Desperate Housewives Season 4

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Desperate Housewives Season 4
Country of origin USA
Network ABC
Original run September 30, 2007 – May 18, 2008
No. of episodes 17 (including a two-hour season finale)
DVD release date September 2, 2008 (Widescreen, Boxset)

This article contains a summary of the fourth season of the American dramedy television series Desperate Housewives. The first episode aired on ABC on September 30, 2007, and one special "Secrets and Lies", which aired September 23.[1]

This season was affected by the 2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike, which halted production after the tenth episode of the season. Initial plans called for a hiatus to begin in December 2007 following the ninth episode of the season ("Something's Coming") and to hold the tenth episode ("Welcome to Kanagawa") until further episodes were produced. Instead, that episode debuted on January 6, 2008, with encores of fourth season episodes shown during the hiatus.

The season's eleventh episode, entitled "Sunday", aired in the United States and Canada on April 13, 2008, more than three months since the previous original episode. A total of seventeen episodes — fifteen regular episodes, plus a two-hour season finale ("The Gun Song" and "Free") on May 18[2] — comprise the fourth season[3], the shortest season to date.

Episodes have been broadcast in Canada on CTV concurrently with the U.S. broadcasts. Outside the U.S. and Canada, episodes began airing internationally in Poland in October; in Turkey and Italy in December; and in Ireland, South Africa, and the Arab World throughout January. The season debuted in central Europe and Latin America by mid-February of 2008. The season then premiered in the United Kingdom on March 26, 2008 on Channel 4, and in Greece in April on channels of Filmnet on NOVA.

Contents

[edit] Cast

[edit] Starring

[edit] Also starring

[edit] Notable guest stars

[edit] Production

Joe Keenan, one of the three executive producers during the third season, as well as writer of the critically acclaimed season episode "Bang", will not be returning for season four as executive producer, but as consulting producer.[4] 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.[5]

Production was halted effective November 7, 2007 because of the writer's strike.[6] Beginning January 18, 2008, the series has aired in repeats of fourth season episodes, with its time slot on ABC shifting from Sunday evenings to Friday evenings.[7]

[edit] Post-Strike episode reports

Actress Brenda Strong, who, as the dearly departed Mary Alice Young, narrates in each episode, told TV Guide from the Bebe Lingerie Launch Party earlier this week that when the show returns with new episodes, a significant amount of story-time will have passed. "A lot of storyline got dropped because of [the strike-shortened season], so we're going to consolidate it [into seven episodes]," the actress said, adding that viewers can expect to see some nonstop drama in the upcoming installments. "It will definitely be worth watching because a lot of the juicy stuff will be jam-packed into every episode. You don't want to miss it." Strong also said that the new episodes will "tie up Season 4 in a nice bow," so that the show can present fresh storylines in its recently acquired fifth season.[8]

[edit] Plot summary

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The main mystery this season is about a family returning to Wisteria Lane, after 12 years away. Katherine Mayfair comes to Wisteria Lane from Chicago with her (new) husband, Adam, and her daughter, Dylan. Dylan used to be Julie's best friend, although Dylan now does not remember anything about Julie, or living in Wisteria Lane at all. Katherine is happily reunited with her old friend Susan, although she does not get along at all with Bree. Katherine claims that she returned to Wisteria Lane to take care of her ill aunt Lillian, but private conversations between Katherine and her husband suggest otherwise.

[edit] Susan's story

Susan Delfino is finally married to Mike Delfino, but has difficulty in settling down as she fears Mike isn't as happy as he should be. When finding out there is a possibility she has menopause, Susan grows emotional and turns her relationship with Mike to a blatant line. When she is told it isn't menopause but pregnancy she is overjoyed, Susan's daughter Julie has difficulty in living with Mike, as both of them clash with their separate opinions. Susan is later told by both Mike and Julie to choose between one of the two, and stick to the decision. Susan asks Bree to see her gynecologist after she says it feels funny seeing Adam, as he's Katherine's husband.

