Upcoming Season Is Last For ‘Desperate Housewives’

 I don't claim to understand everything about radio, but I'm really lost when it comes to TV. Case in point: ABC has announced that its one-time mega-popular series Desperate Housewives will end after its upcoming season. Okay, I understand that part. TV series, like anything else, run their course. And "DH" will leave eight seasons' worth of programs after the upcoming cycle. That's an honorable run for any series.

Where you lose me is the network's plan to give the show a "victory lap". ABC plans to bring back some of the stars and plot elements of the early days, when "Housewives" was a consistently top-rated show. For instance, Brenda Strong will come back as "Mary Alice Young", whose suicide on the first episode started the roller-coaster plots that made "DH", at its best, a must-see on Sunday night.

But here's the thing: as frequently happens in long-running series, the producers let it run on its reputation in recent years. The show drifted; ratings went down. I guess I'd ask: if the producers had paid more attention to the program, would we be planning to watch a "victory lap", or more seasons of new episodes?

Series creator Marc Cherry had enough story ideas for at least two seasons, but decided to agree to a single-season finale. The cast reportedly took the news well, feelings of sadness mixing with a sense that they had been part of a great TV series. Felicity Huffman, who plays "Lynette", did express a concern abourt future acting jobs, noting that female stars frequently end up in "acting jail" after a long-running show ends. Huffman added that producers of new shows frequently have trouble thinking of actressess playing any roles but the ones they made famous.

Does Huffman have a point? Who was your favorite resident of Wisteria Lane? And will you be back this season, if you left for other shows? We hope you'll let us know, either as a comment here, or on our Facebook page.