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.