That “Desperate Housewives” Lawsuit

An article in the Independent on Nicolette Sheridan’s lawsuit against the producers of Desperate Housewives over the fate of her character in that show discusses past attempts by actors and viewers to influence the outcomes of plots. Remember that Sir Arthur Conan Doyle had to bring Sherlock Holmes back from the dead, even though he had killed him off in the short story, “The Final Problem.” Readers missed the brilliant but annoying detective, and Doyle resurrected him, first in the novel The Hound of the Baskervilles, and then explained Holmes’ return in “The Adventure of the Empty House.”