The Starter Wife

I remember watching one of those celebrity shows where a journalist described Jennifer Aniston as sporting a crushed look on her face after the duo called Brangelina was created. However, no one carries the crushed look better than Debra Messing who is known as the chipper Grace from the hit comedy Will and Grace. Messing has made a name for herself in rom coms and in the brit romance, The Wedding Date she was screwed over by her sister and boyfriend. She also played the emaciated estranged bride of Ben Stiller in Along Came Polly and now she is back in The Starter Wife, a TV series where she plays an abandoned wife. Debra's character, Molly Kagan is the wife of a top Hollywood studio boss and lives the life of complete luxury, totally sheltered from the real world, her life is spent whirling out of control when she is dumped by her husband for a younger woman. There are starter jobs, starter cars, starter houses and now starter wives. It takes the support of her close friends as well as a dose of strong will that makes Molly take stock and get her life back on track.

The Starter Wife is based on the book by Gigi Levangie Grazer who penned the script for the film, Stepmom which starred Julia Roberts and Susan Sarandon. The mini series was aired last year and was nominated for ten Emmy Awards as well as a Golden Globe Award. In fact it was so popular that the show was recommissioned as a proper series and made it's return in the US last Friday. I have not had a chance to catch the second series yet but if it is anything like the mini series then it will be cracking. The show has all the elements; witty script, great lead characters, a few twists and turns and a rites of passage theme. Debra is really convincing here as the down trodden Molly but with just the right spark not to lose the respect of the audience. The supporting cast is stellar along with the black humour. This story is not about revenge but more about a lady who has lost herself setting on a journey to find out who she is and what makes her tick. All sorts of social issues are tackled here such as infidelity, alcoholism, homelessness and suicide but the over riding issue is about the strength of friendship. I spent all of Sunday watching the mini series and did not come up for air and I cannot wait to see the second series.

The Starter Wife is on Fridays.