[edit] Lynette's story

Lynette Scavo is sick with cancer and is hiding the fact by wearing a wig similar to her hair. No one knows except Tom, her mother Stella, who is staying with the family, and Lynette's sisters. Tom and Stella attempt to convince her that things would be so much easier for her if she told everyone the truth. After losing energy and suffering from fatigue and nausea, she tells everyone the truth. Lynette's cancer disturbs Gabrielle and makes her uncomfortable, as her father had died of cancer. Lynette's issues with Stella continue, meanwhile Stella bakes pot into brownies to get Lynette's nausea settled and her energy back. Despite Lynette's illness, she still wants to seem attractive to Tom and she buys a wig to turn him on but he doesn't feel like making love to a sick person, and Tom's feelings about Lynette's disease come forth. Katherine Mayfair gets on Lynette's nerves when Katherine wants to run for President of their neighborhood and get rid of unsightly things on Wisteria Lane, and Lynette runs against her; she loses the race because of Susan. She later forgave Susan. After killing an opossum that came into their home uninvited (she was really mad at cancer) her doctor pays a house call to let Lynette and her family know that her cancer is gone. Now, the last uninvited thing she needs to rid her house of is her mother. Following a conversation between her three daughters which she overhears, Stella is brokenhearted and leaves without warning. A few days later after constant searching, Lynette arrives home to find her stepfather in her kitchen. Devising a plan to get Stella to return home, Lynette and Glenn (her stepfather) go to the park where Stella asked Glenn to meet her and give her money. After Stella catches Lynette, she appears angry that she was set up. In the mess, Glen reveals to Lynette that he didn't leave Stella because she cheated on him, but because he is gay. The situation ends with Stella agreeing to live at Glenn's home, due to a spare bedroom in the home. Lynette's family hides in Karen McCluskey's house during the tornado. However, her house gets destroyed while Lynette and Karen are not inside the house during the tornado, and the two escape the collapse. It is revealed that Ida Greenberg got all of Lynette's family under the stairs and they survived. Ida, however, died as there was not enough room under the stairs. She had to sit in a corner, and was killed when the house collapsed in.

[edit] Bree's story

Bree Hodge is pretending to be pregnant with Danielle's baby so she can adopt and raise it without anyone knowing it's Danielle's. She faces some obstacles along the way, with an elderly woman wanting to touch her belly and a BBQ fork being stabbed into her false belly. Orson tells her that he thinks they should throw in the towel, but Bree refuses to do that. Bree's ex-mother-in-law finds out about Bree's faux pregnancy but promises to keep her secret. Danielle goes into labor at Bob and Lee's Halloween party while she's dressed as Bree, and Adam Mayfair, who promises to not tell anyone, delivers little Benjamin Hodge. Danielle decides to let Bree raise her baby and leaves Fairview, probably to go to college. Bree then gets Benjamin circumcised against Orson's wishes. Following the circumcision, Bree attempts to raise Benjamin in what is known as a family bed, where she has Benjamin sleep in bed with Orson and herself. After a confrontation at the dinner table, Orson begins sleeping on the couch while Andrew moves out having been labeled a "mistake". Shortly after, Bree goes to visit Andrew only to finally realize that her son has become a man and matured greatly.

