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Ricardo Chavira, who plays Carlos Solis on Desperate Housewives and his wife, Marcea Dietzel, welcomed daughter Belen Elysabeth Chavira into the world on Monday in San Antonio.

It’s the second child for the couple who also have a 5-year-old son, Tomas. The couple married last year at their Texas home, wearing pajamas to the ceremony and going to their son’s soccer game in lieu of a reception.

Three days before, fellow Desperate Housewives star Kyle MacLachlan welcomed a son, Callum, in L.A.

Eva Longoria Parker is off to Sin City.

The “Desperate Housewives” star is expanding her Los Angeles restaurant Beso to Las Vegas, but with a nightlife twist, reports E! News.

Beso’s Hollywood location includes a celeb-packed upstairs lounge called Kiss where stars like Victoria Beckham, Justin Timberlake and Jessica Biel can be found relaxing.

“Kiss inside Beso has been evolving into a VIP spot,” a source tells the entertainment website, “so the Vegas venture will spin off Kiss as a lounge and nightclub.” Longoria Parker opened the Latin eatery in LA in March and is now apparently looking for real estate in some big-name casinos.

“She’s been spotted spending quite a bit of time at Caesar’s Palace recently,” another source tells E! News.” She is looking to open a restaurant somewhere on the Strip.”

“Boomtown” star Neal McDonough is the newest resident of Wisteria Lane.

The actor, who has also appeared in “Band of Brothers” and “Medical Investigation,” has joined the cast of the ABC dramedy for its upcoming fifth season, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

As a regular, McDonough will play a new white-collar resident who may serve as a love interest for Nicolette Sheridan’s Edie Britt.

He won’t be the only new character stirring things up — Gale Harold (”Queer As Folk”) has also signed on for a recurring role.

Harold was glimpsed in the flash-forward season four finale as Ken, the mysterious man who kisses Susan Meyer (Teri Hatcher) after she returns home.

As shown in the final moments of that finale, season five of “Desperate Housewives” will take place five years into the future.

Terri Hatcher and ABC have been asked to apologize to thousands of upset Filipino viewers who caught the Desperate Housewives season premier.

After Susan, played by Hatcher, is informed that she may be in the beginning stages of menopause, she insists on checking the doctor’s credentials, “just to make sure they aren’t, like, from some med school in the Philippines.”

The line offended viewers so much so that ABC received thousands of e-mails and phone calls demanding an apology. The CBC reported that ABC received a petition with over 30,000 names requesting a formal act of contrition – and that, more or less, is what they got.

ABC replied with a statement given on Wednesday.

“The producers of Desperate Housewives and ABC Studios offer our sincere apologies for any offence caused by the brief reference in the season premiere. There was no intent to disparage the integrity of any aspect of the medical community in the Philippines.”

ABC has responded to an online petition spread through the American Filipino community, many of them medical professionals.

The apology was sent to ABS-CBN, a Philippine broadcaster.

“The producers of the show and ABC studios offer our sincere apology for any offence caused by the brief reference in the season premier,” the statement said.

“There was no intent to disparage the integrity of any aspect of the medical community in the Philippines,” it said.

In the season premier of Desperate Housewives, Teri Hatcher’s character Susan Mayer asked her doctor if she could see “those diplomas because I want to make sure that they’re not from some med school in the Philippines.”

In Manila, Eduardo Ermita, Arroyo’s chief aide, responded to the quote by saying, “On the face, we can look at it as a racial slur.”

“We are looked down upon too much, considering the number of our medical professionals in the US,” he added.

When Desperate Housewives returns for its fourth season on September 30, Canadians will see a familiar face: Edmonton’s own Nathan Fillion.

Fillion, 36, will play Adam, a gynecologist and the much younger second husband to Katherine Mayfair (Dana Delaney) who moves to the neighbourhood from Chicago. Just like all Desperate characters, Fillion’s fictional family has a secret dark past which will unravel as the season progresses. Of Fillion and Delaney’s characters, series creator Marc Cherry told TV Guide, “They had to leave Chicago because something unsavory happened in Adam’s professional life.”

