Desperate Housewives Africa set to start on EbonyLife TV on DStv on 30 April as a Nigerian spin-off for Africa of the American drama.

Desperate Housewives Africa, the first African spin-off of the long-running American drama series Desperate Housewives will start on 30 April on EbonyLife TV (DStv 165), a year later than planned after the initial announcement was made back in October 2013.

Desperate Housewives Africa is filmed in Lagos, Nigeria and is set in an African suburban version of the classic "Wisteria Lane".

Since 2006 five different versions of Desperate Housewives have been produced, including the Turkish production Umutsuz Ev Kadinlari, Amas de Casa Desesperadas, the Argentinean version, the Colombian and Ecuadorian version, the Hispanic version in America for broadcast in Mexico and Donas de Casa Desesperadas, the Brazilian version in Portuguese.

Quinty Pillay, director of scripted programming at EbonyLife TV says the show has taken "the original version and given it a distinctly African twist, from the storytelling to the look and feel of the entire production without compromising on the global appeal".

Desperate Housewives Africa will  mirror the original American drama, with an added African flavour, with Marcy Dolapo Oni as Rume Bello in the role of the dead Mary Alice Young who is the omniscient narrator.

Michelle Dede is Tari Gambadia, a character vying for the attention of a new hunky neighbour and Nini Wacera is Ese De Souza, a housewife who tries to maintain the perfect family.

Kehinde Bankoli plays Kiki Obi who is having an affair and Omotu Bissong is Funke Lawal, a fatigued stay-at-home mom of four.

"We are very excited that one of ABC's hit television series is being made for African viewers," says Christine Service, the senior vice president and country manager of The Walt Disney Company Africa.

"This is a first for the continent of Africa and we could not be more proud of what we have seen so far of Desperate Housewives Africa."

"We are extremely excited to bring this rich, thrilling and captivating drama to our local and global audiences," says Mo Abudu, the executive chairman and CEO of EbonyLife TV.

"Our viewers can absolutely look forward with great delight to watching a most riveting adaptation of the multiple award-winning version from Africa; one with a uniquely African essence that closely mirrors the format and storylines of the multiple award-winning American version".

Africa getting a black Desperate Housewives, Desperate Housewives Africa, to be filmed in Lagos, Nigeria on a new African 'Wisteria Lane'.

Africa is getting its own black version of the drama series Desperate Housewives, with Disney which has approved the Nigerian TV channel EbonyLife TV carried on MultiChoice's DStv satellite pay TV platform elsewhere in Africa but not South Africa, to remake the successful American drama series with a black cast.

Desperate Housewives Africa as the show will be known, will start in early 2014 and will be produced by EbonyLife TV and Disney, Disney Media Distribution for the Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region announced in a statement.

"Co-producing Desperate Housewives Africa with EbonyLife TV offers the opportunity to engage African audiences through locally relevant and entertaining storytelling," says Giovanni Mastrangelo, the general manager for Disney Media Distribution for emerging markets.

"This hit series, starring a pan-African cast, will bring to life the universal stories and characters created by ABC Studios."

Desperate Housewives Africa will stick close to the original storyline of the American series and will work hard "to ensure parity" when it comes to the American production values. The show will however include "that very important African essence," says Mo Abudu, the CEO and executive chairman of EbonyLife TV.

Since 2006 local versions of Desperate Housewives have been produced in Turkey, Spanish for Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay, as well as Colombian and Ecuadorian version also sold to Japan, an American Hispanic version, and a Brazilian version in Portuguese.

The Nigerian Desperate Housewives Africa will have a cast of new and emerging talents and will be filmed in Lagos, Nigeria where a local "Wisteria Lane" has been found. Production of the drama series will closely follow the format and storylines of the American version with a "uniquely Nigerian flavour".

BREAKING. Desperate Housewives star Kathryn Joosten dead at 72 after long battle with lung cancer..

The Desperate Housewives star Kathryn Joosten has died. She was 72.

In a case of life imitating art, Kathryn Joosten has passed away after a long battle with lung cancer which returned in 2009.

Desperate Housewives just finished in America in which the character she portrayed in the drama series, Karen McKluskey, also died in the eight season finale packing an emotional punch and in a dramatic storyline pivotal to concluding the series' events.

Kathryn Joosten won two Emmys for her work on Desperate Housewives in 2005 and again in 2008. Her other memorable role was as Mrs. Dolores Langdingham on The West Wing.

Kathryn Joosten said in numerous interviews that Desperate Housewives creator Marc Cherry promised her that her character won't ever be killed off since so many of her previous characters - such as in The West Wing - died before the series finales of those shows.

DESPERATE FINALE. Where last have we seen a longrunning TV drama conclude with the main characters playing poker around a table? Mmm.

On Sunday in America it ended with a 2 hour finale.

The two hour finale included time travel; the oldest one, ill, realising the rest are great friends and trying to help them all by being the pivotal character to save them all; a reappearance of characters who've previously died; the main characters helping each other so that they can all escape a judge who've basically put them all on trial together; a mysterious entity from another realm watching over them all - and the final scene: best friends sitting around a table playing poker with a camera panning above them.

No, not the two hour finale ''All Good Things'' from Star Trek The Next Generation. The finale of ... Desperate Housewives.

Practically the only difference between the TV finale of Star Trek The Next Generation of 1994 and the finale of Desperate Housewives this Sunday night in 2012 in America was that in Star Trek TNG the blonde one who was killed off by an oil slick came back for one last appearance. In Desperate Housewives the blonde one who was killed off by electricity remained absent.

