• Daily Variety via Forbes, Thursday, February 22, 2007 11:30 AM

In what could be one of the biggest TV deals of the year, "Desperate Housewives" creator Marc Cherry has signed a four-year, eight-figure pact with ABC Television Studio. The agreement, which keeps Cherry on board until May 2011, will ensure creative continuity for the hit show in its seventh season. The studio has also made deals with all key members of the cast, which will keep them around at least as long as Cherry.

While neither the studio nor Cherry's people would comment on financial particulars, it is believed the pact exceeds the $15 million, 3½-year deal "Nip/Tuck" creator Ryan Murphy inked with three News Corp. units last week. Cherry says he has no plans to develop projects beyond "DH," though if he does, it'll be for ABC Television Studio.

"The studio and the network and I all feel it's best for me to stay glued to the set," he says. "I've got my ship, and I'm gonna run it." If Cherry gets his way, the show will end when his new deal wraps. "I think that, at the end of my deal, and after seven seasons, it will be a good time to call it quits," he says. "I don't want anyone else to run the show, and I don't want us to fade away."

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