[edit] Gabrielle's story

Gabrielle Lang is in an unhappy marriage with Victor. She wants to get back with Carlos, but, although he wants her as well, he feels responsible for Edie, who faked a suicide attempt to win Carlos back. She discovers his hidden assets in an offshore bank account and uses this to blackmail him into continuing their relationship. Edie gets crabs from a tanning bed that she transmits to Carlos, which he gives to Gabrielle, who eventually gives them to Victor. Edie puts the pieces together and realizes what's going on. She hires a private investigator who finds Carlos with Gabrielle in a liplock. Edie shows these pictures to Victor in hopes of him doing something awful to Carlos. On a boat trip out to sea Victor confronts Gabrielle about the affair and pulls a black bag out of a cabinet. Fearing the bag contained a gun, Gabrielle hit him over the head with an oar, knocking him overboard. She meets up with Carlos back on shore and the two realize there was no weapon in the bag - only a sweater. They go back into the water and find Victor and pull him back onto the boat. Victor and Carlos then get into a fist fight. Just as Victor is about to kill Carlos with a knife, Gabrielle, once again, knocks him overboard with an oar. This time, Victor is nowhere to be found. Gabrielle and Carlos assume Victor is dead and return to shore and send the boat back into the ocean by itself, attempting to make Victor's death appear as accidental - and not involving them. Two detectives appear at Gabrielle's home questioning her about Victor's whereabouts and following a conversation with Carlos, and an "anonymous" phone call by Edie, Victor is found alive but unconscious on shore and brought to the hospital. Leaving Carlos drugged at her home, Gabrielle arrives at the hospital with the two detectives only for Victor to reveal he remembers nothing. However, after leading the detectives out, Victor reveals he does remember everything, but does not reveal what he will do with the information. He is eventually killed by a fence picket shoved through his stomach during the tornado which had hit Wisteria Lane. Gabrielle finds out at Victor's funeral that she will not be getting a cent from his will because he knew about the affair. Having gone blind and losing all his offshore money, Carlos did not tell Gabrielle about his blindness until she heard it from Edie.

[edit] Edie's story

Edie Britt was last shown hanging herself from the rafters after Carlos broke up with her. However, it is revealed that Edie was planning to deceive Carlos into taking her back, and was never going to commit suicide. Carlos, who feels responsible for her now, takes her back, despite still loving Gaby. She discovers Carlos' hidden assets in an offshore bank account and uses this to blackmail him into continuing their relationship. Edie gets crabs from a tanning bed that she transmits to Carlos, which he gives to Gabrielle, who eventually gives them to Victor. Edie puts the pieces together and realizes what's going on. She hires a private investigator who finds Carlos with Gabrielle in a liplock. Edie shows these pictures to Victor in hopes of him doing something awful to Carlos. Gaby and Edie confront each other when a tornado hits Wisteria Lane, after Carlos' accountant accidentally deliver the details of the offshore bank account to Edie, thinking her to be Gaby. After a scuffle, the papers get blown away, and both women are forced to flee from the tornado and climb into a crawl space together, where they reconcile and repair their friendship, which had been fragile form the previous season. Later on in the season, Edie finds out that Benjamin is really Austin and Danielle's baby, as opposed to Bree and Orson's. After Edie attempts to blackmail Bree with this information, Bree tells the other three housewives the truth. All four of them confront Edie, disowning her. Edie is last shown telling her son that she is coming to visit him on Mother's Day, and will be spending a lot more time with him from now on. It is unknown if Edie will return for the show's fifth season, although it has officially been confirmed that she will again appear on the show. Hence, Edie is still the fifth lead, and is still a 'desperate housewife'.

[edit] Five Year Leap

The season 4 finale fast-forwards five years, where we see Susan come home from poker with the girls to a new unnamed man (portrayed by Gale Harold), whom she kisses, and apparently, lives with. It is unknown what has happened to Mike and Maynard.

Lynette comes home to Tom to find a police car outside her house. A policewoman is talking to Tom about one of her kids stealing a car for a joyride. While Lynette says she's talked to Porter about it, because he went to juvie one time because of the same accusation, Tom states that this time, it was Preston who did it.

Bree comes home after playing poker and Andrew welcomes her, telling her that he's with a woman from the New York Times on the phone who wants to have an interview with her (since she is now a famous cookbook author), Orson Hodge calls her from upstairs and Bree tells Andrew to tell the woman that she'll do the interview in the morning because she wants to have a nice bubble bath with her husband.

Gabrielle, with little make up on, goes upstairs she finds her twin daughters, Juanita and Celia Solis, playing with her make-up and dresses.

Edie, though absent from the poker game, is still the fifth lead, and is assumed to be with her son, Travers. It is assumed that, if Edie is returning to the show, which is probable, then she will be back around this time.

