Marc Cherry | |
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![]() Cherry addressing the Log Cabin Republicans in 2006 | |
Born | Long Beach, California, U.S. | March 23, 1962
Alma mater | California State University, Fullerton (BA) |
Occupation(s) | Writer, producer |
Years active | 1990–present |
Notable work | Desperate Housewives |
Marc Cherry (born March 23, 1962) [1] is an American television writer and producer. He is best known for creating the ABC dramedy series Desperate Housewives .
Marc Cherry was born in Long Beach, California, and lived briefly in Oklahoma during his childhood. His father was an accountant whose work brought him back to California. After graduating from Troy High School in Fullerton, Cherry attended California State University, Fullerton. He graduated from the school’s theater program in 1985 and initially considered a career in performance. [2] After winning $15,000 as a contestant on The $100,000 Pyramid in 1986, [3] he decided to move to Hollywood and pursue writing work. His move came at a bad time; the 1988 writers strike hit as soon as Cherry arrived. Cherry broke into the industry by working as Designing Women star Dixie Carter's personal assistant. [4]
In 2007, Newsweek described Cherry as a "somewhat conservative, gay Republican." [5] He was the 2006 recipient of the Log Cabin Republicans' American Visibility Award. [6] However, in 2018, Cherry said that he "stopped being a Republican the second [ Donald Trump's] foot hit the escalator." [7]
On September 12, 2020, his mother, Martha Kay Cherry, passed away. [8]
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 .
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.
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. [9] [10]
The other principal cast members of Desperate Housewives, including Teri Hatcher, Felicity Huffman, Marcia Cross and Eva Longoria, made statements supporting Cherry. [11] [12] [13] In December 2010, Sheridan removed abuse claims from the suit. [14] [15]
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. [16] 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. [17]
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.
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. [18] [19] [20] On December 10, 2018, it was reported that the series would receive $8.4 million dollars in tax credits from the state of California [21] and premiered on August 15, 2019. [22]
Cherry appeared as himself in the "Righteous Brothers" episode of Arrested Development , which was created by fellow Golden Girls writer Mitchell Hurwitz.[ citation needed ] 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. [23] Cherry serves on the board of directors of The Young Americans youth performing arts group and is a 1979 alumnus of the organization. [24]
Desperate Housewives is an American comedy drama mystery television series created by Marc Cherry and produced by ABC Studios and Cherry Productions. It aired for eight seasons on ABC from October 3, 2004, until May 13, 2012, for a total of 180 episodes. Executive producer Marc Cherry served as showrunner. Other executive producers since the fourth season included Bob Daily, George W. Perkins, John Pardee, Joey Murphy, David Grossman, and Larry Shaw.
Judy Reyes is an American actress, model and producer, best known for her roles as Carla Espinosa on the NBC/ABC medical comedy series Scrubs (2001–2009), as Zoila Diaz in the Lifetime comedy-drama Devious Maids (2013–2016), and as Annalise "Quiet Ann" Zayas in the TNT crime comedy-drama Claws (2017–2022). Reyes also appeared in the films All Together Now (2020), Smile (2022), and Birth/Rebirth (2023), for which she received an Independent Spirit Award for Best Lead Performance nomination.
Matt Cedeño is an American actor and former male fashion model, known for his roles as Brandon Walker on the NBC daytime soap opera Days of Our Lives (1999-2005), Alejandro Rubio in the Lifetime primetime comedy-drama Devious Maids (2013-2014), Vasquez on Syfy comedy horror Z Nation (2015–16), and The Highest in the BET+ soap opera Ruthless.
"Pilot" is the first episode of the American dramedy-mystery series Desperate Housewives. It premiered on October 3, 2004, on the ABC network. It was written by series creator Marc Cherry and directed by Charles McDougall. The pilot introduces the residents of the suburban neighborhood of Wisteria Lane. Following the suicide of an outwardly successful neighbor, her friends begin to deal with the problems in their personal lives. Susan Mayer competes for the attention of a new plumber who has moved across the street; Bree Van de Kamp struggles with her failing marriage and ungrateful family; Gabrielle Solis continues an affair with her sixteen-year-old gardener; and Lynette Scavo copes with life as a stay-at-home mother of four.
Melinda Page Hamilton is an American actress, best known for her role as Odessa Burakov in the Lifetime comedy-drama series Devious Maids, and for her leading role in the independent film Sleeping Dogs Lie (2006). She has had recurring roles on Desperate Housewives, Mad Men, and Big Love.
Edie Britt is a fictional character created by television producer and screenwriter Marc Cherry for the ABC television series Desperate Housewives. Nicollette Sheridan portrayed Edie from her debut in the pilot episode of the series until the character's death in the fifth season.
Ana Ortiz is an American actress and singer. Having pursued a career in ballet and singing from a young age, she eventually attended University of the Arts. Ortiz began her acting career in theatre, in early 2000s starred in the short-lived NBC sitcoms Kristin (2001) and A.U.S.A. (2003), and had recurring roles on Over There and Boston Legal.
Mark Deklin is an American actor and fight coordinator. He starred in the Fox primetime drama Lone Star, the ABC comedy-drama GCB, the Lifetime comedy-drama Devious Maids, and in 2017 joined the ABC political drama Designated Survivor as Senator Jack Bowman. He voiced Deimos in the video game God of War: Ghost of Sparta. He also was the voice of Warden in the video game Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Siege.
