October 3, 2004: "Desperate Housewives" Premieres

Left to right: Felicity Huffman, Nicollette Sheridan,

Teri Hatcher, Eva Longoria, Marcia Cross

October 3, 2004: Desperate Housewives premieres on ABC. Its combination of drama, humor and pathos make it a hit that lasts for 8 seasons.

The show is set on Wisteria Lane, in the town of Fairview, in a State identified only as "The Eagle State," but, who's kidding who, it's the suburbs of Los Angeles. It was filmed at Universal Studios Hollywood, on Colonial Street, site of the filming of Leave It to Beaver, Gremlins and Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

Brenda Strong plays Mary Alice Young, who narrates the series -- from beyond the grave, as she committed suicide in the pilot episode. She tells of the goings-on of 5 neighbors: Teri Hatcher as Susan Mayer, Felicity Huffman as Lynette Scavo, Marcia Cross as Bree Van de Kamp, Nicollette Sheridan as Edie Britt, and Eva Longoria as the show's breakout character, Gabrielle Solis.

Alfre Woodward joined in Season 2 as Betty Applewhite, but only for that season. Dana Delany, formerly of ABC's Vietnam War drama China Beach, joined in Season 4 as Katherine Mayfair. Sheridan left after Season 5, Delany after Season 6. Former Miss America and Grammy-winning singer Vanessa Williams joined in Season 7 as Renee Perry, and when the show closed after Season 8, Hatcher, Huffman, Cross and Longoria had been there for the entire run.

A few years later, on another ABC drama, Body of Proof, Delany played a medical examiner in Philadelphia, investigating a murder in a nearby suburb. With a smile that telegraphed the inside joke, she said, "I used to live on a cul-de-sac like this."

*

October 3, 2004 was a Sunday. Stranger Things actor Noah Schnapp was born.

It was the last day of baseball's regular season. At the site of the franchise's 1st regular season game in 1969, the Montreal Expos, who were now scheduled to move to Washington, D.C. for the next season, played the last game in their 36-year history, losing to the Mets at Shea Stadium, 8-1. A crowd of 33,569 attended the memorial service, but most were rooting for the Mets.

The Expos' last starting lineup: Brad Wilkerson, 1B; Jamey Carroll, 2B; Val Pascucci, RF; Terrmel Sledge, LF; Ryan Church, CF; Einar Diaz, C; Brendan Harris, 3B; Josh Labandeira, SS; and John Patterson, P. Patterson was the losing pitcher, while Tom Glavine won it.

David Wright and Todd Zeile hit home runs for the Mets. The last play in Expo history was a groundout to 2nd base, Kazuo Matsui to 1st baseman Mike Piazza, induced by reliever Bartolome Fortunato. That last Expo batter was a defensive replacement in center field, who will go on to join the Mets and make Shea history in another way, with his glove: Endy Chavez. The last active Expo would also become a her to Met fans: Bartolo Colón, who would still be pitching in the major leagues in 2018.

These other MLB games were played:

* The New York Yankees beat the Toronto Blue Jays, 3-2 at the SkyDome (now the Rogers Centre) in Toronto. Bernie Williams hit a home run in the top of the 8th inning, making a winning pitcher out of Scott Proctor (to my shock -- Proctor was notoriously unreliable as a Yankee reliever) in relief of Brad Halsey. Derek Jeter went 2-for-3 with an RBI. Alex Rodriguez went 0-for-3.

* The Philadelphia Phillies beat the Florida Marlins, 10-4 at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia.

* The Baltimore Orioles beat the Boston Red Sox, 3-2 at Camden Yards in Baltimore. David Ortiz went 0-for-1 with a walk before he left the game. I guess the steroids had run out for the year.

* The Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Cincinnati Reds, 2-0 at Great American Ball Park in Cincinnati. It took 3 pitchers to complete a 5-hit shutout: Óliver Pérez for 6 innings, Salomón Torres for 2, and José Mesa for 1.

