Another hit TV series announces a possible return. Will Desperate Housewives get a sequel?
Phenomenal series success
Desperate Housewives aired from 2004-2012 and became the series that made television history by, among other things, having the largest number of female leads (180 prominent female characters/actresses in total). The series, written by Marc Cherry, became a phenomenon in its time, winning six of the seven Emmy Awards in its first season alone. After eight seasons, viewers did get to see all the residents of the fictional suburb get their own happy ending after a series of dramas, scandals and affairs, but not everything was wrapped up in a way that the creators now have nowhere to build on. And on what basis can we conclude that Desperate Housewives will return to TV screens again?
A cryptic tweet appeared on the show's official Twitter account, Desperate Housewives, on December 31, which included a brand new photo of all four original characters, with their fifth friend, Katherine Mayfair (Dana Delany), who only appeared at the show's conclusion, by their side. The image is then virtually identical to all the previous photos that have been taken to promote each new season. The caption was then quite brief: 'We're desperately waiting for 2022'. There might not be anything quite so groundbreaking about that yet, but as the Gaytimes website adds, the show's Twitter feed has been very minimally active since it ended, with a single tweet coming out in 2020, and then in 2021, this aforementioned update was only the seventh. Meanwhile, the account is commonly used to promote other shows produced by ABC or to recall various moments from what has already aired. It's no wonder, then, that fans are on their feet.
Closed stories, or are they?
At the same time, it's quite likely that the original cast would give the nod to participate in a sequel. Indeed, while none of the actors/actresses wanted to hear about the film - and even Tom Scavo's character, Doug Scavant, and Eva Longoria, who played Gabrielle Solis, were reluctant. She, on the other hand, welcomed the idea of new episodes of the series. "I'll be the first one to be interested," Longoria said on a recent Radio Times radio show regarding the possibility of a Desperate Housewives revival. "I think the series ended when Gabrielle left to start her own business. So I would love to see her work on that business," she also said, adding that her fate could be similar to, say, Kris Jenner's business.
But the creators did wrap up Gabrielle's story to some extent - just as they did for all the other characters in the "time jump". So Bree Van de Kamp (Marcia Cross) eventually married the lawyer who defended her when she was charged with murder, they moved to Kentucky together, and there Bree became a member of the state legislature. Lynette Scavo (Felicity Huffman) became CEO and moved to New York City and also spent time with her grandchildren. The one whose fate wasn't revealed to the audience was then Susan Mayer/Delfino (Teri Hatcher) - and so this character could be the basis for a new storyline.
A somewhat uncertain return
So, even though Cherry has denied reviving the show in the past - and even with the fact that Desperate Housewives had (given the hour-long running time of each episode) an absolutely incredible number of episodes, 180, therefore everything that should have been said was said, e.g. Cosmopolitan reports that the ten-year anniversary since the last episode aired could be a great opportunity for a return.
On the other hand, the ABC television company has not yet issued a single official statement on the possibility of a continuation of its former hit, and according to other portals focused on the series, the return of "Desperate Housewives" is relatively unlikely. This is reportedly also because Cherry is currently working on a number of other projects. In addition, it is often mentioned that nowadays it would be impossible to maintain the former pace of the series, because Desperate Housewives had 23 episodes in one season, a number that is not very common nowadays (usually series have 8-13 episodes). So only the days to come will probably tell what the outcome of the Twitter post will be. But for fans of suburban intrigue, at least hope has dawned after a long time that their favorite characters (as well as many others) will return to the screen again...