The fifth season of Desperate Housewives, an American television series created by Marc Cherry, began airing on ABC on September 28, 2008, and concluded on May 17, 2009. The season takes place five years after the events of the season four finale in 2008 and continues to focus on the lives of Wisteria Lane residents Susan Mayer, Lynette Scavo, Bree Hodge, Gabrielle Solis, Edie Britt and Katherine Mayfair, as seen through the eyes of the series' deceased narrator, Mary Alice Young. The season's mystery is centered on Edie Britt's third husband, Dave Williams. The series received media attention following the announcement that Edie, portrayed by Nicollette Sheridan, would be killed off close to the end of the season. Edie takes on the narration in "Look Into Their Eyes and You See What They Know" following her death, marking the second time Mary Alice's voice is not heard in an episode.
"You're Gonna Love Tomorrow" is the fifth season premiere episode of the American comedy-drama series Desperate Housewives, and the 88th episode overall. It originally aired on September 28, 2008, in the United States on ABC. The episode was written by series creator Marc Cherry and directed by Larry Shaw. "You're Gonna Love Tomorrow", as well as all subsequent episodes, takes place five years after the events of the fourth season finale following Cherry's decision to revamp the series with a time jump.
Nicollette Sheridan is a British-born American actress. She began her career as a fashion model before landing a role in the short-lived ABC primetime soap opera Paper Dolls in 1984, as well as starring in the romantic comedy film The Sure Thing (1985). She rose to prominence as Paige Matheson on the CBS primetime soap opera Knots Landing (1986–1993), for which she received two Soap Opera Digest Awards. Thereafter, Sheridan appeared in lead roles in numerous television films and miniseries, including Lucky Chances (1990), Virus (1995), and The People Next Door (1996). She also appeared in the feature films Noises Off (1992), Spy Hard (1996), Beverly Hills Ninja (1997), and Code Name: The Cleaner (2007).
Brianna Lynn Brown is an American actress and producer. She is known for her television roles as Lisa Niles in the ABC soap opera General Hospital, Taylor Stappord in the Lifetime series Devious Maids and as Claudia Blaisdel in The CW reboot series Dynasty.
Rebecca Wisocky is an American actress. Best known for her role as Evelyn Powell in the Lifetime comedy-drama series Devious Maids (2013–16), as of 2021 she is starring as Hetty Woodstone on the CBS sitcom Ghosts. She had small roles in shows such as Desperate Housewives, and had a reoccurring role as Ramdha on Star Trek: Picard.
"Remember Paul?" is the seventh season premiere episode of the American comedy-drama television series Desperate Housewives, and the 135th overall episode of the series. It was originally broadcast in the United States on September 26, 2010, on the American Broadcasting Company (ABC). In the episode, Paul announces his return to Wisteria Lane while Carlos learns that his daughter was accidentally switched with another baby at the hospital eight years earlier.
Devious Maids is an American television comedy-drama and mystery series created by Marc Cherry, produced by ABC Studios, and executive produced by Cherry, Sabrina Wind, Eva Longoria, Paul McGuigan, Larry Shuman, David Lonner, John Mass, Paul Presburger, and Michael Garcia. It is based on the Mexican series Ellas son... la alegría del hogar created by Eugenio Derbez. It originally aired on Lifetime for four seasons from June 23, 2013, to August 8, 2016.
"Finishing the Hat" is the second part of the two-hour series finale of the ABC television series Desperate Housewives. It is the twenty-third and final episode of the show's eighth season and the 180th episode overall, which was broadcast on May 13, 2012. Although the season was promoted as "Kiss Them Goodbye", the series finale was promoted as "The Final Kiss Goodbye".
"Pilot" is the series premiere to the Lifetime series Devious Maids. The pilot had been ordered by ABC on January 31, 2012, and cast during the following two months. Filming began in March. ABC declined to pick up the pilot on May 14, but Lifetime did so on June 22, ordering 13 episodes. Although most of the cast had been selected by this time three additional regular supporting characters were added in November 2012 for inclusion in the pilot and the continuing series.
The first season of the American television comedy-drama series Devious Maids began airing on Lifetime on June 23, 2013. The season consisted of 13 episodes, and concluded on September 22, 2013, with a season high of nearly 3 million viewers. The pilot episode has received positive reviews from critics. It tells the story of five Latina women who works as maids in Beverly Hills, and how they are affected when one of their friends, Flora, is murdered for knowing a secret. Marisol Suarez, tries to figure out who was the killer in order to help her son get released from prison.
Wendy Mericle is an American television writer and producer. She is known for her work on the ABC dramedy Desperate Housewives and The CW's superhero series Arrow.
Why Women Kill is an American dark comedy anthology series created by Marc Cherry, which depicts the events leading to deaths caused by women. The first season, which premiered on August 15, 2019, on CBS All Access, consists of 10 episodes and is set in multiple periods. The second season, containing 10 episodes, premiered on June 3, 2021, on Paramount+ and focuses on a single time period. In December 2021, the series was renewed for a third season, but in July 2022 the third season was scrapped before production could begin.
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