Last week when the reports surfaced of actress Nicolette Sheridan filing a lawsuit against Marc Cherry (creator of the show) and ABC because of treatment she received on the set of Desperate Housewives, I shrugged. It seemed like a bitter axed actress who wanted to get back at her former employer for terminating her from one of the biggest gigs in television. Though when I read that part of her lawsuit pertained to reportedly being slapped by Cherry it raised my eyebrow.

I remember hearing rumors a year or so ago about there being a big blow up on set resulting in him slapping her in the face, but it seemed so ridiculous no one believed it. Of course now it seems there may be some truth to it all this time later. Not only has Nicollette cited it in her lawsuit, but former cast-mate Eva Longoria has confirmed that the incident did in fact happen, though according to her not necessarily maliciously.

“They did have a thing on set. I guess it was a couple years ago. It’s so long ago, the actual incident, and I wasn’t on set when it happened. Apparently, this incident had happened, and she felt it was wrong.

Longoria adds the context that Cherry was actually showing Nicolette how to do a scene in which Edie’s husband played by Neal McDonough slaps her.

“Something happened on set regarding them doing a scene. She was doing a scene, and … he was showing her how to do a scene. Honestly, I wish I knew [what happened]. During that time too, I didn’t work with Nicollette’s character.”

She also adds that Cherry “could not harm a fly, he’s just so sweet,” then said, “Nicollette’s a sweet girl, too.”

Then there’s a conflicting article from the NY Daily News where a “source” close to the show indicates Sheridan wasn’t the only woman on the show who had conflicts with Cherry.  Teri Hatcher apparently doesn’t find Cherry’s behavior completely kosher either.

The snitch adds that while Teri Hatcher is equally distressed by Cherry’s overbearing behavior, she’s unlikely to join Nicollette in her fight.

“Sometimes Teri doesn’t appreciate Marc’s ‘humor,’” says the source, while a rep for Hatcher didn’t comment by deadline. “But that doesn’t mean she’s going to get involved with this mess anytime soon.”

The Daily News article also implies that the rest of the women on the show are secretly supporting Sheridan but are afraid to do so publicly for fear of being killed off the program as her character was.

I’m not sure who to believe at this point.  I find the whole thing to be pretty shocking considering Cherry has always come across as cheerful, witty, and personable in all of his appearances on television to promote the program, and has always seemed to have so much respect and adoration for his actresses.  That said, appearances can be just that–appearances.

What I found most troubling out of this whole ordeal, was the strange language used in Sheridan’s lawsuit that seemed to imply she thought Cherry treated her badly because he is a gay man and she is a straight woman.  Which everyone pretty much agreed was about the strangest thing ever.  But after this new article by the Daily Beast where some former producers have broken their silence about Cherry’s treatment of female writers, it might start to make a bit more sense, and be much more angering.

The producers say they cannot imagine Cherry ever being physically abusive with the intention of hurting someone, but the one thing they all agree on is that he creates a difficult work environment especially for women.

One source said:

“He hates women. It’s apparent on set that he’s a fan of cute, gay men, not women.”

Another:

“He will dress you down in front of the staff. He will assault an idea,” said another. “He is very confrontational in this way. He has hissy fits.”

The biggest problem I have is with this part of the article which discusses the unfair way in which female writers were treated on the program.

It’s the more general charges in Sheridan’s suit that are bringing out a chorus of “Amens” among some former staffers, who strongly echo the actress’ claims of gender discrimination and a harsh work environment, saying the conditions are more severe than on other television shows.

Ironically, given the show’s subject matter, female writers on the show get the worst of it, and are mostly kept out of the “polishing room,” instead relegated to their “caves.” This person said that the writing “posse” that Cherry surrounds himself with and most treasures, consists of mostly straight men.

The former staffers also say that while the show tends to deal with issues very specific to women, he listens mostly to the male writers and is incredibly dismissive to the women who write for the program.  The situation is so bad, they say, that they have begun to refer to themselves as “the unwashed”.

The Daily Beast points out that of the 39 different writers who have written for the program since it premiered in 2004, only 14 have been female.  Not only that, but several of those writing stints were short lived.  Julia Sweeney left only a few months after she began to go to SNL.  And Alexandra Cunningham just recently left the program to go develop new shows for NBC (though to be fair, she was offered a huge seven figure deal).

Of course, these statistics for women writers on the show, as depressing as they may be, are much more favorable than the average primetime series is in general.  Which is obviously a travesty in and of itself. Take a look at these stats on the state of female writers in Hollywood.  In 2007 only 24% of the writers in television were female.  Not only that, but there is a wage gap in terms of what the working female writers earn versus their male counterparts.  When women make up more than half of the population this is not acceptable.

