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I love this!

Okay, so Gale Harold has been off of "Desperate Housewives" as he recovers from injuries sustained in a motorcycle accident He plays Susan's boyfriend, Jackson. Writers have given Teri Hatcher someone else to kiss in Gale's absence: two-time Tony winner Swoosie Kurtz who happened to be available now that her terrific but low-rated ABC series "Pushing Daisies" will not see a third season.

According to TV Guide, Swoosie will play a lesbian administrator at Susan's school. She will appear in March. It's not known if the same-sex smooch will lead to Susan switching teams but if it does, I'll be annoyed. The show already has several underused gay characters and we never see them kiss!

Gale Harold is on the mend.

The straight actor, who played gay just about as well as anyone ever has during five memorable seasons on Showtime's "Queer As Folk," now plays Teri Hatcher's boyfriend on "Desperate Housewives."

Gale was recently involved in a serious motorcycle accident and has been in the hospital. E! Online reports today that the actor is now out of intensive care and a full recovery is expected. He broke his shoulder in the accident and had been in ICU for observation.

Hopefully, he won't be missing too many episodes of "Housewives."

Sorry I don't have an updated photo of Shawn Pyfrom of "Desperate Housewives." I went to the show's ABC.com site and there are lots of photos from the season's first two episodes and there is not a single one with the talented young actor who plays Andrew Van de Kamp, once one of the most highly-visible gay characters on television - also one of the most delicious with his various teenage rebellions. He's been reduced to glorified extra for the last two seasons. I'll still hold out hope that he will get a storyline in season five. People magazine features a short Q&A with the actor in its current issue. Here are some of the questions.

Q. Will your character Andrew be creating more trouble for his mother, Bree, this season?
A. He'll be working for Bree (Marcia Cross) who has this Martha Stewart-like empire now. He's her right-hand man. He's much more behaved now - at least with his mother.

Q. Did you have any qualms about playing a gay character?
A. "I mean, I'm straight. If I say I'm uncomfortable with it, I'm homophobic. If I say I'm okay with it, then I'm gay. It's an honor. I didn't know it would be so groundbreaking."

Q. Are you dating anyone?
A. I have a girlfriend I've been with for five years. She's not an actress so I get to talk about normal stuff with her, and we're not fighting for the spotlight.

Here is a scene from last season from an espisode where he actually had more than one or two lines:

Thanks to the readers who alerted me to a second scene that gay Wisteria Lane couple Bob and Lee appeared in that I neglected to include in my previous post. They were out on their porch when Gale Harold's character snuck out of Susan's house naked. Thankfully, OhlalaMag has pics!

I wonder if Tuc Watkins and Kevin Rahm got paid as extras for their work as a gay couple on the season premiere of "Desperate Housewives." Their only scene was a party for Edie (Nicollette Sheridan) and they had no lines. But since they were sitting next to each other, we can assume their characters of Bob and Lee are still together five years later (the show has jumped ahead in time).

The show's other gay character, Andrew Van de Kamp (Shawn Pyfrom), at least had some lines. I think they consisted of "Did you get that?" and "Yes."

Dreadful. Let's hope they get storylnes in future episodes. Heck, let's hope they get LINES!

...Tuc has been one of my favorite actors ever since he was on Showtime's late, great "Beggars and Choosers" as an openly gay television executive. He played a gay soap star in the 1999 indie fave "I think I do..." and is one-half of Wisteria Lane's gay couple on "Desperate Housewives." But Tuc's signature role is David Vickers on "One Life to Live," the ABC soap that he has appeared on for more than a decade. David is a delicious character that allows the talented Tuc to really show his comic chops and also has him out of his shirt enough to remind us that he is also flat-out gorgeous. .

I'd watch Tuc in absolutely anything. He turns 42 today...

...Shawn Pyfrom who plays Andrew Van de Kamp on "Desperate Housewives."

The talented young actor turns 22 today and for four seasons now, has been one of network television's few gay characters to be a series regular.

