Tag: Desperate Housewives

Nicollette Sheridan’s ‘Desperate Housewives’ Lawsuit Back From the Dead

Much like her character on ‘Desperate Housewives,’ Nicollette Sheridan will not go down without a fight. The leading lady was ousted from the hit ABC show and shortly thereafter, she alleged it was a retaliatory response to her complaints Sheridanagainst series creator Marc Cherry, who she says slapped her during an argument over the script. Though I have zero knowledge of fault in this matter, it’s especially interesting that ABC/Touchstone won’t settle to save face. Perhaps they don’t want to set a precedent. Here’s a legal timeline of the Tinseltown tiff.

2009: Nicollette Sheridan’s character Was Killed Off Desperate Housewives

Sheridan alleged to have “quit” the show, but her unkind words in the press were perhaps a precursor of things to come. Sheridan said, “When the show started it was such a different beast. It was exciting and dangerous and funny and edgy and bizarre. It started feeling a little complacent, and that was very frustrating.” Marc Cherry responded in kind, saying, “Edie’s already slept with most of the guys on the street and has caused about as many problems as she could.” He also said his decision was largely due to the network’s pressure to cut costs.

APRIL, 2010: Sheridan Sues Series Creator Marc Cherry and ABC/Touchstone TV

Sheridan sues Marc Cherry, the series creator of ‘Desperate Housewives,’ alleging battery, gender violence, wrongful termination, and “intentional infliction of emotional distress.”According to Sheridan, she questioned Cherry about his script, and he slapped her in a fit of rage. She reported his actions to ABC and she was fired in retaliation. ABC Studios responded, saying, “While we have yet to see the actual complaint, we investigated similar claims made by Ms. Sheridan last year and found them to be without merit.”

MARCH 2012: Battery Charge Against Marc Cherry Dropped

Marc Cherry was released from the case after the battery charge was dropped. According to the Judge, “the battery claim did not meet the standards of workman’s compensation statutes that apply to these matters.”

MARCH, 2012: The Jury is Locked

A jury of 12 could not reach a verdict, and after an 8-4 deadlock with no settlement in sight, the Judge declared a mistrial. The jury foreman told the court that the 8-4 split was in Sheridan’s favor.

OCTOBER, 2013: Sheridan Loses Bid for Retrial

LA Superior Judge Michael Stern sided with ABC/Touchstone TV and granted a summary judgment dismissing Sheridan’s attempt for a new trial. He ruled based on Sheridan not filing a complaint with the California Labor Commission within six months of the September 2008 incident.

JUNE, 2016: Sheridan Gets New Trial

An LA Superior Court Judge decided that Sheridan can get a new trial. An Amendment to the rules in 2013 helped her case, most notably when an appeals court stated, “there is no requirement that an individual exhaust administrative remedies or procedures.”

 

James Denton on ‘The View’ — Discusses ‘Desperate Housewives’ Lawsuit

James Denton appeared on The View to discuss his character’s demise on Desperate Housewives, and he surprisingly mentioned Nicollette Sheridan’s lawsuit against series creator Marc Cherry. In fact, he even made fun of it, saying, “He slapped me!” as a joke in reference to Marc Cherry. He also discussed a story he wasn’t allowed to tell during trial because of the opposing counsel’s objection. Without getting into the very complicated rules of evidence that took me years to fully understand in law school, let me just say that it’s not surprising that the judge ruled in favor of excluding his story. Furthermore, because Denton wasn’t present in Nicollette’s trailer when she alleges Marc Cherry slapped her, I find it in poor taste for him to take a side. And despite his proclamation otherwise — trust me — he’s taken a side.

Desperate Housewives Spoiler: Is Mike Delfino a Jerk?

