TV: Vanessa Williams Heads to Wisteria Lane

As previously reported, Broadway veteran Vanessa Williams will join the cast of Desperate Housewives as a series regular this season. Housewives creator Marc Cherry has been in search for a new trouble-maker for the block since Nicolette Sheridan's departure from the show. Check out this first promo for the upcoming season, which is set to begin Sunday September 26 at 9/8c.

Desperate Housewives follows the lives of a group of women, seen through the eyes of their dead neighbor. They work through domestic struggles and family life, while facing the secrets, crimes and mysteries hidden behind the doors of their-at the surface-beautiful and seemingly perfect suburban neighborhood. The show is inspired, to an extent, by the 1999 film American Beauty.

The show features an ensemble cast, headed by Teri Hatcher as Susan Mayer, Felicity Huffman as Lynette Scavo, Marcia Cross as Bree Van de Kamp and Eva Longoria Parker as Gabrielle Solis. Brenda Strong narrates the show as the deceased Mary Alice Young, appearing sporadically in flashbacks or dreams.

Since its premiere on ABC on October 3, 2004, the show has been well received by the critics as well as the audience. The show is a multiple Emmy, Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild award winner.