Berenbaum helped show the way.

A TV and feature film editor for more than two decades, Berenbaum is over the moon at winning - not that being named best of the best is anything new. He took home two ACE Awards for his work on "Sex and the City," too.

But it was Philadelphia that served as his first backdrop for set and the city. His movie debut? "I've been making movies since I was 10," recalling that first one as "a cowboy shootout."

Was Clint Eastwood available to star in the Movie With No Name? "No, it was my friend, Steve Weinraub. I edited the film in the camera."

After graduating from George Washington High School, Berenbaum headed north - to New York University's prestigious film school, also landing an internshipthe scene. "I am so far removed" from day-to-day shoots, says Berenbaum. "At 'Sex and the City,' they used to have softball games for cast and crew on the weekends and forget to tell the editing crew."

Yer outta there! Yeah, just try and make a series without an editor. But don't expect the talented Berenbaum - who has collaborated with such directors as Martin Scorcese, Joel and Ethan Cohen, and Julian Schnabel - to focus on himself.

"It's the script; it always starts with the script," he says of his "Desperate Housewives" work.

Of course, even as editor, Berenbaum had nothing to do with cutting characters from the plot. That's producer/writer Marc Cherry's cherished job.

But if time seems to have gone quickly for viewers tuning in for the pilot, they