'Desperate Housewives' to take final bow

"Desperate Housewives," the ABC television series about lust, gossip, and foul play in a pampered American suburb, is to take its final bow at the end of the upcoming eighth season.

ABC announced it was ending the story of the residents of Wisteria Lane with a final season expected September 25 that would leave the declining viewership more than satisfied.

"Season Eight of 'Desperate Housewives' will roll out in a way that is accessible even to viewers who may have lapsed in their viewing, and be all the richer and more rewarding to the series' loyal fans," ABC said Sunday.

With fallout over a murder, yet another disintegrating marriage and the arrival of Ben Faulkner, "a new sexy neighbor," the season will reprise the staple themes of life among the ultra-thin, high-cheeked women and handsome men of fictional Fairview, ABC said.

The series, watched by 12 million people last season, less than half of the first season peak, is credited with helping turn around ABC's flagging fortunes and boosting the international market for US series with complex plots and one-hour episodes.