Andrew's best seasons were in year one and two when he was a sociopathic teen terror with a libido. But in season three, he was defanged and curiously relegated to second-rate status without a storyline of his own. It's been a disservice to the character and the actor and I hope that in season five - with Andrew now working as his mother's assistant - he'll see more interesting storylines.

But, I won't hold my breath.

I'm still here at the press tour and the cast of "Desperate Housewives" is on stage along with show creator Marc Cherry.

Marc was asked about Andrew Van de Kamp (Shawn Pyfrom), the show's gay teenager who used to be evil then kinda got a lobotomy and now has gotten close to his mom Bree (Marcia Cross) again.

"I don't have anything planned for the first half of the season," Marc said of the Andrew character.

Marc shared that Andrew was based on him when he was younger during the first season, at least in terms of his mother's attitude toward his being gay. He had Andrew be more "in your face" than he was as a kid.

"I got to work out some of my anger," he said.

But now that Marc has worked things out and is closer than ever to his mother, Andrew's more symbiotic relationship with Bree reflects that.

"She;s kind of like my mother," Marc said. "She knows you're gay, you just don't talk about it."

UPDATE: OK, I just talked to Marc and got the scoop on Andrew: "He;s Bree's assistant so he becomes he becomes kind of her Machiavellian assistant, making sure that she's taken care of. So it becomes an interesting relationship because their bond is now different than it was before. It will be a very adult (Andrew)."

And will Andrew finally get another love interest?
"Ultimarely, but I don;t know when," Marc said. "I'm not gonna shy away from it but right now I'm just kind of busy setting up the new season with what the women are all about. So we'll get there."

Also asked Marc about the future of Bob and Lee, the gay couple on Wisteria Lane played by Tuc Watkins and Kevin Rahm. They had a commitment ceremony in the season finale.

They're on the street, they will have a little daughter," he said. "We're probably going to use them later on in the middle of the season but they're still a part of the neighborhood and Tuc and Kevin just signed a deal and they'll be part of whatever's going on."

Tuc Watkins and I gabbed a bit at the Daytime Emmys over the weekend and, of course, I wanted to know if he would be returning to ABC's "Desperate Housewives" next fall as one half of the gay couple on Wisteria Lane.

"We should find out in the next couple of weeks," he said. "The show fast-forwarded five years and Bob and Lee got married in the last episode and we'll see if we're still living between Gabrielle and Susan."

There was talk that Tuc's character would be split from his husband and in the five years since, be living with Andrew Van de Kamp (Shawn Pyfrom), the show's young gay guy who is growing up to be cute as a button. But Tuc, 41, did not seem thrilled about his character sharing his life with someone 20 years younger.

"I don't like that rumor," he said. "I didn;t like that story and I'm glad that it's just a rumor."
Since Bob and Lee did get hitched on the season finale of "Housewives," I wondered what Tuc's thoughts were on gay marriage becoming legal in California: "I think the Supreme Court decision is fantastic," he said. "I think it's the way things are going to move in the future. I'm anxious to see what's going to happen in November and I think Bob and Lee proved their commitment on the last episode prior to this legislation happening. so, once again, Marc Cherry's ideas are a little bit ahead of the curve."

Meanwhile, there's his day job. I told Tuc that I was "outraged" he has never been nominated for his truly unique role of scam artist David Vickers on "One Life to Live."

"It's ridiculous!" he joked. "If soap opera is meat and potatoes, I provide the broccoli robb," Tuc said. "It's so much fun to play David Vickers. He's the world's stupidest smart guy."

Tuc first appeared as David in 1996 and in the last 12 years, has taken leave from the show to do such things as "The Mummy" film, the terrific Showtime series "Beggars and Choosers" and the classic gay indie film "I Think I Do..."

But he has always been able to return to David: "He's the kind of guy who can kind of come and go because you never know where he's gonna be. It's wherever the next scam is. There aren't a lot of scams you can run in Pennsyvania (where the soap is set). He can go back there to kind of fill the coffers but you've got to go out into the world and experience other things in order to bring something new and different back."

Here are some terrific clips of Tuc in his role as David Vickers. They show why the soap has allowed him to return again and again and again. It doesn't hurt that in the first two clips, he's shirtless!

