“Desperate”ly Seeking Nicolette Sheridan

Surely there exists a better series of vidcaps or a video clip of Nicolette Sheridan's already infamous towel-clad appearance with Terrell Owens in the "Monday Night Football" pre-game promo for "Desperate Housewives"—you know, the one we missed while we were in the kitchen refilling our bowl of Fritos, and that everyone seems to be in a blather about this week (despite what most accounts say was a minimum of nudity)—than the miniscule, grainy pic someone sent us last night? We've spent most of the morning looking for the footage, and we want to see what all the fuss is about too. Help us out here, people.

Update Score! You can download and watch a .wmv video of the MNF clip here (DallasNews.com, registration required* - thanks Tim!)

More at Defamer, including a link to another video download via iFilm: "MNF/Desperate Housewives Video"

"ABC apologizes for steamy MNF
intro" (SI.com)
"FCC's Powell disappointed in 'MNF'" (CNN)

Meanwhile, if you want to see more of Nicolette than you'll ever see on "Desperate Housewives", or anywhere else on network television, we suggest tracking down a copy of the 1999 cheesefest "Raw Nerve", whence the following screencap collage was taken. (Click for larger version - thanks D.)

Order: "Raw Nerve" DVD ($9.99 @ Amazon)

Update Quoth SI.com "Reaction has ranged from amusement to anger. Indianapolis Colts coach Tony Dungy found it racially offensive; Owens is black and Sheridan is white." In case you were, like, wondering.

Meanwhile, SI's Jeffri Chadiha has the final word on what the brouhaha really boils down to: "Personally, the skit didn't bother me one bit. What the segment did do, however,
was make me wonder if America was ready to see a naked, blonde, white woman with her arms wrapped around an outspoken, controversial, highly paid black man ... I guarantee you that if Peyton Manning had been the man Sheridan jumped on, there wouldn't be half the controversy." (sportsillustrated.cnn.com)

More from the inimitable Frank Rich, who notices that the whole brouhaha didn't start until over 24 hours after the spot was broadcast—i.e., after the "family values crusaders" had enough time to organize an email campaign to complain about it: "To see how the hucksters of the right work their scam, there could be no more illustrative example than the 'Monday Night Football' episode in which Ms. Sheridan leaped into the arms of the Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver Terrell Owens in order to give the declining weekly game (viewership is down 3 percent from 2003) a shot of Viagra. From the get-go, it was a manufactured scandal, as over-the-top as a dinner theater production of 'The Crucible.'" (NY Times)