Desire is an American telenovela which debuted at 8:00PM Eastern/7:00PM Central on September 5, 2006, on the American network MyNetworkTV, and ended on December 5. It was produced by Twentieth Television.

Desire
Directed by
Starring
Opening theme"Always on Your Side" by Sheryl Crow
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
No. of episodes65 (list of episodes)
Production
Production locationsSan Diego, Imperial Beach and Del Mar, California
Production company20th Century Fox Television
Original release
NetworkMyNetworkTV
ReleaseSeptember 5 (2006-09-05) –
December 5, 2006 (2006-12-05)

The program starred Sofia Milos, Michelle Belegrin, Nate Haden, Kelly Albanese, Zack Silva, Chuti Tiu, Jessie Ward, Tanisha Harper, Will Rolland, Al Bandiero, Kristen Kerr, and Eliana Alexander. Haden and Silva played two brothers on the run from the Gamarras, a New Jersey crime family. They run from Bayonne to Los Angeles and become restaurateurs. Along the way, the pair find themselves on a heated trail of passion, betrayal, and murder over the woman they both loved (played by Belegrin).

The Desire brand is also used as an umbrella name for Twentieth's limited-run serials.

As of 2021, the entire series can be seen on TubiTV.[1]

Origins

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The show first emerged in late 2005 as a September syndicated program for the stations on the FOX network to air in a weekend or midday time period. The idea was greenlit by Fox Television Stations Chairman Roger Ailes as a contingency plan for Fox-owned UPN stations. After receiving lukewarm response from stations not owned and operated by Fox, Twentieth Television decided to pitch the show for June 2006 on the premise that teenagers are out of school and planted in front of their TV sets, and that reruns dominate network schedules.

Desire had a few takers for a planned summer syndication run. Twentieth made those stations surrender the show, thanks to a clause in its contract that allows Fox to take away the show if it is carried by a network. It was also briefly considered for placement on The CW Television Network, but was taken off the table by Fox for use on MyNetworkTV.

Desire is based on the 2004 Colombian television program Mesa Para Tres (Table for Three), which aired on Caracol TV. Changes have been made in the location and the plot to make them more palatable to Americans. The serial was known as Table for Three and Three's a Crowd before its debut. The show was filmed at Stu Segall Productions in San Diego, using 25 principal actors, 250 supporting actors and about 2,000 extras.[2]

Cast

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Actor Role
Nate Haden Louis Thomas
Zack Silva Alex Thomas
Michelle Belegrin Andrea Zavatti
Eliana Alexander Rita Thomas
Al Bandiero Peter Evans
Kelly Albanese Cara Gamarra
Gregg Strouse Cully
Fiona Hunter Erica
Vivian Gray Suzy Edwards
Chuti Tiu Detective Rachel Lin
Joe Tabbanella Marco Manetti
Xavier Tournaud Christoph
Alexandria Schlereth Jessica
Tanisha Harper Heather
Will Rolland Detective Hawkins
Chris DeRose Joey Gamarra

Episodes

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The Desire Brand

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The original format of the Desire syndicated program was for three telenovelas to run with different titles. The Desire name was intended as an umbrella for all the separate telenovelas within. When MyNetworkTV picked up the telenovelas, Desire was used as the name of one series.

The network later revived the Desire name as an umbrella title. MyNetworkTV promoted Wicked Wicked Games and American Heiress as "part of the Desire series."

Performance

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Ratings for Desire fell below expectations. The debut scored a 2.0 rating and the first week averaged an 0.8 rating and 1 share. It averaged a 0.4 rating in the adult 18–49 demographic.[1], falling to a 0.3 in its second week.[2]

The program has also been sold to several international markets, however. In Asia, for example, Star World debuted the show on November 7, 2006, and in the United Kingdom Trouble has picked up the rights to show the series.

Theme

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The theme song is sung by Sheryl Crow and is called "Always on Your Side". It was released on her Wildflower CD. We 3 Kings also performed music in various episodes. The U.K. Based trio All Mighty Whispers also have their song "Heaven have me now" included in an episode of the series.

Profanity

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The Parents Television Council filed a complaint with the Federal Communications Commission, saying that the word "shit" was used in scripted dialogue during the September 21st broadcast. The group also said the show was rated "TV-14," without the "L" descriptor that notes strong language. It argued that MyNetworkTV was "deliberately breaking the indecency law" and deserves "stiff fines."[3]

International sales

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Country Alternate title/Translation TV Network(s) Series Premiere Weekly Schedule
  Australia Desire Arena (pay TV) Unknown Unknown
  United States Desire MyNetworkTV (first run) September 5, 2006 Weeknights 8:00pm ET
  Arab World Desire MBC 4 January 2007 Weeknights 8:00pm KSA
  Israel Desire: Table for Three Star World November 6, 2006 Weeknights 8:00pm
  Vietnam
  Thailand
Desire: Table for Three Star World November 6, 2006 Weeknights 9:00pm
  Hong Kong
  Mongolia
  Malaysia
  Philippines
  Singapore
Desire: Table for Three Star World November 6, 2006 Weeknights 10:00pm
  India
  Brunei
  Sri Lanka
  Pakistan
  Maldives
Desire: Table for Three Star World November 6, 2006 Weeknights 11:00pm, Repeated weekdays 4:30pm.
  United Kingdom Desire Trouble 13 November 2006 Weekdays at 2pm, Repeated at 10pm.
  Japan Desire GyaO 2006 Autumn Internet-based broadcast with updates 3 times a week
  Bulgaria Престъпления и страсти ("Crimes And Passions") bTV March 28, 2007 Weeknights at 6pm
  Serbia Zločin i strast (Crime and Passion) Fox TV June 21, 2007 Weeknights at 6pm
  Norway Desire TV 2 Zebra Unknown Weeknights at 6.10 pm
  Finland Pöytä kolmelle MTV3 Unknown Unknown
  Sweden Desire ZTV March 2, 2009 Weeknights at 9.05 pm
  Slovakia Túžba TV WAU April 15, 2013 Weekdays at 1.00 pm

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Desire".
  2. ^ Barnes, Brooks (31 August 2006). "With Sexy Story Lines, Low Budgets, News Corp. Will Launch MyNetworkTV". Wall Street Journal.
  3. ^ "PTC Condemns Prime Time Obscenities". ParentsTV.org. Parents Television Council. October 12, 2006. Archived from the original on March 25, 2008. Retrieved December 27, 2012.
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