Here is a fun spoof that catches you up on the David Vickers story...

Bob and Lee's ceremony had none of the build-up of Scotty and Kevin's on "Brothers & Sisters." And I do mean none. The couple show up at Katherine's doorstep as she's been contronted by her abusive ex-husband and announce that they are having a commitment ceremony and need a last-minute caterer.

Like two gay men would ever let that happen!

These two characters continued to have a minor part of the happenings on Wisteria Lane this season even if their ceremony was the backdrop for a lot of the drama going on. We don't see the ceremony, just the silly fights before and all the guests milling about.

Katherine has to back out of catering because she's on the run from the ex-hubby. Lee (Kevin Rahm) is groomzilla and he is insisting on an ice sculpture as the centerpiece for a vodka mote. Bob (Tuc Watkins) just wants a cherub ice scuplture and says Lee's starting to act like Faye Dunaway in the boardroom scene in "Mommie Dearest."
"We're sticking with the cherub and later when he bitches about it, I'll just buy him some jewelry," he tells Bree.

Lee calls the ceremony off and Bob calls him a drama queen. Tom (Doug Savant) sets them straight so to speak: "if you're willing to break up over an ice sculpture, then you absolutely should not get married..." This leads to one of Tom's finest moments all season: a speech about love and commitment during good times and bad and whether the person you're with is worth it, if you really love "him or her."

We don;t see any kind of ceremony take place but we do get to see Katherine's estranged hubby (Nathan Fillon) drive his car through all the tables etc. as he tries to get to her house to save her from her ex-hubby. I think there could have been another way - like maybe drive around everyone?

All crazy happenings with Justine Bateman's character shot dead and then Katherine (Dana Delaney) shoots ex-hubby (Gary Cole) dead in front of the other women. He had been holding her hostage and we learn that their daughter Dylan isn't their biological child (this explains why she can't remember a damned thing before she was 12!). She is a child Katherine adopted from Romania after the real Dylan died in a freak accident. She never reported the death and the adopted kid became her substitute. In the end, she shoots the ex dead and that wraps up the season's big mystery. I never cared much about it anyway...

The end of the episode gave us a preview of the main characters' lives five years into the future. The real shocker is that Susan (Teri Hatcher) will be with Brian Kinney from "Queer as Folk." OK, not Brian but Gale Harold who played Brian. What does this mean for Susan and Mike (James Denton)? They just had a baby for God's sake! Gabby (Eva Longoria) will have two daughters and will have let herself go physically...Lynette's kids - now teenagers - become juvenile delinquents...Bree (Marcia Cross) has become such a success as a caterer that she has a cookbook coming out, gay son Andrew (Shawn Pyfrom) is her assistant (and she's back with Orsen)...Katherine is now firmly ensconsed with the other women but no sign of Edie (Nicollette Sheridan) but my guess she'll be back in some way even if it is on a recurring basis.

What I really want to know is if Andrew will move back onto the street and hook up with Bob as has been rumored, That, would be hot. From what I've seen of Bob and Lee, they don't seem happy now, much less ever after..

Here is a clip of the fast-forward scenes:
.

...but will they still be together five years from now?

There's an intriging rumor via the Televisionista site which suggests that "Desperate Housewives" may fast-forward bt five years for season five. Wow! That would be pretty cool, I think. The recurring gay characters Bob (Tuc Watkins) and Lee (Kevin Rahm) will appear on the show's May 4 episode as a couple but in this fast-forward scenario, only one of them would still be living on Wisteria Lane AND he would be living with a 24-year-old Andrew Van de Kamp (the criminally under-used Shawn Pyfrom). I'm all for it!

We'll have to see how this all turns out but it would certainly be a way to get rid of some of the cast. I think the most useless at this point are Edie Brit (Nicolette Sheridan) and Tom (Doug Savant).

The season finale will be a two-hour episode airing on May 18.

Since this is the best season of "Desperate Housewives" since it's first year, I'm so glad to read that creator Marc Cherry expects to do seven more episodes for this season now that the writers strike has ended.

