Patty Lin, who used to work in the first season of the hit ABC series, recalls behind-the-scenes drama in her new book, 'End Credits: How I Broke Up With Hollywood'.
- August 30, 2023
AceShowbiz - Wisteria Lane wasn't the only place filled with drama on "Desperate Housewives". Patty Lin, a former writer for the hit ABC series, recalled behind-the-scenes drama in her new book, "End Credits: How I Broke Up With Hollywood".
In the book, which was released on Tuesday, August 29, Lin wrote, "The writers weren't barred from the set, but we weren't exactly welcome." Lin added, "Usually we'd only see the cast at table reads, where we'd sit quietly in the back and try not to make eye contact with Teri Hatcher."
The writer didn't elaborate on why the staffers avoided making eye contact with the actress, who played Susan Mayer on the popular show. Reps for the "Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman" star also have yet to comment on the allegations.
Lin, who worked in the first season of the series, also claimed that she experienced "overt racism" at the hands of creator Marc Cherry. "One day at lunch, the topic of Margaret Cho came up, and someone mentioned 'All-American Girl', Cho's short-lived sitcom about a Korean American family. Marc turned to me and said, 'Patty, you should write a show like that,' " Lin recounted. "I love Margaret Cho, but please don't lump us together just because we're both Asian women in show business."
In her book, Lin additionally said that Cherry had a "wildly inefficient" process including giving her and some of the other staff members "busy work" of writing "marginally funny material," while Cherry and his "loyal team" of two other writers helmed most of the scripts. "With this wildly inefficient system, it's a miracle that any episodes of 'Desperate Housewives' ever got made. The quality that had attracted me to the pilot - the dark humor - was lost in the slapdash, assembly-line approach to what was supposed to be a creative process," she wrote.
"We were putting out schlock. The fact that it became the hottest show on TV, won multiple awards, ran for eight years, and earned more revenue than God, still boggles my mind," Lin divulged.
Cherry has yet to respond to the claims. Back in 2010, series stars including Hatcher, Felicity Huffman, Marcia Cross and Eva Longoria defended the showrunner when Nicollette Sheridan accused him of assault and battery, gender violence and wrongful termination on set. Cherry denied the allegations and the lawsuit filed by Sheridan was declared a mistrial.
