Desperate Housewives Season 5

Dave Williams's Hidden Agenda

The fifth season returned to broadcast on September 28, 2008, with the time period jumping 5 years after the previous season, with some flashbacks to events which happened between the two periods. One of the first mysteries revolves around Edie Britt's new husband, Dave Williams, played by Neal McDonough. Dave is looking for revenge on someone on Wisteria Lane (later revealed to be Mike Delfino and then, in a shocking twist, Susan). Susan deals with being a single mother and having a new romance with Jackson (Gale Harold). Lynette and Tom learn that their son is having an affair with a married woman whose husband's nightclub burns down with all of Wisteria Lane's neighbors inside. Gabrielle has to struggle with their two daughters, Juanita and Celia, as Carlos's sight returns. Bree and Orson are having marriage problems because she is so focused on her career, and Orson begins to steal from neighbors as a coping mechanism. As a result, Orson is in the street when Edie is racing away from her house after her discovery that Dave is a madman plotting to kill Mike and all those he loves; Edie swerves to avoid hitting him and crashes into an electrical pole, then exits the car, only to die of electrocution before she can tell anyone that Dave moved to Fairview in order to get revenge on the person who killed his wife and daughter. It is later when Susan reveals to Dave that it was she, not Mike, who was driving the car the night that a woman and child sat in their stalled car on a dark stretch of road. Dave's revenge plans suddenly change as he says "Hi" to M.J., Mike and Susan's son.

This season featured the show's 100th episode, revolving around Eli Scruggs (played by Beau Bridges) a handyman who had an important input in all of the ladies' lives. This episode featured flashbacks and returning characters, including Mary Alice Young, Martha Huber and Rex Van de Kamp. The episode was broadcast on ABC on Sunday, January 18, 2009.

The show takes place in 2013-2014 following the five year jump from season 4, assuming that the show was in the present when it premiered. Wisteria Lane seems to have come back to our time (2009) by the end of the season.

Filming began July 7, 2008 and finished March 2009

There was much speculation about the fifth season of the show, due to the many cliffhangers at the end of season four, such as the departure of Edie Britt, and whether she would return after the events of the "Mother Said" episode. When asked about Sheridan's departure, Cherry commented "She won't be back for a few years", a reference to the 'five-year leap' that the show is undertaking. Edie returned to Wisteria Lane with a new husband, Dave, played by Neal McDonough, who joined the cast as a series regular.

There had also been speculation whether the character of Mike Delfino would return, after the final scene in season four, set five years into the future, which showed Susan in the arms of a new mystery man, Jackson (Gale Harold). The fate of Mike Delfino was later revealed by actor James Denton, who plays Mike, when he told People magazine that he will definitely be returning in Season 5. However, "Mike and Susan have definitely split up," Denton told People.

On October 14, 2008, Gale Harold was seriously injured in a motorcycle accident. His character, Jackson, plays a pivotal role in the fifth season's eighth episode "City on Fire", which finds several Wisteria Lane residents trapped inside a nightclub fire. Cherry said Harold had been filming scenes all week for the episode and had been scheduled to be on set Tuesday, the day of the accident. Marc Cherry said they would await the actor's prognosis before deciding how to proceed, but that at least some changes would have to be made: "We know we're going to rewrite one scene," he said.

The show issued a statement: "Gale is part of the 'Desperate Housewives' family and our thoughts and wishes are with him for a speedy recovery."

Despite Harold's injury and ongoing recovery, no major Desperate Housewives production disruptions are expected.

Nicollette Sheridan has left Desperate Housewives. Her character, Edie Britt, died in an accident involving her car and a dangerous electrical wire.

Six months after his serious motorcycle accident, Harold has returned to work. Harold's return episode aired in the U.S. on May 3. The actor is signed to the series through the end of this season but says he has yet to be asked to return for 2009-10.

