Dress Big
Encyclopedia
"Dress Big" is the 64th episode of the ABC
television series, Desperate Housewives
. It is also the seventeenth episode of the show's third season. The episode was written by Kevin Etten
and Susan Nirah Jaffee
and directed by Matthew Diamond
. It aired on April 8, 2007.
Nicollette Sheridan
chose this episode for consideration in the category of “Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series
at the 2007 Emmy Awards
.
Lynette has a problem with the Scavo Pizzeria uniform and objects to wearing it. Her partner, Tom, is her boss at work and orders her to wear the uniform. When Lynette goes home, she thinks Tom is mad and leaves him several messages. Eventually she decides to confront Tom at the pizzeria. She finds him unconscious with a ruptured disc that requires surgery.
Mike is seeing a therapist to help him fill in the missing parts of his memory. He is concerned about not remembering the ending to a movie which involved the heroine serving raw pancakes to her boyfriend. Mike tells the therapist that he might have seen the movie with Susan. The therapist, realizing that Mike has unresolved feelings for Susan, suggests that Mike ask Susan about the movie. Susan tells him that this wasn't a movie scene, instead it was her bad attempt at making breakfast for him after they made love for the first time.
Susan meets Ian's parents, Graham and Dahlia, for the first time and accidentally sets fire to Dahlia's chiffon dress. At dinner, Susan admits to Dahlia that she is a divorcée and not a widow. After dinner, Susan has another accident when she opens a door and spills red wine over Dahlia's second outfit of the evening.
Graham is surprised by Susan when she goes into her bedroom and catches him wearing her clothes . She then agrees to keep his cross dressing secret. Dahlia decides that Susan is not to be trusted and wants her to sign a pre-nup. Ian is against the idea initially, but changes his mind and Susan agrees to sign it. Before she signs the pre-nup, she indicates that she isn't the type of person to keep secrets. This alerts Graham, whom Susan caught wearing her clothes, who then declares that Susan is clearly not a gold digger and tears up the pre-nup.
Edie decides that Carlos doesn't just make a great fill-in father for her son, Travers, he'd be a great boyfriend too. She decides the best way to put the moves on him is through his relationship with Travers, so she invites him over to the house and instructs Travers to go to bed early. Carlos is about to go home, so she snaps a piece off a model airplane for him to fix. He quickly realizes she's hitting on him and tells her he's not looking for a party girl—especially one who uses her son as date bait. The next night, he sends flowers as an apology and when she comes over to thank him, she assures him that Travers is at a sleepover so, at least for tonight, she's not being a negligent mother. She tells him he was "dead on" in his assessment of her, but that she's getting tired of being the party girl. She says she'd like him to see her for who she really is, under this facade—as she strips off all her clothes. He's moved by her naked vulnerability and hugs her, which leads to her waking up in his bed the next morning.
), Julie Mayer (Andrea Bowen
), Orson Hodge (Kyle MacLachlan
), Danielle Van De Kamp (Joy Lauren
), Preston Scavo (Brent Kinsman), Porter Scavo (Shane Kinsman
), and Parker Scavo (Zane Huett
) do not appear in this episode.
Josh Henderson
(Austin McCann) who was a series regular since the beginning of the season is no longer credited.
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
television series, Desperate Housewives
Desperate Housewives
Desperate Housewives is an American television comedy-drama series created by Marc Cherry and produced by ABC Studios and Cherry Productions. Executive producer Cherry serves as Showrunner. Other executive producers since the fourth season include Marc Cherry, Bob Daily, George W...
. It is also the seventeenth episode of the show's third season. The episode was written by Kevin Etten
Kevin Etten
Kevin Etten is an American screenwriter and television producer.Beginning as a writer for The Late Show with David Letterman, Etten has since been a part of the crews of the dramedies Ed and Desperate Housewives, the latter for which he also served as a producer.In 2011, Etten began as executive...
and Susan Nirah Jaffee
Susan Nirah Jaffee
Susan Nirah Jaffee is an American screenwriter and television producer, primary working on sit-coms, and, as at 2007, serving as a writer and producer for Desperate Housewives....
and directed by Matthew Diamond
Matthew Diamond
Matthew Diamond is an American film and television director, producer and choreographer.He was nominated for an Academy Award in 1999 for directing the documentary film The Dancemaker...
. It aired on April 8, 2007.
Nicollette Sheridan
Nicollette Sheridan
Nicollette Sheridan is an English film and television actress. She is best known for her roles as Edie Britt on Desperate Housewives and as Paige Matheson on Knots Landing.-Early life:...
chose this episode for consideration in the category of “Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series
Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress - Comedy Series
This is a list of winners of the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series.-Superlatives:-1950s:*1953: Vivian Vance - I Love Lucy as Ethel Mertz** Audrey Meadows - The Jackie Gleason Show as Alice Kramden...
at the 2007 Emmy Awards
59th Primetime Emmy Awards
The 59th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards were held at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles, California on September 16, 2007 and were televised live on Fox at 8:00 p.m. EDT for the first time in high definition...
.
Plot
After Gabrielle's wardrobe is ruined by a plumbing leak, she asks Victor if she can borrow one of his ex-wife's dresses. When Victor refuses, Gabrielle steals a few dresses and wears one of them to an event that Victor attends. Victor's ex-wife is also at the event and notices Gabrielle wearing her dress. She then threatens Gabrielle and makes her remove the dress. While Gabrielle is hiding in the restoom in her underwear, Victor offers his coat for her to wear and admits that he doesn't treat his ex-wife very nicely.Lynette has a problem with the Scavo Pizzeria uniform and objects to wearing it. Her partner, Tom, is her boss at work and orders her to wear the uniform. When Lynette goes home, she thinks Tom is mad and leaves him several messages. Eventually she decides to confront Tom at the pizzeria. She finds him unconscious with a ruptured disc that requires surgery.
