IS THIS THE START OF THE DECLINE FOR DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES?

NEW YORK – The death of Edie Britt didn’t draw much of a crowd to ABC’s “Desperate Housewives.”

Sunday’s episode of the comic soap, where Nicollette Sheridan’s memorable character was killed off via electrocution when her car hit a power pole, was seen by 13.9 million people on Sunday, according to Nielsen Media Research.

That’s good for a Top 10 showing, but smaller than the 15.2 million original episodes have averaged this season. “Desperate Housewives” has been off the air with original episodes for a month, and ABC says the serial often takes awhile to build up steam when it returns.