'Housewives' neighborhood was the Cleavers', too

UNIVERSAL CITY, Calif. — Bree Van De Camp's house is a toilet. Literally.

Inside the false front of the fake house on the faux Wisteria Lane, inhabited by the most uptight of the "Desperate Housewives," are the only facilities at the show's location on the Universal backlot.

They are very clean, however. Bree probably went to work on the place right after it was vacated by the folks on "Providence."

This neighborhood on the Universal Studios backlot — officially named Colonial Street — is one of the most recognizable in television. Over the years, it's been home to such TV families as the Munsters and the Cleavers. Marcus Welby, Ben Matlock and Jessica Fletcher have been here. Jimmy Stewart lived in one of the houses in the movie "Harvey"; Ronald Reagan in another in "Bedtime for Bonzo."

Now it's been remade and dressed up for "Desperate Housewives," a look that fits perfectly.

"It feels a little like the show — it feels very real and hyper-real at the same time," said Felicity Huffman, whose character, Lynette, lives down the street. "It's heightened reality. You kind of walk down the street and go, 'I wish my wisterias could look like that,' and they don't because they're plastic."

The house occupied by Beaver and his family is now the exterior of the house where Mary Alice committed suicide — the home still occupied by her husband and son. But inside, oddly enough, is Bree's living room, dining room and kitchen.

And on the shelf is the book "Unmasking the Psychopath," which came as somewhat of a surprise to the woman who "lives" there. "No, I didn't put it there," said Marcia Cross, who stars as Bree. "I don't think she's a psychopath at all. She's neurotic, but she's not a psychopath."

When the show started filming there last summer, all the homes were nothing but false fronts. Since then, interiors have been built for the houses that belong to Susan (Teri Hatch), Gabrielle (Eva Longoria), Mike (James Denton) and Bree. And, except for Bree's, the interiors are all inside the corresponding exteriors.

"It's a lot of fun shooting here," said Cody Kasch, the 17-year-old who plays seriously unbalanced 16-year-old Zach. "It's almost like it's real. Only not."

Sort of like "Desperate Housewives."

"When are they building my house?" asked Nicollette Sheridan, who plays Edie, whose house burned to the ground in the premiere. "I've got to get a new house so I can have Jesse (Metcalf, who plays studly teen gardener John) mow my lawn."