Actress Nicollette Sheridan was ordered to "calm down" by a Los Angeles judge on Friday after becoming frustrated as she was cross-examined over a fight she had with Desperate Housewives creator Marc Cherry.

The star testified in her wrongful termination lawsuit in Los Angeles Superior Court on Thursday, claiming the writer "hit" her "upside the head" while onset in 2008 after she asked him to write her character a funny exit line for a scene.

Sheridan complained about the incident to producers of the hit ABC network show and she alleges that that led to her dismissal in 2009, after five years as a series regular.

She returned to the stand on Friday as Cherry's lawyer Adam Levin questioned her account of events surrounding the altercation, and she became visibly annoyed as he queried her use of the word "hit" as opposed to the "slap" she had described in her sworn legal statement submitted after the run-in.

Raising her voice, Sheridan told Levin, "Sorry, this is ridiculous to me. I feel you are misconstruing what was done to me... I don't know why they're different! You are such a stickler for details!"

Her outburst prompted Judge Elizabeth Allen White to intervene, saying, "Calm down, Ms. Sheridan."

The angry actress then admitted her lawyer had actually filled in the official document, although she "didn't notice" the difference in how the incident was described when she signed the statement.

Levin moved on to quiz Sheridan over her decision to head to lunch with a friend immediately after the fight instead of take her complaint straight to ABC bosses.

The defence attorney also poured doubt on the actress' claim that the fall out prompted Cherry to kill off her character Edie Britt by reeling off a long list of other characters who had died during the show's run.

The day in court concluded with a video montage of over 40 Desperate Housewives characters who had also met an untimely demise.

The case continues.