A lot of shows that were taken off the air during the writers' strike will be hitting the reset button when they return over the next few weeks, jumping weeks or even months ahead of where we left them. But that's nothing compared to what Desperate Housewives could be planning. According to TV Guide's sources, the show is considering flashing forward five years in this season's finale . . . and then staying there for the rest of the time the show is on.

Or, maybe they have another idea. Insiders told the same TV Guide reporter that the show might actually jump back five years, returning to a time when Mary Alice was a vital part of the Wisteria Lane gang, Lynette never had cancer, and destructive tornadoes were simply a paranoid nightmare.

They're both interesting ideas, and I think they'd make cool episodes of the show — but I'm not sure it's worth completely restructuring the entire series around a new timeline. The flash-forward scenario, especially, seems to veer a little too close to Lost territory, and the flashbacks would probably mean losing characters like Katherine (not to mention, what would happen to all the teenagers? I doubt they can just be made to look five years younger). But, I admit I would love to see more of Brenda Strong as Mary Alice, so I'd be up for watching a significant story arc set in the past, even if going back for the whole remainder of the series would be taking things a bit too far.

Who knows if these ideas have real weight behind them or if they're just crazy things the writers dreamed up while they were hoofing it on the picket lines. Regardless, it's worth asking: Would you prefer your Housewives in the past, present, or future?

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