'Desperate Housewives' Stars Want Higher Paycheck

 ABC starts to figure out how it's going to be for "Desperate Housewives". It looks like everybody is on board for another multi-year deal but some of them want a raise first which reportedly could cost the network quite a leg.

Felicity Huffman, Marcia Cross and Eva Longoria are demanding a higher paycheck. Back in August TV Guide listed their salary at $400,000 each per episode. But details are not immediately available for the talks are private. "We are currently in talks and hope to reach agreement soon," Amber Woodward, an assistant to Huffman, told Bloomberg.

The drama comedy is the network's most-watched scripted show with an average of 13.1 million viewers per night. 5.75 million of them are in the target range of advertisers who have to fork out about $210,000 for a 30-second ad.

Back at TCA Press Tour, the Alphabet announced some early renewals but "Desperate" was not among them. "There are a lot of moving parts, but we have ambitions to pick it up," Paul Lee, president of ABC Entertainment, convinced. "We expect to get the agreements in place but it just hasn't happened yet."

Meanwhile, it is also reported that Teri Hatcher is signing a new contract. The actress was rumored leaving the show for a new project but has denied it, saying "There are not enough adjectives to describe how stupid, off base, and ridiculously untrue this is."