The multiple, and very blatant similarities between Star Trek TNG and the Desperate Housewives finale are well ... lets just say somewhere Q and Mary Alice must have been talking about how a writer or writers must have been watching too must Star Trek DVD box sets and were too lazy to come up with their own stuff and narrative structure to end it all.

The Desperate Housewives finale comes across as desperately going where TV viewers and those who actually watch television have gone before - flashes through time to the past, flashes through time to the future, a main character who is ill and dying, an ex wife who comes to the rescue, and a circular structure returning to the very first episode to book-end the show.

And of course Q Mary Alice implies he she will continue watching over the Enterprise Wisteria Lane into the future.

There's violins. Of course. And in the end a vehicle seen flying driving away into the distance.

BREAKING. CSI still most watched show in the world; Tracy Morgan, Housewives, Bold and the Beautiful, Sky News win Golden Nymphs.

CSI from CBS Studios International is - like 2010 when it took over from House - once again the most watched television show in the world and therefore won Best Drama TV Series at the 51st Monte Carlo Television Festival's 2011 Golden Nymph Awards in the TV Audience Awards section.

Desperate Housewives (M-Net) won a Golden Nymph award as Best Comedy TV series and The Bold and the Beautiful (SABC1) won as Best Soap Opera.

CSI, Desperate Housewives and The Bold and the Beautiful were all nominated for the 6th International TV Audience Awards - a section within the 2011 Golden Nymph Awards ceremony. These 3 category winners win based on which shows have the highest number of viewers globally last year according to Eurodata TV Worldwide. The nominees in each category were picked from the 15 shows with the highest viewership in 68 countries across five continents representing 1,7 billion viewers. CSI had more that 73,8 million viewers last year.

Jon Hamm won a Golden Nymph award as Outstanding Actor for Mad Men (M-Net) in a drama series, while Tracy Morgan from 30 Rock (M-Net) won as Outstanding Actor in a comedy series.  Germany's Anette Frier won as Outstanding Actress for Danni Lowinski in a comedy series while Denmark's Sidse Babett Knudsen won as Outstanding Actress in a drama series for Government.

Sky News (DStv 402) won for Best TV News Item (for ''Battle for Zawiya'') as well as Best 24 Hour News Programme (''Mubarak Steps Down'').

"This year we received many entries into the competition from all around the world and I am delighted to see so many international winners of Golden Nymphs,'' says David Tomatis, CEO of the Monte Carlo TV Festival.

BREAKING. CSI, Desperate Housewives, CNN and The Bold & the Beautiful win at 50th Monte Carlo TV Festival.

CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, Desperate Housewives, The Bold & the Beautiful and CNN were some of the big winners at this year's 50th Monte Carlo TV Festival. CSI (M-Net) won as the drama show seen by the most TV viewers across the globe in the International TV Audience Award category, while Desperate Housewives (M-Net, SABC3) won in this category for the most watched comedy show around the world.

Cast members from The Vampire Diaries (Vuzu on DStv 123) like Ian Somerhalder, Nina Dobrev and Paul Wesley (seen above), 90210, Glee and Melrose Place attended this year. CNN (DStv 401) won for the international news channel's coverage of the Haiti earthquake. The Bold and the Beautiful (SABC1) won as the International TV Audience Award as the most watched soap in the world.

BREAKING. Ugly Betty's Vanessa Williams set to join the cast of Desperate Housewives as the latest housewife with a secret.

From MODE to Wisteria Lane? Word from the American TV industry is that Vanessa Williams is joining the cast of Desperate Housewives, shown in South Africa on M-Net and SABC3, from the seventh season.

Vanessa Williams is known for her role as editor Wilhelmina Slater in Ugly Betty, also shown on M-Net as well as SABC3. Vanessa Williams who visited South Africa and Cape Town in December, is set to join the cast as a new regular later this year as a housewife with a big secret.

UPDATE Wednesday 19 May 00:44 - Desperate Housewives creator Marc Cherry just spoke to TV Guide magazine. ''I'm a big fan of Vanessa's work and I'm so excited that she'll be moving into the neighborhood next season to cause trouble in all the ladies' lives. But don't expect Vanessa to be at the center of next season's big mystery.''

FIRST LOOK! Desperate Housewives glam up.

I can show you this brand-new, just released publicity photo of Desperate Housewives.

The 6th season starts on Thursday, 28 January at 20:30 on M-Net. In South Africa we're only 12 episodes behind the current season in America.

FIRST LOOK! A fat Susan, an old Eva in Desperate Housewives!

The 6th season of Desperate Housewives will start on Thursday, 28 January at 20:30 on M-Net. America is 11 episodes ahead of South Africa, so take a look at this episode which M-Net viewers will see on 15 April this year: a FAT Susan Mayer! an OLD Gabrielle Solis!

What happens is that viewers get a glimpse in the episode titled ''Imagine all these people'' of how the lives of the women of Wisteria Lane might have turned out differently if they've made other choices - in a ''It's a Wonderful Life'' kind of way.

In the episode we see what would have happened to Susan (Teri Hatcher wears a fat suit to plump up her face) if she stayed witl Karl. We'll also see what happens when Bree (Marcia Cross) imagines what her life would be like if she divorces Orson and marries Karl. Lynette has a heartwrenching story of her own, and of course we also get to see an old Gaby (Eva Longoria Parker), looking like she does below!