{blackbabes} Vanessa Williams gets 'Desperate'

Pitting the rigours of Broadway against the rigours of network TV, Vanessa Williams said it isn't even close.

"This (TV) is a piece of cake, getting a van to drive you 100 yards, because you don't have to walk," said Williams, who has joined the cast of Desperate Housewives. The seventh season debuts Sept. 26 on ABC and CTV.

"That's compared to climbing up to your fourth-floor dressing room to get ready in between scenes, because you have a big number and you have to change costumes," Williams continued.

"Coming off Broadway, where you're working your behind off, eight shows a week, this (TV) is true pampering."

It's not that the 47-year-old Williams doesn't have tons of TV experience, especially in recent years. She garnered three Emmy Award nominations in four seasons for her portrayal of the delightfully fiendish Wilhelmina Slater on another ABC show, Ugly Betty.

But when Ugly Betty got cancelled earlier this year, Williams dove head-first back into Broadway mode. She is extremely comfortable in that realm, so she wasn't necessarily "desperate" to re-enter the world of series TV right away.

"I was out of it (TV) at that point," Williams said. "I was in the third month of the (Stephen) Sondheim show I was doing (titled Sondheim on Sondheim), and there was a question of whether the show would extend, is there a possibility the show would go to London, was I going to tour, is my band available ... so I had a lot of balls in the air, not knowing.

"The day I met Marc (Cherry, Desperate Housewives creator), I thought it was just a general meeting. But I sat down and he said, 'Listen, (former ABC president) Steve McPherson would love you to join our cast. Do you watch the show? Would you be interested? If so, we'll come up with a character together.'

"I said, 'Wow, let me think about it.' Then we talked about Broadway for the rest of the meeting, and when we left, he said, 'I'll have the agents get into it.' And it was done in four days. It was the fastest deal ever."

Did Williams have any reservations?

"I just thought, it's an established show, you're not in a dog, it's ABC, it's a well-oiled machine, and I'm being valued for what I bring, which is nice to hear.

"It's nice when they say, 'We value you as a company gal, you got three Emmy nominations in three years back-to-back, and we want you to stay on our team.' "

In Desperate Housewives Williams will play Renee, a new resident of Wisteria Lane whose marriage to a Major League Baseball player is on the rocks. In real life, Williams used to be married to Canadian Rick Fox, who was an NBA player during their time together.

Williams said both she and Cherry are mindful of not having Renee tiptoe toward the heightened reality of Wilhelmina, notwithstanding the obvious rationale for adding Williams to Desperate Housewives in the first place.

"I understand the reason they would want me to come and play to my strength, which is to stir stuff up," Williams acknowledged. "It's the seventh season, I know they want a shot in the arm and to bring in a different kind of mix, so I understand why ABC said, 'Aha, that makes sense.'

"So I hope I bring a little glamour, a little of the outside, out-of-town girl into Wisteria Lane. But I can't be in another show. It's not Betty World."