And if Marc Cherry is in fact giving preferential treatment to the male writers on his program, he’s contributing to the problem.  Which is not only discriminatory and unfair to these very talented women who deserve better but also detrimental to the quality of the program which is supposed to be about…you know, women.

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Desperate Housewives‘ writer/producer Alexandra Cunningham just inked a seven figure deal with NBC to develop new original programming.

Newly discovered letters have revealed the man who inspired the film The English Patient was gay in real life, and in fact in love with a Nazi.

Feministing asks ‘Can we stop pretending beautiful women aren’t beautiful’?, in reference to the trend in television where beautiful actresses play “ugly” characters.

Apparently D.C. has an all male production of Grease currently running, production courtesy of the Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington D.C.

Shana Feste, writer and director of new Susan Sarandon/Pierce Brosnan film The Greatest talks about the challenges of getting a film made as a female director.

Matt Dillon says in Italian Vanity Fair that he’d love to play gay, stating that there’s already too many limits on him, he doesn’t put any on himself.

The New York Times has an interesting map that shows the best places in Manhattan to catch a cab.  It varies depending on time of day.

Donna Langley, actresses Courteney Cox and Zoe Saldana and director of photography Cynthia Pusheck to be honored at Women in Film awards.

69 year old Kathryn Joosten of Desperate Housewives has been diagnosed with lung cancer.  You’ll know her as Mrs. McCluskey, or as Mrs. Landingham from The West Wing.  This is a recurrence of cancer she battled back in 2001.

She tells EW:

“I’ve got a little hang up here,” she said of the battle she faces. “But we’re going to handle it and move forward. I’m doing great.” The 69-year-old, who also played Mrs. Landingham on The West Wing, says her treatment may disrupt shooting on the ABC series.

And People:

The actress broke the news to her Housewives producers Monday morning as she expects her shooting schedule could be interrupted for treatment. “They’re totally supportive,” she says. “I said, ‘If you want to put it in the story line, do it! Tell anybody you want, because the public’s going to know.’ “

Joosten has won two Primetime Emmy awards for her work on Desperate Housewives and is beloved by the devoted fans of the program as the pesky, outspoken but lovable neighbor who feuded with Lynette back in season one.  I know the statistics for lung cancer aren’t very good, but I hope she can pull through.

Here’s one of my favorite scenes with Lynette and Mrs. McCluskey.

A lot of attention is paid to the diversity displayed on the small screen but Entertainment Weekly has an interesting piece discussing the race and gender of the people behind the scenes in the world of television. They mention some of our most successful and celebrated television show creators and producers like J.J. Abrams, Aaron Sorkin, Joss Whedon, Aaron Spelling, David E. Kelley, and the list goes on. Forces to be reckoned with in the television industry who have had a number of successes. But where are the people of color? Where are the women?

Even the shows that are female-centric like The Closer, Desperate Housewives, Sex and the City, –they’re all created by white men. EW cites Shonda Rhimes of Grey’s Anatomy and Private Practice as well as Silvio Horta of Ugly Betty as some examples of non-white and non-male entities but Horta’s only success thus far has been Ugly Betty and Rhimes’ Private Practice’s long term success has yet to be seen.

But there are some up and coming women whose careers seem promising.

There are, certainly, a few up and coming female executive producers these days: Rebecca Sinclair (an alum of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Gilmore Girls), who turned The CW’s 90210 remake around; Stephanie Savage, who’s given both The O.C. and Gossip Girl bite (even though she takes second billing to the more auteur-ish Josh Schwartz);

The L Word’s Ilene Chaiken; and Weeds’ Jenji Kohan. Tina Fey’s one of the few female voices on the Big Four — and she’s clearly one of the most unique (not to mention critically drooled-over). But none of those ladies has gotten the chance to prove she’s more than a one-hit wonder.

Tyler Perry has had much success with his multi-camera sitcom House of Payne on CBS, and as everyone knows, has had enormous success with his feature films, but again, Payne is his only television success and we still have no examples of television giants like the aforementioned who don’t have white skin or a penis.  A few more examples of creative forces of color:

Larry Wilmore won accolades (and an Emmy) for The Bernie Mac Show, but he’s now taken to more freelance work — appearing on The Daily Show, writing for/appearing on The Office, and authoring books.

