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2025-04-30 02:01:10 UTC
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Permalinkplace. Potentially it could be a semi-sequel if any of the original
characters sign-up to appear.
'Desperate Housewives' Offshoot 'Wisteria Lane' In Works At Onyx
From Kerry Washington & Natalie Chaidez
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One of the most famous streets in TV history is ready to welcome
new residents. Wisteria Lane, a reimagining of the hit ABC mystery
dramedy series Desperate Housewives, has been set up for
development at Onyx Collective, Deadline has learned exclusively.
It comes from Kerry Washington's Simpson Street and
20th Television where the company is based.
Written by Natalie Chaidez (The Flight Attendant), Wisteria Lane
is described as a fun, sexy, darkly comedic soap/mystery in the
vein of Desperate Housewives, set among a group of five very
different friends and sometimes frenemies who all live on a
picture-perfect cul de sac called "Wisteria Lane." On the surface,
all the Wisteria neighbors are living the dream: beautiful homes,
gorgeous families, shiny SUVs in the driveway. But behind those
white-picket fences and smiling Insta posts are SECRETS.
Desperate Housewives starred Teri Hatcher, Eva Longoria, Felicity
Huffman, Marcia Cross and, for the first five seasons, Nicollette
Sheridan as five women - mostly friends - living on Wisteria Lane,
who begin uncovering dark secrets after their neighbor Mary Alice
Young kills herself.
Chaidez executive produces Wisteria Lane alongside Washington and
Pilar Savone via their Simpson Street as well as Stacey Sher (Into
the Badlands) through her Shiny Penny. It is unclear whether
Washington could potentially appear on the show. 20th TV, which
recently absorbed Desperate Housewives studio ABC Studios'
successor ABC Signature, is producing.
Desperate Housewives creator/executive producer Marc Cherry was not
part of the pitch but is aware of the project and could be involved
in it in some capacity, sources said.
I hear Wisteria Lane was pitched to both Onyx, whose shows stream
on Hulu, and Hulu Originals. Washington and Savone have an existing
relationship at both Disney units. Simpson Street is behind Onyx's
most successful series to date, Reasonable Doubt, which has been
renewed for a third season, as well as Onyx's comedy series
UnPrisoned, starring Washington and Delroy Lindo, which ran for two
seasons. At Hulu proper, Simpson Street produced with Hello
Sunshine the Emmy-nominated limited series Little Fires Everywhere,
which also starred Washington.
Hulu already has two other series reboots in the work from 20th TV,
Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Prison Break, both with pilot orders.
Wisteria Lane's sale comes on the heels of Desperate Housewives'
20th anniversary last October, which brought on a new wave of
nostalgia and reboot talk.
In November, Cherry admitted that "about 70,000 people" have asked
him about a reboot as fans' passion about the show and interest in
revisiting it remains strong 13 years after it ended its
eight-season run on ABC. The cast have been fielding endless
inquiries too, with Longoria saying earlier this month that she
"would be the first person" to sign up for a Desperate Housewives
reboot. There are no current plans for characters from the original
series to appear on Wisteria Lane.
While speculation about a potential Desperate Housewives follow-up
- revival, reboot, sequel, spinoff or other offshoot - has been
rampant for more than a decade, this marks the first real stab at
expanding the franchise.
Keeping the original series' iconic setting makes sense - while
most series' outdoor locations use a mix of exteriors from
different places, Wisteria Lane is a real street built on the
Universal backlot. While the outdoor set had existed for decades
as Colonial Street, it was extensively modified for Desperate
Housewives and has since taken on a life of its own. Kept virtually
the same as in the show, it has remained a top tourist attraction
and part of the Universal Studios Tour and has been used for
numerous shows and commercials since.
While Wisteria Lane is expected to keep its fictional street locale,
it has not been determined whether the potential series will film in
Los Angeles where the original series' outdoor set is.
In November, Cherry spoke about Wisteria Lane's significance to the
show.
"The character I miss writing the most is actually Wisteria Lane;
that was the most fun playground anyone in the history of television
has ever had," he told People at the time, noting that he would be
interested in revisiting the street and its housewives in a
different decade, notably the 1960s, for a follow-up to his
original series.
Launching the same season as fellow hit ABC series Lost and Grey's
Anatomy, Desperate Housewives was an instant smash, becoming a
pop-culture obsession and introducing an addictive new genre that
mixes comedy and drama, mystery and soapy storytelling. The series
also scored with critics and earned seven Emmy Awards throughout
its run, including Lead Actress In a Comedy Series for Huffman.
Later this spring, Simpson Street will begin production on the
Apple TV+ limited series Imperfect Women, starring Washington,
Elisabeth Moss and Kate Mara. In May, the company will theatrically
release the action-thriller feature Shadow Force for Lionsgate,
starring Washington alongside Omar Sy. The company is repped by
CAA, Washington Square Arts and attorney Gretchen Rush.
Prior to serving as executive producer and co-showrunner alongside
developer Steve Yockey on Season 2 of Max's The Flight Attendant,
whose mix of dark comedy-drama and mystery-thriller is similar to
Desperate Housewives', Chaidez was an executive producer and
showrunner on USA Network's crime drama Queen of the South. Her
series credits also include Hunters, which she developed;
12 Monkeys; In Plain Sight; Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles;
and Heroes. She is repped by CAA and Jackoway Austen Tyerman.
In addition to the Buffy and Prison Break reboot pilots at Hulu,
20th TV has a Malcolm In the Middle four-part sequel at Disney+,
with efforts to get a Scrubs reboot off the ground also underway.
<https://deadline.com/2025/04/desperate-housewives-reboot-wisteria-lane-kerry-washington-1236379573/>