Title: Body of Proof
Contrary to the official update, this was released yesterday:
The producers of “Desperate Housewives” will have quite a few homes to fill after the finale on Sunday, May 16 on ABC.
Susan (played by Teri Hatcher) is putting her house up for rent. Angie (played by Drea de Matteo) and her family are leaving. And, now, it seems another house may get a “for sale” sign. ABC has picked up Dana Delany’s pilot, “Body of Proof.”
When the news broke that Delany had signed on to a pilot, it seemed that she was looking for a new opportunity. Executive producer, Bob Daily, told Zap2it exclusively that as far as he knows, that wasn’t true.
“Actually, ABC approached her,” Daily tells us. “She actually went back and forth as to whether she should move on. I think she was having just so much fun on the show, but ABC really wanted her to do this pilot. And, listen, Dana’s great. She should be the lead in her own series and she has been before – an Emmy-winning lead in ['China Beach'].”
In fact, he says Delany had cold feet about leaving the successful series for a pilot that may or may not leave her unemployed in the end.
“I know that Dana came into us,” Daily explains. “And said, ‘I’m not sure I want to do this.’ That was when [creator Marc Cherry] said to her, ‘If it doesn’t work out, you’ll always have a place here. So, don’t let that cloud your decision.’ ”
Daily says that’s why they chose to keep her character Katherine’s storyline open-ended this season.
Well, Zap2it thinks that’s a no-brainer for the star.
I posted part of this interview already, but here’s the full one.
Playing a woman with marital turmoil is familiar territory for Emmy-winning actress Dana Delany. On the TV series “Desperate Housewives,” she was Katherine Mayfair, who had her share of drama and surprises in her love life. In the independent dramedy film “Multiple Sarcasms” (set in New York City in 1979), Delany is a wife and mother named Annie Richmond, who is also dealing with an unsteady marriage, but her marital problems are more subtle than what viewers might see on “Desperate Housewives.”
Annie’s husband, Gabriel (played by Timothy Hutton), is an architect facing a mid-life crisis as he works on a semi-autobiographical play. As Gabriel tries to avoid his day job as much as possible, working on his play makes him realize his true feelings for wife and his best friend, Cari (played by Mira Sorvino), and how those feelings might affect their relationships with each other and with Gabriel and Annie’s only child, Elizabeth (played by India Ennenga). At the New York City press junket for “Multiple Sarcasms,” I sat down with Delany, who talked about her recent roles that explore marital difficulties, what she thinks of the real-life scandalous “Desperate Housewives” lawsuit, and what she would be doing with her ife if she weren’t an actress.
The lady decided to share some new info about the upcoming weeks!
“I will be in Chicago on the 17th. And then I’m off to Europe for the Monte Carlo Television Festival and press in London. I’m planning on making a stop in Paris also with my sister. Then a vacation just for me on a beach somewhere with a lot of good books. I need it! By the way, I spent my first night in the New York apartment and I love it!”
Now time to explain why she’ll be at each place:
Chicago, 17th May: More Magazine event.
6 – 10 June: Monte Carlo Television Festival. She was there in 2008 and I swear I almost died every single day. She’s going to be there to represent Desperate Housewives, but you see… Castle’s also gonna be represented by Nathan Fillion – reunion anyone?! – AND! Dexter will be represented by Julie Benz, too! Anyone follows my traint hought here or am I alone?!
Now the London press bit is something that caught me off guard so I have no idea what that will be for, maybe to promote DH some more, or Multiple Sarcasms opening there or to promote Body Of Proof if it’s picked up.
Dana Delany’s kooky and entirely crazy ‘Desperate Housewives’ character, Katherine Mayfair, may currently be ensconced in France with her new lesbian lover, but we may not have seen the last of her. Delany is waiting to find out if her new show, ‘Body of Proof,’ will be picked up, but she isn’t closing any doors to Wisteria Lane. PopEater caught up with Delany to chat about ‘Housewives,’ as well as the ‘Body’ pilot and her new movie, ‘Multiple Sarcasms’ with Timothy Hutton, where she gets the chance to act like a grownup while the men behave badly … quite the role reversal.
In ‘Multiple Sarcasms’ Timothy Hutton plays your hubby, who is going through a midlife crisis. That had to be a switch for you, allowing someone else to bring the crazy for once.
Yes, on ‘Desperate Housewives’ it is the women who behave more like children, and we’re the ones who are having the midlife crisis.