"I had three months to rest up, and I don't mind staying a few late nights," Marc told USA Today. He'll "trim away some ideas and get into the bare bones" of the storyline he had mapped out for the season.

I have a few recommendations: More of gay couple Lee and Bob, a date or two for Andrew and as much of Dana Delaney as we can get!

Last night was probably the last episode of "Desperate Housewives" this season which is too bad but at least it was a good one. In this post-tornado episode, Bree and Orson and the baby move in with Susan and Julie (Mike is in rehab) and mother and daughter take a real shine to Bree's homemaking skills. Bree desperately wants to get her damaged house fixed and gay neighbors Bob and Lee have a contractor friend who would be perfect for the job.

Says bitchy Lee to Bree: "He can build homes AND decorate them. Sometimes God gives with both hands."
Unfortunately, that's all we see of our new favorite Wisteria Lane duo. Here is a clip:

Walter the contractor is heartbroken over a recent split with his boyfriend and isn't up to the job emotionally. But Bree won't take no for an answer and hatches a plan to set him up with Andrew who, she tells Walter over dinner "is also an out and proud homosexual."

Adds Orson: "He's here, he's queer and we're used to it!"

When an unsuspecting Andrew realizes what's going on he's incredulous and says to his mother: "You're pimping me out for a new roof!?!"
Bree: "And windows! I have GOT to to get back into my house."
Andrew: For you, I will flirt, i will flatter, I will charm...but in exchange I expect a 60-inch flat screen."
Bree: "Get him to come in on time and under budget and I'll even throw in surround sound!"

The plan is working until Susan overhears what's going on and sabotages things [She doesn't want Bree to leave]. She says to Walter of Andrew: "You should've seen his last boyfriend, Justin, he was so hot." She also points out the differences in their ages etc. As Walter gets up to leave, Orson tries to stop him: "[Andrew's] got a mesh tank top that would bring your ex to tears!"

Here is part on it:

It was really fun stuff - well-written and perfectly executed by the terrific cast.

I say let Andrew Van de Kamp choose his own dates! The next episode of "Desperate Housewives" does not air until Jan. 6 (its last original episode of the season unless the strike is resolved) and it will be a post-tornado one.

Bree's home was demolished in the Wisteria Lane tornado and she's trying to get a gay contractor who is much in-demand to move her house to the head of the line. So what does she do? She uses her cute gay son Andrew (Shawn Pyfrom) as bait!

I don't know how things go but the contractor (played by J.C. Mackenzie) seems a bit too old for Andrew. However, he is not too old for me!

I dunno, I kinda miss the days when Andrew van de Kamp was a holy homosexual terror on "Desperate Housewives," running over Carlos' mother, sleeping with his mother's boyfriend and kissing that cute boy in the pool.

The last few seasons, Andrew has become, well, kinda boring. And kinda marginalized. I'm not sure why since the actor who portrays him, Shawn Pyfrom, is absolutely terrific in the role and deserves more to do. Seriously, Andrew is far more inreresting than Edie Brit! You know it;s true.

Shawn gave an interview to Starpulse which I founded excerpted on Towleroad.com. Here is part of it:

On his relationship with his on-screen mother, played by Marcia Cross: ""It is always interesting to watch Andrew and Bree go at each other's throats. She believes something so different and he does everything to make sure to cause her stress. It seems like they are already on [the path of acceptance]. Andrew and Bree have resolved their issues, as when he apologized for the way he used to act. He is beginning to mature now and has forgiven his mother for leaving him on the side of the road...[That was wicked] but it was so awesome to shoot."

On how Andrew is changing: "...I think he is now on a path towards becoming an adult. I think it's necessary because the character is 20 now. Andrew still has his manipulating ways, he just approaches it more maturely...The good thing about Andrew is that in Season 1 and 2 as a gay character, he was very strong and confident as to who he was. I think that could be encouraging for other young homosexuals to become more confident and comfortable with who they are. A lot of times gay characters can be portrayed as the flamboyant and weak stereotype. Andrew is sociopathic and narcissistic and doesn't get along with his mother, and he is also gay. Your sexual preferences doesn't define you as a person. I'm heterosexual but that doesn't define me as a person. No one would say, 'Oh, he likes to have sex with girls,' so why should it be the other way around?"

