Marc Cherry: Andrew Returns to Housewives

Ran into "Desperate Housewives" creator and head writer Marc Cherry(pictured, right) this morning at a rally being held by the Writers Guild of America at Pan Pacific Park. He was there in support of some serious issues but couldn't have been nicer when I badgered him afterward for some info about what is going to become of gay teen Andrew Van De Kamp (Shawn Pyfrom, below) whose looney tunes mom Bree Van De Kamp (Marcia Cross) dumped him off on the side of a highway late last season then checked herself into the nuthouse.
"Andrew will be back in the third episode with an interesting backstory of what he did in the time he was away from home," Cherry said. "I''ve always been a little surprised that, to young people, Andrew is something of a role model which is a little appalling to me because he's something of a sociopath!"
Bree has been less-than-enthused about her son being gay - something he has delighted in torturing her with. Her reaction when Andrew came out to her in season one was "I'd still love you even if you were a murderer" was from Cherry's own life!) But Cherry expects mother and son to reach some new level of understanding and Andrew is expected to move back into the family home on Wisteria Lane.
It's a good thing Andrew is returning to the "Housewives" fold because according to the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) annual study released last month, he along with Dr. Kerry Weaver on the long-running “ER� on NBC, are the only regular gay or lesbian character on a returning broadcast network show this fall other than a closeted accountant named Oscar on NBC’s “The Office.�

Of the new network shows, the ABC drama “Brothers & Sisters� features a gay man as a supporting character, the CBS comedy “The Class� has one of the only gay leading characters on any show, the ABC comedy “Help Me Help You� (pictured, right) features a closeted gay man, and MyNetworkTV’s “Fashion House� has two gay supporting characters.

"It's always a struggle," said Cherry, who didn't tell ABC that Andrew would turn out to be gay until after "Housewives" was established as a break-out hit. "There are ebbs and flows and hopefully this is just a slight dip."