Desperate Housewives/Sondheim References in Episode Titles

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Desperate Housewives/Sondheim References in Episode Titles

Posted: 5/18/08 at 5:17pm

I read somewhere that Marc Cherry, the creator of Desperate Housewives, names every official episode of Desperate Housewives after a Sondheim song. I noticed that in some of the episode titles ("Getting Married Today," "Children and Art," "You Could Drive a Person Crazy," "What Would We Do Without You," and "Into the Woods" for example). I'm not an expert on Sondheim's work, so didn't make the connection earlier on, but I'm very interested at the reasoning behind this. Thanks!

"We like to snark around here. Sometimes we actually talk about theater...but we try not to let that get in our way." - dramamama611

re: Desperate Housewives/Sondheim References in Episode Titles

Posted: 5/18/08 at 5:36pm

Either songs or lyric snippets...

And it's because Cherry is a HUGE fan of Sondheim's.

"It's not so much do what you like, as it is that you like what you do." SS

"Time flies like an arrow, fruit flies like a banana." GMarx

re: Desperate Housewives/Sondheim References in Episode Titles

Posted: 5/18/08 at 5:39pm

on IMDB there is a listing of every Sondheim related title. There's only 10 or 15 out of the entire 4 seasons that don't have Sondheim related titles.

that's a really big mic...

re: Desperate Housewives/Sondheim References in Episode Titles

Posted: 5/18/08 at 6:07pm

There was a thread about this before, too lazy to look for it.
It started with Sondheim titles, now most are lyrics, or non-Sondheim related. I love the episode titles, they actually fit the episode contents pretty well.

"Some people can thrive and bloom living life in a living room, that's perfect for some people of one hundred and five. But I at least gotta try, when I think of all the sights that I gotta see, all the places I gotta play, all the things that I gotta be at"

re: Desperate Housewives/Sondheim References in Episode Titles

Posted: 5/18/08 at 6:10pm

I don't think that there's any real reason for it other than the fact that it's fun!

re: Desperate Housewives/Sondheim References in Episode Titles

Posted: 5/18/08 at 6:14pm

Well, Marc Cherry is indeed a Sondheim fan, and a musical theater fan in general. He was at a recent Sondheim benefit in which Felicity Huffman played the interviewer when an actor sang "Franklin Shepard Inc" (can't remember who).
Cherry has said that when DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES is over in 2011-ish, he hopes to write the book to a new Broadway musical.

re: Desperate Housewives/Sondheim References in Episode Titles

Posted: 5/18/08 at 6:16pm

Well I certainly never noticed that. Awesome. It almost makes me love the show even more!

re: Desperate Housewives/Sondheim References in Episode Titles

Posted: 5/18/08 at 6:33pm

Why does he think he'll be done with Desperate Housewives in 2011?

"Chicago is it's own incredible theater town right there smack down in the middle of the heartland. What a great city! I can see why Oprah likes to live there!" - Dee Hoty :-D

re: Desperate Housewives/Sondheim References in Episode Titles

Posted: 5/18/08 at 6:41pm

Check 'em out for yourself!
Desperate Housewives Episode List

"Writing is like prostitution. First, you do it for love, then you do it for a few friends, and finally you do it for money." ~ Moliere

#10

re: Desperate Housewives/Sondheim References in Episode Titles

Posted: 5/18/08 at 7:33pm

And this is why I couldn't watch the show; I'm a demon for needing to know episode names, and I'd just get songs stuck in my head constantly. XD

Not that this has anything to do with anything, but I used to be the Sci-fi queen at a bookstore, and everytime I shelved Iain M Banks books, I'd get 'Putting It Together' stuck in my head, because of the slim yellow volume entitled 'State Of The Art'. ^_^

Notes from the Earlham Street Gutter

Updated On: 5/18/08 at 07:33 PM

#11

re: Desperate Housewives/Sondheim References in Episode Titles

Posted: 5/18/08 at 7:51pm

Wow - some of these are wonderfully obscure like Kanagawa.

#12

re: Desperate Housewives/Sondheim References in Episode Titles

Posted: 5/18/08 at 8:09pm

Cherry just said this past week, that he doesn't want the show to last too long because he feels the audience is going to be done with it by then, so he wants the show to end around season 7. He apparently really regrets Season 2 and doesn't want that to happen again.

#13

re: Desperate Housewives/Sondheim References in Episode Titles

Posted: 5/18/08 at 8:53pm

According to Wikipedia, tonight's episode is called 'Gun Song'!
Hurray Assassins :)

"As we all should probably have learned by now, to be a Stephen Sondheim fan is to have one's heart broken at regular intervals" - Frank Rich

Dearest, how can this be so? You were dead, you know. - Candide

Oh my god, this show has everything! Half naked guys and girl on girl action! - [title of show]

(My avatar? Why, yes! That is Laura Benanti making out with a chick!)

#14

re: Desperate Housewives/Sondheim References in Episode Titles

Posted: 5/18/08 at 9:11pm

At Sondheim's 75 birthday concert back in 2005, there was a filmed segment in which different characters from Desperate Housewives named their favorite Sondheim song. It's pretty funny, you can find it here:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=84vGWVenlTk

There's a lot I am not certain of...

Updated On: 5/18/08 at 09:11 PM

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