LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – The ABC network is letting trampy, vampy Edie Britt out to play this month on "Desperate Housewives," betting that the popular supporting character will give the top-rated show an added boost for Nielsen's November "sweeps" survey. The bad girl of Wisteria Lane, played by actress Nicollette Sheridan, was never meant to be central player on the darkly comic prime-time soap, which centers on the intrigues of four women who live on a seemingly quiet suburban cul-de-sac. Sheridan began the show's first season last fall as a mere plot device to keep klutzy Susan, played by Teri Hatcher, from snagging hunky plumber Mike. "I had to cast someone who was sexy and gorgeous that would make Susan feel uncomfort-able," the show's creator, Marc Cherry, told Reuters on Friday. "I never intended for Edie Britt to be one of the regular characters." But Sheridan was so good as serial-divorcee Edie, and the storyline about two forty-something women competing for the neighborhood's only single man was so compelling, that ABC executives insisted she be written into the show as a regular, albeit subordinate to the four starring "Housewives." Her role will be expanded more this month as ABC and rival networks go all out to attract bigger audiences for "sweeps," the special Nielsen survey used by local TV stations to set future advertising rates. A sweeps sub-plot involving Edie's 6-year-old son and her romance with Susan's ex-husband, Karl, will take center stage on the show starting on Sunday.
Monday, November 07, 2005
Desperate Housewives Bets on Edie for November Sweeps
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – The ABC network is letting trampy, vampy Edie Britt out to play this month on "Desperate Housewives," betting that the popular supporting character will give the top-rated show an added boost for Nielsen's November "sweeps" survey. The bad girl of Wisteria Lane, played by actress Nicollette Sheridan, was never meant to be central player on the darkly comic prime-time soap, which centers on the intrigues of four women who live on a seemingly quiet suburban cul-de-sac. Sheridan began the show's first season last fall as a mere plot device to keep klutzy Susan, played by Teri Hatcher, from snagging hunky plumber Mike. "I had to cast someone who was sexy and gorgeous that would make Susan feel uncomfort-able," the show's creator, Marc Cherry, told Reuters on Friday. "I never intended for Edie Britt to be one of the regular characters." But Sheridan was so good as serial-divorcee Edie, and the storyline about two forty-something women competing for the neighborhood's only single man was so compelling, that ABC executives insisted she be written into the show as a regular, albeit subordinate to the four starring "Housewives." Her role will be expanded more this month as ABC and rival networks go all out to attract bigger audiences for "sweeps," the special Nielsen survey used by local TV stations to set future advertising rates. A sweeps sub-plot involving Edie's 6-year-old son and her romance with Susan's ex-husband, Karl, will take center stage on the show starting on Sunday.
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