He will explain the rationale for the decision to hit fast forward. "When the show initially started, it depicted, in a somewhat heightened way, the lives of suburban women. No matter what gothic or soapy or over-the-top direction the show went, it always attempted to be grounded in the genuine experiences of women living in that world."
"We found that after four years in, we were looking to portray those predicaments once again. We didn't want to have to wait to show Gabrielle with children, or Bree in a thriving business, so we figured let's just jump ahead and do it. ... Let's see what Lynette is like with two 16-year-olds at home. That was something we didn't want to have to wait until season ten to start exploring."
The writers aren't the only ones to benefit from the creative renewal. "The five-year jump has allowed us to take this wonderful cast we have and put them through their paces. Eva Longoria is very beautiful. Having her play someone who is feeling unattractive after having two children, who feels like she's lost her luster, those are challenges for Eva. And good for her, she's great, she'll rise to the challenge," he continued. "That's true of everyone on the show. We're going to give them different kinds of things to do that build on where they've been in the past and yet enable them to stretch."
"That's part of the joy of working on a television series: you get to write the big Russian novel. Over time you can unfold the story and find depths in a character that weren't there when the character was initially designed."
Getting Away With Murder: "We don't like to draw attention to the fact that it's a very dangerous place to live."
When I relay the story of a friend of mine lightheartedly wondering if "resetting the women's predicaments" meant another tornado was due on Wisteria Lane soon, Greenstein assured me the producers try not to repeat themselves. They also don't worry much about getting too outrageous.
Though the comedic tone feeds on a steady diet of high dramas, including natural disasters, cancer, infidelity with underage lovers, secret children, murder, and other not-so-everyday occurrences, he theorizes that the show's matter-of-fact acceptance of those events allows it to transcend the soapiness.
"It would be very easy to have characters make jokes about the number of murders on the lane, or the number of disasters that have befallen people, or the number of people who have wrestled with life-threatening this or that. We don't do that. The show is grounded in hopefully recognizable suburban reality, so we try not to call undue attention to the over-the-top gothic aspects to life on Wisteria Lane."
Article comments
1 - Maggie
Jeff's doing a great job, I love DH, though they could work on a couple aspects of the show. By the way, found the Desperate Housewives "starter kit" on ABC's site.
2 - Why Greenstein?
Does Marc Cherry not have anything intelligent nor believable to say? Can he not keep his stories straight?
Is Greenstein covering for Cherry?
This seems to be a foot in mouth disorder. Why else would ABC pull a nobody out of the woodwork to speak on the creator's behalf?
3 - Why Greenstein?
Does Marc Cherry not have anything intelligent nor believable to say? Can he not keep his stories straight?
Greenstein must be covering for Cherry.
There seems to be a foot-in-mouth disorder. Why else would ABC pull a nobody out of the woodwork to speak on the creator's behalf?
Is control-freak Cherry in hiding? Or has ABC silenced him?
It's so nice to see how incredibly wonderfully generous ABC is to men like Greenstein and are giving him development deals on a silver platter. He must be serving their needs very well indeed!
4 - Diane Kristine
Wow, so this is how conspiracy theories get started. ABC had nothing to do with it. I interviewed Jeff Greenstein because I heard him speak at the Banff World Television Festival and he was nice enough to agree to an interview with me. Check Google News for Marc Cherry and you'll see he had a whole lot to say during the TV critics press tour, and will probably have a lot more to say prior to the show's premiere at the end of September. I get bored of hearing from the same people about the same things all the time, so I love talking to other behind the scenes people.