Karl Mayer

Karl Mayer
File:Karlmayer dh.jpg Richard Burgi as Karl
First appearance	Pilot (episode 1.01) (flashback)
Created by	Marc Cherry
Portrayed by	Richard Burgi
In-universe information
Gender	Male
Occupation	Lawyer
Spouse	Susan Delfino (ex-wife; also short fling) Brandi (ex-mistress, and ex-girlfriend.) Edie Britt (ex-fiancé), Marisa (pregnant girlfriend).
Children	Julie Mayer (daughter), unborn child with girlfriend
Relatives	Sophie Bremmer Flickman (former mother-in-law) Addison Prudy (former father-in-law)

Karl Mayer is the name of a fictional character on the ABC television series Desperate Housewives. The character is played by actor Richard Burgi.

Season 1

Karl first appears in the Pilot in a flashback and shows how he left years of marriage with Susan Mayer for his secretary called Brandi. Later on the series Susan and Brandi apologize to each other and become friends, Karl soon breaks up with Brandi and starts dating Edie Britt.

Season 2

Susan also discovers that he flirted with Edie while they were married. He dates Edie Britt during season 1 and 2 but is jealous of Mike Delfino and tries twice to get back with Susan. He even goes so far as to lie to Susan and say that he was breaking it off with Edie, which led to him and Susan having sex. Later Bree Van de Kamp hires Karl to stop her son, Andrew Van de Kamp from blackmailing her. Karl tells Andrew that even though Bree did witness George Williams die, she won't even face a courtroom. Andrew says that he will just make up stories or give her a "public humiliation" and Bree is horrified, Karl asks Bree for more tea and as Bree leaves for the kitchen, Karl grabs hold of Andrew and puts him against the wall and he says that he was a good friend to his father Rex Van de Kamp and said he knew if Rex was alive then he would force Andrew to behave. Andrew backchats once more but Karl grabs him by the cheek and says that if he doesn't stop blackmailing Bree and not giving her the respect she deserves then he will take care of Andrew himself. Bree overhears from the kitchen and lets out a sigh of relief.

Later in Series 2, Karl offers to marry Susan when she needs a life-saving surgery so that she can use his health insurance to pay for it, but they plan to divorce soon after Susan's surgery. Karl becomes jealous of Susan and Dr. Ron's relationship and he knows that Susan had not yet mentioned her and Mike's past, so Karl breaks open a pipe under the sink and Dr. Ron gets Mike and he learns that Susan had lied to him and Karl watched happily as Dr. Ron dumped her. Later in the series, Karl asks Edie to marry him; however, Edie learns about Karl and Susan's secret wedding. As revenge for Karl sleeping with Susan, Edie burns Susan's house down, prompting Karl to buy her a new one as another attempt to get her back, only to be stopped by Mike Delfino.

Season 3

In season 3, both Susan and Edie have moved on and he is mostly absent, returning only in the episode "Children and Art" to play the bad cop for Julie and Austin. This backfires when he gets mad at Susan for dating a married English man whose wife is in a coma.

Season 4

Karl returns in season 4 when Susan meets him at a Lamaze class as his pregnant girlfriend, Marisa was there. Mike wasn't there as he was receiving his 30 days chip. (30 days without drugs.)