Desperate Housewives is a show.
Desperate Housewives is an American television comedy-drama and mystery series created by Marc Cherry , and produced by ABC Studios and Cherry Productions . In 2007 , it was reported to be the most popular show in its demographic worldwide , with an audience of approximately 120 million and was also reported as the third most watched television series in a study of ratings in twenty countries . In 2012 , it remained the most-watched comedy series internationally based on data from Eurodata TV Worldwide , which measured ratings across five continents ; it has held this position since 2006 . The show was ranked at number fifty-six on Entertainment Weekly `` New TV Classics '' list . By the end of the series , it had surpassed Charmed as the longest running hour-long television series featuring all female leads by two episodes .