'Desperate Housewives' Creator Marc Cherry Dishes About Season

Sept, 26, 2005 — -- The new season of "Desperate Housewives" began Sunday night with a bang. Creator and executive producer Marc Cherry said after season one that he'd only begun to scratch the surface of Wisteria Lane or, as he calls it, "this dark little burg." If last night is any indication, he wasn't kidding.

Rex Van de Camp's funeral took place in last night's show. His wife, Bree, outraged at the prep school tie his mother put on his body, tried to switch the tie during the funeral.

Cherry said his staff did plenty of research to make sure when Bree pulled the body into the sitting position and changed the tie, it would look realistic.

"We actually did research on that. Rigor mortis sets in, but then it leaves," he said. "So by the time the funeral happened, she could have done that."

He added, "That was an idea that came out of the writer's room ... We had introduced the character of Bree's mother-in-law and we were looking for some conflict and somebody came up with how Rex was dressed in the coffin and we went from there."

Bree might want to start focusing on things more important than neckties.

"Bree's own son is going to do something horrific to her soon," Cherry said. "We have something hideous planned."

Someone on Wisteria Lane is getting married, but Cherry refused to say who or even give a hint as to which character might be hearing wedding bells.

"Yes, we have a wedding planned," he said. "I'm not going to tell who you who is getting married, but there's a surprise wedding on Wisteria Lane."

We will learn the identity of the father of Gabrielle Solis' baby "in a few episodes," Cherry said.

There's also a new family on Wisteria Lane hiding a big secret: the Applewhites. Last night we saw them bringing dinner down to the basement where it seemed that someone was being held prisoner. That the Applewhites are black was a casting choice, Cherry said, as opposed to being an attempt to integrate the neighborhood.

"I was looking for a great actress," he said. "I didn't care what the color of the actress was. We were talking about someone great on the series and someone said Alfre [Woodard]. I love her. I said if she's available, I would love to have her on Wisteria Lane."

"I already feel the neighborhood is integrated because the Solises [who are Hispanic] live there," he added.