Katherine, who is now the sixth lead, goes home after poker to find a message on her answering machine. The message is from Dylan, who is in Paris, who excitedly informs her mother that her boyfriend has just proposed to her under the Eiffel Tower.

[edit] Ratings

[edit] United States

Episode number
Production number		 Title Original airing Rating Share Total viewers (in U.S.) Rank per week Running average Season average
71
4-01		 Now You Know September 30, 2007 12.2 18 19.317m #4 19.317m
12.2/18		 18.821m
13.3/17
#4
72
4-02		 Smiles of a Summer Night October 7, 2007 11.7 17 17.817m #5 18.567m
12/18
73
4-03		 The Game October 14, 2007 11.8 18 18.892m #4 18.730m
11.9/18
74
4-04		 If There's Anything I Can't Stand October 21, 2007 11.5 17 18.214m #4 18.472m
11.7/18
75
4-05		 Art Isn't Easy October 28, 2007 11.8 17 18.280m #3 18.376m
11.8/18
76
4-06		 Now I Know, Don't Be Scared November 4, 2007 11.8 18 18.579m #6 18.478m
11.8/18
77
4-07		 You Can't Judge a Book By Its Cover November 11, 2007 11.9 18 18.632m #5 18.555m
11.9/18
78
4-08		 Distant Past November 25, 2007 11.6 17 18.638m #4 18.597m
11.8/18
79
4-09		 Something's Coming December 2, 2007 12.7 18 20.650m #4 19.965m
12.3/18
80
4-10		 Welcome to Kanagawa January 6, 2008 12.1 18 19.782m #5 20.142m
12.2/18
81
4-11		 Sunday April 13, 2008 10.1 15 16.371m #8 18.257m
13.3/17
82
4-12		 In Buddy's Eyes April 20, 2008 10.0 15 15.746m #2[9]
83
4-13		 Hello, Little Girl April 27, 2008 10.2 16 16.346m[10] #5
84
4-14		 Opening Doors May 4, 2008 10.8 17 16.757m[11] #4
85
4-15		 Mother Said May 11, 2008 9.7 15 15.427m[12] #5
86
4-16		 The Gun Song May 18, 2008 10.7 17 16.837m #6
87
4-17		 Free May 18, 2008 10.7 17 20.2m #6

[edit] United Kingdom

Episode number Title Original airing on Channel 4 Time of Airing on Channel 4 Original airing on E4 Time of airing on E4 Position in Channel 4 and Channel 4+1's ratings Position in E4 and E4+1's ratings Total viewers
71 Now You Know 26 March 2008 10.00pm-11.00pm 30 March 2008 9.00pm-10.00pm 3.4 m[13] 533,000 3.933 m
72 Smiles of a Summer Night 2 April 2008 10.00pm-11.00pm 30 March 2008 10.00pm-11.00pm 2.8 m[14] 510,000 3.31 m
73 The Game 9 April 2008 10.00pm-11.00pm 6 April 2008 10.00pm-11.00pm 2.8 m[15] 551,500 3.351 m
74 If There's Anything I Can't Stand 16 April 2008 10.00pm-11.00pm 13 April 2008 10.00pm-11.00pm 2.8 m[16] 455,000 3.255 m
75 Art Isn't Easy 23 April 2008 10.00pm-11.00pm 20 April 2008 10.00pm-11.00pm 2.5m 358,000 2.858 m
76 Now I Know, Don't Be Scared 30 April 2008 10.00pm-11.00pm 27 April 2008 10.00pm-11.00pm 2.5 m[17] 378,900 2.879 m
77 You Can't Judge a Book By Its Cover 7 May 2008 10.00pm-11.00pm 4 May 2008 10.00pm-11.00pm 2.6 m[18] 566,900 3.167 m
78 Distant Past 14 May 2008 10.00pm-11.00pm 11 May 2008 10.00pm-11.00pm 2.2 m[19] 491,000 2.691 m
79 Something's Coming 21 May 2008 10.00pm-11.00pm 18 May 2008 10.00pm-11.00pm 1.8 m[20] 727,000[21] 2.6 m
80 Welcome to Kanagawa 28 May 2008 10.00pm-11.00pm 25 May 2008 10.00pm-11.00pm 2.2 m 826,000 3.126 m