On the possibility of being stereotyped as an actor by playing a gay character: "I would be lying if I said I wasn't a little worried, but honestly I think we are at a point now with television and movies where people can watch something and not stereotype the actor playing that character. I think if I had played a gay character 10 years ago then I would probably have something to worry about. I think people are a little bit more open-minded now. I think that the only time people stereotype is when the actor acts out in public. They go around parading things out to the media and then that is all people see when they are watching them on the screen. That's one reason that I don't do that. "

Gee, no sign of Tuc Watkins or Kevin Rahm as the gay couple on "Desperate Housewives" and yet we still got to enjoy a pretty gay episode. The previews made it appear that this was the week of the tornado but that apparently is next week.

The whole Gaby-Victor-Carlos-Edie thing is one big BORE because it doesn't feel real at all. But Mike on drugs has all kinds of terrific potential. I was most pleased that the show finally gave the talented Shawn Pyfrom a couple of good scenes with Marcia Cross as Bree and Pyfrom as Andrew. He has been largely ignored after being one of the best characters of the show's first two seasons and went from being out and rebelious to way below the radar. Tonight, we learned a little more about why Andrew has been that way and it was sweet. He told his mom that he's grown up, that he's forgiven her, but that she's been too busy with her new marriage, pretending to be pregnant and now with a new baby to notice.

Bree takes it all very stoically and doesn't cry until Andrew asks her to put a coaster under her drink. That's her boy! Let's hope this writers strike ends this week so the show can finish the season and we can see Andrew get a boyfriend or have some dates now that he's grown up and on his own.

As for Richard Chamberlain, he made his first appearance as the former stepfather of Lynette (Felicity Huffman) and ex-husband of Polly Bergen's character. What I loved about his appearance was that he brought out the little girl in Lynette - you could see it - and we never get to see that. He explained that he had left the family not because her mother had cheated on him - as she had believed - but because he is gay.

Later, when he offers Bergen his "immaculate" guest room, she wonders "How'd I not know he was queer? He always talked that way."

Chamberlain, by the way, looked terrific. Still hot after all these years...

This is cool.

Love that Richard Chamberlain, who I fell in love with in "The Thorn Birds," has been out for several years now and is playing gay roles more often. On Sunday, he will guest on "Desperate Housewives" as Lynette's (Felicity Huffman) stepfather. He tells her why he left her mother (played by the terrific Polly Bergen): he left her because he is gay.

Chamberlian told Entertainment Tonight that he'd love to stick around Wisteria Lane. That would be great, if the writers can resolve their strike against producers. Jann Carl asked Chamberlain if he now makes it a point to play gay characters.

"I played a couple of gay characters since I came out," he said. "I didn't want to come out until I was completely free of fear about it, which finally happened at age 68."

The absolute funniest part of last week's episode of "Desperate Housewives" was when Danielle Van De Kamp (Joy Lauren) showed up to Bob and Lee's Halloween party dressed...as her mother, Bree! Bree (Marcia Cross) is pretending to be pregnant, Danielle really is. So guests assumed it was Danielle with the padded belly...then her water broke! I love the delivery scene with Andrew dressed as Cher and the doctor dressed as Frankenstein.


It was pure comedic genius!

"It was so much fun, it was so much fun," Joy told me when we gabbed a few days ago at the party for the People's Choice Award nominations. "That whole Halloween scene was so big that we shot all week so I was in the red wig and the heels and the pearls and the belly all week and it was really such a blast."

Who knew she had such comic chops? I got her to repeat my favorite line of hers from the episode when someone asks her what the name of her child will be and she answers as Bree: "You're not good enough if it's a boy and you'll always disappoint me if its a girl."

We crack up after she says it again.

Last we saw Dannielle, she was packing her bags and leaving her baby behind for Bree to raise. Will she be back?
"Wisteria Lane has a certain draw, you can't stay away for two long so hopefully I'll be back soon."

