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CBS’ Elsbeth used Matthew Broderick‘s character as a setup for a joke about Felicity Huffman‘s involvement in the college admissions scandal.
During the Thursday, February 20, episode, Broderick, 62, played an educational consultant named Lawrence, who promises an Ivy League future to high-paying clients with help from an assistant — played by the actor’s real-life son James Wilkie Broderick.
“Schools are cracking down. They are trying to be more meritocratic. Gone are the days when a simple 10 million donation guaranteed you a spot freshman year,” Lawrence told parents about their child’s future in the opening scene. “In the current climate, outmatch educational consulting is a real bargain. You don’t want to start too late then panic senior year and end up sharing a prison cell with a Desperate Housewife.”
The shady line referenced Huffman’s role as Lynette on Desperate Housewives, which aired on ABC from 2004 to 2012. Huffman, 62, made headlines when she was arrested at gunpoint by FBI agents in 2019 for her involvement in the infamous college admissions scandal, which was dubbed Operation Varsity Blues.
The actress paid $15,000 to falsify the results of her daughter Sophia’s SAT scores, and was one of 50 people charged for the crimes. Following her arrest, Huffman pleaded guilty to charges of conspiracy to commit mail fraud and honest services mail fraud. She served 11 days in prison in October 2019, paid a $30,000 fine and completed 250 hours of community service for her crimes.
Huffman’s husband, William H. Macy, with whom she shares daughters Sophia, now 24, and Georgia, now 22, was never charged in connection with the case. She broke her silence in December 2023 when she reflected on the “undying shame” she felt following her involvement in the scandal.
“It felt like I had to give my daughter a chance at a future,” Huffman told ABC-7 Eyewitness News about the drama. “And so it was sort of like my daughter’s future, which meant I had to break the law.”
Huffman thought she was a “bad mother” if she didn’t help her daughter, adding, “She was going, ‘Can we get ice cream afterwards? I’m scared about the test. What can we do that’s fun?’ And I kept thinking, ‘Turn around, just turn around.’ And to my undying shame, I didn’t.”
She continued: “I thought it was a hoax [when I was getting arrested]. I literally turned to one of the FBI people, in a flak jacket and a gun, and I went, ‘Is this a joke?’”
More recently, Huffman reflected on how her life has changed in the years since the drama. “It’s been hard. Sort of like your old life died and you died with it,” she explained to The Guardian in February 2024. “I’m lucky enough to have a family and love and means, so I had a place to land.”
Huffman expressed gratitude to her family for standing by her.
“I walk into the room with it. I did it. It’s black and white,” she said. “[But] as long as my kids are well and my husband is well, I feel like I’m well.”
Elsbeth airs on CBS Thursdays at 10 p.m. ET. New episodes stream the next day on Paramount+.
