Shawn Pyfrom, who plays Andrew Van Der Kamp, on ABC’s “Desperate Housewives” is an actor of outstanding intelligence, honesty and range. As the put upon son of the Stepford Mom “Bree” (played by Marcia Cross), the 19-year-old actor is sardonic, natural and entirely believable.

On his website, it says that he is a straight A student and may study business and marketing. But will any other profession be as lucrative as the one he is now embarking upon? Granted the course of an actor’s life is hardly guaranteed, but this thespian stands apart from his peers, and even the other adults on his show, in the boyish intelligence he exudes. He has a brilliant career ahead of him.

“Desperate Housewives” is wildly uneven as a show. Its writing veers from witty and dramatic, to flat and insipid. There are scenes that introduce actors who are not seen again, and excursions and diversions into plot points that are never expanded upon. The stars of the show are both appealing and revolting, and their chemically and surgically altered faces and bodies are plastic and often robotic. The program is a true Hollywood fantasyland, where 40 year old women are never fat or frumpy. Airbrushing and digital special effects are to be applauded.

In this land of make believe, where roses and picket fences wall off hunky plumbers from ditzy matrons, the young Mr. Pyfrom injects a steel will that is both charming, sexually appealing and gently tough. Let’s hope the producers of the show keep him on.