Eva Longoria Thought Desperate Housewives Would Be A Major Flop

Eva Longoria was already a familiar name before audiences got to know her on "Desperate Housewives." She was a recurring face in soap operas for a while and a stint on the short-lived cop drama "Dragnet." However, the failure of "Dragnet" might've been the best thing to ever happen to the actress. If the show succeeded, it's unlikely she'd have been able to join "Desperate Housewives" with the rest of the cast. But although the show would go on to become a monster hit, Longoria had major doubts about "Desperate Housewives" even ending up on television.

"Desperate Housewives" first hit television screens in October 2004, just a year after the police procedural's 2003 debut. However, Longoria didn't have much faith in the show. "I remember reading the script and going, 'Well, this will never go,' because it was so different. It wasn't a comedy and it wasn't a drama. Nobody knew what we were," she told HuffPost.

It's easy to see why Longoria thought "Desperate Housewives" might end up like "Dragnet." As fans might recall, the series focused on romance, affairs, mental health issues, and murder mysteries all in one packaging. If executed improperly, any one show could've fallen on its face trying to balance all of these genres at once. However, "Desperate Housewives" balanced its many narratives seamlessly. This helped the show become one of the most popular programs on television for its time, and perhaps Longoria's most iconic work to date.

"Desperate Housewives" turned Eva Longoria into a superstar during its long eight-year run. Not only that, but at one point, she was one of the highest-paid actresses on television. After the show proved its worth with high ratings and stellar reviews, Longoria found herself earning $375,000 per episode. With most of the seasons containing 23 episodes, it's a safe bet that her salary contributed nicely to her current $80 million net worth.

The attention and fame Longoria received from the show happened so quickly that it took her time to adjust to. The actress remembered coming into contact with legions of "Desperate Housewives" fans for the first time, who surrounded a hotel she was staying in while visiting London. As her driver escorted her onto the property, Longoria was convinced the crowd must've been waiting for someone else. "I was like, 'Oh my God, who's here? Is, like, Bono here? Somebody important? And the driver was like, 'You?" she told Today on the 20th anniversary of the show.