Once in a while, the Hollywood cliché where everything turns out all right in the end does, in fact, come true. As a writer and producer for “The Golden Girls” (NBC, 1985-1992), Marc Cherry was on his way to a long, successful career, but as fate—or bad judgment—would have it, he lost everything and spent nearly three years without so much as a job interview. In the dumps and without prospects, Cherry made a final desperate attempt to score a hit—and he did, creating the wildly successful “Desperate Housewives” (ABC, 2004- ), a comic soap opera that has attracted millions of viewers, broad critical acclaim and even a small share of controversy.

Cherry got his start at California State University, Fullerton, where he was a theater major with ambitions of acting in musicals. He was a member of the Young Americans—a song and dance choir—and traveled with the troupe to such exotic locations as Cannes and Las Vegas. After earning his equity card, Cherry decided he no longer wanted to act. Along with writing partner Jamie Wooten—whom he met at CSUF—he moved to Los Angeles and lived off the $15,000 he won on “The $100,000 Pyramid” (Syndicated, 1985-1986) while working as a personal assistant to Dixie Carter from “Designing Women” (CBS, 1986-1993). Cherry and Wooten wrote spec scripts at night and eventually got an agent during the 1988 writer’s strike. Soon they found themselves in a writer’s workshop at Warner Bros. and eventually were invited to join the staff of “The Golden Girls” for its final two seasons.

After the show went off the air, Cherry wrote and produced the short-lived “Golden Palace” (CBS, 1992-1993), a spin-off starring three of the four silver-haired spinsters from “The Golden Girls” that lasted 24 episodes. Cherry went on to write and co-create another short-lived sitcom, “The Five Mrs. Buchanans” (CBS, 1994-1995), a well-reviewed series about an irascible and opinionated mother who loves her sons but hates the women they married. The network put the show in a bad time slot on Saturday night where it failed to attract an audience and soon died a quiet death after 17 episodes. His next project, “The Crew” (Fox, 1995-1996), a sitcom about four friends who work as flight attendants, suffered the fate of his previous two efforts. After a fourth failed attempt to create a hit with “Some of My Best Friends” (CBS, 2000-2001), a sitcom adaptation of the feature film “Kiss Me Guido” (1997), Cherry suddenly found himself at the nadir of a once high-flying career.

With $79,000 embezzled by his agent and forced to ask his mother for financial help, Cherry made a last-ditch effort to revive his floundered career. Inspired by a comment his mother made while following the Andrea Yates murder trial when he wondered why she would commit such a desperate act, Cherry began work on the spec for what became “Desperate Housewives.” Billed as a dark comedy, the script was passed on by all the networks and several cable stations. At the insistence of his new agent, he revamped the concept and pitched it as a primetime soap. Interest was renewed, particularly with ABC, which was desperate for a hit of its own. The network bought the spec—its first in eight years—and made the show with actresses seeking to revive their own stalled careers, former primetime soap queen Nicolette Sheridan chief among them. Though all knew the were working with a good script, no one expected the enormity of the show’s success. Despite minor outrage caused by a plug on “Monday Night Football” (ABC, 1970- ), where a naked Sheridan jumped into the arms of Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver Terrell Owens, “Desperate Housewives” rode high atop the ratings and became the number one show on all of television. Humbled by reactions from critics and fans, Cherry couldn’t help feeling slightly vindicated—he was desperate no more.