What's it really like to work with Marcia Cross?
"She's very different from Bree. She's very warm. I feel like Bree is very cold and straight. Marcia is very warm and fluid, graceful and nice and giving. The only similarities I can see between her and Bree is she's very specific and professional when it comes to acting."

Do you miss the Applewhites?
"I do! But we have really good new characters like Tuc [Watkins]."

Does she ever want Danielle to just get to act together, stand up and fly right?
"It's really fun to play the bad gikrl and a good outlet. I don't get to do that in my everyday life. I don't get to throw plates against walls, I don't get to have babies while I'm dressed as my mom, I get to experience all these things I normally wouldn't. But whle it's really fun to play the bad girl, I think Danielle has been too mean for too long."

The last time I was face-to-face with Tuc Watkins was at El Mirasol restaurant in Palm Springs. My friend James and I were having lunch and noticed Tuc with a group. On our way out, we went over to say hello and James snapped a photo of Tuc and I with his cellphone. I never bothered to download the picture to a file so when the phone broke, the picture of Tuc and I was lost forever. I told him about this when we talked the other night at a party celebrating the People's Choice Award nominations.

Tuc: "I broke your camera?"

Me: "No you didn't. I dropped it later.

Tuc: "You took a picture with me and your camera broke?

We laugh. The very cool people who run the A Socialite's Life blog snapped the photo below of Tuc and I for which I'm very grateful because now, I have a replacement for the lost cellphone snap! Anyway, Tuc's publicist arranged for us to have a chat for a story for my new daily column on page two of the L.A. Daily News. It doesn't hit newstands until tomorrow but Out In Hollywood readers get it first as a thank you for your patience with the problems we had yesterday transitioning to a new system.:

Tuc is the kind of tall, dark and handsome actor who could easily coast on his looks. But what makes this new "Desperate Housewives" cast member stand apart are his comic chops honed for over a decade as the studly and conniving David Vickers on the ABC soap "One Life to Live."

So so far on "Housewives," which casts him and Kevin Rahm as the first gay couple on Wisteria Lane, most of the funnier lines have gone to Kevin Rahm who plays the more domestic, and bitchy, of the two. I mentioned this to Tuc.
"You're right! it's sort of the opposite of David Vickers," he said. "David is usually the one who has the ba-dum, ba-dum ching. The way I think of it as, I'm Andy Griffith and Kevin is Barney Fife. Kevin is always standing a little bit in front of me - I'm usually standing a little behind him and over his shoulder just like Andy and Barney did. We are sort of the yin to each other's yang. I think he and I really work together well. Sometimes he's got the funny line and I'm the guy that sort of rolls my eyes at him.

For the 41-year-old Tuc, the role of Bob Hunter on "Housewives" is a prime-time breakthrough in a career that has included more than a decade, on-and-off, on the soap as well as two seasons on the
acclaimed Showtime series "Beggars and Choosers" which cast him as gay television executive Malcom Laffley.

"It's a lot of fun to join a show that is already running at full steam ahead," Tuc said. "Kevin Rahm and I are lucky that Marc Cherry was interested in bringing on a gay couple and he's brought a gay couple on that's not issue-oriented. We meet a lot of what are considered minority characters through their issues and we're not issue-oriented, we're not stereotypical. There's some sorta gay cliche jokes but then he'll also take what would be considered a stereotype and spin it on its ear like this horrible fountain we had. Not all gay people have great taste it turns out. It's a lot of fun to go on and be a couple on the street and not having to explain who you are and just immediately start mixing and mingling and causing trouble."

I love Tuc on "Housewives" but I wondered if he would ever find another role as good as that of Malcom on "Beggars" which had a stellar cast that also included Brian Kerwin, Charlotte Ross, Beau Bridges, Jim Belushi, and the cutie pie William McNamara who I will never forget from "Doing Time on Maple Drive."

Malcolm had to come out of the closet to clear himself of sexual harassment charges levied against him by a woman. "'Beggars and Choosers' was one of the greatest shows I ever had the opportunity to be on," Tuc said. "I loved that show and I loved playing that character. It was so well-written and I really wish that it had gone on 20 years. Everybody on it was great, we were all huddled together up there in Vancouver and only had each other to lean on. It was a real shame after the second year that the show kind of fell though the cracks."

