New Year's Resolutions for 'Desperate Housewives,' 2011 Edition

With 2010 drawing to a close there is no better time for New Year's Resolutions for "Desperate Housewives," the hit ABC show airing on Sunday evenings featuring the families of Wisteria Lane. Season 7 has featured some complicated plot twists, a hunky new boyfriend and a question of parentage for one of the "Desperate Housewives" mothers. The following New Year's Resolutions for "Desperate Housewives" may contain spoilers for Season 7, so please be advised! Links to the other articles in this series are available at the end of this piece.

New Year's Resolutions for 'Desperate Housewives:' Bree finally resolves to live for herself.

Bree (Marcia Cross) and her current husband, boyfriend or crazy stalker has been the central focus of storylines since "Desperate Housewives" Season 1. From her cheating nymphomaniac late husband, to current beau Keith (Brian Austin Green), Bree's world has always revolved around a man. Even while Orson (Kyle MacLachlan) was in prison, Bree made her grandson the absolute center of her universe. Her New Year's Resolution for 2011 should be to finally live for herself, and stop making a male the center of her world-and the main focus of her share of the plots!

New Year's Resolutions for 'Desperate Housewives:' Mike resolves to finally ditch Susan.

I can enjoy a fairytale romance as much as the next person, but that hasn't been the tale for Mike (James Denton) and Susan (Teri Hatcher). Since "Desperate Housewives" began, the star-crossed lovers have married not once but twice, and faced countless ridiculous challenges. Season 7 has featured Susan struggling for income to the point of cleaning in front of a Web cam in her lingerie, which resulted in Mike leaving for Alaska on an Oil Rig to get them out of debt. Generally, Susan's antics are the cause of their quarrels, and as a die-hard anti-Susan fan of the show, I wish Mike would have just stayed with Katherine (Dana Delany).

New Year's Resolutions for 'Desperate Housewives:' Lynette and Tom should resolve to be a team.

In earlier seasons of "Desperate Housewives," Lynette (Felicity Huffman) and Tom (Doug Savant) Scavo still managed to work as a team every once in awhile. While their personalities obviously make that a difficult arrangement to accomplish, the latest seasons-especially since the 5yr jump-seem to indicate they're no longer even trying. Antics which used to be funny now just come across as a whiny, aging husband and his tough-as-nails wife (out of necessity, to be fair, in that household). With Renee (Vanessa Williams)'s arrival, viewers finally know whom Tom had an affair with-it just happens to be a friend of Lynette's from her college years, of course. Tom and Lynette either need to reunite and be a team together, or finally split-up and represent separate sides of the Scavo family.

New Year's Resolutions for 'Desperate Housewives:' More screen-time for the secondary characters.

The writers, producers and cast really need to resolve, as a group, to provide the "Desperate Housewives" fans with more on-air time for the secondary characters on Wisteria Lane. Bob (Tuc Watkins) and Lee (Kevin Rahm) moved onto Wisteria Lane seasons ago as the first reoccurring gay couple to appear on the hit TV show. Season 7 has seen more interaction with the pair, but following Paul (Mark Moses)'s plot to purchase all the homes on the lane-with Lee's help as his real estate agent-the dynamic duo have sold their home and attempted to flee Wisteria Lane during the riot of episode 10. Mrs. McCluskey (Kathryn Joosten) is absolutely hilarious, and a great senior member of the ladies' little posse. Following her real-life battle with cancer, fans saw less of her during recent seasons, but a resolution to throw her back into the mix more abundantly would be appreciated by many viewers.

New Year's Resolutions for 'Desperate Housewives:' Writers must resolve to stop recycling plots.

"Desperate Housewives" Season 7 has suffered more recycled plots than possibly any other year, from the re-return of the nefarious Paul Young, to Bree's evolving sex life, to once again a crisis brewing in the Delfino-Mayer household. So many recycled plots are often the hallmark of a dying TV sitcom, one that will be canceled within the next year or so. No official announcement has been made regarding the future of "Desperate Housewives" seasons, though Marc Cherry stated in a TV Guide interview in 2007 that he intended to stop at Season 7. "We will be a seven-year run," TV Guide reports Cherry as explaining. "I've kind of informed the network and the studio that's how long I will be with the show and that's how long it is going to run... and I'm planning accordingly." With viewers having seen half of Season 7 already, it seems unlikely "Desperate Housewives" is ending in 2011-so it is time for fresh ideas!

For more New Year's Resolutions for your favorite TV Shows, try:

New Year's Resolutions for 'Glee,' 2011 Edition

New Year's Resolutions for 'Grey's Anatomy,' 2011 Edition

Soruces:
TV Guide , "Desperate Housewives' Cherry Hopes for Seven-Year Run'