Nicollette Sheridan Case— Twists & Turns

The trial over Nicollette Sheridan's firing from Desperate Housewives featured one last plot twist Monday with the disclosure of a new mystery witness who has indicated show officials tried to cover up a correspondence related to the actress. A judge has ordered the man to appear in court Tuesday morning to determine whetheror not  he will become one of the final witnesses that jurors considering the case will hear from. The man, who was identified as Michael Reinhart, left a message for Sheridan's attorney on Sunday afternoon stating that he mistakenly got an email that suggested that messages related to Sheridan's departure would be purged. The man on the message said he didn't want to become involved in the case, but by day's end had becoming the latest intriguing thread in a trial that has featured a behind-the-scenes look at Desperate Housewives and conflicting testimony on whether Sheridan was struck by show creator Marc Cherry during a September 2008 dispute. 

"There was a definite conspiracy to cover up the correspondence on email-wise in regards to Nicollette," the caller is heard saying on the call, which was played in court outside the presence of the jury. Adam Levin, an attorney for Cherry and the ABC television network, dismissed the claims. He noted in court that he had not spoken with Reinhart. "Today's antics by the plaintiff, conjuring up mysterious emails, appears to be a last ditch effort to save her case," Levin said after Monday's proceedings. Closing arguments are likely to begin on Tuesday as both sides call their final witnesses. Sheridan's attorney Mark Baute, who received the message Sunday, said he would like to call Reinhart as a witness. Sheridan, now 48, is suing Cherry and ABC for wrongful termination and battery and is seeking $6 million in damages. All of us here at UPBEAT think that Nicollette deserves a small fortune for having to put up with Marc Cherry. That's right ABC, we/ believe that Marc Cherry doesn't really deserve another show let alone all of the dubious "ass-kissing", similar to the same empirical treatment given to ex-ABC Daytime Head Brian Frons!

In the end, the character, Edie Britt's death came after she escaped being strangled and survived a car crash only to be electrocuted by a downed power line. Baute, in opening statements, called it a triple homicide that reflected Cherry's animosity toward Sheridan. Cherry told jurors that he had contemplated killing Sheridan's character at the end of season three, but studio and network executives didn't approve. As he began to plan season five, he said he wanted to kill Britt as part of a "risky but potentially effective change to the series."

And of course, ABC, made sure that numerous witnesses for the show's creator and network testified that the decision to kill off Sheridan's Edie Britt character was made in May 2008, four months before her dustup with Cherry on the show's set. Cherry maintains he tapped the actress while trying to give her direction for a scene, but Sheridan claims he struck her hard on the left temple, leaving her stunned and humiliated. For the record, we believe Nicollette Sheridan, not only is she a superb actress, but we've spoken with and interviewed her several times and she's an extraordinary person. Maybe it's time for ABC to grow a set and take better care of their TALENT and the SHOWS as opposed to guys like Cherry and Frons!

As Harriet Ryan from The Los Angeles Times summed it all up in her brilliant piece, "Underscoring it all was the absurdity of asking a group of strangers to care deeply about the minor travails of the very rich and semi-famous." 

Her entire article can be found at:http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-0313-desperate-housewives-20120313,0,3547030.story

Desperate Housewives— Leaving Too Soon

The producers of Desperate Housewives say the series finale will leave a few loose ends hanging, but cautioned fans against awaiting a reunion movie. Creator Marc Cherry said that eight seasons have given the ABC series time to "plumb the depths" of the characters played by Teri Hatcher, Felicity Huffman and others in the ensemble cast. Desperate Housewives will air its final episode this spring. "I'm very satisfied with where the series stands", Cherry told the Television Critics Association on Tuesday, the actors alongside him. 

Cherry contrasted Desperate Housewives with Sex and the City, which did fewer episodes and followed its HBO run with two big-screen movies. Me? I believe the show still has two solid seasons left in it. But ABC and Marc Cherry have their own agenda. Although not the ratings powerhouse it once was (in 2004 to 2005, between 20 and 30 million viewers tuned in weekly), Desperate Housewives still remains solid in viewership and is especially strong with overseas audiences. Mark Cherry, as most of us know is NOT logging in much time as the Desperate Housewives showrunner for the first time in 7 years, serving only as a consultant while he works on other projects. The show is also dealing with a lawsuit expected to hit a courtroom soon from former star Nicolette Sheridan. She is claiming battery, wrongful termination and unlawful termination against Cherry.