Tuc has done scores of guest spots on shows ranging from "Six Feet Under" to "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" and his film credits include "The Mummy" (pictured, left) and "The Good Shepherd."
But the lying, scheming gold-digging, multi-married (including a trip down the aisle on Friday's show) but very charming David Vickers remains his signature character.

"'One Life to Live has made it possible that I can go back there and be David Vickers (pictured above with Erika Slezick's Vicki Buchanan) from time to time. I'm based out here in Los Angeles now so I can do 'Desperate Housewives' and luckily, the schedules have permitted me to continue to do both and it's great to play such polar opposite characters."

While his "Housewives" character is gay and in a steady relationship, Vickers has had many women in his turbulent life.

"I feel very fortunate that I've gotten to play a lot of gay characters and a lot of straight characters," he said. "Most of the gay characters that I've played haven't been what would be considered stereotypes and so I feel proud about maybe changing people's opinions of what gay people may be...It's great to be able to do both. So if people want to see me as a role model, then I'm thankful for that."

ONLINE EXTRA: The great thing about cyperspace is that there is so much SPACE! Here are some tidbits that didn't make the print version:

On the women of Wisteria Lane: "The women on that show have done such a good job of creating
archtypes that are individual but they work collectively. Dana Delaney had a really tough time this year of coming on and finding a niche in a show that already has a full canvas. She's done an incredible job. She's really funny and she's really scary at the same time."

On Prime-time fame: "Every actor should be so lucky as to have the opportunity to play a character that gets watched. So I feel very lucky. Actors, by what they do, they have an audience. We don't exist in a vacuum, we live in the real world. Sometimes people see you and they see you on their TV in they're living room and they feel like, 'Oh! You're from my living room, I can come and say hi. By and large, people are nice and have nice things to say. It's actually great. You go to the grocery store and you feel like you've got friends."

On my favorite Beggars and Choosers line: I tell Tuc that my all-time favorite line of his from that series was
when a really handsome computer tech comes into Malcom's office to fix something and he says to himself, "Hello, lunch!"
Says Tuc: "The way that was written, I was supposed to say, 'Yummy.' And I said to the director, 'Can I try something? Can I try saying something else and he said, 'OK.' And I said, 'Hello, lunch.'"

On being a passanger on a scary JetBlue flight that was forced to circle over Burbank for hours a few years back: "I'm actually a big fan of JetBlue. It sounds like I'm being a paid spokesman. They really handled that situation as professionally as they could. I've been asked that question a lot about what it was like and to tell you the truth, it wasn't as dramatic or terrifying as I think that it may have been made out to be.The way the crew and the pilot handled it, I felt like everything was going to be fine and it was."

On his "I Think I Do..." and "Beggars and Choosers" co-star Alexis Arquete: "Alexis Arquette is one of the craziest human beings I've ever met in my life and whenever I run into him, I always have a big smile on my
face."

