Pilot

Season 1, Episode 1, Aired
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Episode Summary

One day, in the loveliest of suburbs, housewife and mother Mary Alice Young (Brenda Strong) decides to take her own life. Now, from her elevated state of P.O.V., Mary Alice introduces us to the lives of her friends, neighbors and family members living in the idyllic Wisteria Lane, a street where the lawns are green, the houses are pretty, the people are nice and the secrets are deadly.''''Her circle of girlfriends, who are taken by surprise by her mysterious suicide, includes: Susan Mayer (Teri Hatcher), a known klutz and hopeless romantic who's gone through a bitter divorce, and is now playing the part of single mom to her precocious daughter Julie (Andrea Bowen) and also happens to be looking for love, finding it in the heart of the hunky new plumber neighbor, Mike Delfino (James Denton) - but in order to win him over, she'll have to rival the street's notorious slut, Edie Britt (Nicollette Sheridan); Lynette Scavo (Felicity Huffman), formerly a successful businesswoman in the marketing world, now a stay-at-home mom taking care of four rebellious kids, while her husband, Tom (Doug Savant), is out working all the time; Bree Van de Kamp, often deemed "Martha Stewart-on-steroids", a perfectionist home fairy whose immaculate lifestyle drives her children Andrew (Shawn Pyfrom) and Danielle (Joy Lauren) to treat her with disdain, and her husband Rex (Steven Culp) to want a divorce; and Gabrielle Solis (Eva Longoria), a former top model turned trophy wife who becomes tired of life in the suburbs after marrying a businessman, Carlos (Ricardo Antonio Chavira), and thus engages in an affair with her 17-year-old gardener John Rowland (Jesse Metcalfe).''''Then there's Mary Alice's family: her peculiar son Zach (Cody Kasch), who tries to figure out why his mom would abandon him the way she did, and her husband Paul (Mark Moses), who tries to keep the truth under wraps.''''In death, Mary Alice knows more than she ever could in life, and she is willing to share with us, week after week, the juicy details of the lives of people she holds dear, and the secrets they try to hide behind closed doors. And we welcome them all with watery mouths.moreless
8.8
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EPISODE RATING: Great
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Cast & Crew

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Fan Episode Reviews (31)

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  • How it all began!

    10
    "Perfect"
    By Matt16020-FIN, 17 hours ago Report Abuse
    I have to say that I watch a lot of different series, but this made me the best entrance. In my opinion, a good pilot is where the charachters are introduced well. This certainly did an amazing job. I like how the housewives are so natural and act very well. The funniest moment was Lynette yelling to her kids while they went for a swim. An excellent premiere for an excellent series. Go see this episode. Ps. Bree Hodge is the sexiest housewife! <3moreless

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    0 0

  • A great start to a great show!

    10
    "Perfect"
    By mmvd, Jan 02, 2012 Report Abuse
    We're in the middle of Mary-Alice's life and then she kills herself, no one knows why. Her life seems perfect, with her husband, their son, their perfect house..et cetera. A really good start.
    Then we meet her friends, the other housewives:
    The clumsy one: Susan, she can't cook, she's divorced, she's a single parent and her life is totally normal. She meets Mike Delfino on the funeral service and it seems, they like each other. She'd like to have a nice dinner with Mike, but Edie was faster. Then Susan went to Edie's house and heard sex-noise. She thought Edie's in bed with Mike and she's depressed. Then she pushes a candle in Edie's living room, accidental. And her house's on fire. Susan went and waited out of the house with the other housewives. Then Mike's suddenly coming from behind and talks to the ladies. Susan's surprised.
    The "perfect" one: Bree's the perfect housewife with the perfect family. But that's just the surface. Andrew's a cheeky teenager, who's tired of the whole life with the perfect mother. Danielle's a wanna-be beauty, I think. Then Rex, the ungrateful husband. Then they're in a restaurant, when Bree putted some onion in Rex' salad. And she knows, he's allergic to onion. After that he has to go to the hospital. Rex' asked for a divorce and Bree's lost her frame, but only on the toilette.
    the tough one: Lynette. Lynette's life isn't easy at all. She's got 4 children. 3 Boys and 1 Girl. The girl's still an infant. The boy's don't behave themselves that good and went swimming on the funeral service. Lynette had to get them out of the pool. Her husband Tom returns from a business trip and the first thing he want to do is sex. But he didn't want to take a condom. And Lynette beats him. She don't want to have more babies. I totally understand her! 4 are quite enough.
    The pretty one: Gabrielle. Her life seems perfect too. She's got a great house, a nice husband and her beauty is the greatest gift ever. But her life isn't perfect at all. She has an affair with her underaged gardner John. And her husband treats her not that good.
    The 4 ladies find a letter in a box of Mary-Alice. The letter says: I know what you did! It makes me sick! I'm going to tell! Now, the question is: WHAT HAS SHE DONE? We'll see ;Dmoreless

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  • Pilot

    9.5
    "Superb"
    By danny7277, Jun 05, 2011 Report Abuse
    This was an absolutly fantastic pilot episode that did a brilliant job of setting up the characters and the storylines, this pilot also had some great dialogue with some really funny lines and some really dark comedy, the pilot has done a brilliant job of setting up the tone of the series with some dark humor mixed with drama comedy and secrets and mystery desperate housewives feels refreshing and orignal and cant wait to see more it has only been one episode but already i am addicted.
    a really really really really really really really really really really good pilotmoreless

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  • The best series premiere ever!