If you’ve been watching Desperate Housewives lately, you might have noticed the mysterious absence of Mike Delfino (played by James Denton).  I call it “mysterious” because there’s no logical excuse for his disappearance, other than that he’s a bad husband.  His wife (played by Teri Hatcher), is in search of a kidney, and her husband is never seen at the hospital.  So where is he?  My guess is that the powers-that-be cut his episodes this season in hopes of saving money.  Perhaps they figured he wasn’t an integral character, and they could do without him.  But since it doesn’t make any sense from a writing perspective, I think it’s a gigantic misfire on Marc Cherry’s part.  Either explain his absence with a sensible storyline, or remove him from the show altogether.  But it just doesn’t make sense to use him so sparingly, especially when his wife is ill.

Desperate Housewives Spoiler — Did Carlos Go on a Diet?

On the Season 7 premiere of Desperate Housewives, I noticed something very interesting.  Well, interesting in Dishmaster land, anyhow.  Ricardo Chavira (also known as “Carlos”) seems to have lost a lot of weight, and I almost didn’t recognize him.  Have the men on the show been infected with the Desperate Housewives disease?  If you don’t know what I’m referring to, Dana Delany once said in an interview that when she started her role on the show as Katherine Mayfair, a costume designer warned her about catching the “Desperate Housewives disease,” which is an “unspoken competitive weightloss” amongst the lead actresses.  Delaney said that even her on-screen daughter lost ten pounds.  Judging from last night’s episode, he lost more than ten pounds.  Watch a recent PSA with Ricardo below, where you can see the weight loss.

Desperate Housewives Spoiler: Kyle MacLachlan is Leaving the Show

This news certainly shocked me.  Kyle MacLachlan or “Orson Hodge” will be leaving ‘Desperate Housewives’ after four seasons with the show.  If you watch ‘Desperate Housewives’, you might have noticed that his character is extremely under-used, so either he was fired because Marc Cherry couldn’t dream up a compelling story-line, or he asked to leave because he felt creatively stifled.  Either way, I’m disappointed.  Perhaps it’s my love for ‘Sex and the City’ that attached me to his character, but its always upsetting when a series regular leaves the show. 

‘Desperate Housewives’ Spoiler Alert – A Villain is Returning to Wisteria Lane

Marc Cherry confirmed that the show’s new villain “may not be a woman.”  Remember Mary Alice’s husband?  Well, he’s back.  Mark Moses is returning to Wisteria Lane.  The last we saw him, he was in prison for killing Martha Huber.  Is he out on parole?  We’ll have to wait and see.  I suppose that his story line will start when Drea De Mateo’s dragged on terrorist arc ends.   

Nicollette Sheridan v. Marc Cherry: More Details Revealed

Nikki Finke of Deadline, revealed more details about the dispute.  Here’s her coverage in a nutshell: Marc Cherry did in fact slap Nicollette, but only to reenact a scene in which Neal McDonough’s character was supposed to slap her, because Cherry wasn’t satisfied with how she was reacting.  As far as Teri Hatcher goes, she allegedly denied having ever badmouthed Cherry to ABC.  You can read the rest of the deets on Deadline, but here are my thoughts.  I would guess that Cherry and Sheridan did not get along while she was on the show, and as a result, he chose not to renew her contract.  Sheridan claims to have been fired in her suit for complaining about Cherry.  The thing is – she was on the show for a five full years, which is the standard length of these contracts.  Once her contract was fulfilled, it wasn’t renewed, which is different than being “fired.”  Whether Cherry was actually abusive, who knows.  I would guess we would have heard this from insiders on the set that usually leak this stuff to the press (remember when Isaiah Washington referred to T.R. Knight as a “faggot” on the Grey’s Anatomy set and the press got wind?).   

Nicollette Sheridan Sues ‘Despeate Housewives’ Creator Marc Cherry!!!

My jaw dropped to the floor when I heard this.  Nicollete Sheridan is suing Marc Cherry, the creator of ‘Desperate Housewives,’ for assault and battery, gender violence, and wrongful termination.  She alleges that he slapped her in the face on the set, and when she complained, he fired her.  She also claims he created a hostile work environment, as he was “abusive and aggressive.”  Wow.  The tabloids reported the slap a long time ago, but Cherry dismissed it and the story died.  It was also reported that Sheridan was so angry about her firing, she ransacked her trailer before leaving.  Maybe those stories were true after all.