Desperate Housewives’ Success Was More Important For ABC Than Audiences Realized

ABC had a lot riding on “Desperate Housewives,” and the show became a load-bearing series for the broadcast network in the early 2000s. People tuning in for “Desperate Housewives” the first time probably weren’t aware that the network had made an immense bet on the show. That success went on to help define the decade for ABC. During the earlier part of the decade, gameshows like “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire,” which premiered in 1999, were still dominating the popular consciousness, and ABC decided to ride that hot ratings streak for as long as it could.

After a few years,…