'Desperate Housewives' Creator Dishes Season Four Secrets

Marc Cherry Spills About the Women of Wisteria Lane and Finally Casts the One That Got Away

Related Links More About Marc Cherry More About 'Desperate Housewives' James Denton Interview

Sept. 26 -- Talking to the always quotable Marc Cherry about 'Desperate Housewives,' the primetime comedic soap opera he created, head writes and executive produces, is practically as much fun as watching the show itself.

The scribe enthusiastically dishes to AOL TV's Michael Maloney about two new cast additions: Dana Delany and Nathan Fillion and what's ahead for newlywed Susan, "pregnant" Bree, cancer-battling Lynette and adulterous bride Gaby. (Additionally, Tuc Watkins of 'One Life to Live' and Kevin Rahm of 'Judging Amy' will also move onto Wisteria Lane as recurring characters Bob and Lee, the show's first gay couple). Oh, and as for seemingly suicidal Edie? Read on ...

Who is Dana Delany playing?
Dana Delany plays a woman [named Katherine Mayfair], who moved onto Wisteria Lane 12 years ago when Mary Alice Young was still alive and only Susan knew her. She left mysteriously and she has now shown up again with a younger husband [Adam, played by Nathan Fillion]. Her daughter [Dylan, portrayed by Lyndsy Fonseca] is now 17-years-old. Pretty soon, the women figure out that there's something surprisingly creepy about this family. We're going to have flashbacks where Mary Alice makes an appearance. We get to see the dance that [Katherine's] playing. She was clearly different in the past and she'll go up against all of our women, especially Bree.

Coincidentally, Nathan Fillion and Dana worked together on the short-lived series 'Pasadena' on Fox.
I did not know that they'd played lovers on 'Pasadena' when I cast them. I became aware of Nathan Fillion through 'Serenity,' which was written by Joss Whedon. I had worked with Joss' dad Tom Whedon on 'Golden Girls.' I've followed Joss' career because of his dad. When [casting] mentioned Nathan Fillion, I didn't know who he was [by name] ... I knew him as the cute guy in 'Serenity.' He's one of the nicest guys in the world, so I said, "Come play with us."

Is it true that you wanted Dana for Bree?
Here's the Dana story. She came in for the original auditions for Bree and gave a fantastic audition. I offered her the part three times. She turned it down three times -- for reasons I still don't understand. Marcia [Cross] was my second choice. The reason for that was because she played Bree kind of oblivious. Her Bree didn't get the joke. Dana's was a much more sly Bree, which was the character that I thought I wanted. We cast Marcia. [Wryly] I heard later from friends that [Dana] kicked herself many times over. Marcia is the first to tell you that she's not funny and that she never gets the joke -- her Bree is kind of oblivious to her own "Bree-ness." It became, in a way, a much funnier character than I had originally envisioned! When [Katherine] came along, [I realized that] she has a lot of Alpha female qualities and some slyness and darkness. I thought, "You know what? Let me take another shot at Dana." I came back begging -- and I think there were some threats involved. I feel good about her joining the cast. I can put that demon to rest.

Are she and Nathan on the show for the whole season?
They're going to be around for a while.

How are you developing Katherine?
I've been going down to the set and am watching her scenes being filmed. We've been playing with tonality. How perky is she? How much gravitas she should have? We're finding out. What I'm also finding out is that when you have a talent like Dana Delany I can trust her so much as an actress. I'm putting some words down in the script, [but I say to her], "Let me learn from you and how you perform it." I've been lucky with this show because [of the collaboration I have with] all the women. I wrote some sketches of the characters in the pilot, but over the years each of them have shown me what it is they do and what they bring to the party. The more Eva Longoria showed me what she could play, the more I started making [Gaby] funnier, more selfish, more vain because I saw that Eva could get away with it. I actually didn't know Felicity Huffman's work too well. For me to discover that I was working with one of the most brilliant actresses ever to grace the television screen was a lovely surprise. I'm treating Dana like I'm treating all of them.

What can you say about Nathan's character?
Nathan plays a gynecologist and we have a very funny scene with him and Teri Hatcher in the first episode where she doesn't realize her new gynecologist is also her new next-door neighbor. I've had varying levels of success with introducing humor into my mystery stories, but what's really cool this year is that both of [my mystery stories] have a comedic point of view in addition to secrets. I think that's a better match for the show. We had some problems in the second season where we went to an extreme that [didn't work] ... [now,] we're using humor, drama and pathos with these guys. I want to make them as intriguing as the other characters are on the show.

What's up for the other ladies of Wisteria Lane: Susan, Bree, Lynette, Gaby, and, well, Edie?
[Laughs] You're not going to hear anything about Edie from me so you can just give that one up right now! I'm saving that for a surprise. We actually fast-forward a month right after the first act of the first new episode. We show where everyone is and then we go forward a month to amp up their lives. Gabrielle is continuing her affair with Carlos, which has a lot of complications very early on into the season. We found out why Bree is hiding her [daughter's] pregnancy. Lynnette is in the middle of chemo and having problems with her mother. We'll see the effects that cancer is having on her family. Susan and Mike are trying to settle into domestic bliss, but Susan starts causing problems for herself because she doesn't believe that Mike's really happy. There will be a big development at the end of the first show of the new season for her ... there is a rumor that [Susan] is going to be pregnant. All the men are tagging along and doing stuff. I think we've got some good juice going forward.

Do you ever run out material from your own life for the show?
I think pretty much every interesting thing [from my life] has been done. But there have been a couple of times when we'll do scenes and I'll think, "Oh, wait ... something like that has happened [to me]." But what I'm doing now is [drawing on] the lives of my writers. When I hire writers now, I make sure they've had dreadful childhoods.

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