Lynette’s children grow uncomfortable with her discussing her illness, even when she receives news that her condition is improving. Bree is enraged to discover that the convent allowed Danielle to leave with Phyllis, and Phyllis refuses to answer her calls. Gabrielle discovers that she is being watched and believes Victor is responsible; she informs Carlos before she can leave to meet him at a hotel. She manages to create a diversion and leave her house unnoticed.
At the hotel, Gabrielle unexpectedly encounters John and his new wife Tammy, who is pregnant. Tammy’s father owns the hotel and is friends with Victor; Gabrielle disengages from them to meet with Carlos. Bree and Orson arrive at Phyllis’s house at the retirement complex to get Danielle back, but Danielle refuses to return to the convent and wants to have and raise her baby there, calling Bree unfit to be a mother for being “emotionally unavailable.” Katherine convenes the homeowner’s association and Bob and Lee try to convince Lynette to speak in their favor, warning that Katherine may try to have objects in her lawn removed, such as her children’s treehouse. Lynette inquires about this and Katherine indicates that she will establish a series of guidelines to determine what is and is not acceptable as lawn ornamentation, and that she also plans to remove the treehouse. In response to this, Lynette nominates herself as a candidate to oppose Katherine for the position of president of the association.
At the hotel, Gabrielle is preparing for her night with Carlos when John unexpectedly comes to visit. She has Carlos hide in the closet and receives John, who says he is now ready to resume their affair and kisses her, much to her shock. Lynette tries to secure Susan’s aid in gaining presidency of the homeowner’s association, but Susan has already promised to vote for Katherine. They argue over the matter, and Susan remains unconvinced to support Lynette. Gabrielle tries to get rid of John, who reveals that he feels “trapped” by his marriage to Tammy, whom he considers imbecilic and egotistical. Carlos is unhappy when he overhears John recounting Gabrielle’s comments about him during their initial affair. She eventually gets him to leave, but Carlos emerges from the closet highly upset with her. He leaves in a fury, especially when Gabrielle compares her current affair with Carlos to her previous one with John.
Both Lynette and Katherine go around the neighborhood attempting to win over votes, each meeting with different people and utilizing different strategies; Katherine believing that everyone should conform to similar standards and Lynette emphasizing each person’s individual freedom to do as they wish with their houses. Andrew believes that Danielle doesn’t actually care about her baby and is only staying with Phyllis because it presents a better alternative to Bree’s attempts to force her to work and go to college. Carlos visits John at his house, and says he wants to forgive him for his affair with Gabrielle. John, somewhat perplexed, accepts Carlos’s forgiveness. The election between Katherine and Lynette takes place and results in a tie between the two, although it is revealed that Susan voted twice in an attempt to placate both candidates, and the deciding vote is left up to her. She reluctantly votes for Katherine, who immediately begins the process of getting the fountain removed.
Bree and Orson go to lunch with Phyllis and Danielle, apologizing for their earlier meeting. While alone with her, they pretend to be happy for Danielle while convincing her that she would lead a miserable existence at the retirement home, and that leaving the baby with Bree would be a sensible idea. Danielle changes her mind and consents to Bree’s wishes. Adam points out to Katherine that her recent campaigning is another sign of her domineering nature and that she has been unhappy ever since moving back to Wisteria Lane; he feels she has alienated them from their neighbors. Phyllis talks to Bree about her loneliness, especially since the death of her son, and about how Danielle’s baby represented her “getting back a part of Rex.” Bree feels sorry for her and offers to allow her to babysit Danielle’s child occasionally.
Carlos visits Gabrielle and tells her that he feels they should break off their affair, proposing that they break up with their spouses and eventually get remarried. Gabrielle agrees to his proposal, but unbeknownst to them they are photographed together by one of the men spying on Gabrielle. Susan attempts to apologize to Lynette for voting against her, but Lynette is still upset with her. Lynette admits that she put Susan in an awkward position, but explains that the treehouse represents a place where her children can escape from the reality of her cancer, and she doesn’t want to lose that. Katherine arrives and announces that the treehouse will not be taken down, as she recognizes that it is of special significance to Lynette. Lynette and Susan are puzzled by Katherine’s spontaneous change of heart. It turns out that Edie was the one who put surveillance out on Gabrielle, and she is now in possession of the photographs of her with Carlos. Katherine talks to Bob and Lee about the fountain, and they claim that they will still not remove it. They indicate that they are aware of Katherine’s secret concerning Adam’s activities at Chicago Memorial Hospital, using this as a means by which to prevent her from removing the fountain. Commercials deleted.