Teri Hatcher, Felicity Huffman, Marcia Cross, Eva Longoria Parker, Nicollette Sheridan, Ricardo Antonio Chavira, Doug Savant, Kyle MacLachlan, Dana Delany, Brenda Strong and James Denton all return as the principal cast, joined by Shawn Pyfrom, who has been promoted from an "also starring" credit. Also joining the principal cast is actor Neal McDonough as Dave Williams, while new actors portray the Scavo children, such as Charlie Carver, Max Carver, Joshua Logan Moore and Kendall Applegate, who all receive an "also starring" credit. Among the other returning cast, Andrea Bowen, though departing from the principal cast, has now been credited as a "special guest star", while Joy Lauren, Brent Kinsman, and Shane Kinsman also no longer receive an "also starring" credit, but instead make guest appearances.

The season had started in the UK, 1 week after that episode had aired. After episode 9, the UK started to fall about 6 weeks behind the USA pace, but after the 5 week break in the USA over Easter, the United Kingdom had then caught up again.

Episodes have been broadcast in Canada on CTV concurrently with the U.S. broadcasts. Outside the U.S. and Canada, episodes began airing internationally in Poland and Ireland in October. The season then premiered in the United Kingdom on October 19, 2008 on E4, then on October 22 on Channel 4. In Italy, Season 5 started airing in December 2008. Season 5 of Desperate Housewives began airing in Australia on the Seven Network on 2 February 2009 and in Hungary on the TV2 on 10 March 2009. In Israel it is aired on the yes stars Drama channel, exactly one week behind America. In France, the broadcast has started in 2009 on Canal Plus, a pay-TV channel.

After episode nine of the season in the UK and episode ten in Ireland the season took a break over the festive period. Ireland returned with episode eleven on January 13, 2009. Ireland now are 2 days behind the airing of the episodes in the U.S. Desperate Housewives has taken a break in the UK because of scheduling conflicts with Celebrity Big Brother 6 on Channel 4. Desperate Housewives has returned to the UK and due to several weeks between episodes in the US, its now just one week behind the pace of US airing.

After the dramatic episode eighteen, the ladies took a long break over the easter period and returned state-side on April 19. Irish viewers then don't have to wait that long for the much anticipated installment as it can be seen on RTÉ Two; just two days later at 9.55pm. At this stage UK viewers will be up to date with all the drama from Wisteria Lane.

The two-hour season finale of Desperate Housewives aired on Sunday, May 17, 2009 in the United States.. Irish viewers can see the finale 2 days later on May 19th, but the show will be starting almost 1 hour earlier than normal to accommodate airing both episodes on that 1 night. It will begin at 9.00pm BST. UK viewers will be expecting episodes to finish between the dates of May 24 and May 31, depending upon what slot the viewer watches.

As a result of BB10 not having a live stream this year, it is thought that both Seasons 4 and 5 will be having their first UK summer reruns. Seasons 1, 2 and 3 have already had reruns previously. If this is the case all 41 episodes will be airing in double bills (or in 1 case a triple bill) in order to get all viewers up to date for the UK arrival of Season 6 in late October 2009. This is likely to be the case with other Channel 4 shows such as Samantha Who?, Ugly Betty and 90210.

The UK will now not be finishing Season 5 as soon as expected as they have decided to show the 2 part season finalé over 2 weeks. It is speculated that they want Desperate Housewives to bring in viewers for the Season premiere of BB10. Episodes will stop airing on E4 on Sunday May 31 instead of Sunday May 24 and will also therefore stop airing on Channel 4 on Wednesday June 3 instead of Wednesday May 27.

Australia will be ending the season on either Monday July 13 or Monday July 20, 2009, depending upon whether the Seven Network want to air it as a 2 part season finale in one night or treat them as separate episodes and air them over 2 different weeks. This means that although there is an extra week added, this is because that Australia did not air the episode on Monday April 6 due to the Easter break. Otherwise, there have been no breaks.

First Aired: September 28, 2008
Last Aired: May 17, 2009

Notes:

There are 24 episodes in this season.
There are 1 multi-part episode in this season.

During this season, Neal McDonough joined the the casts as Dave Williams.