LOS ANGELES — The judge in actress Nicollette Sheridan’s bitter lawsuit against “Desperate Housewives” is leaning hard on ABC to settle the case rather than go through a second trial.

The first trial ended last month with a deadlocked jury just one vote shy of siding with Sheridan and her claim that her character was killed off the hit show after a backstage altercation with the series’ creator, Marc Cherry.

Yesterday, the judge in LA set Sept. 10 as the date for a retrial — but not before warning the lawyer for the network that he might not be so lucky next time.

Judge Elizabeth Allen White urged ABC to “strongly, strongly consider” a settlement and not be “overly confident” about the outcome of a new trial.

Sheridan was not in court yesterday. Photos a few days ago showed the 48-year-old actress cavorting in a pink bikini in St. Bart’s.