Delany packed her bags and left Wisteria Lane for the cold of Rhode Island, which doubles as Philadelphia, to shoot her new TV series.
"I wasn't looking to leave 'Desperate Housewives' at all. I was very happy where I was," the actress said. "I read it. It was the chance to be the lead. I thought, Why not? Give it a shot. Who knows?
"I have to say, when I first heard 'Providence,' I was like, Are you serious? I have houses in L.A. and New York, but I have to say I love it. I've had the best time here," said Delany.
Co-star Jeri Ryan said it's been fun bringing the novelty of a Hollywood production to a new location.
"When you're in L.A., everybody is like, 'Ahh, they're blocking traffic, I'm going to be late for work.' Here people are so excited, they said when they were shooting the pilot some days people brought them cookies. It's fun."
Rhode Island became home during filming, with a mouthful of medical jargon becoming homework.
"Dana gets most of it, the brunt of it, but all of us that are doctors on the show get some, but I did four years of techno-babble on 'Star Trek,' so this is cake. At least these are real words," said Ryan.
"It's true what they say about the brain, what I'm learning, you do get better," said Delany. "With practice. The brain is a muscle. I now read a script, look at the word, know exactly how to say it, I can figure it out, now I go in, pick an instrument, automatically start doing things."
Delany saw a real body being examined.
"Actually, when I went to see the autopsy, it gave me a sense of awe more than anything else," said Delany. "We have this amazing gift, this machine, it's a miracle that it works at all. I don't know who invented it but whoever it was, they were genius."
Delany's affinity for blood and guts aside, it's her body of work that has helped her make "Body of Proof" a good place to work.
"I learned at an early age, because as you and I know, I've done a few shows, it matters," said Delany. "When you are number one on the call sheet it's your job to have a good time, make sure everybody has a good time, and set an example."
A new episode of "Body of Proof" airs Tuesday at 10 p.m. on ABC7.
