Housewives creator Marc Cherry signs four-year deal
with ABC

Desperate Housewives creator Marc Cherry signed a four-year, eight-figure deal with ABC Television Studio in what may be one of the biggest deals in television this year, reports Variety.com.

The deal keeps Cherry working with Desperate Housewives until the series' seventh season, which will end in May 2011. ABC has also made deals with all of the main cast members to keep them on the show for as long as Cherry.

Cherry said he wants to focus on Desperate Housewives and has no plans to develop future projects, but says if he does, it will be with ABC. However, after the series wraps, he says, "I'm packing my bags, moving to New York, and I'm going to start writing books for Broadway musicals."

While the financial details of the deal were not publicly disclosed, it is thought that the deal exceeds the $15 million, 3 1/2 year deal Ryan Murphy, the creator of Nip/Tuck, recently signed with News Corp. (The Advocate)