Only scripted drama on 'Desperate' set, Cherry says

UNIVERSAL CITY, Calif. — When the news broke in April that Nicollette Sheridan was suing "Desperate Housewives" executive producer Marc Cherry, I was perplexed.

OK, I was shocked. And there isn't that much in television that even surprises me.

Lawsuits go on all the time, but this one was hard to believe. Sheridan accused Cherry of being abusive, of hitting her and of unjustly firing her from the show. Her character, Edie Britt, died in a car accident.

And Sheridan wants $20 million.

After interviewing and just chatting with Cherry numerous times over the past few years, that dropped like a bomb. In all my experiences with him, he has been nothing but charming, funny, open and personable.

Granted, he knows he's talking to a member of the press. And most TV producers are smart enough not to act like jerks when they're talking to the media.

(Not all of them, but that's an entirely different column.)

Maybe my reaction was somewhat colored by years of occasional experiences with Sheridan, dating back to her days on "Knots Landing" in the early '90s. But her allegations came like a bolt from the blue.

On a visit to Wisteria Lane on the Universal backlot, Cherry addressed the issue as best he could, given that there are lawyers involved.

"I have been so blessed because, in the history of this show, as you know, I tend to kill people," he said.

"We've killed off, I don't know, something like 36 characters in the history of this show. And I've only had one bad experience where someone took umbrage at their firing. I'm not going to comment further on that because I've got some Disney lawyers who would just have my hide if I did so."

Sitting inside the house that belongs to Mrs. McCluskey (Kathryn Joosten) on the show, Cherry spoke calmly. But he did take the opportunity to defend himself without specifically addressing Sheridan's allegations.

"Let me just say that you guys can come here and you can see us and how we interact. And you can see how much love and kindness and tenderness there is," he said. "And all I think anyone needs to know about me is that I was raised by the most wonderful woman in the world, and my attitude about women was formed there. And that's why I've spent my career working with female ensembles. And I'm lucky to have another fantastic one."

(Before "Desperate Housewives," Cherry was the executive producer of "Golden Girls.")

The writer/producer wasn't the only one defending himself. "Housewives" star Marcia Cross (who plays Bree Hodge) took up the cause, speaking with considerable emotion.

"Mark doesn't understand this because his mother raised him so well," Cross said — meaning that he doesn't understand that his behavior toward actresses isn't what many women working in Hollywood experience.