Desperate Housewives | featured news

There was nothing desperate about this finale. ABC's "Desperate Housewives" concluded its rocky, racy and macabre eight-season run with a tidy, affectionate send-off....

A division rivalry showdown between the Jets and Dolphins brought big ratings to NBC, allowing the network to hold off a variety of returning shows on other networks for Sunday night wins.

The show long ago fell out of favor with critics, but will kick off season seven by immediately plunging into multiple story lines to keep fans tuned in and stay atop the ratings.

ABC programming chief Stephen McPherson has abruptly resigned from the network after a six-year tenure in which the network aired such provocative series as "Desperate Housewives" and "Lost" but ended last season in third place among the big four networks.

NBC is poised to claim another Sunday primetime ratings victory with its big "Sunday Night Football" matchup between Indianapolis and New England, but ABC held up well as its core shows, including "Desperate Housewives," came in above average.

"Desperate Housewives" creator Marc Cherry said that losing Nicolette Sheridan, who plays Edie Britt, was not just a way of trimming the vixen population, but a natural way to cut costs.

A representative for the actress says her husband, stockbroker Tom Mahoney, has been diagnosed with cancer and is responding well to treatment.