Eva Longoria and 'Desperate Housewives' Face Final Season

NORTH HOLLYWOOD, CA - FEBRUARY 22: (US TABS AND HOLLYWOOD REPORTER OUT) (L-R) Actress' Felicity Huffman and Eva Longoria pose at An Evening With Desparate Housewives at The Academy of Television Arts & Sciences on February 22, 2005 in North Hollywood, California. (Photo by Stephen Shugerman/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Felicity Huffman;Eva Longoria (2004 Getty Images)

'Desperate Housewives' will conclude after its upcoming eighth season, ABC confirmed on Sunday.

"The only harder thing than creating a hit show is knowing when to end it," said Marc Cherry as he looked ahead to the final year of "Desperate Housewives."

As ABC made official that the hit series would end after its upcoming eighth season, its creator, Cherry, joined ABC Entertainment President Paul Lee to insist the decision had been made jointly.

"I'm very aware that some shows overstay their welcome and I didn't want that to happen with 'Desperate Housewives,'" Cherry told reporters during a Sunday session of the Television Critics Association conference. "We wanted to go out in the classiest way possible."

"Desperate Housewives," a glossy prime-time soap opera with an ensemble cast including Teri Hatcher and Eva Longoria, made a pop-culture and ratings splash when it premiered in 2004 but has since seen a fall-off in the ratings and viewer buzz.

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Longoria shared her thoughts on her Twitter page on Sunday.

"It's confirmed! We are filming our last season of Desperate Housewives! I am so grateful for what the show has given me! We always knew we wanted to end on top and I thank ABC for giving us our victory lap! And a special thanks to Marc Cherry who forever changed my life!"

Cherry said he and Lee began discussions a year ago about when the series should be shuttered.

"We made this decision together," he said, "and I feel so good about it. We can have a whole year to reflect on how lucky we've been."

"We want to make sure it has its victory lap," Lee said.

Cherry said he had put out calls to all the show's cast members in recent days and spoken to about half of them.

"It was bittersweet and lovely. There was a touch of shock, but not completely," Cherry said in describing the conversations, adding that he and the stars shared a feeling of gratitude for the experience of doing the series.

While dismissing the possibility of a "Housewives" spinoff, he mentioned other projects, including "Hallelujah," a pilot ABC passed on this season but that's being re-worked.

But he joked that something simple and quick as a future series might be a nice change.

"Maybe two guys in a prison cell," Cherry proposed with a laugh. "I need something easier than 'Desperate Housewives.'"

“All good things eventually come to an end, and in the eighth and final season, the stakes for everyone on Wisteria Lane are at an all-time high,” ABC said in a release on Sunday.

In a separate announcement, ABC said the celebrity cast for the new season of "Dancing with the Stars" will be unveiled live on Aug. 29 during ABC's airing of "Bachelor Pad." The dancing competition returns for its 13th round on Sept. 19.

Based on reporting by the Associated Press.