Tom Scavo

Infobox character | name = Tom Scavo


caption = Doug Savant as Tom Scavo.
portrayer = Doug Savant
creator = Marc Cherry
first = Pilot (episode 1.01)
age = 49
occupation = Pizzeria owner
Former
Advertising executive
residence = 4355 Wisteria Lane
Fairview, Eagle State
family = Rodney Scavo (father)
Allison Scavo (mother)
spouse = Nora Huntington (one night stand)
Annabel Foster (ex-girlfriend)
Lynette Scavo (wife)
children = Preston Scavo (son)
Porter Scavo (son)
Parker Scavo (son)
Penny Scavo (daughter)
Kayla Huntington (daughter by one-night-stand; via Nora)
relatives = Penny (aunt)
Vito (uncle)
Stella Wingfield (mother-in-law)
Glen Wingfield (step-father-in-law)
Lucy (sister-in-law))
Lydia (sister-in-law)

Tom Scavo (pron-en|ˈskɑːvoʊ) is a fictional character on the ABC television series "Desperate Housewives", played by actor Doug Savant. Tom is married to Lynette Scavo.

eason 1 & 2

Tom Scavo was previously frequently out of town. He also seemed to be completely oblivious to Lynette's concerns and problems. Tom has been keeping a secret from his wife that only his father, Rodney Scavo, knows about. This is speculated to be his secret child Kayla. Tom decides to become a house-husband after he loses his promotion to Annabel and subsequently quits his job. He seems to genuinely care about Lynette, being prepared to discuss family matters with her if she feels that they need to. Midway through the second season, Tom returns to the workplace, sharing an employer with his wife for the second time. But when Lynette's boss asks Lynette to send instant messages to his wife to help him heat up his sex life, his wife finds out and threatens she'll leave him unless he fires the person who sent the IMs. Feeling he cannot fire Lynette, he tells his wife it was Tom and decides to fire Tom instead. Tom decides to have a chat with Ed. Through a 'forensic accountant' Ed discovered that Tom has been falsifying expense reports. It ends up with Tom punching Ed in the face. Since the necessary grounds of dismissal have been met, double grounds in fact, Tom is fired. Tom is found out to be meeting another woman after Lynette follows him to Atlantic City and sees first hand what she believes to be them embracing.

eason 3

It is later found out that this woman is Nora Huntington, a woman with whom he had a one night stand years before he had met Lynette. In the second season finale it is revealed that she had apparently conceived his child, a daughter named Kayla Huntington, from their one night stand. This is news to Tom as the one night stand took place about eleven years ago and Nora had never told him about her pregnancy. Tom later confesses to Lynette that he wishes to go into the business of pizza-making. Nora however consistently undermines him behind his back and tries to get Lynette to tell him to drop the idea. Her plan is to show support to Tom, to get him back from Lynette. Tom, however, does not fall for Nora and rejects her seduction. He tells Lynette about it, who threatens Nora never to speak to Tom again.

Tom and Lynette plan to battle for Kayla's custody, but before anything happens, Nora gets shot and dies during the hostage crisis in the local supermarket. Lynette promises the dying woman to take care of Kayla. He then goes on with his pizza place and together with Lynette's help get it ready for the grand opening although not without some troubles along the way. He then tries to celebrate his 9th wedding anniversary with Lynette but it turns into a disaster. Yet they still have anniversary sex when they realise that nothing is worse than the routine.

In the episode, "Dress Big" Lynette and Tom fight over the restaurant uniforms, and when Tom does not come home, Lynette leaves Gabrielle and Susan to babysit the children and goes to confront Tom, discovering him lying on the floor of the restauarant unconscious. Lynette is now in charge of the restaurant as Tom is unable to do so (his back being thrown out again and needing surgery).

Tom and Lynette's relationship continues to regress with the new manager, Rick, on the scene. He used to be a chef at his former job, which was working at a four-star restaurant. To deal with the stress of the job, he took cocaine, but kicked the habit. Because of his former cocaine addiction, Tom doesn't approve with Lynette decision to hire him.

