Desperate Housewives season 3

Marc Cherry returned as the series' showrunner and executive producer. After leaving the episodic writing to his staff during the second season, he returned as a writer as well. Michael Edelstein and Tom Spezialy, who served as executive producers for seasons one and two, did not return for the series' third season due to creative differences. They were replaced by Kevin Murphy and George W. Perkins, both of whom had previously served as co-executive producers in earlier seasons. John Pardee, Joey Murphy, and Chris Black continued to serve as co-executive producers. Larry Shaw and David Grossman, both of whom previously served as producers and directors for the series, were promoted to co-executive producers, with Bob Daily rounding out the team. All but Black, Grossman, Perkins, and Shaw also served as writers for the third season. Alexandra Cunningham, Jenna Bans, Kevin Etten, Josh Senter, and Dahvi Waller returned to the writing staff and were joined by Susan Nirah Jaffee, Brian A. Alexander, Christian McLaughlin, Valerie Ahern, and Jeff Greenstein. "One of the problems I had with season two was that I had to keep going with the previous year's stuff," he explained that he learned he had to go back to square one to build up the tension again, expressing his own disappointment in the development of the second season. The cast also expressed disappointment in the second season; James Denton considered leaving the show and Marcia Cross confessed "I've been at Marc's door plenty of times with script complaints, going 'You've got to be kidding.'" For the season's main mystery, Cherry and the writers wanted to incorporate more of the series' regular characters rather than bringing in various new ones, like they had done in the second season with Betty Applewhite (Alfre Woodard) and her family. They developed the Orson plot line around the "idea that one of our women marries a guy who has dark secrets and possibly a violent streak." Cherry opined: "I thought there was something exciting about that, but real and relatable." Greenstein commented that the writers worked backwards from the second season's cliffhangers to develop the Orson storyline, forsaking the original material that had been developed earlier. The cast responded positively to the new material for the season. The Orson character was originally planned as a romantic interest for Susan, according to executive producer Tom Spezialy, until Cherry decided to pair Orson with Bree. Additionally, when Orson was introduced toward the end of the second season, he was originally to be a con artist. A character portrayed by Julie White appeared in the second-season finale and would have been Orson's accomplice, but the entire storyline was discarded in favor of the mysterious disappearance of Orson's wife and White's character was not seen or mentioned again. MacLachlan commented that his character is "desperate to make this relationship with Bree work. Anything that tries to knock that apart becomes a threat." Dougray Scott made his debut in the season premiere as Ian Hainsworth, Susan's romantic interest. Cherry opined that the character "can legitimately rival Mike for [Susan's] affections." ==Cast==

