10 Years Later, 'Desperate Housewives' Debut Still A Television Touchstone.

TV Show News: This time 10 years ago, five suburban women became the centerpiece of a major television comeback story. The show was "Desperate Housewives," and its

mothership, ABC, had been sinking rapidly in the years before. After the prime-time iteration of "Who Wants to be a Millionaire?" ended in 2002, the network had few, if

any, banner shows to tout. Flagship dramas "The Practice" and "NYPD Blue" suffered sagging ratings, and a trove of unremarkable sitcoms ("8 Simple Rules," "My Wife and

Kids," "George Lopez") did little to bolster any ascent. The reality swell was settling in ("The Bachelor," "The Bachelorette," "Extreme Makeover," "Extreme Makeover:

Home Edition"), but without a behemoth like "Survivor" or "American Idol," the network didn't have much to keep it afloat. The nadir came with the 2003-04 season, when

ABC was toppled in the ratings by NBC, CBS and Fox.

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