Desperate Housewives

ABC's hit show Desperate Housewives has something for everybody. The dark comedy, which centers on suburban life on Wisteria Lane, is a constant parade of comedy-drama patterns involving the show's five main characters: Bree Van De Kamp portrayed by former Melrose Place actress Marcia Cross, Susan Mayer portrayed by former Lois and Clark star Teri Hatcher, Lynette Scavo portrayed by Transamerica star Felicity Huffman, Gabrielle "Gabby" Solis portrayed by former Young and the Restless actress Eva Longoria, and Edie Britt portrayed by former Knot's Landing star Nicollette Sheridan.

There's no doubt that these five women are the stars of the show. However, the supporting cast of male characters also makes it worth while for viewers to tune in every Sunday. They may not all be house husbands all the time, but these characters have pulled some pretty desperate moves themselves. Below are the profiles of the desperate men of Wisteria Lane.

Tom Scavo is portrayed by history-making actor Doug Savant, who became the first actor to portray an openly gay character on U.S. prime time television in the role of Matt Fielding on the popular prime time drama Melrose Place. Although Tom is patriarch of the Scavo family, head of the household may be a bit of an overstatement. This breadwinner-turned-househusband-turned-subordinate has a tough time in the power struggles with his control freak of a wife, Lynette. Viewers can't be sure, but Tom may have an extramarital affair lurking somewhere in his past. After all, he does kind of have a wondering eye. Who could forget his fantasies about the nanny? And if the old saying, "like father, like son" rings true in this case, then Tom is sure to have gotten some on the side.

Tom's Desperate Moment: Allowing himself to be tongued down by his wife's beautiful friend, Gabby Solis, following his revelation of an adolescent fantasy.

Carlos Solis is portrayed by Texas-born actor Ricardo Antonio Chavira. Carlos is a hot-tempered, white-collar criminal whose weakness is his beautiful wife, Gabby. As if being gorgeous isn't enough, Carlos is loaded, just the way Gabby likes him. He may not always be the sharpest knife in the drawer. He beat up two innocent guys thinking that they were sleeping with Gabby. Incidentally, both of them were gay.

Carlos Desperate Moment: Replacing Gabby's birth control pills with blanks so that she would get pregnant.

Mike Delfino is portrayed by Nashville native James Denton. Mike, a plumber with a dark past, came to Wisteria Lane in search of answers about the disappearance of his ex-girlfriend Deidre. Though relatively distant, Mike's hard shell has been cracked by Susan. There's no doubt that he loves her, but her clumsy, nosy nature just doesn't seem to be compatible with Mike's suave, very private personality. Besides, for now, Mike's interest lies in making sure Zach, the son about which he just found out isn't hurt by all of the lies and deception surrounding him.

Mike's Desperate Moment: Taking Paul Young out to the desert to kill him, but when he let him go, that's when viewers learned that Mike has a heart after all.

Karl Mayer is portrayed by In Her Shoes actor Richard Burgi. Despite the fact that Karl is a lying, cheating, manipulative womanizer, he has a Clooney-esque charm about him that makes him irresistible. Just ask his ex-wife Susan. Although Karl is now heavily involved with the town strumpet Edie Britt, it's no secret he's still hot for his baby's mama Susan.

Karl's Desperate Moment: Rigging the pipes so that he could send Dr. Ron to the plumber, who happens to be Mike, so that Dr. Ron could find out that Mike and Susan used to date.

Paul Young is portrayed by distinguished actor Mark Moses. The widowed husband of narrator Mary Alice Young, Paul is the neighbor that viewers hate to love. The whole Young family is just so spooky, but Paul puts in overtime in the spook factory. And even though, we want to believe that Paul is a bad person, we can't help but admire his love for Zach. Once the whole story unfolded, some viewers even found themselves feeling sorry for him.

Paul's Desperate Moment: Killing Martha Huber to avenge the torture of his wife Mary Alice.

They may be in one season and out the next or vice versa. Who knows? One of them may even soon meet the same fate as the late Rex Van De Kamp. But for the moment, these are the desperate men of Wisteria Lane.