The Greatest TV Pilots Of All Time

Desperate Housewives

Desperate Housewives may have gone downhill in later seasons, but the pilot episode started the show off strong. The residents of the suburban neighborhood Wisteria Lane are introduced by Mary Alice Young, a friend who committed a shocking suicide. The ensemble cast of Teri Hatcher, Felicity Huffman, Marcia Cross, and Eva Longoria were praised.

Desperate Housewives creator Marc Cherry said he got the idea for the show when watching the Andrea Yates trials on television with his mother, according to USA Today. “Can you imagine being so desperate that you would do that to your children?” Cherry asked his mother, to which she replied, “I’ve been there.” Cherry went on to say, “I always envisioned her as the perfect wife and mother. The idea that she had a period in her life when she was miserable was astounding to me. I suddenly realized that if my mother could be desperate in the life she had chosen for herself, any woman can.”