Timothy’s character in the movie is trying to find himself. Don’t you think it’s a pain for women to constantly deal with men who can’t just grow up?
It’s the classic thing that women constantly have to play the mommy. I don’t want to be in that role in a relationship. The minute I become someone’s mother in a relationship, it becomes so unsexy to me.
Why did you choose to do ‘Multiple Sarcasms’?
A lot of it had to do with Timothy. He called me and said there is a script you just have to read. I grew up in the seventies and this script has that kind of feel to it. It was a film about human beings that was both dramatic and funny.What can we as concerned citizens do to eradicate this epidemic of toxic man-boy syndrome?
It is what happens in real life. I’m not a mother, but I would urge all mothers to raise their sons differently and tell them they need to take responsibility for their actions.Your character Katherine has gone crazy on ‘Desperate Housewives’ and headed off to Paris with her lesbian stripper lover (that’s a mouthful). Is she gone for good? That will make us sad.
I just finished a new pilot for ABC, so I’m waiting to hear whether or not I’ll be doing my own show. It’s very different. Very different. I’d be playing a medical examiner. But there is always the opportunity of bringing Katherine back, and Mark Cherry has been really open to the idea. It would be great have her come back at some point as a changed person.You play crazy so well on ‘Housewives.’ Is there a trick to getting crazy just right?
I do go looney toons. The trick is to keep is real. The danger would be playing to the snake pit, because then you lose the audience’s sympathy. The second you go too Joan Crawford they stop relating. I wanted women viewers to realize that any woman could be Katherine, given the circumstances.
Dana Delany has revealed the current season of Desperate Housewives will end with plenty of drama for Lynette.
Fresh from the final day of shooting, Dana – who plays Wisteria Lane’s Katherine Mayfair – hinted Felicity Huffman’s character features prominently in the last episode.
She said: “I just came to visit because it was the last day. Felicity was in the last [episode] – it was a very dramatic scene and I tell you she did an excellent job.”
Speaking at the LA premiere of her new movie Multiple Sarcasms, the actress also revealed how John Barrowman is fitting in on the show.
She laughed: “I met him in the trailer yesterday – I’d never met him before. He is funny, he is irreverent and, oh my God, the stuff coming out his mouth! I just met him and I was like ‘who is this guy?’ – he’s great!”
She went on: “We tend to say that the men are the beta males on the set – the women are definitely in charge.”
Dana admitted she wasn’t sure if she would be returning next season.
“I find out in two weeks whether I have a new show or not,” she explained. “It’s called Body Of Proof. I think it’s pretty good, we’ll see. Otherwise I’ll be happy to be back on Desperate Housewives.”
So there we go, BOE is finally BOP – kind of lame title to me, I liked more BOE even if it had to be changed, or even M.E. more but oh well. Now let’s see if it gets picked up or not!
Finale date: May 16
What’s happened: Angie (Drea De Matteo) moved her family to Wisteria Lane but packed a suitcase of secrets; Lynette (Felicity Huffman) fought to keep gold diggers out of her family; Susan (Teri Hatcher) married Mike (James Denton), who is hiding a load of debt; Katherine (Dana Delany) went insane, got better, became a lesbian and then ran off to Paris with her new girlfriend; Bree (Marcia Cross) mourned Karl (Richard Burgi), reconciled with a wheelchair-ridden Orson (Kyle MacLachlan) and discovered her ex had a son; Gaby (Eva Longoria Parker) learned parenting skills; and the street faced a string of attacks on young women.
Season highs: The addition of John Borrowman as Angie’s crazy ex. We’re fans of anything the Torchwood star graces the screen with, but there’s something extra-special about this hot specimen playing a deranged killer.
Season lows: The dismantling of Katherine Mayfair. When the character first moved to Wisteria Lane she became an instant favourite, but this season especially she’s become a shadow of her former self — a waste of Delany’s talents. Let’s hope that pilot she’s signed onto gets picked up and she can move on to somewhere that will utilize her skills.
Behind-the-scenes: It’s no secret creator Marc Cherry and Nicollette Sheridan didn’t see eye-to-eye when the actress was portraying Edie Britt, but things grew very bitter towards the end of last season, when Edie was killed off the show. Sheridan took some time to lick her wounds, but now she’s back – in the courts. The actress claims Cherry slapped her around on set, and is demanding a cool $20 million for that and wrongful termination.