* Note 1: All episodes after "Welcome to Kanagawa" will not be shown until autumn on Channel 4, as there is no room on the scheldule for them. This is because Channel 4 assumed that there would be no more episodes needing screened as late as June, and as the schedules are made months in advance, the earliest that the rest of ther series can be shown is sometime in autumn.

* Note 2: After "Free", there will only be a six week intermission on Channel 4 before the start of season five, due to the season being aired late and divided in two because of schelduling issues.

* Note 3: Due to the late finish of this season, a Region 2 release of season 4, has been removed from November 2008, and is expected sometime in February or March 2009

[edit] Australia

Airing Mondays at 8.30 on the Seven Network; the show has remained very popular in the market of Melbourne and has been regaining momentum in Perth. The other markets - of particular note Sydney; have seen 'so so' audiences with the fourth season thus far. The first five episodes have aired opposite CSI on the Nine Network - which has had the better of the Housewives. However, following the Easter break in Australia, Nine moved CSI to Sundays, replacing it with Australian drama series Sea Patrol. Since then, Housewives has regularly won its timeslot.

Episode number
Production number		 Title Sydney Melbourne Brisbane Adelaide Perth TOTAL WEEKLY
RANK
71
4-01		 Now You Know 358,000 480,000 193,000 109,000 131,000 1,271,000 19
72
4-02		 Smiles of a Summer Night 373,000 414,000 185,000 119,000 146,000 1,237,000 20
73
4-03		 The Game 383,000 439,000 211,000 149,000 158,000 1,340,000 13
74
4-04		 If There's Anything I Can't Stand 375,000 432,000 198,000 125,000 172,000 1,302,000 13
75
4-05		 Art Isn't Easy 357,000 402,000 185,000 121,000 181,000 1,241,000 14
76
4-06		 Now I Know, Don't Be Scared 382,000 497,000 249,000 160,000 165,000 1,452,000 13
77
4-07		 Welcome to Kanagawa 380,000 428,000 229,000 111,000 164,000 1,312,000
78
4-08		 Sunday

[edit] Season Debuts

Date Country Channel Time
30 September 2007 USA ABC 9.00pm/8.00pmc
30 September 2007 Canada CTV 9.00pm/8.00pmc
15 October 2007 Poland n (Poland) Video On Demand
4 December 2007 Turkey CNBC-e (cable TV) Tuesdays 9:00pm
5 December 2007 Italy FOXlife (Sky Italia - SAT TV) 9.00pm
7 January 2008 Arab World Showtime Arabia 9.00pm
8 January 2008 Ireland RTÉ Two 9.50pm
31 January 2008 South Africa M-Net 8:30pm
4 February 2008 New Zealand TV 2 8.30pm
11 February 2008 Switzerland SF2 8.00pm
11 February 2008 Austria ORF1 9.00pm
11 February 2008 Australia Seven Mondays 8.30pm
13 February 2008 Germany Pro7 8.15pm
13 February 2008 Latin America Sony Entertainment Television- Since the strike took place, the channel decided to reair some episodes after "Sunday", this is to have time for subtitling, legal movements and to cover the expected time of the season (24 weeks) Thursday 10.00pm
25 March 2008 Malaysia 8TV 10:30pm
14 February 2008 Poland FOXlife 9:00pm
08 January 2008 Portugal Fox Life Tuesday's 9:00pm (local time)
19 February 2008 Norway TV 2 9.45pm
10 March 2008 Finland Nelonen Mondays 9.00pm
26 March 2008/October/November 2008 United Kingdom Channel 4 10.00pm- initial terrestrial airing. Sunday's will be repeating episodes from 11.45pm
30 March 2008 United Kingdom E4 9.00pm (repeat) Channel 4's next episode follows at 10.00pm

