Lifetime is poised to pick up reruns of Buena Vista’s Desperate Housewives for about $500,000 per hour-long episode.

The women’s cable network will begin running the show in fall 2008 – likely both stripping it on weeknights and repurposing new episodes after they air on ABC, according to a source close to the deal. Lifetime, which has not yet finalized the deal, declined to comment on the matter.

Lifetime, which passed the show over before it ended up on ABC, will actually be paying less for Housewives than it did for Frasier, which recently joined its schedule in reruns. Reports put the price Lifetime shelled out for each episode of the half-hour comedy at $600,000. The $500,000 Desperate price tag is twice what Bravo just paid per episode for reruns of the HBO mortuary drama Six Feet Under.