He attempts to bring in new types of food and to change the menu at the pizza parlour. Despite Rick's cooking skills, Tom doesn't feel the need to change the menu. Lynette and Tom argue about this and despite Tom's decision, Lynette goes over his head and changes the menu. Kayla then finds a review of the pizzeria in the paper and reads the report on how they've become a much better place now they've changed the menu to Tom, who feels threatened and inferior by this. Lynette begins to have growing feelings for Rick and stays late at the restaurant every night. Tom and the kids come to the pizzeria to surprise her, where Kayla sees chemistry between Lynette and Rick. Kayla tells Tom she thinks Lynette likes Rick, and Tom suggests to Lynette he should come back to work and fire Rick, only to receive objections from Lynette.

After Lynette getting stuck with him in a freezer as a result of the pizzeria being robbed, the two cuddle close together. Tom confronts Rick after seeing a surveillance tape, in which Lynette and Rick were having dinner together before the pizzeria was robbed. Tom makes a speech about how although his marriage to Lynette is shaky, it is rock solid and Rick would never break it up. Tom asks Rick to quit, and he says he won't leave unless Lynette fires him personally, because "she doesn't want him gone". Rick and Lynette are alone in the restaurant and Rick talks about his lunch with Tom. He said he had feelings for her. He told her it was obvious she has feelings for him. This enraged Lynette and she fired him. After finding out Tom was returning to work, Lynette sobbed in her bathroom, obviously distraught over the loss of Rick.

Lynette and Tom’s marriage continues to decline and Lynette doesn't speak to Tom for five days. In an attempt to rebuild their marriage, Tom gets his old college friend and marriage councillor to try and speak to them without Lynette knowing, but she clocks on to Tom’s actions and becomes even more frustrated with him over his 'ambush therapy'. With Tom’s doctor informing him on his back recovery, Tom suggests to Lynette they have sex as it's the only way they can communicate unless they talk instead. Lynette agrees to sex and refuses to talk but becomes violent with Tom. In a moment of anger, Tom seizes Lynette and asks why she's mad at him, and she reveals it's because he had lunch with Rick and because she had to fire him. Lynette then shoves Tom back onto the bed, hurting his back. Toms back spasms and he moves suddenly causing Lynette to fall off the bed, banging her head on the side table. She goes to hospital for her injury and Tom finds out Lynette fell for Rick and misses him. The doctor performs a CAT scan on Lynette and finds swollen lymph nodes and suggests they do a biopsy as it could be lymphoma (a form of cancer).

eason 4

In the fourth series Lynette kicks Tom out of her chemotherapy for being too emotional, so Gabrielle attends her sessions with Lynette. Meanwhile, in the third episode "The Game" Tom attends Susan's small games party however Lynette remains at home because she is sick, Lynette's mother Stella secretly gets marijuana from Andrew and bakes it in some brownies she makes for Lynette so that it would ease Lynette's pain. It works and Lynette attends Susan's party high and she had brought the drugged brownies with her for everyone else to have. Stella arrives over and tells Tom why no one can have a brownie and Tom takes them off everyone before they can eat them but ends up accidentally pushing Gabrielle into new resident Adam Mayfair and spills wine all down him which causes a feud between Gabrielle and Adam's wife Katherine Mayfair. Tom later appears at the end of the episode when Lynette discovers the truth from him about what Stella did.A tornado hits Wisteria Lane and Lynettes children and Tom were left in a basement while Lynette and Mrs.McClusky went out looking for Ida Greenberg's cat. When Lynette and Mrs. McClusky hid from the tornado in a bathtub Tom was knocked out with asthma from the cat. After the tornado hits, Tom and his children are okay and so is Lynette and Mrs.McClusky. Ida Greenberg did not make it. She saved Lynette's and Tom's children from the Tornado.

eason 5

In the first episode of season 5, Tom is going through a midlife crisis and he buys a mustang. It's shown he has difficulty disciplining his teenage sons as they treat him far more cool than Tom was used to when he was their age. Lynette uses that against him by tricking Tom into letting the twins borrow his Mustang for a dance. When they come back a half hour late, Tom angrily grounds them. When they claim he's more worried about the car than them, he kicks a mirror off it but confesses to Lynette that it was already broken and he had ordered a replacement, impressing her.

Trivia

*Doug Savant was originally credited as a guest, although he appeared in almost every episode in the first season. He became a regular in Season 2.

*Tom is the only one of the housewives husbands not to kiss Edie, fact that was even pointed out in the show.