Even two decades later, the jury is still out on whether the juiciest Desperate Housewives drama was on camera or behind the scenes.
Such is the wisteria-scented mythos that sprung up around the Emmy-winning ABC series, which starred Marcia Cross, Teri Hatcher, Felicity Huffman, Eva Longoria and Nicollette Sheridan as the denizens of a picture-perfect suburban enclave that was the scene of more scheming, backstabbing, bed-hopping and bad decision-making than might be considered appropriate for one zip code. And, of course, there were normal activities, like child-rearing, carpooling and monthly book-clubbing.
Oh, and wine-drinking. Lots of that.
But while the rumors of discord on the set will forever be part of the lore, as the 20th anniversary of the show's October 2004 premiere approaches (R.I.P. Mary Alice), it's important to remember what the vibe was like back then.
When the five O.G.s posed together for Vanity Fair in 2005, even the cover teased, "You wouldn't believe what it took just to get this photo!"
Which isn't to say that everyone got along every single day all the time. But also, if you were a formidable woman in the '00s then obviously you were feuding with someone.
"People ask me that a lot, like, 'Were you guys really fighting?' and I was like, 'God, I forgot that was a thing,'" Longoria told Dax Shephard on a November episode his Armchair Expert podcast. "It was a thing. It was a big thing!"
Referring to her fellow female leads, she recalled, "They all had such a better handle on fame, on that narrative...I'm like, 'You guys, they're saying we're fighting!' And they're like, 'Yeah, well that's just a narrative they do on women because we're over 40 in a television show.'"
As for the scripted shenanigans, Longoria was a graduate of 303 episodes of The Young and the Restless, so a character arc that took her character Gaby Solis from bedding the gardener to getting her own HSN show—really testing the boundaries of in sickness and in health, for better or for worse, till death do us part along the way—didn't faze her in the slightest.
Longoria's triumphant real-life trajectory, meanwhile, took her to the Oscars for the first time as a presenter just last year. This year, however, her feature directorial debut Flamin' Hot—the inspired-by-a-true-story tale of how Flamin' Hot Cheetos came to be—is Oscar-nominated for Best Original Song. Becky G will be performing the film's contender, "The Fire Inside," during the March 10 ceremony.
So since we know what Longoria is up to, it's also time to check in with the rest of the Desperate Housewives lineup and see the sprawling cast then vs. now: