Dana Delany is in talks to join the cast of Desperate Housewives next season as a new series regular. Wow, that might actually make me watch the show. She would join the cast as Bree’s long-lost sister Katherine, a “conservative Republican with an all-American wholesomeness and a mastery of passive aggressiveness.” So, what, she’ll bake you an apple pie with salt instead of sugar? Delish.
Dana reportedly turned down the role of Bree (played by Marcia Cross) three times while the show was in development. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Katherine will move to Wisteria Lane with her younger husband (possibly played by Firefly and Serenity‘s Nathan Fillion) and teenage daughter (Lyndsy Fonseca, who also just landed a the role of April the gay cheerleader on Heroes. Geez, that girl is busy.)
But back to Dana. I’ve been a fan since of hers since her China Beach days, and I still feel a little chill each time I think about Diana Ross & the Supremes belting “Reflections” as Colleen McMurphy peers over her aviators with a determined scowl. Somewhere in my parents’ house is a box of old VHS tapes filled with episode after episode. I cannot tell you how many times that show, and Dana, made me cry. Plus, no one looked cuter in Army green.
The Vietnam drama about Army nurses and doctors won Dana two Emmys and stood out as one of the few military-based series told from a female perspective. Its unwaveringly strong portrayal of women (both military and civilian), their work and their relationships was groundbreaking.
Also, I know I cannot be the only one who secretly hoped that good girl Colleen and bad girl K.C. (played by the equally fantastic Marg Helgenberger) would end up together. Come on, we all felt the subtext.
Since her four-season tour of duty on China Beach, Dana has kept busy and starred or guested on numerous other shows, from Pasadena and Presidio Med to Battlestar Galactica and The L Word. Who can forget her hot-and-bothered near-Bette-bedding as the take-charge Senator Grisham?