Don't ya just love crabby Mrs. McKlusky on "Desperate Housewives"?
She is, a hoot!
So last week, when I ran into the actress who won and Emmy playing her, I had to have a chat. She's Kathryn Joosten and she didn't become a professional actress until 20 years ago when she was in her early 40s - a recent divorcee with two kids. She started with theater in Chicago and her first full-time job was as a street performer at Disney World. She came to L.A. in 1995 and within her first few weeks, landed a small guest spot on "Family Matters. But she really hit paydirt when she was cast as Mrs. Landingham, secretary to the President (Martin Sheen), on "The West Wing" in 1999.
Here is our conversation:
Greg: You're so funny. I love you on that show.
Kathryn"I love me on that show.
Greg: That line you said to Bree (Marcia Cross) about her husband having his hand on the knob...
Kathryn: "Your son has bolted out of the closet and your husband's reaching for the door knob (laughs).
Greg: I watch every episode and I think this season is terrific.
Kathryn: I think it's really rolling really good and we've got some real surprises coming up, we've been working overtime doing this particular big surprise. It's a two-parter. I'm intergal. Very much so.
Greg: When you started on this, that first episode when you were the neighbor who had the fight with Lynette. Did you think it would turn into this? Wasn't it supposed to be a one-time deal?
Kathryn: I never thought it would grow into the character that it's grown into. I've been very lucky. Frankly, I was replacing another actress who had the part and was having some mobility problems. So I came in and did it. I thought, 'Wouldn't it be great if...' and, it did.
Greg: Was it because you and Felicity Huffman were so good together?
Kathryn: I'd like to think it was because I was so good!
Greg: You two did have such chemistry together and then you won the Emmy. That's always nice.
Kathryn: Yes. It was a nice scene that I had with the boys.
Greg: Where do you keep that Emmy?
Kathryn: I keep my Emmy on a bookshelf. My joke at home is, 'What's an Emmy good for? A door stop. I thought, 'Emmy! I'll get offered parts, i won't have to audition. That didn't happen. I've gotta go down to Manhattan Beach tomorrow at 4 p.m. for an audition for 'Medium." Friday afternoon at 4 o'clock. i might as well take a picnic lunch and stay over."
Greg: This is the life of a working actress as you've been for awhile.
Kathryn: For awhile, yeah. For 22 years now.
Greg: This is your most high-profile role. What's it like to have something like that come along after 20 years?
Kathryn: It's overnight success! (laughs). It's great. It's really great. I enjoy it so much. I get a kick out of it. I got nothing to lose now. I got my pension so anything that happens is just golden.
Greg: I still can't believe that episode last season when we found out you had your dead husband in the freezer! I thought, 'How is she gonna explain her way outa this?'
Kathryn: (laughs) You notice I only spent one night in jail. It wasn't having him in the freezer that was illegal, but I stole his pension for I don't know how long. But we tend to gloss over those little things you know.
Greg: Are you a fan of the show? Do you like to watch it?
Kathryn: Yeah! I do because the episodes I'm not in, I don't know what happens because I'm not at the table read and they don't just send me a script to be nice. So I have to watch it to find out what happened.
Greg: When you're around town, do people say, 'It's Mrs. McKlusky!"
Kathryn: Absolutely. I get a lot of that. Fans are great. They're very nice and it's very satisfying.
Greg: What about the new neighbors, the gay couple played by Tuc Watkins and Kevin Rahm.
Kathryn: Aren't they fun? I said, 'What's my attitude gonna be? and they haven't decided yet."
Greg: What about Dana Delaney?
Kathryn: She's fun to be around. What a character. What a fun character. Everytime you turn around, they throw somebody else into the stew and it's just great fun dealing with. In addition to this great two-parter, how do I phrase this? We're going to have some interesting cast changes. It's gonna be November sweeps.

I. Can't. Wait.

Just look at that picture. That says it all. Danielle, dressed as Bree, goes into labor at Lee and Bob's Halloween party so she gives birth to the baby in costume as Bree (Lil' Bo Peep) and Andrew (Cher) looking on and the doctor is dressed as Frankenstein. I'm not sure who Orsen is supposed to be. Sorry.
I love it!
But what I really loved was how gay the first few minutes of last night's episode of "Desperate Housewives" was. When Bob and Lee decide to start inviting their neighbors to the party, they aren't sure who might come since the debacle with the ungly fountain.
Bob (Tuc Watkins) saud to Lee (Kevin Rahm): "They hate you. I'm the butch one, they can feel more comfortable around me...Let's start with Bree, she has a gay son. She's probably gay friendly."
As the guys talk to Bree, Danielle looks out the window upstairs and the guys want to know who it is. Bree says it's Andrew trying on his Halloween costume - as Cher.
Next scene we see her saying to poor Andrew: "How familiar are you with pop icons from the 70s?"
Fast-forward to the party: Katherine walks in as Marie Antionette and snarky Lee says to her: "You came as a self-important queen who lost all her power. Isn't that right on the nose?"
Ouch!
All that stuff was delish and what I love most about the show right now - the terrific writing and wonderful performances. If anyone needs to be reminded of the importance of writers - who went on strike this morning - shows like this demonstrate it weekly.