's character was the subject of the season's main mystery. The third season had eleven roles receiving star billing, with ten of them returning from the previous season, out of whom nine were part of the first season's main cast. The series is narrated by Brenda Strong, who portrays the deceased Mary Alice Young, as she observes from beyond the grave, the lives of the Wisteria Lane residents and her former best friends. Susan Mayer, portrayed by Teri Hatcher, is a divorcée and single mother, who is in a continuous search for a stable relationship. Felicity Huffman portrayed Lynette Scavo, devoted wife and mother of four, in desperate need to get some time for herself. Marcia Cross portrayed Bree Hodge, widow and mother of two, struggling to be perfect in every aspect. Former model Gabrielle Solis, portrayed by Eva Longoria, has to deal with her upcoming motherhood and an unexpected divorce. Nicollette Sheridan portrayed Edie Britt, whose numerous short-term relationships have made her an iconic character. Ricardo Antonio Chavira played Carlos Solis, a rich businessman and Gabrielle's husband, whose affair with his daughter's surrogate mother eventually led to divorce. Andrea Bowen acted as Julie Mayer, the responsible and caring daughter of Susan, whose close relationship to her mother have made her more mature. Doug Savant portrayed Tom Scavo, Lynette's husband, who is trying to welcome his illegitimate daughter among the family he has with his wife. Mike Delfino, now suffering from amnesia following a hit and run, was played by James Denton. Previously a recurring character throughout the last episodes of the previous season, Orson Hodge, portrayed by Kyle MacLachlan, was conceived as a new love interest for Bree, whose mysterious arc is the season's main storyline. Receiving "also starring" billing were Shawn Pyfrom, portraying Bree's homosexual son Andrew Van de Kamp, Joy Lauren in the role of Danielle Van de Kamp, Bree's irresponsible and rebel daughter, Josh Henderson, portraying Austin McCann, Edie's nephew who begins a relationship with Julie, and Brent Kinsman, Shane Kinsman and Zane Huett, playing Preston Scavo, Porter Scavo and Parker Scavo, Lynette's troublesome children. Numerous supporting characters have been given expansive and recurring arcs in the progressive storyline. Kathryn Joosten continued her recurring role of neighbor Karen McCluskey, omnipresent in the lives of the Wisteria Lane residents. Pat Crawford Brown portrayed neighbor Ida Greenberg, whereas Jake Cherry appeared in several episodes portraying Travers McLain, Edie's son. Despite having had numerous appearances in the first seasons, Richard Burgi only appeared in one episode in this season, portraying Karl Mayer. Deceased since the first-season finale, Rex Van de Kamp, portrayed by Steven Culp, provided his voice for sixteenth episode, taking over the narration. Part of Lynette's storyline was Nora Huntington, portrayed by Kiersten Warren, portraying the woman Tom had an affair with before meeting Lynette. The affair resulted in Nora getting pregnant with Kayla, now an eleven-year-old, portrayed by Rachel G. Fox. Jason Gedrick portrayed Rick Coletti, who would become a potential love interest for Lynette. Cody Kasch reappeared as Zach Young in a recurring character capacity, following two seasons as a series regular. Mark Moses returned to the series as Paul Young, this time a fellow prisoner of Mike Delfino's, who is trying to win his friendship in order to determine him to get money from his son, Zach. Jesse Metcalfe returned after a year-long absence, portraying John Rowland, Gabrielle's former lover, who is now preparing for an upcoming marriage. Victor Lang, portrayed by John Slattery, immediately becomes a love interest for Gabrielle, following his first appearance in the season's sixteenth episode. Gwendoline Yeo acted as Xiao-Mei, the surrogate mother of Gabrielle and Carlos' child, but is never seen or heard of after it is revealed that the baby she was carrying wasn't the Solises'. Ian Hainsworth, portrayed by Dougray Scott was Susan's main love interest this season, creating a love triangle between the two of them and Mike. Matt Roth played Art Shepherd, a supposed pedophile who temporarily moves to Wisteria Lane. Dakin Matthews appeared as Reverend Sykes, reverend at the local Presbyterian church. Part of the main mystery arc, was Gloria Hodge, played by Dixie Carter, Orson's mother with an inexplicable repugnance towards her son. Alma Hodge, Orson's first wife, who comes on Wisteria Lane seeking reconciliation, was portrayed by Valerie Mahaffey, whereas Carolyn Bigsby, a mysterious woman whose main goal is destroying Orson and Bree's marriage, was portrayed by Laurie Metcalf. == Reception ==

Critical response David Kronke of the Los Angeles Daily News wrote that the show "returns to its wicked wit, dialing back but certainly not eradicating the melodrama." He complimented the four main actresses for their comedic relief and concluded: "Rarely does a show unjump the shark this well; it's back in fine form, calibrating its humor and its menace just right." Soll was glad to see that the Susan character was "a little more toned down and less accident-prone than usual," and called the scenes with Susan and Mike touching. Anderson identified the Scavo storyline as "the weakest link" in the episode and hoped that the Nora and Kayla characters would not remain on the show for too long. He described the storyline as "painfully unpleasant and unfunny." However, Roush praised the performances of Metcalf and Valerie Mahaffey, while concluding that Desperate Housewives "shows encouraging signs of getting its act together." USA Today Robert Bianco acknowledged that "Listen to the Rain on the Roof" managed to avoid repeating many of the second season's mistakes noting that the four main characters spend more time together and the annual mystery "is hot-wired into the housewives themselves." Bianco remarked that Cross successfully maintained her position as the series' most prominent lead and was pleased with Susan's storyline, calling it "a conflict that gives Teri Hatcher a genuinely funny, rather than forced, sight gag." Andy Dehnart of MSNBC was slightly more positive in his review, acknowledging that while "most of the housewives are stuck in their second-season ruts," the show's overall quality has improved, citing the Orson storyline as a welcomed change from the slow-moving Applewhite mystery arc. Overall, Dehnart approved of the episode and felt that the show "may be on track to finally pleasuring its audience in new, albeit familiar ways." with an average of 17.5 million viewers per episode. The highest-rated episode of the season was the season premiere, with 24.09 million viewers tuning in almost five more million viewers than "Listen to the Rain on the Roof". Although the episode attracted less viewers than ''Grey's Anatomy "Time Has Come Today", the episode outperformed CSI: Crime Scene Investigation'', which would eventually become one of the most-watched series of the 2006–2007 season. ==Episodes==

The Complete Third Season was released as a 6-Disc DVD set in region 1 on September 4, 2007 including all 23 season 3 episodes, plus a bunch of bonus features like behind-the-scenes featurettes, deleted scenes, a blooper reel and more; the set also included subtitles in Spanish and French and an additional Spanish language track being also available. In region 2, the season was released on November 5, 2007 as a 6-DVD set. Exclusively to Amazon in the UK, the season was released for a limited time with a bonus disc inside. ==References==