History Trivia / DesperateHousewives

* BigNameFan: Oprah Winfrey loved the show so much, she was invited to the set, and had an exclusive show, in which she showcased a fifteen minute "episode", where Oprah (as a new neighbor) learned all of the secrets of the housewives.

* TheDanza: Rex's bastard son Sam Allen (season 6) is played by Sam Page.

** FakeRussian: Irina Korsakov (season 6) is played by Helena Mattsson, who is Swedish.

* MidDevelopmentGenreShift: The series originally started off as a comedy pilot, and was rejected by every network, including Creator/{{Lifetime}} and Creator/{{HBO}}. Creator/{{ABC}} expressed an interest, and it was retooled to its current format of a dark comedy and drama

* WriteWhatYouKnow: When Bree learns that her son Andrew is gay, she tries to convince him she's fine with it by telling him "I would love you even if you were a murderer." This is what the show's creator Marc Cherry was told by his own mother when he came out of the closet to her.

** Creator/JuliaLouisDreyfus was considered for Susan Mayer. Creator/CourtneyCox was also considered, but Marc Cherry didn't ask her, because at the time she was pregnant with her daughter Coco, and had expressed interest in taking some time off to raise the baby.

** Creator/JuliaLouisDreyfus was considered for Susan Mayer. Courtney Cox was also considered, but Marc Cherry didn't ask her, because at the time she was pregnant with her daughter Coco, and had expressed interest in taking some time off to raise the baby.

** After Season 5, Marc Cherry briefly considered making a spin-off series that would star Karen [=McCluskey=] and her sister Roberta.

** Tom is proud to have met "[[UsefulNotes/DonaldTrump The Donald]]" in season 7, back when he wasn't yet campaigning to become POTUS and [[Administrivia/RuleOfCautiousEditingJudgment the subject of a continuous flow of controversy]].

** Tom is proud to have met "[[UsefulNotes/DonaldTrump The Donald]]" in season 7, back when he wasn't yet campaigning to become POTUS and [[Administrivia/RuleOfCautiousEditingJudgment the subject of an continuous flow of controversy]].

** Creator/JuliaLouisDreyfus was considered for Susan Mayer. Creator/CourtneyCox was also considered, but Marc Cherry didn't ask her, because at the time she was pregnant with her daughter Coco, and had expressed interest in taking some time off to raise the baby.

* StarMakingRole: The series helped raise the profile of several people, including Creator/EvaLongoria, Creator/FelicityHuffman and Creator/AndreaBowen.

** Tom is proud to have met "[[UsefulNotes/DonaldTrump The Donald]]" in season 7, back when he wasn't yet campaigning to become POTUS and [[Administrivia/RuleOfCautiousEditingJudgment the subject of an unlimited flow of controversy]].

** Tom is proud to have met "[[UsefulNotes/DonaldTrump The Donald]]" in season 7, back when he wasn't yet campaigning to become POTUS.

* HilariousInHindsight: In the fifth episode of the show Lynette (as played by Felicity Huffman) bribes an elite preschool with $15k to get her twins in. This episode aired in 2004. Fifteen years later, Felicity Huffman would be indicted on federal charges for a scheme in which she paid $15k to a college “admissions counselor” to bump her daughter’s SAT score from 1020 to 1420 (out of 1600) so she could get into an elite university. She’s alleged to have had her daughter take the test under a proctor on the take (after being given extra time for having a fake learning disability) who’d then let someone else fix some of the answers for her. Ironically enough , Teri Hatcher , who as described below didn’t get along with the rest of the ladies , does have a daughter who attends an elite University (Ivy League Brown) and got in on her own merits.

* StarMakingRole: The series helped raise the profile of several people, including Eva Longoria, Felicity Huffman and Andrea Bowen.

** Creator/JuliaLouisDreyfus was considered for Susan Mayer.

* HostilityOnTheSet: Creator/TeriHatcher did not get along well with her co-stars, and it got to the point that [[http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2141549/Desperate-Housewives-feud-finally-open-Teri-Hatchers-left-off-crews-farewell-gift-cast.html her name was absent on the stars' farewell gift to the crew]].

* WhatCouldHaveBeen: Creator/JuliaLouisDreyfus was considered for Susan Mayer.

** FakeRussian: Irina Korsakov (season 6) is played by Helena Mattsson, who is Swedish.

* FakeRussian: Irina Korsakov (season 6) is played by Helena Mattsson, who is Swedish.

** Tom is proud to have met "[[UsefulNotes/DonaldTrump The Donald]]" in season 7, back when he wasn't POTUS.

* TheOtherMarty: Sheryl Lee portrayed Mary Alice Young in the original pilot for ABC, but she was replaced soon after, when the producers decided she was not right for the part and chose Creator/BrendaStrong instead.

* TheDanza: Sam Allen (season 6) is played by Sam Page.

* CaliforniaDoubling: The series was meant to be set on the east coast but was obviously filmed on a Hollywood set.

* DawsonCasting: John, the gardener in season one who only ''just'' turns 18 that season was played by the 28 year old Jesse Metcalfe.

* StarMakingRole: For Eva Longoria, Felicity Huffman and Andrea Bowen.

* TheOtherMarty: Sheryl Lee portrayed Mary Alice in the original pilot for ABC, but she was replaced soon after, when the producers decided she was not right for the part and chose Creator/BrendaStrong instead.