Actress Nicollette Sheridan Sues 'Desperate Housewives' Creator Marc Cherry in Real Life Legal Drama

In the "truth is stranger than fiction" department, former "Desperate Housewives" star Nicollette Sheridan sued the creator of hit TV show "Desperate Housewives" today for allegedly striking her across the face on the set of the campy Sunday night soap and then firing her for complaining to ABC about the incident, according to popular entertainment website TMZ.

If Nicollette Sheridan's claim is true, Marc Cherry plotted a sizzling death as revenge for Sheridan's "Desperate Housewives" character, Edie Britt, a "friendly" realtor who swerved while driving her car to avoid hitting neighbor Orson Hodge on an episode of "Desperate Housewives" last spring and crashed into a utility pole. In a bizarre twist of fate (though not for "Desperate Housewives" where strange horrific deaths are de rigueur), electricity that escaped from the damaged utility pole struck a puddle of water that just happened to be underneath it, electrocuting the unfortunate Britt and short circuiting actress Sheridan's $175,000 weekly paychecks (a princessly sum that was slated to eventually go up to $250,000 per episode).

In her $20 million lawsuit, to which Gloria Allred's name has not yet been attached, Nicollette Sheridan alleges that Marc Cherry slapped her on the face after she asked him about one of the show's scripts. The lawsuit, which includes complaints about gender violence and wrongful termination, allegedly states, "Cherry took her aside and forcefully hit her with his hand across her face and head."

Unless witnesses from the "Desperate Housewives" set testify at the trial that they observed this shocking scene, the claim by actress Sheridan could turn into a classic "he said/she said" legal case.

The TMZ story concerning the lawsuit quotes a "Desperate Housewives" spokesman as saying, "While we have yet to see the actual complaint, we investigated similar claims made by Ms. Sheridan last year and found them to be without merit." Unfortunately ABC does not have ace detectives like Baretta or Kojak on its payroll, classic TV sleuths from the past who could solve virtually any crime in less than 60 minutes.

Nicollette Sheridan's lawsuit may have been foreshadowed at the time of Edie Britt's cruel exit from the show last spring. "What I won't do is cast another forty something sexy blonde," Marc Cherry was quoted as saying at that time. "Nicollette performed the aging, neighborhood tramp better than anyone has ever done before." Cherry's comment was obviously more of a dig at Sheridan than a compliment, akin to saying nobody makes a cheap hamburger better than McDonald's.

Stung by news of her firing by Cherry, Sheridan implied her character's gruesome death was personal and intentional. "I think whoever Edie represented in Marc's life was somebody he didn't like," Sheridan was quoted as saying in TV Guide. "He had a very difficult time distinguishing between fact and fiction."

Cherry's explanation for the firing was more prosaic, though equally plausible. He told TV Guide that ABC was hurting financially and he was ordered to cut costs.

Sources:
http://www.tmz.com/2010/04/05/nicolette-sheridan-desperate-housewives-marc-cherry-battery-violence-termination-fired/
http://www.popeater.com/2010/04/05/nicollette-sheridan-sues-desperate-housewives-creator-marc-che/
Masters, Billy. "BILLY MASTERS." Windy City Times. 2009. Retrieved April 05, 2010 from HighBeam Research: http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P3-1724246831.html
http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/Television/story?id=7378112&page=1