Mike is seeing a therapist to help him fill in the missing parts of his memory. He is concerned about not remembering the ending to a movie which involved the heroine serving raw pancakes to her boyfriend. Mike tells the therapist that he might have seen the movie with Susan. The therapist, realizing that Mike has unresolved feelings for Susan, suggests that Mike ask Susan about the movie. Susan tells him that this wasn't a movie scene, instead it was her bad attempt at making breakfast for him after they made love for the first time.
Susan meets Ian's parents, Graham and Dahlia, for the first time and accidentally sets fire to Dahlia's chiffon dress. At dinner, Susan admits to Dahlia that she is a divorcée and not a widow. After dinner, Susan has another accident when she opens a door and spills red wine over Dahlia's second outfit of the evening.
Graham is surprised by Susan when she goes into her bedroom and catches him wearing her clothes . She then agrees to keep his cross dressing secret. Dahlia decides that Susan is not to be trusted and wants her to sign a pre-nup. Ian is against the idea initially, but changes his mind and Susan agrees to sign it. Before she signs the pre-nup, she indicates that she isn't the type of person to keep secrets. This alerts Graham, whom Susan caught wearing her clothes, who then declares that Susan is clearly not a gold digger and tears up the pre-nup.
Edie decides that Carlos doesn't just make a great fill-in father for her son, Travers, he'd be a great boyfriend too. She decides the best way to put the moves on him is through his relationship with Travers, so she invites him over to the house and instructs Travers to go to bed early. Carlos is about to go home, so she snaps a piece off a model airplane for him to fix. He quickly realizes she's hitting on him and tells her he's not looking for a party girl—especially one who uses her son as date bait. The next night, he sends flowers as an apology and when she comes over to thank him, she assures him that Travers is at a sleepover so, at least for tonight, she's not being a negligent mother. She tells him he was "dead on" in his assessment of her, but that she's getting tired of being the party girl. She says she'd like him to see her for who she really is, under this facade—as she strips off all her clothes. He's moved by her naked vulnerability and hugs her, which leads to her waking up in his bed the next morning.
Cast
Although credited, Bree Hodge (Marcia CrossMarcia Cross
Marcia Anne Cross is an American actress. She is known for her television roles as Bree Van de Kamp on the ABC comedy-drama series Desperate Housewives, and as Dr...
), Julie Mayer (Andrea Bowen
Andrea Bowen
Andrea Lauren Bowen is an American actress who is best known for playing Julie Mayer on Desperate Housewives . She has won two SAG Awards.-Biography:...
), Orson Hodge (Kyle MacLachlan
Kyle MacLachlan
Kyle Merritt MacLachlan is an American actor. MacLachlan is best known for his roles in cult films Blue Velvet as Jeffrey Beaumont, Showgirls as Zack Carey, as Paul Atreides in Dune, and Ray Manzarek in the Oliver Stone film The Doors...
), Danielle Van De Kamp (Joy Lauren
Joy Lauren
Joy Lauren is an American actress who is best known for playing Danielle Van de Kamp, on the hit ABC Comedy-drama Desperate Housewives....
), Preston Scavo (Brent Kinsman), Porter Scavo (Shane Kinsman
Shane Kinsman
Shane Kinsman is an American child actor who typically plays a rambunctious twin alongside his identical twin brother Brent. He played Kyle Baker in the 2003 film Cheaper by the Dozen and its 2005 sequel Cheaper by the Dozen 2...
), and Parker Scavo (Zane Huett
Zane Huett
Zane Alexander Huett is an American child actor.Zane is most famous for his featured role on the ABC television series Desperate Housewives playing the role of Parker Scavo, the younger son of Lynette and Tom Scavo. He plays the youngest Scavo boy, yet is older by six months than the actors Brent...
) do not appear in this episode.
Josh Henderson
Josh Henderson
Joshua Baret "Josh" Henderson is an American actor and singer. He rose to fame as one of the male members of Scene 23, a pop singing group that were selected as the winners of The WB's singing competition Popstars 2. After the group disbanded, he began focusing on an acting career...
(Austin McCann) who was a series regular since the beginning of the season is no longer credited.
Series continuity
This is the episode where Mike Delfino's amnesia weakens enough to allow his memory of Susan to return.Ratings
This episode had 15.7 million viewers on its original airing, and is the lowest rated original airing of an episode from third season.Title reference
- The episode title, Dress Big is a song taken from the Stephen SondheimStephen SondheimStephen Joshua Sondheim is an American composer and lyricist for stage and film. He is the winner of an Academy Award, multiple Tony Awards including the Special Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre, multiple Grammy Awards, a Pulitzer Prize and the Laurence Olivier Award...
musical, The FrogsThe Frogs (musical)The Frogs is a musical "freely adapted" by Stephen Sondheim and Burt Shevelove from The Frogs, an Ancient Greek comedy by Aristophanes, originally performed in Yale University's gymnasium's swimming pool in 1974....
.
International titles
- Español: Vistete Bien (Dress Well)
- French: L'objet du désir (The subject of desire)
- German: Kleider machen Leute (Clothes Make the Man)
- Hebrew: להתלבש בגדול (Lehitlabesh BeGadol; Dress Big)
- Hungarian: Ruha teszi az embert! (Clothes Make the Man)
- Italian: Dietro il vestito (Behind the Dress)
- Polish: Prosto z szafy (Just From the Wardrobe)