'Sopranos' Emmy winner Drea De Matteo joins 'Desperate Housewives'
Drea De Matteo won an Emmy Award for her final season on “The Sopranos” and picked up Golden Globe and SAG nods as well for her work as the turncoat Adriana. After her character was whacked in 2004, De Matteo spent two seasons on the ill-fated spinoff “Joey” and did a five-episode arc on “Sons of Anarchy.” Now she is set to return to prime-time in style, joining the cast of “Desperate Housewives.”
As the ninth of the titular characters, Drea De Matteo is to play a woman with a landscape designer husband and a troubled son. There is no word as to whether De Matteo will be aboard for just one season or for the run of the series. Following the death of the vampy, trampy Edie Britt (Nicollette Sheridan) this season, the show needs a strong-willed character to stir up life in the leafy suburb.
The most recent addition to the women of Wisteria Lane was two-time Emmy winner Dana Delaney (”China Beach”), who joined the show in Season 4. Her character, Katherine Mayfair, was central to the mystery of that season, and she has remained on “Desperate Housewives” since in a pivotal role. Five years ago, Delaney was on creator Marc Cherry’s wish list of actresses to play Bree, a part that eventually went to Marcia Cross.
The second season casting of four-time Emmy winner Alfre Woodard as new housewife Betty Applewhite did not go nearly as well. The mystery surrounding her family fell flat, and Woodard’s character never seemed to mesh with the other women. Ironically, one-season wonder Woodard was the only one of the series regulars to earn an Emmy nod that year. She lost the supporting actress in a comedy series race to Megan Mullally (”Will & Grace”).
After being written off by many TV critics, “Desperate Housewives” took a big risk this season and shifted the story ahead five years. This fast forward offered a chance for a much-needed reboot. “Desperate Housewives” ended its fifth year on a high note as the season-long mystery was solved and all seemed as well as it ever can be for the women of Wisteria Lane. In the two-hour finale, there was a wedding, an affair, a pregnancy and an adoption.
Desperate Housewives” lost its only bid for the comedy series Emmy Award to the farewell season of “Everybody Loves Raymond” back in 2005. After that first-season nod, the hourlong show has been snubbed by Emmy in that top race ever since. While it made the top 10 runoff as determined by a popular vote in both Seasons 2 and 3, it failed to win over the judging panels and earn a spot in the final round last year.
This year, the Emmy Awards nominating process has been revised to eliminate the juried runoff. Now the contenders will be determined solely by popular ballot. “Desperate Housewives” ranks No. 9 for the season with an average audience of 14.5 million. The only other comedy in the top 20 is “Two and a Half Men,” which sits in 11th place with 9.8 million viewers. This switch could also help the actresses who play the housewives get back in the Emmy race.
Since that second season nod for Woodard, the only other series regular to contend at the Emmys was first season lead actress champ Felicity Huffman. For playing frazzled working mom Lynette Scavo, she was nominated again in Season 3 but lost to “Ugly Betty” star America Ferrera. Last year, she made the top 10 list but was not a hit with the judging panel, which helped winnow down these contenders to the final nominees.
Teri Hatcher won the Golden Globe midway through the first season in 2005 for her work as lovable klutz Susan Mayer and picked up an Emmy nod for that first season as well. She was a popular vote choice at the Emmys in both Seasons 2 and 3 but did not rank among the top 10 last year.
Marcia Cross racked up three consecutive Golden Globe nods (2005-07) as well as a first-season Emmy bid for her brittle Bree Van de Kamp Hodge. While she made the Emmy runoff in each of the last three years, she failed to translate that popular success into a nomination.
Neither Nicollette Sheridan as Edie Britt or Eva Longoria — who plays the delicious diva Gabrielle Solis — has earned an Emmy nomination to date. Longoria was popular enough with academy voters to be considered by the judging panels in each of the last three years, but she has yet to make it through to the final round.
