Still 'Desperate'

WEST HOLLYWOOD, Calif. — Network television is the most imitative of mediums — if a show is a hit, we quickly see The Attack of the Clones as everybody tries to imitate that success. So it's a bit surprising that there aren't a whole bunch of shows on the fall schedule that look a lot like the biggest thing to hit network TV last season, "Desperate Housewives."

"A television executive was asked why there weren't more clones of 'Desperate Housewives,' because certain shows have come up that are like 'Lost.' And this person said, ' "Lost" is easy to copy because it's a genre — "Desperate Housewives" is almost impossible to copy because it's a voice,' " said "Housewives" creator/executive producer/writer Marc Cherry.

"I took that as one of the nicest compliments I've gotten all year long. I do like to think my voice is very specific. It's not just another soap opera."

And difficult to write. Cherry, a former sitcom writer, found it wasn't easy to churn out 23 episodes of the hourlong "Housewives" last season.

"The hardest thing was just to keep the voice my own," he said. "I had to write a majority of this show. I have a talented writing staff, but I had to do an extraordinary amount of personal writing, and I'd never written that much before on any show I'd ever done. That was my wake-up call to what the demands of the show are."

Not that he's complaining. After all, a year ago he was an out-of-work writer running out of money; today he's rich, successful and recognized.

"I went to the movies the other day and a guy behind the concession stand yelled out, 'Tell me some secrets for Season 2!' Cherry said. "I was, like, 'Oh my (gosh)! I've been recognized!' For writers in Hollywood that's pretty rare.

"I'm just grateful because I was walking around this town for a long time and nobody seemed to know who I was."

This season, he's promising more of the same. Not recycled plots, but the same offbeat humor that pervades all the happenings on Wisteria Lane.

In Sunday's season premiere (8 p.m., Ch. 4), Mike (James Denton) finds Zach (Cody Kasch) holding Susan (Teri Hatcher) hostage; Lynette (Felicity Huffman) lands a job working for a demanding boss (recurring guest-star Joely Fisher); Gabrielle (Eva Longoria) visits Carlos (Ricardo Antonio Chavira) in prison; and the regulars — other than Carlos and the now-missing Paul (Mark Moses), who'll eventually make a "surprising return" — gather for Rex's funeral as Bree (Marcia Cross) mourns and deals with her difficult mother-in-law (Shirley Knight).

And then there's that new woman who moved in, Betty Applewhite (Alfre Woodard), and the secret she's hiding.

"We made a promise to our viewers with the quality of the show. My hope is we make it even better," Cherry said. "We had such a successful first season, we're all working our damndest to come up with stories that are fresh and relevant and surprising. And, hopefully, everyone will be happy with the show this year as well."

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E-mail: pierce@desnews.com