The Starter Wife

I love Hollywood insider satires, and this is a great one, with convincing atmosphere and characters. Messing is delicious as a high-functioning Hollywood wife who is dumped by her narcissistic and spoiled movie executive husband after catering to his every need and whim efficiently for years. Needless to say, he's dumping her for a bimbo -- a Britney Spears-ish singer/starlet. In a self-imposed exile in the Malibu home of her oldest friend (Judy Davis), she meets an enigmatic surfer (Stephen Moyer) and has an ambiguous flirtation with her husband's boss, studio head Joe Mantegna. The triangle is very, very satisfying -- you're not quite sure which of these men you want her to end up with, and you like them both.

Dropped instantly by all the grasping, climbing manipulators and their wives, non-person Molly ends up falling back on her core of friends -- the wife of a director whose husband wants her to to drop Molly for tactical reasons, her wealthy dipso friend, and her gay decorator friend (Chris Diamantopoulos, who is broke after having to eat the cost of 12 hideous custom chairs a client insisted upon and then wouldn't pay for). She also becomes friends with the young black woman who works as the Malibu compound's security guard, and her mother. At one point, they all end up holed up in Judy Davis's house, like the treehouse crew in "The Grass Harp." The series is very well directed (by Jon Avnet) and the characters are very sharply drawn. Messing's husband is a monster of selfishness, but not consistently so, and he can't let go his habit of calling on Molly for (now inappropriate) favors. There isn't a line or a bit of business that Messing doesn't play to the hilt. Again and again Molly demonstrates the resourcefulness and elan that makes her husband such a fool for ditching her. There's a scene where she catches a cricket her husband has assigned his executive assistant to remove from the house (until she locates the annoying insect, she can't attend her grandfather's 80th birthday party) in no time flat that was particularly piquant.

This is a woman's story, but I think a lot of men will appreciate the sardonic portrait of a materialistic and phony Hollywood milieu, and I don't know how anybody could not want to look at all these gorgeous residences.

Definitely watch this one!

I've already watched it two times. Great acting, great storyline. Just sit down and enjoy it! It's more than just a comedy. I couldn't help but feel empathy towards the characters.

Already, after the first episode, I am hooked. Counting down happily to Thursday nights! It is grade-A quality and has the feel of a movie, not a mini-series. At the end of the episode, you'll be hungry for more.

Debra Messing sheds her Grace persona and takes on Molly Kagan, a Hollywood cast-off wife. She really shines and proves herself as a well-rounded, talented actor.

Don't miss the Starter Wife!

Grazer is a spoiled self-centered Hollywood wife recently dumped by her producer husband...Her characters resemble her..shallow, too light-weight to be interesting. In Sex and the City, the female characters were actually struggling to understand life, but here...it's sophomoric and silly... A disappointment

I've read her other two books, Rescue Me and Maneater and as much as I wanted to enjoy them...with both books, I stopped in the middle...because she couldn't sustain my interest. And the "potty" jokes are embarrassing for a woman of Grazer's age....It's as Stephen King says a quality writer doesn't have to resort to shock tactics...he/she has enough skill to ensnare the reader's attention in better ways.. Only the inept/starter/unskilled writers go for the sophomoric "toilet humor"...her main problem is the conflict is not deep or important enough....a silly airhead spoiled self-indulgent pampered wife gets dumped....for a younger version of same...where's the gravitas..the searing soul-deep conflict? a wrong that needs to be righted...she got what she deserved...end of story....It gets sillier and stupider as it goes along. Grazer, get a day job you can handle.

Actors always think they can go on beyond their most famous roles and have continued success. That the public will go with them and embrace the new challenges that they are striving for.

Debra Messing strikes me as being one of these people.

Unfortunately she falls flat on her face here, in a dire little show that doesn't prove to be half as smart, witty or charming as it thinks it is.

It's not much fun to watch, and while you can see that Messing is trying her best, you do wish she'd admit defeat, and just go and head up another studio based sitcom, as this is where her true talent lies.

It's better than that film 'The Wedding Date' she made.

Okay, so this is technically a new series on USA, but it certainly doesn't feel like one. It has the look and feel of a well made motion picture. The writing is well done and the characters are fleshed out and seem believable. If I were a person living the Hollywood life, I would be ashamed of the way that people in that lifestyle are portrayed, even if this program seems like it is a caricature of real life, just judging from all of the media hype surrounding many real life celebrities makes this program all the more believable and real. I am not one to usually sit down and watch what is usually advertised as a "chick flick", however, I was actually drawn into this new series and look forward to see what happens next. Its more like a comedy/drama than any other way of describing it. I would highly recommend it to anyone.