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By 2006, Desperate Housewives was a pop culture staple.
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Disparate, yet somehow making complete sense. Cherry had initially compared it to American Beauty, and critics affirmed this in various news sites, continuing to compare it to four completely disparate pieces of media- Knots Landing, The Golden Girls, Sex and the City, and Twin Peaks. 21.3 million viewers tuned in, and critics could not get enough of it.
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Marc Cherry’s soapy, campy opus, inspired by the trial of Andrea Yates, the Texan mother who confessed to drowning all five of her children in a bathtub in 2001, was ABC’s biggest success in 2004 and beyond. There was no lack of bewildering and baffling storylines in Desperate Housewives’ eight-year run, but amidst the campiness and extravagance of every episode-all of which were named for a Sondheim song or lyric-hid genuine, tender moments between its four main characters, Gaby Solis, Susan Mayer, Bree Van de Kamp, and Lynette Scavo. And a million other things too: fingers getting chopped off, ashes getting thrown in one’s face, a tornado, a plane crash, a sex offender next door. Housewives had it all: a model having a steamy affair with a young gardener, a harried mother taking her sons’ ADHD medication to keep up with the demands of parenting, a Republican housewife having to deal with the fact that her son is gay, and the girl-next-door falling head-over-heels- literally-for her hot plumber neighbor. Of course, that was the last time that street would ever be quiet. It was a pilot like no other-daytime soapiness disturbing the prestige of primetime television with Mary Alice’s death, the suicide that launched a thousand unravelling secrets in the quiet neighborhood of Wisteria Lane. Xiao-Mei's name in Chinese is 小美, meaning small beauty.This week, 15 years ago, Desperate Housewives aired.Her water broke at Bree's wedding and she gave birth to an African American baby boy as the Solises' embryo had been accidentally switched with another embryo that didn't take. It is decided that Xiao-Mei will continue to be the housemaid until the birth of their baby.Īs a result, Carlos was forced out of the house and Gaby was forced to watch over Xiao-Mei as her pregnancy grew difficult, which caused some tension between the two to the point she even ran away once. Arousing suspicion, Gaby found out about the affair between Carlos and Xiao-Mei. From the help of the baby monitor at Lynette's house, it intercepted transmissions from the previously planted monitor in the garage at Gaby's house. Later, Xiao-Mei had begun an affair with Carlos, which created suspicion from Gaby. Carlos, dumbfounded, is then jolted from his stunned stupor by Gabrielle, who is not happy that Xiao-Mei has misunderstood and less happy that Carlos did not instantly correct her misconception. Catching Carlos in the master bath before the appointment at the fertility clinic, Xiao-Mei slips off her robe to reveal that she is wearing nothing, and then scoots into bed as Carlos turns to stare at her and gives the classic 'be gentle' line. However, Xiao-Mei does not understand the process which Gabrielle and Carlos are proposing. Believing she has found a way to have her cake and eat it too, Gabrielle convinces Carlos that Xiao-Mei's surrogacy would solve both problems. This coincides with Xiao-Mei's need to avoid deportation, which the ICE and INS have been threatening Xiao-Mei with since her liberation from Maxine Bennett's house. After Lily is taken away from the Solises, they begin to explore the idea of surrogacy.
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After being liberated by the authorities, she is brought to the Solis home by Father Crowley. Xiao-Mei is an illegal immigrant from China, sold by her uncle to Maxine Bennett (an acquaintance of Bree's) as a domestic servant.
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