Finale predictions: In “I Guess This is Goodbye,” the battle between Angie and her ex will come to a head, and neither will return next season. We’d say the epic battle will change the ladies of the lane for good, but let’s face it: we all know there will be another “epic” mystery next season for them to chew on. Also, ABC says Lynette’s fate and that of her unborn child lie in the hands of Eddie and Susan comes to grips with her financial woes.
Will it be back? Heck, yes – ABC is already losing Lost; it can’t afford to lose its other breadwinner, too.
Overall Grade: C
Can we say everybody finally gets how talented our girl is and they’re wishing her everywhere to have the best of luck so that BOE gets picked up?! As much as I love Katherine queen of arrogant Mayfair, either they bring her back to what it was whenever she returns, because let’s face and admit she will one way or the other, or if she’s not that way give her the best storyline you can come up – that is if BOE doesn’t get picked up but I doubt it won’t.
So I just added more photos BTS photos of Desperate Housewives, some were already in our gallery but now in HQ. Others are new, but also anyone wants to take a full look at Katherine’s house? Or the test kitchen where she and Bree used to look together? If so, here’s your chance at least via photo.
Question: Have we seen the last of Katherine on Desperate Housewives? —Carol
Ausiello: For this season, yes. But if Dana Delany’s ABC pilot, Body of Evidence, fails to earn a pickup, she’ll most likely be back in the fall. “We’d love to have her back, but obviously for her sake, I hope her pilot goes,” says exec producer Bob Daily. “Marc [Cherry] has said that she has an open invitation to return next season if it doesn’t.”
Last we saw of Katherine on Desperate Housewives she was ditching Wisteria Lane and heading to Europe to have some alone time with her new gal pal, Robin (Julie Benz). So what’ll become of the show’s new lesbian lovers? Katherine herself, Dana Delany, doesn’t even know!
While promoting her new film Multiple Sarcasms, Delany revealed that she honestly doesn’t know when or if she’ll be returning to the show. “I could. It’s all up in the air; I’ll know in a month.” When asked about the details of her deal keeping her attached to the show, Delany explained, “It’s one of those they have a contract that all works in their favor. I have a contract with them, a six-year contract – actually, we added a year, so a seven year contract, I’ve done three of them, so they have the choice of bringing me back, but I don’t have the choice of whether I stay or not.”
Just in case they opt to ditch her character’s scenario entirely, Delany has a back up plan. “I will either have a new show on the air that I’ll be starring in, I’ll be back on Desperate Housewives or I’ll be out of a job and look for something else.” That new show is what Delany calls a “procedural with character.” She revealed, “I play a medical examiner on it.”
And, of course, there was no escaping without getting hit by a question regarding the whole Nicollette Sheridan vs. Marc Cherry situation. According to Hollyscoop, as of yesterday, the suits at ABC were in talks with Sheridan trying to get her to exchange her $120 million lawsuit for some sort of “peace package.” For those of you out of the loop on the neighborhood gossip, Sheridan is suing the show’s creator claiming he slapped her during an argument and when she proceeded to complain about his behavior, was booted from the show. Delany’s take on the whole thing? “Kind of baffled by it. I certainly didn’t see that behavior.” She added, “I hope it works out for her, I hope everybody gets what they want, but yeah, that was puzzling to me.”
One question I often get asked is what makes for a good (and memorable) drama series. I’ve always believed that the heavily character-driven shows usually stand the best chance because viewers want to identify with one or more of the characters, they want to care and get invested in that character. In addition to the characters, I also believe that the shows that have defined a generation make for the most memorable of the bunch.
In a business where people seek the fountain of youth above all else, women from all walks of life were relieved when Desperate Housewives made it cool to be in your thirties, forties and fifties. Gone were the stereotypical housewives who “obey” their husbands and were barefoot, pregnant and in the kitchen.
Three years ago, Katherine Mayfair arrived on Wisteria Lane to give the neighborhood a much-needed makeover. Her character has escaped an abusive husband, dated the neighborhood hottie, spent time in a mental institution and reexamined her sexuality by entering into a lesbian relationship with an ex-stripper.
Dana Delany, who plays Katherine on the hit series, became a household name back in the ’80s when she starred in the popular drama China Beach, and has kept us entertained ever since with that captivating and charismatic personality. I had the good fortune to speak with Dana about her days on China Beach, her role on Desperate Housewives, and a cause that is very close to her heart…
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