Early career In 1990, he became a writer and producer for the long-running hit sitcom
The Golden Girls, and later its short-lived spinoff
The Golden Palace. Cherry next co-created
The 5 Mrs. Buchanans, a sitcom centered on four women married to brothers and their difficult mother-in-law, which had a brief run on
CBS during the 1994–1995 season. Cherry also co-created
The Crew (1995). On his own, he later created
Some of My Best Friends, a 2001 sitcom that was based in part on the 1997 film
Kiss Me, Guido.
Desperate Housewives In 2002, a conversation with his mother inspired him to develop a show about the fractured lives of four
upper middle class suburban women. After
HBO,
FOX,
CBS,
NBC,
Showtime, and
Lifetime all passed on the show, circumstances changed for Cherry's show when his agent was arrested and sent to jail for
embezzlement. His new agents brought the show to the attention of
ABC, which decided to pick it up. The series,
Desperate Housewives, was an immediate ratings smash and generated enormous national (and subsequently, international) debate. Cherry received several lucrative offers from various parties, but chose to sign a long-term deal with
Touchstone, since their co-brand, the ABC network, had shown faith in
Desperate Housewives when other companies passed. Cherry featured several actors on
Housewives with whom he had previously worked.
Mark Moses, who played
Paul Young, and
Harriet Sansom Harris, who played
Felicia Tilman, were both cast members of
The 5 Mrs. Buchanans. In season three, Cherry cast former boss
Dixie Carter in the role of
Gloria Hodge, Orson's unhinged mother. Actor
Alec Mapa, who appeared in
Some of My Best Friends, appeared on "
Housewives" in a recurring role as Gabrielle's stylist. Cherry appeared in a cameo as one of Susan's moving men on the final episode of
Desperate Housewives.
Nicolette Sheridan accusations and termination On April 5, 2010, former
Desperate Housewives main cast member
Nicollette Sheridan filed a $20 million lawsuit against Cherry and
ABC, alleging that he had assaulted her on set and wrongfully terminated her contract. Sheridan also alleged in her lawsuit that Cherry was abusive to other actors and writers on the show. ABC said in a statement that they had investigated similar claims made by Sheridan and found them to be of no merit. The other principal cast members of
Desperate Housewives, including
Teri Hatcher,
Felicity Huffman,
Marcia Cross and
Eva Longoria, made statements supporting Cherry. In December 2010, Sheridan removed abuse claims from the suit. The case finally went to trial in February 2012. On March 13, 2012, the judge dismissed the battery charge against Cherry due to lack of evidence, and Cherry was no longer a defendant in the lawsuit which then focused solely on Sheridan's alleged wrongful termination by ABC. Closing arguments were heard in the case on March 14, 2012, and the jury began their deliberations. By March 19, 2012, the twelve members of the jury had failed to reach a verdict and a
mistrial was declared. A retrial was scheduled to begin on September 10, 2012, but on August 16, 2012, the
Los Angeles Court of Appeal determined that Sheridan had not been wrongfully fired and dismissed the retrial. A further appeal made by Sheridan to the
California Supreme Court was rejected on November 16, 2012.
Devious Maids In 2012, after the end of
Desperate Housewives, Cherry and
Eva Longoria began working on a new series,
Devious Maids. Initially it had been produced for ABC, but it then aired on Lifetime. The series is set in Beverly Hills and the protagonists are Latina maids: Marisol (
Ana Ortiz), Rosie (
Dania Ramirez), Carmen (
Roselyn Sanchez), Zoila (
Judy Reyes), and Valentina (
Edy Ganem), who work for celebrities or rich people. They not only clean the homes of celebrities, but also put order in their lives, and sometimes fall in love. Just like the women of Wisteria Lane, these maids have to deal with mysteries and secrets, since, during the first episode, one of their friends, the maid Flora, is mysteriously murdered, and it's up to Marisol to investigate the murder and to exonerate her son Eddie, wrongly accused. Even for
Devious Maids, Marc Cherry hired someone who had worked with him: Roselyn Sanchez, who plays Carmen Luna, one of the maids, appeared in the last episode of
Desperate Housewives. Others in
Devious Maids who had previously worked with Cherry include
Rebecca Wisocky,
Melinda Page Hamilton,
Valerie Mahaffey,
Matt Cedeno,
Richard Burgi, and
James Denton.
Why Women Kill On September 24, 2018, it was announced that
CBS All Access had given the production a straight-to-series order.
Why Women Kill was created by Cherry, who was also expected to executive produce alongside
Brian Grazer,
Francie Calfo, Michael Hanel, and Mindy Schultheis. Production companies involved with the series were slated to consist of
Imagine Entertainment and
CBS Television Studios. On December 10, 2018, it was reported that the series would receive $8.4 million in tax credits from the state of California and premiered on August 15, 2019.
Other ventures Cherry appeared as himself in the "Righteous Brothers" episode of
Arrested Development, which was created by fellow
Golden Girls writer
Mitchell Hurwitz. In 2014 and 2016, Cherry was a judge and mentor for the Songbook Academy, a summer intensive for high school students operated by the
Great American Songbook Foundation and founded by
Michael Feinstein. Cherry serves on the board of directors of
The Young Americans youth performing arts group and is a 1979 alumnus of the organization. == References ==