And in perhaps the ultimate statement on the fate of female and minority would-be auteurs, Mara Brock Akil — who created the long-running UPN/CW sitcoms Girlfriends and The Game, some of the last vestiges of African-American-targeted programming — has joined the writing staff of ABC’s Cougar Town (created by Scrubs’ Bill Lawrence) to make the jokes on the Courteney Cox vehicle more organically female.

This information is troubling but not shocking, as the most recent report on the demographic breakdown of writers in Hollywood was quite bleak for women. According to the Hollywood Writers Report done by the Writers Guild of America, only 28% of the writers for television were female. Does that really make sense to you when more than 50% of the U.S. population is made up of women?

FOXSexpert Dr. Yvonne K. Fulbright debunks 8 sex myths about women, including my favorite “she always needs an emotional connection for sex”.

The infamous pastor Steve Anderson (who admittedly is kind of cute) thinks America is controlled by homosexuals.  He also claims that all homosexuals are pedophiles including Barney Frank.

Desperate Housewives star Dana Delany became co-president of the Creative Coalition.  It’s important to get as many woman as possible in positions dealing with funding for arts and entertainment.

Fall Out Boy’s Pete Wentz has a guy who’s job is specifically to pull up his pants during his shows.  I’m sure there’s plenty of men (and women) who’d do that job for free.

Dan Savage, whom you might know from his famous blog or from his appearances on Real Time With Bill Maher, is taping his own pilot for HBO called “Savage Love”

During a recent sit down with Donald Trump, late night talk show host David Letterman said “anybody who wants to get married ought to be able to get married.”

Conservative organization Focus on the Family has laid off a number of workers again, after already having done so twice earlier this year.

Gene Simmons thinks Adam Lambert should keep his sexuality to himself. Of course, considering how open he is about being a filthy man-whore, it seems to be a case of the pot calling the kettle black.

Kyle Maclachlan says now that he has a new baby, he may be quitting Desperate Housewives.  Considering his character hasn’t been interesting since season four, I can’t say I’m torn up about it.

A lesbian couple with foster children was denied family discount to an Idaho pool because they’re not a “real family”. Now the pool is considering doing away with the family discount altogether to keep from getting in trouble.

Is Conan O’Brien losing viewers to David Letterman? It seems he’s not fitting in so well in his new time slot, and Jay Leno’s older viewers care more to switch over to Letterman.

The New York Times profiles the partner of a gay soldier who must keep his face hidden or face his significant other being discharged from the service.  It’s heartbreaking.

Are the leaders of gay rights organizations like HRC responsible for Obama dragging his feet on DADT? The Daily Beast’s Jason Bellini claims they are.

A Sacramento morning talk show lost nearly all of its sponsors last week after two of its three hosts went on the air and bashed transgendered people, including encouraging violence against transgendered children. They took to the airwaves today and apologized.

Reverend Jeremiah Wright says “them Jews” are to blame for Obama not speaking to him since the controversy from the election.  Wow.  Because even more anti-semitism is going to get him to give you a call.

“You can be bi but not gay. Well, you can be gay and funny, like Ellen [DeGeneres] and Rosie [O'Donnell]. It’s really hard to be straight-up gay and serious. We’re still not over that.”

(via Jezebel)

It’s an interesting point, actually, and when I thought about it, it’s something that can be applied to all minorities who were often cast out from the mainstream media. Going as far back as blackface, when actual black performers would take part in the minstrel shows–of course not looking like themselves but dressed up as an exaggerated version of “blackness”. Then look at our most successful black actors. Will Smith, Eddie Murphy, Martin Lawrence, they’re actors that white people feel comfortable enough going to see because they make them laugh. But it’s usually a brand of humor that white audiences would expect of black performers based on common stereotypes.

I’m also reminded of Knocked Up, where, while the female characters are funny, they’re funny because we’re laughing at them, not with them. We’re laughing at them being overly emotional, irrational, killjoy harpies. Whereas when Seth Rogen or Paul Rudd make a joke, we’re laughing with them–we’re rooting for them, we identify with them (or so the filmmakers seem to think).

Gay people are no exception. Pop in Revenge of the Nerds, or My Best Friend’s Wedding, Too Wong Foo and more recently I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry, or turn on the TV and see Will & Grace, Queer Eye for the Straight Guy, Sex and the City, and Desperate Housewives. All shows where they gay men are meant to be light, funny, and of course, fabulous. Oh wait, but there is that guy Andrew on Desperate Housewives that had some dramatic storylines earlier on in the show. Of course, he was a raging sociopath.

