Susan Mayer (Teri Hatcher) is an accident-prone, insecure but lovable character on ABC's "Desperate Housewives." She is a children's book author and mother of two children, Julie Mayer (Andrea Bowan) and M.J. Delfino (Mason Vale Cotton). Susan has been married twice to Karl Mayer (Richard Burgi) and twice to Mike Delfino (James Denton). She was raised by a flakey single mother, Sophie Bremmer (Lesley Ann Warren).
At the beginning of the show, Susan is recently divorced from Karl, who left her for his secretary. She finds herself in competition with the neighborhood tramp, Edie Britt (Nicolette Sheridan), when both women set their eyes on their new handsome neighbor, Mike. This rivalry leads to one of Susan's infamous klutzy moves when she sneaks into Edie's house to spy on her, accidentally knocking over a candle, and burning the house down. While Susan does end up dating Mike, Edie remains a thorn in her side by dating Karl.
Susan and Mike's relationship goes through many trials during the course of the show. One major issue is Mike's biological son, Zach Young (Cody Kasch), whom Susan wants nothing to do with -- understandably so, as he held her hostage at gunpoint in the Season 1 finale. They are about to get engaged at the end of Season 2 when Mike gets seriously injured and put into a coma from a hit and run accident.
During Mike's long coma, Susan meets and falls in love with Ian Hainsworth (Dougray Scott), whose wife is also in a coma in the same hospital. When Mike wakes up, he has no memory of Susan, and Edie once again makes a play for him, telling him that Susan treated him badly. Eventually, Mike does remember his life with Susan and they get married in a beautiful, private ceremony in the woods, witnessed only by Julie.
Susan discovers she is pregnant shortly after her wedding, and gives birth to M.J. at the end of Season 4. During the five years that pass between Seasons 4 and 5, Susan and Mike get in a car accident that kills a mother and child. The effects of this tragedy haunt Susan and lead to their divorce. This is enough to cause the ever-hopeful Susan to give up on love and she falls into a "no-strings-attached" relationship with Jackson Braddock (Gale Harold). Meanwhile, Mike begins a relationship with Katherine Mayfair (Dana Delany), which Susan has to watch from across the street. Season 5 ends with Mike rescuing Susan and M.J. from the revenge-seeking husband of the mother and child who were killed in Susan's car accident. Susan and Mike share a kiss and at the start of Season 6 it is revealed that they are remarried.
Despite having the love of her life back, Susan's life has trials. Her daughter, Julie, is attacked and goes into a coma. Katherine goes crazy after losing Mike to Susan and tries to turn M.J. against Susan, all while pursuing Mike. At the end of Season 6, Mike reveals that he has racked up a great deal of debt and they decide to move off Wisteria Lane so they can rent out their house and save money.
Season 7 continues with Susan and Mike's financial troubles with Susan trying to make more money by doing housecleaning in lingerie for a website. She loses her teaching job and Mike has to take a job in Alaska to make ends meet. Susan gets injured during a riot on Wisteria Lane, loses a kidney and finds out that her remaining kidney is deformed and that she will need a transplant. So far, she is handling her new life on dialysis with grace.
Memorable Quotes:
"How would you feel about me using your child support payments for plastic surgery?"
"Oh don't cry, why you crying? Strippers are supposed to be tough."