    9.4
    "Superb"
    By RenatoB, Apr 29, 2011 Report Abuse
    There was a time that I thought the "Buffy, the Vampire Slayer" series premiere was the best ever. Well, that obviously was before I knew what "Desperate Housewives", and how great of a pilot it had. This episode is, without question, superb. It introduces the show's setting, characters, relationships, stories and mysteries so very well. We can tell right from the kick-off that the characters and their stories are interesting and entertaining. This is truly the best pilot ever written, everything about it is perfect. There are no boring scenes in it, and it is one of the funniest episodes of the series. Way to go, Marc Cherry, you are a genious. :)moreless

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    5 1

  • Oh Mary Alice, what did you do?

    10
    "Perfect"
    By desperate_dude, Feb 01, 2009 Report Abuse
    Agreed with Renato, this is one of the best pilot episodes I've ever seen, with "Grey's Anatomy" in second. Marc Cherry locks the audience with a perfect blend of satire, humor, darkness, and very relate-able characters. After all the questions of Mary Alice's suicide are answered, it's fun to go back and re-watch all the clues as they are being uncovered ever so slightly, secretly, and deviously. If you haven't seen "Desperate Housewives" yet, there is no other series like it, so start watching. It's in Season Five (2008-2009) and it's still as addicting as it was in Season One.moreless

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Trivia, Notes, Quotes and Allusions

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  • Trivia

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    • Goof: When Bree waters the flowers in the bathroom of the hospital, there is the shadow of the camera man visible behind her. Edit
    • Goof: When Susan sits on Edie's couch, just after she throws the bra behind her and knocks the candles over, a crew member in blue jeans can briefly be seen moving on the floor behind the couch to the right. Edit
    • The envelope that Mary Alice's blackmail note came in says Secretsville, USA instead of Fairview. Edit

  • Notes

    ADD NOTES
    • The opening credits were cut for the series premiere. They would first appear in the following episode. Edit
    • In this episode the characters pronounce Susan's last name "Meyer". However, in the rest of the series her name is pronounced "Mayer". This is due to the fact that during the shooting of the pilot, Susan's character's last name was supposed to be Meyer. It was later changed to Mayer. Edit
    • International Titles: Canada: Beautés déséspérées Italy: Desperate Housewives - I segreti di Wisteria Lane Japan: Desuparêto na tsuma tachi Mexico: Esposas desesperadas Norway: Frustrerte fruer Poland: Gotowe na wszystko Croatia: Kućanice Serbia: Očajne domaćice Estonia: Meeleheitel koduperenaised Spain: Mujeres desesperadas Portugal: Donas de Casa Desesperadas Greece: Noikokyres se apognosi Hungary: Született feleségek Finland: Täydelliset naiset Macedonia: Ocajni domakinki Switzerland/Austria - Schmutzige Wäsche Edit

  • Quotes

    ADD QUOTES
    • Mary Alice: (closing voiceover) And suddenly there he was (referring to Mike). Like a phoenix rising from the ashes. And just like that, Susan was happy. Life was suddenly full of possibilities. Not to mention a few unexpected surprises. The next day my friends came together to pack away my clothes, my personal belongings and what was left of my life. Not quite, Gabrielle, not quite. How ironic to have something I tried so desperately to keep secret treated so casually. I'm so sorry, girls, I never wanted you to be burdened with this. Edit
    • Mary Alice: (about Edie) Susan had met the enemy, and she was a slut. Edit
    • Rex: I can't believe you tried to kill me. Bree: Yes, well, I feel badly about that. Edit

  • Allusions

    ADD ALLUSIONS
    • Edie's welcome gift is a dish of Sausage Puttenesca. Puttenesca is an Italian word that resembles 'prostitute'. Folklore has it that in Naples prostitutes used to make a pasta sauce that required little or no cooking and used their dishes as one more way of appealing to potential customers. The fact that Edie is bringing this dish is an allusion to her reputation. Edit
    • Andrew: "You're the one with the problem, all right. You're the one who's acting she's running for mayor of Stepford." Bree Van De Kamp is described as "the perfect mother." Her son then makes a remark about Stepford. This is most likely a reference to the movie(s), The Stepford Wives (1975) (starring Katharine Ross) or the recent remake, The Stepford Wives (2004) (starring Nicole Kidman). The women living in the town of Stepford are too perfect à la Bree, and turn out to be robots. Edit

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Original Pilot (unaired)

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