In general, it seems if you’re funny, straight people can accept your gayness because it amuses them. But they become very uncomfortable when the gayness is serious. I remember going to see The Talented Mr. Ripley with my mother and people actually walking out during the homoerotic bathtub scene between Matt Damon and Jude Law (and nothing even actually happened!), and yet in films like Scary Movie, Shawn Wayans can get stabbed in the ear with a penis while trying to suck it through a glory hole in the men’s restroom, and everyone’s hooting and hollering. Hahaha, that silly fag!

Brokeback Mountain was a very serious film that garnered a lot of critical acclaim, but even the supposedly liberal Academy couldn’t given the film the Oscar and many members have since come forward and said they couldn’t vote for it because of the subject matter. To put it simply, straight people can’t deal with gay people that are complex, 3-dimensional, romantic, and human.  They’d much rather just crack the whip and yell “dance, queer! dance!”

But Michelle cites examples like Rosie O’Donnell and Ellen DeGeneres, though I would disagree with classifying the two of them together. People loved Rosie, but her popularity was at its highest before people knew she was a lesbian. After her coming out, and the infamous “dyke-cut” that she sported simultaneously, her public image was on a down spiral, especially given it was at the same time her adversary in her lawsuit was trying to kill her “queen of nice” shtick. It only got worse once she got to The View, as it seemed every other day FOX News especially, but other channels as well, portrayed her as the fat angry lesbian beating up on pretty thin Christian Elisabeth Hasselbeck. Nearly everything out of Rosie’s mouth made news. After leaving The View, she tried doing a primetime variety show, reminiscent of her former friendly image, and it failed miserably.

Ellen on the other hand, while her sitcom was cancelled shortly after coming out, Finding Nemo and  her daytime program The Ellen DeGeneres Show seems to have basically made her the gay, white Oprah in terms of popularity and clout.  But Ellen has a squeaky clean image, is always nice and friendly to celebrities, and rarely talks about being a lesbian on her program (not that she should have to).

I think with Michelle, it also has a lot do with her tough image.  I’ve been writing my senior thesis on male aversion to chick flicks, and in my research I’ve seen articles talking about how the public is very picky about actresses it will accept as action heroines.  Angelina Jolie is one of them, maybe Jodie Foster (though The Brave One didn’t do so well), but overall when a female action flick does well it’s usually considered a fluke.  So maybe that incidicates some sort of uncomfortableness with strong women in film.  And though straight men seem to love lesbians when they’re making out for male pleasure, they don’t seem to like it very much when you’re a lesbian that they think can kick their ass if they try asking for a threesome.

If you’ve seen Girlfight then you know Michelle is actually quite a good actress.   But for some reason Hollywood has embraced other latina actresses like Jessica Alba and Eva Mendes who can barely act their way out of a box.  Is it because of Michelle’s sexuality? Possibly.  I don’t know that her sexuality has even gotten enough coverage for people to really know about it.  Is it because she isn’t prissy enough to fit into tired old romantic cliches so prevalent in film that keep women as helpless damsels in distress desperate for a male hero?  I don’t know.  But I certainly will agree with Michelle that Hollywood like gay people a lot better when we make them laugh.

For those of you reeling from the lack of Desperate Housewives on television the past few weeks, a new episode airs two Sundays from now on April 19, and the buzz is it’s a doozy.  One of the main characters from the program since the first episode, Edie Britt, will be leaving Wisteria Lane for good (not counting flashbacks of course).  Nicollette Sheridan has been the only original actress from the show never to receive an Emmy nomination for her work on Desperate Housewives, though she did receive a Golden Globe nomination back in 2005.  Teri Hatcher told People magazine it’s going to be a great episode and a worthy farewell to Edie.

Though she bids farewell, Hatcher promises Sheridan’s final stroll down Wisteria Lane, airing April 19 (when the show returns from hiatus), is full of emotional raw acting as the women look back on Edie’s life. “It was a fabulously written episode,” says Hatcher. “She should get nominated for an Emmy.”

Newbie to Wisteria Lane (and personally, my new favorite Housewife) Dana Delany told E! Online:

“Her final episode is really beautiful, and it involves a lot of flashbacks,” Delany told us last night at the Geffen Playhouse’s annual fundraiser, Backstage at the Geffen. “We did a flashback scene from five years ago.”

As I tend to get overly emotional about the deaths of my favorite television characters (Nate’s funeral on Six Feet Under had me under my covers in my basement sobbing like a baby), I’m afraid to watch on the 19th. But I wouldn’t dare miss it.

Let’s take a moment to remember one of the better Edie Britt moments on Wisteria Lane.