I've always been very candid about the way Marc Cherry completely destroyed Nicollette Sheridan's character Edie. The season following her horrifying death [Dear God could her tragic demise have been any worse?] was still holding it's footing with Dana Delany, but the fact that Cherry tossed Vanessa Williams into the equation proves that the show had indeed suffered from the loss of Sheridan's brilliantly layered portrayal of Edie [which I predicted would happen because the character had the "outsider" appeal of a woman that no woman would trust with her husband or boyfriend. Edie was a "diva" and made no apologies for it]. Williams is a class act, a true veteran and it was obvious that the core fans of the show loved Edie... enough for Cherry to "rethink" his cast structure and bring in Williams to fill the void. But what really pisses me off is how ABC has continued to pander to Marc Cherry's skills as a writer and executive producer as though he was the PRIMARY reason for the show's revolutionary success.

Yes, Marc Cherry created Desperate Housewives... but he clearly wasn't the emperor of the entire show [although in some inner circles it has been said that he himself was comvinced of this]. The perfectly symmetrical cast along with the rest of the abundantly skilled writers were all pivitol in the show's uniquely woven storylines as every character was able to "flip" from good to bad in two lines or less. And the conclusions of each show left you feeling as though you'd been hit by an oncoming train that you never really saw coming.

With Desperate Housewives now winding to an unfortunate close, Marc Cherry is tackling another group of dramatic women for ABC in a new project... as well a few additional pilots. Imagine that. Based on an adaptation of the Mexican telenovela The Disorderly Maids Of The Neighborhood [La Alegría del Hogar], Devious Maids is described as a soap that follows "four maids with ambition and dreams of their own while they work for the rich and famous in Beverly Hills." Cherry will write and executive-produce the one-hour ABC Studios project. Desperate Housewives executive producer Sabrina Wind is also attached to executive-produce the project.  Essentially, the Mexican version looks positively remarkable, not to mention extremely hilarious:

Devious Maids Mexican Version

So Mr. Cherry has some serious pressure to translate his own version into a major network hit. ABC is also redeveloping Cherry's pilot Hallelujah about a Tennessee town torn between good and evil, after initially passing on it. Gee, do you think the "glut" of supernatural-based shows played a factor in this decision?. 

Who knows? Maybe Marc Cherry's new ventures with ABC will succeed. Prior to Desperate Housewives he did achieve a modectum amount of success as a producer and writer with The Golden Girls back in the 80's, a show that also pioneered a group of elderly actresses who, as the perfect ensemble, pulled the show into a ratings phenomena as well as a permanent piece of pop culture history... but then again... I digress. 

I have ALWAYS loved Desperate Housewives. It hit the airwaves at precisely the perfect time... as 40+ actresses weren't even being considered, a huge audience of 40-somethings were being completely ignored and reality shows had drowned the medium with one crappy clone after another. I've said this before and i will say it again, the 40+ female audience has a lot of buying power [disposable income] and had been all but ignored until ABC took a major risk with Desperate Housewives as every other network passed on the show.

The show sky-rocketed into the top ten and NEVER strayed from it's hilarious title Desperate + Housewives... which equated into a new generation of soap opera that didn't take itself so seriously all of the time. The unique, intelligent, clever storylines were filled with so many intricately woven twists and turns that as a viewer, you were taken on a wild ride, never knowing when or how the plot would move. The show never insulted the intelligence of its audience and in fact, left us all with season after season of puzzling equations to try to solve. 

With the show's end drawing near, I am at a loss as to how Cherry plans to play out the storylines. I've been told that he will leave some loose ends... which to me, is a slap in the face to the show's audience and every single fan who should ALWAYS be given a large dose of closure. Desperate Housewives is a tightly woven show, so there is no reason for any loose ends. When you invest eight years into a show, you deserve to be thrilled and shocked and completely blown away by the conclusion. Look at shows like Friends, Sex and the City, Buffy The Vampire Slayer. M*A*S*H, Newhart [which had to be, hands down, one of the most unexpected endings in television history... and it was hilarious], Knot's Landing, Cheers and so many more.

So Mr. Cherry, hang up your ego for a few moments and allow all of the Desperate Housewive fans to feel every emotion possible; to be taken on that wild ride of unpredicitable epic proportions. It is the least you can do as you waltz into the ABC "agenda" without your soul [I believe that's a deposit requirement over at the mouse network]. Several characters from past seasons will also show up as a sort of homage, although, thus far, we haven't been given a list of names... so here's hoping that Desperate Housewives gets the send off it deserves.