The show first emerged in late 2005 as a September syndicated program for the stations on the FOX network to air in a weekend or midday time period. The idea was greenlit by Fox Television Stations Chairman Roger Ailes as a contingency plan for Fox-owned UPN stations. After receiving lukewarm response from stations not owned and operated by Fox, Twentieth Television decided to pitch the show for June 2006 on the premise that teenagers are out of school and planted in front of their TV sets, and that reruns dominate network schedules.

Desire had a few takers for a planned summer syndication run. Twentieth made those stations surrender the show, thanks to a clause in its contract that allows Fox to take away the show if it is carried by a network. It was also briefly considered for placement on The CW Television Network, but was taken off the table by Fox for use on MyNetworkTV.

Desire is based on the 2004 Colombian television program Mesa Para Tres (Table for Three), which aired on Caracol TV. Changes have been made in the location and the plot to make them more palatable to Americans. The serial was known as Table for Three and Three's a Crowd before its debut. The show was filmed at Stu Segall Productions in San Diego, using 25 principal actors, 250 supporting actors and about 2,000 extras.^[2]

The original format of the Desire syndicated program was for three telenovelas to run with different titles. The Desire name was intended as an umbrella for all the separate telenovelas within. When MyNetworkTV picked up the telenovelas, Desire was used as the name of one series.

The network later revived the Desire name as an umbrella title. MyNetworkTV promoted Wicked Wicked Games and American Heiress as "part of the Desire series."

Ratings for Desire fell below expectations. The debut scored a 2.0 rating and the first week averaged an 0.8 rating and 1 share. It averaged a 0.4 rating in the adult 18–49 demographic.[1], falling to a 0.3 in its second week.[2]

The program has also been sold to several international markets, however. In Asia, for example, Star World debuted the show on November 7, 2006, and in the United Kingdom Trouble has picked up the rights to show the series.

The theme song is sung by Sheryl Crow and is called "Always on Your Side". It was released on her Wildflower CD. We 3 Kings also performed music in various episodes. The U.K. Based trio All Mighty Whispers also have their song "Heaven have me now" included in an episode of the series.

The Parents Television Council filed a complaint with the Federal Communications Commission, saying that the word "shit" was used in scripted dialogue during the September 21st broadcast. The group also said the show was rated "TV-14," without the "L" descriptor that notes strong language. It argued that MyNetworkTV was "deliberately breaking the indecency law" and deserves "stiff fines."^[3]

• MyNetworkTV telenovelas

• Telenovela ready to heat up U. S. TV (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)
• Ailes was prepared for UPN's demise (The Hollywood Reporter)

• Desire at IMDb