* The Tampa Bay Devil Rays beat the Detroit Tigers, 7-4 at Comerica Park in Detroit.

* The Chicago Cubs beat the Atlanta Braves, 10-8 at Wrigley Field in Chicago.

* The Cleveland Indians beat the Minnesota Twins, 5-2 at the Metrodome in Minneapolis.

* The St. Louis Cardinals beat the Milwaukee Brewers, 9-4 at Busch Memorial Stadium in St. Louis.

* The Chicago White Sox beat the Kansas City Royals, 5-0 at Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City. José Contreras pitched 8 innings of 2-hit shutout ball, before Shingo Takatsu finished the 3-hit shutout.

* The Houston Astros beat the Colorado Rockies, 5-3 at Minute Maid Park (now Daikin Park) in Houston.

* The Arizona Diamondbacks beat the San Diego Padres, 4-1 at Bank One Ballpark (now Chase Field) in Phoenix.

* The San Francisco Giants beat their arch-rivals, the Los Angeles Dodgers, 10-0 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles. It took 4 pitchers to complete a 3-hit shutout: Jason Schmidt for 6 innings, and 1 each for Jesse Foppert, Tyler Walker and Kevin Correia. The Giants got home runs from 5 different players, none of them Barry Bonds: He went 0-for-1 with a walk before being removed from the game in the 4th inning.

* The Oakland Athletics beat the Anaheim Angels, 3-2 at the Oakland Coliseum (then named the McAfee Coliseum).

* And the Texas Rangers beat the Seattle Mariners, 3-0 at Safeco Field (now T-Mobile Park) in Seattle. It took 4 pitchers to complete a 4-hit shutout: Chan Ho Park for 7 innings, Brian Shouse pitched to 1 batter without getting him out, Doug Brocail finished the 8th, and Francisco Cordero pitched the 9th.

And these NFL games were played:

* The New York Giants beat the Green Bay Packers, 14-7 at Lambeau Field in Green Bay.

* The New York Jets beat the Miami Dolphins, 17-7 at Pro Player Stadium (now Hard Rock Stadium) in Miami Gardens, Florida.

* The Atlanta Falcons beat the Carolina Panthers, 27-10 at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte.

* The Indianapolis Colts beat the Jacksonville Jaguars, 24-17 at Alltel Stadium (now EverBank Stadium) in Jacksonville.

* The Denver Broncos beat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 16-13 at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa.

* The Houston Texans beat the Oakland Raiders, 30-17 at Reliant Stadium (now NRG Stadium) in Houston.

* The New England Patriots beat the Buffalo Bills, 31-17 at Ralph Wilson Stadium (formerly Rich Stadium) in the Buffalo suburbs of Orchard Park, New York.

* The Pittsburgh Steelers beat the Cincinnati Bengals, 28-17 at Heinz Field (now Acrisure Stadium) in Pittsburgh.

* The Cleveland Browns beat the Washington Redskins, 17-13 at Cleveland Municipal Stadium.

* The Philadelphia Eagles beat the Chicago Bears, 19-9 at the new Soldier Field in Chicago.

East: Dallas

North: Detroit, Minnesota

West: Seattle

* The Arizona Cardinals beat the New Orleans Saints, 34-10 at Sun Devil Stadium (now Mountain America Stadium) in the Phoenix suburb of Tempe, Arizona.

* The San Diego Chargers beat the Tennessee Titans, 38-17 at Qualcomm Stadium (formerly San Diego Stadium and Jack Murphy Stadium).

* The St. Louis Rams beat the San Francisco 49ers (who had been the Rams' arch-rivals while they were in Los Angeles), 24-14 at Candlestick Park in San Francisco.

* The next night, on ABC Monday Night Football, the Kansas City Chiefs beat the Baltimore Ravens, 27-24 at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore.

* And the Dallas Cowboys, the Detroit Lions, the Minnesota Vikings and the Seattle Seahawks each had a bye week.