Many of the most shocking TV character deaths work so well because they come as a surprise and disrupt the show’s status quo. ABC’s “Desperate Housewives” had precisely such a demise up its sleeve with the shocking Season 8 death of Mike Delfino (James Denton), the husband of Susan Delfino (Teri Hatcher). Mike’s murder by the shady Donny (Sal Landi) was one of the biggest beats of the show’s final season. However, fans who had been paying attention to events behind the scenes already knew it was coming, thanks to a court case between former “Desperate Housewives” star Nicollette Sheridan and the makers of the show.
Sheridan’s character, Edie Britt, was killed off the show in 2009 via a dramatic combination of a car accident and an electric shock that took place in the Season 5 episode “A Spark. To Pierce the Dark.” Edie died in the subsequent episode, “Look Into Their Eyes and You See What They Know.” The actor went on to sue “Desperate Housewives” creator Marc Cherry, the network, and the production company, alleging that Cherry had physically struck her during filming and that her attempt to report the issue led to a forced exit from the series.
The high-profile case, which was dismissed in 2017, ended up dropping a pretty serious spoiler about Mike Delfino’s fate. In March 2012, one part of the case revolved around determining whether the show had killed off other characters of Edie’s stature after “Look Into Their Eyes and You See What They Know.” As Cherry was watching, “Desperate Housewives” executive producer George Perkins revealed in his testimony that Mike’s death was on its way.
Desperate Housewives considered killing several main characters
In television and in life, big surprises don’t always go quite as planned. Sometimes, major TV events end up being spoiled in advance, like when parts of the “House of the Dragon” Season 2 finale leaked on TikTok days before the episode aired. Other times, the intended big plot twists are so predictable we can see them a mile away. However, Mike Delfino might be the only major TV character in history whose death was spoiled by courtroom testimony.
The executive producer also revealed that a surprising number of crucial “Desperate Housewives” characters narrowly avoided a grim fate. Apart from Mike, four of the show’s primary female characters — Susan, Gabrielle Solis (Eva Longoria), Bree Van de Kamp (Marcia Cross), and Lynette Scavo (Felicity Huffman) — were in consideration for a major death, as were Gabrielle’s husband Carlos (Ricardo Chavira) and Lynette’s husband Tom (Doug Savant).
