Marc Cherry Brings New Primetime Soap Devious Maids To ABC

After having spent seven years at the helm of Desperate Housewives, Marc Cherry is branching out with his new project. No longer will he spin salacious tales of murder and intrigue in the suburbs. Now he'll tell stories of murder and intrigue in Beverly Hills. He's put the busybody Desperate Housewives behind him. Make way for the busybody Devious Maids.

Deadline reports that Cherry has signed on to write and exec produce Devious Maids, which will follow four Latina women who work as maids in Beverly Hills. The show will be based on the Mexican telenovela The Disorderly Maids of the Neighborhood (pictured above). Let's face it, that's a much more awesome name than Devious Maids. Although maybe I'm not taking things literally enough. Maybe the maids in the Mexican original were just kind of disorganized, whereas the maids in this American version will actually be up to no good. If so, I apologize. But the American title still sucks.

Aside from the four leads, there aren't many details about the storyline of this remake, but we can probably glean a few clues from the Mexican version, which is entering its second season. In the original incarnation, the five maids (How come the Mexicans got one more maid? Is this an exchange-rate thing?) work together in a condominium. Nothing much ever happens until a squabble amongst residents about building a new swimming pool culminates in murder, and the maids get involved whether they want to or not.

So...basically Desperate Housewives but with maids. Hey, dance with the one that brung ya, Marc Cherry. Dance with the one that brung ya.