Fillion joins the cast after his Fox series Drive was cancelled in April. Only four of the six produced episodes were aired. His breakout role was that of Captain Malcolm Reynolds in the cult hit (and unjustly cancelled) Firefly, along with its film adaptation Serenity. Fillion’s recent small film Waitress, co-starring Keri Russell, was a critical darling.

Desperate Housewives will air in its regular timeslot, Sundays at 9 p.m. ET on ABC.

Hey kids – forget Barbie, how about your very own Desperate Housewife?

The Alexander Doll company has announced it will roll out a new line of dolls based on the hit series Desperate Housewives in the new year. The dolls will be based on the five main characters of the show and will be made to resemble them.

The dolls will be 16 inches tall and will be available for purchase from high end doll retailers.

For those who just want a look, Fashion Doll Quarterly will give a full report on the TV-ready toys in its Spring 2007 issue.

Actress Eva Longoria slipped on the stairs of her trailer at the “Desperate Housewives” set last week, prompting a visit to the hospital.

“Nothing is broken, but her ribs are very bruised,” said her publicist Liza Anderson, reports the BBC.

The actress, best known for her role on the hit show (as Gabrielle Solis), shouldn’t need time off to recovery from the injuries.

Longoria, 31, has been hurt before on the show’s set. She was taken to hospital last year after being hit on the head by a falling pole.

A sex scene from the upcoming season of TV’s “Desperate Housewives” has found its way onto the Internet, and ABC executives are scrambling to get it offline.

CBC reports that the clip first appeared on YouTube on August 27. It features the character Bree (Marcia Cross) and her new boyfriend Orson (Kyle MacLachlan) in bed.

“I don’t do that,” says Bree in the clip, refusing Orson’s advances to give her oral sex. “I’m a Republican.”

“I’m a Libertarian,” he replies. “I believe in minimizing the role of the state and maximizing individual rights. Trust me, I know what I’m doing.”

The one-minute clip had time codes along the bottom and poor audio quality.

ABC dismissed claims that it purposely leaked the footage to create a buzz.

But Hollywood trade paper Variety says that many industry vets aren’t buying it. Production experts said that new footage is held very securely at studios and production houses.

Variety also reported that the leak marks the first time unaired television footage has found its way online.

Women who have a Sunday night date with Dr. McDreamy of “Grey’s Anatomy” will have that date moved to Thursday nights come the fall, ABC announced today as it unveiled its fall schedule.

The move of “Grey’s Anatomy” to Thursdays at 9 p.m. is one of the biggest shakeups on the network. The second is the cancellation of the drama “Commander in Chief.”

“Primetime” will also be off the fall schedule, however ABC News will continue to produce it for specials, a limited run or if a new show should fail.

Other casualties of cancellation are “Invasion,” “Hope & Faith,” “Sons and Daughters” and “Jake in Progress” (which is not a surprise considering star John Stamos is set to become a regular on NBC’s “ER” next season.)

Executives at ABC also addressed concerns that fans and critics alike have had of its smash show ?Lost?. This past season, there were complaints that ?Lost? had too many reruns, so the show will run in chunks next season. The first seven-episode chunk will run in the fall, followed by ?Lost? being replaced by a new show starring Taye Diggs called ?Day Break.? ?Lost? will then return in the winter and run without interruption until the season finale next May.

New series at ABC include ?Let?s Rob ?,? about thieves who dream of stealing from various celebrities, ?Brothers and Sisters,? which will take the Sunday night timeslot from ?Grey?s Anatomy,? ?Men in Trees? starring Anne Heche, ?The Nine,? about a group trapped in a hostage situation, ?Six Degrees,? from ?Lost? and ?Alias? creator J.J. Abrams and “Help Me Help You,” starring Ted Danson.

“He’s Just Not That Into You” author Greg Behrendt will star in a reality show, dispensing relationship advice.

ABC jumps on the bandwagon of NBC?s successful ?Deal or No Deal? with its own game show called “Set for the Rest of Your Life.”

Out of the four major networks, ABC was the only one to increase its overall ratings, partly due to popular shows like “Lost,” “Desperate Housewives” and “Grey’s Anatomy.”