TV Ratings: Desperate Housewives (Season 4)

Daily TV ratings reports will not be posted on Televisionista during the summer. I will however post ratings of selected summer shows and take a look back at how some of TV's hottest shows did last season. And I begin with "Desperate Housewives."

Following a series high of over 30 million viewers who tuned in to see the first season finale of "Desperate Housewives" in May 2005, it was all downhill for the Marc Cherry-penned dramedy (well, how could they go any further?) in seasons 2 and 3.

But this season, Dana Delany joined the cast, as did a gay couple; Lynette battled cancer; Bree faked a pregnancy, Susan gave birth to her child; and Gaby ditched her evil mayor and reunited with Carlos.

Oh yes, and there was a twister, a more compelling mystery, a bunch of great guest stars, a glimpse of Gale Harold, and a controversial 5-year leap into a troubled future.

It appears that was enough to put the buzz back into the 4-year old series which bounced back in the ratings after hitting a series low in the spring of 2007. An average of about a million pairs of eyeballs were added this year and here's how individual episodes fared:

Sep. 30 (19.3 million)
Oct. 07 (17.8 million)
Oct. 14 (18.9 million)
Oct. 21 (18.2 million)
Oct. 28 (18.3 million)
Nov. 04 (18.6 million)
Nov. 11 (18.6 million)
Nov. 25 (18.6 million)
Dec. 02 (20.7 million)
Jan. 06 (19.8 million)
Apr. 13 (16.4 million)
Apr. 20 (15.8 million)
Apr. 27 (16.4 million)
May 04 (16.8 million)
May 11 (15.4 million)
May 18 (16.8 million)

As you can see, the show opened strong on September 30 with the 3rd highest rating of the season. The infamous tornado episode on December 2 gave the series its season high and helped break the 20 million mark. The January follow-up was the second highest rated episode of the season.

Then in April, the show returned following the conclusion of the crippling writers' strike and the ratings took a plunge. Something very similar happened last spring, so we might want to put the blame on warmer weather and longer days.

The fact that second to last episode which aired on May 11 hit season low of 15.4 million viewers is somewhat worrisome. The 2-hour season finale shot back up, but only to 16.8 million viewers, closing the season on a par with the May 4 episode.

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