"I was so impressed," Cherry said, "with the bold stroke that Damon [Lindelof] and Carlton [Cuse] had done with doing the flash forward in Lost the previous season finale. And I was kind of looking for something for my show. I felt the 'soap' had really started to build up, and I kind of wanted to pare it down to where everyone's problems were small but very relatable.

"And I thought, 'How am I going to do that?' And I thought, 'Oh! Let's just go forward in time. Let me change everyone's lives completely!'

"I was originally going to do an eight-year jump," Cherry continued, "but then when someone explained to me how the actresses would react to the idea that they were eight years older, I thought, 'Maybe five. Maybe I could get away with five.' " Presto: Bree is a Martha-Stewart type success, Susan has a new man, and Gabrielle has two young daughters, and has sort of let herself go.

Lost co-executive producer Cuse acknowledged Cherry's confession good-naturedly, but not without throwing a playful jab in his direction.

"He's also going to have a polar bear on the show next year," Cuse joked.

Reviving continuing series is no laughing matter, though. Lost reinvented itself brilliantly with that flash-forward device, and even worked its way back into best drama series Emmy contention as a result. Desperate Housewives already was doing a fine job of reviving itself last season, and time will tell if this Lost-inspired time jump is another step forward creatively as well as chronologically.

Time will tell, in fact, in a few months, unless someone can figure out how to time-jump ahead to September 28, the night Desperate Housewives returns. Meanwhile, Lost won't return until midseason, in 2009. Stay tuned, and be patient.