Desperate Housewives (2004)
Secrets. Romance. Murder. All on one street
Looking down on her friends and family isn't a way of life for Mary Alice Young... it's a way of death. One day, in her perfect house, in the loveliest of suburbs, Mary Alice ended it all. Now she's taking us into the lives of her family, friends and neighbors, commenting from her elevated P.O.V.
| Type | TV series |
|---|---|
| First aired | 3 October 2004 |
| Status | Ended, last episode 13 May 2012 |
| Genre | Mystery, Drama, Comedy |
| Created by | Marc Cherry |
| Starring | Teri Hatcher, Felicity Huffman and Marcia Cross |
| Seasons | 8 seasons, 177 episodes |
| Episode length | about 42 min |
| Time to watch it all | about 124 hours |
| Rated | TV-14 |
| Scores | TMDB users 7.9/10 |
Where to watch Desperate Housewives
Desperate Housewives is streaming on Prime Video ($8.99 a month) in the US. It is also on Hulu ($18.99 a month). At ten hours a week, all of the series takes about 3 months of Prime Video, or $26.97 at list price.
We check availability daily. Page last updated 19 October 2026. Prices are standard monthly plans and change often, so check with the service before you sign up.
Where to watch Desperate Housewives in 56 other countries
| Country | Streaming on (price a month) |
|---|---|
| Argentina | Disney+ $10164 ARS |
| Australia | Disney+ $15.99 AUD |
| Austria | Disney+ €10.99, Joyn |
| Belgium | Disney+ €10.99 |
| Belize | Disney+ |
| Bolivia | Disney+ |
| Brazil | Disney+ R$43.90 |
| Bulgaria | Disney+ €9.99 |
| Canada | Disney+ $11.99 CAD |
| Chile | Disney+ $10390 CLP |
| Colombia | Disney+ $36900 COP |
| Costa Rica | Disney+ |
| Croatia | Disney+ €9.99 |
| Czechia | Disney+ 229 Kč |
| Denmark | Disney+ 79 kr DKK |
| Dominican Republic | Disney+ |
| Ecuador | Disney+ $10.49 |
| El Salvador | Disney+ |
| Finland | Disney+ €10.99 |
| France | Disney+ €9.99 |
| Germany | Disney+ €9.99, Joyn |
| Greece | Disney+ €10.99 |
| Guatemala | Disney+ |
| Honduras | Disney+ |
| Hungary | Disney+ 2990 Ft |
| Ireland | Disney+ €9.99 |
| Italy | Disney+ €10.99 |
| Jamaica | Disney+ |
| Japan | Disney+ ¥1250 JPY |
| Liechtenstein | Disney+ |
| Luxembourg | Disney+ €10.99 |
| Mexico | Disney+ $249 MXN |
| Netherlands | Disney+ €10.99 |
| New Zealand | Disney+ $16.99 NZD |
| Nicaragua | Disney+ |
| Norway | Disney+ 89 kr NOK |
| Panama | Disney+ $10.49 |
| Paraguay | Disney+ |
| Peru | Disney+ S/38.90 |
| Poland | Disney+ 34.99 zł |
| Portugal | Disney+ €10.99 |
| Romania | Disney+ 29.99 lei |
| San Marino | Disney+ |
| Singapore | Disney+ $12.98 SGD |
| Slovakia | Disney+ €9.99 |
| South Korea | Disney+ ₩9900, Tving ₩10900 |
| Spain | Disney+ €9.99 |
| St. Lucia | Disney+ |
| Sweden | Disney+ 89 kr SEK |
| Switzerland | Disney+ CHF14.90 |
| Taiwan | Disney+ NT$285 |
| Trinidad & Tobago | Disney+ |
| Türkiye | Disney+ ₺249.90 |
| United Kingdom | Disney+ £9.99 GBP |
| Uruguay | Disney+ $U499 |
| Venezuela | Disney+ |
Subscription, free and ad-supported services we track. All countries as data.
What kind of watch this is
Desperate Housewives frames suburban life through the dead eyes of Mary Alice Young, who narrates from the grave. Created by Marc Cherry, the series runs 177 episodes across 8 seasons, totaling 124 hours of viewing. It blends comedy, drama, and mystery, treating the perfect lawn as a crime scene and the friendly wave as a threat. The tone is campy yet sharp, relying on the gap between what the neighbors say and what they actually do. It is a long watch, but it earns the time by making the ordinary feel dangerous.
What the critics said
Critics mostly agreed it was a hit. USA Today called the pilot "refreshingly original, bracingly adult and thoroughly delightful". That is a high bar for a show about suburban secrets. The comparisons piled up too. Critics saw American Beauty in the tone, Sex and the City in the appeal, and Twin Peaks in the mysteries. It was the biggest success of the 2004–05 season, which is a claim that usually ages poorly. But the ratings held up. Viewers tuned in for the drama, even as the script reportedly thinned out.
How it did with audiences
Desperate Housewives bypassed the box office entirely, a feat of accounting that saves the studio some interesting math. On TMDB, users rate it 7.9 out of 10. The number sits comfortably, suggesting the show delivered what it promised without asking for a theater ticket.
What came next for the cast
Before 2004, Teri Hatcher had appeared in Spy Kids and Tomorrow Never Dies. Afterward, she appeared in Supergirl. Felicity Huffman, meanwhile, moved from Hackers to Transamerica, a leap in tone that the credits alone cannot explain. They can only list what came next. One actor swapped genres; the other swapped registers. The series did not cause the shift, but it sits right in the middle of it.
If you liked this
TMDB's recommendations for people who watched Desperate Housewives.
Sources
- Desperate Housewives on TMDB — synopsis, cast, ratings and recommendations
- Wikidata Q131758 — review scores, box office and awards (CC0)
- “Desperate Housewives” on Wikipedia, by its contributors (history) — reception, audience figures and legacy, summarised and adapted here under CC BY-SA 4.0
- Where to watch and prices: Binge Boss, from TMDB watch-provider data (powered by JustWatch) and our own provider list
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