(This is a sneak peek for UK viewers who have digital television. They can view the next episode a week before its initial airing on C4). Desperate Housewives will be part of "Sunday Ruddy Sunday" airing 2 episodes each Sunday on E4 from 9pm which is a repeat and 10pm which is a brand new episode,which then leads into new episodes of the new series of Brothers and Sisters at 11.00pm. When Dirty Sexy Money finishes in May, it's likely that E4 will be onto a ratings winner, with the new series of Ugly Betty re-commencing with the 13th episode of its second season straight after Desperate Housewives. On E4+1 all showing times are just exactly one hour after E4 have shown them.
27 March Wales S4C 2.20am

(Airs later on S4C due to Welsh programming airing in prime time. Analogue only, digital Welsh homes can watch C4.) Episodes will initially have a late-night "first-run" and will be dubbed into Welsh. Episodes will be repeated the next night at 10.30pm-11.30pm
25 April 2008 Hungary TV2 9.00 pm
20 May 2008 Mexico TvAzteca 10.00 pm
Fall 2008 Bulgaria BTV TBA
Fall 2008 Poland Polsat (free-TV premiere) TBA
Fall 2008 Lithuania TV3 10.00pm
Fall 2008 F.Y.R.O.M. A1 Televizija Sundays 9.00pm
January 2009 Serbia RTS Monday to Friday 9.00pm
Fall 2008 France Canal + 8.50pm
Summer 2009 France M6 8.55pm

NOTE * The reason as to why the UK has four starting dates is because that due to the WGA strike of 2007-2008, the show was unable to air on terrestrial television until March 2008 when Channel 4, had originally intended on beginning in January. 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 4 days later on March 30. Due to the arrival of Big Brother, and the schedules being written out months in advance, it was originally anticipated that the season will have finished by June as it has done in the past three seasons. However, as there are still 7 episodes left to air, the launch date for the rest of Season four, as of episode 411 Sunday. The next episodes are due for arrival in mid-october, when the fifth season will have started airing in the U.S.

[edit] References

  1. ^ ABC Announces Fall Premiere Dates, The Futon Critic, July 25, 2007
  2. ^ ABC Medianet
  3. ^ The Watcher - All TV, all the time | Chicago Tribune | Blog
  4. ^ Schneider, Michael & Adalian, Josef: Keenan not 'Desperate' any more, Variety Magazine, March 29, 2007
  5. ^ Development Update: Week of June 11-15, The Futon Critic, June 15, 2007
  6. ^ 'Housewives,' 'Office' stopped by strike - CNN.com
  7. ^ Daily News Releases
  8. ^ 'Desperate Housewives' Returning to Work, Show Star Spills on New Episodes
  9. ^ DVR Viewers STILL Love Desperate Housewives - And The Office Too!
  10. ^ List of the top 20 shows in the prime-time Nielsen ratings - MSN TV News
  11. ^ Nielsen TV Ratings Top ABC Primetime Shows, April 28 - May 4, 2008; including Dancing With The Stars, Desperate Housewives, Grey's Anatomy, Lost, Brothers & Sisters, Samantha Who?, Extreme Makeover: Home Edition and Ugly Betty ratings
  12. ^ Nielsen Weekly Top 20: Idol Wins, Zucker and NBC Nowhere to be Found
  13. ^ BARB
  14. ^ BARB
  15. ^ BARB
  16. ^ BARB
  17. ^ BARB
  18. ^ http://www.barb.co.uk/viewingsummary/weekreports.cfm?report=weeklyterrestrial&RequestTimeout=500 BARB]
  19. ^ BARB
  20. ^ http://www.barb.co.uk/viewingsummary/weekreports.cfm?report=weeklyterrestrial&RequestTimeout=500
  21. ^ http://www.barb.co.uk/viewingsummary/weekreports.cfm?Requesttimeout=500&report=weeklytop30

[edit] External links

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