Details
- NETWORK: ABC
- DATE: October 28, 2007 9:00 PM
- RUNNING TIME: 1:01:05
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: B:93297
- GENRE: Drama, night-time serial
- SUBJECT HEADING: Drama, night-time serial; Drama, mystery/suspense
- SERIES RUN: ABC - TV series, 2004-2012
- COMMERCIALS:
- TV – Commercials – AT&T phone service
- TV – Commercials – Advil pain relief
- TV – Commercials – Applebee’s restaurants
- TV – Commercials – Apple mobile devices
- TV – Commercials – Bounty paper towels
- TV – Commercials – Burger King restaurants
- TV – Commercials – Byetta diabetes medicine
- TV – Commercials – Crest toothpaste
- TV – Commercials – First Response pregnancy tests
- TV – Commercials – Fisher-Price toys
- TV – Commercials – Ford automobiles
- TV – Commercials – Garnier skin cream
- TV – Commercials – Hasbro toys
- TV – Commercials – Honda automobiles
- TV – Commercials – Intel computer processors
- TV – Commercials – Lexus automobiles
- TV – Commercials – McDonald’s restaurants
- TV – Commercials – Olay cosmetics
- TV – Commercials – Pantene hair conditioner
- TV – Commercials – T-Mobile phone service
- TV – Commercials – Target department stores
- TV – Commercials – Toyota automobiles
- TV – Commercials – Visa credit cards
- TV – Commercials – Volkswagen automobiles
- TV – Commercials – Wal-Mart department stores
- TV – Commercials – “American Gangster” motion picture
- TV – Commercials – “Bee Movie” motion picture
- TV – Commercials – “Fred Claus” motion picture
- TV – Commercials – “License to Wed” home video release
- TV – Commercials – “Spider-Man 3” home video release
- TV – Promos – “41st Annual CMA Awards”
- TV – Promos – “Brothers and Sisters”
- TV – Promos – “Dancing With the Stars”
- TV – Promos – “Desperate Housewives”
- TV – Promos – “Dirty Sexy Money”
- TV – Promos – “Good Morning America”
- TV – Promos – “Private Practice”
- TV – Promos – “Pushing Daisies”
- TV – Promos – “Samantha Who?”
- TV – Promos – “The Bachelor”
- TV – Promos – “Ugly Betty”
CREDITS
- Joey Murphy … Executive Producer
- John Pardee … Executive Producer
- Sabrina Wind … Executive Producer
- Bob Daily … Executive Producer
- George W. Perkins … Executive Producer
- Larry Shaw … Executive Producer
- David Grossman … Executive Producer, Director
- Marc Cherry … Executive Producer, Created by
- Susan Nirah Jaffe … Co-Executive Producer
- Lori Kirkland Baker … Co-Executive Producer
- Matt Berry … Co-Executive Producer
- Chuck Ranberg … Co-Executive Producer
- Anne Flett-Giordano … Co-Executive Producer
- Alexandra Cunningham … Co-Executive Producer
- Jamie Gorenberg … Producer
- Stephanie Hagen … Producer
- Charles Skouras III … Producer
- John Blair … Associate Producer
- Joe Keenan … Consulting Producer
- Jeff Greenstein … Consulting Producer
- Jason Ganzel … Writer
- Steve Jablonsky … Music by
- Danny Elfman … Theme Music by
- Teri Hatcher … Cast, Susan Mayer
- Felicity Huffman … Cast, Lynette Scavo
- Marcia Cross … Cast, Bree Hodge
- Eva Longoria Parker (See also: Eva Longoria) … Cast, Gabrielle Solis
- Nicollette Sheridan … Cast, Edie Britt
- Ricardo Antonio Chavira … Cast, Carlos Solis
- Andrea Bowen … Cast, Julie Mayer
- Doug Savant … Cast, Tom Scavo
- Kyle MacLachlan … Cast, Orson Hodge
- Dana Delany … Cast, Katherine Mayfair
- James Denton … Cast, Mike Delfino
- Shawn Pyfrom … Cast, Andrew Van De Kamp
- Lyndsy Fonesca … Cast, Dylan Mayfair
- Joy Lauren … Cast, Danielle Van De Kamp
- Brent Kinsman … Cast, Preston Scavo
- Shane Kinsman … Cast, Porter Scavo
- Zane Huett … Cast, Parker Scavo
- Rachel Fox … Cast, Kayla Huntington
- Nathan Fillion … Cast, Dr. Adam Mayfair
- Kathryn Joosten … Cast, Karen McCluskey
- Tuc Watkins … Cast, Bob Hunter
- Kevin Rahm … Cast, Lee McDermott
- Michelle Pierce … Cast, Tammy Sinclair-Rowland
- Shirley Knight … Cast, Phyllis Van De Kamp
- Jesse Metcalfe … Cast, John Rowland
- Pat Crawford Brown … Cast, Ida Greenberg
- Eric Payne … Cast, Investigator
- Austin Majors … Cast, Brett
- Brenda Strong … Voice, Mary Alice Young