Desperate Housewives of their late friend and neighbor who committed suicide in the pilot episode. The storyline covers thirteen years of the women's lives over eight seasons, set between the years 2004–2008, and later 2013–2017 (the storyline includes a five-year passage of time, as well as flashbacks and flashforwards ranging from the 1980s to the 2020s). They work through domestic struggles and family life, while facing the secrets, crimes, and mysteries hidden behind the doors of their—on the surface—beautiful and seemingly perfect suburban neighborhood. The series features an ensemble cast, headed by Teri Hatcher as Susan Mayer, Felicity Huffman as Lynette Scavo,
Desperate Housewives series within the New York-Tri-State Region, within the City itself and the New Jersey suburbs. According to a survey of twenty countries conducted in 2006 by "Informa Telecoms and Media", "Desperate Housewives" was the third most-watched television series in the world, after fellow American series "" and "Lost". During a fund raising auction for the British child charity ChildLine in December 2006, a walk-on part in "Desperate Housewives" had the highest bid, £17,000, beating Daniel Craig's James Bond tuxedo from "Casino Royale". In its first public release of online individual television program rankings, Nielsen Media Research announced that the series