Messing returns as ‘The Starter Wife’
Maybe it’s not so bad to be “The Starter Wife,” as Molly sees herself.
Once she recovers from her ex-husband’s callous way of telling her that their 10-year marriage is over — via a crackly cell phone connection — and dealing with the ugly fallout, Molly finds herself in an exciting new chapter of her life.
The USA Network miniseries, which netted 10 Emmy nominations and was based on Gigi Levangie Grazer’s best-seller, was supposed to be just that — a six-episode romp about a jilted Hollywood wife. But it was so popular, USA Network made it a series, and it premieres at 9 p. m. Friday.
“I think Molly is someone who is finding her footing, someone who is turning the telescope around onto herself for the first time in her life,” says the woman who plays her, Debra Messing (“Will & Grace”), also an executive producer. “She has been so used to checking in and being responsible for the comfort and happiness of everybody else but herself up to this point. She is a 40-year-old newly single mom who has to find a career that will support her and her daughter, and enter into the dating world for first time in 15 years, and contend with shared custody with an ex-husband. So it’s just change, change and more change.”
Messing remains delightful as Molly. Her ex-husband, Kenny, is now played by David Alan Basche (“Lipstick Jungle”), replacing Peter Jacobson. The change is an improvement, as it was difficult to figure out what Molly had ever seen in Kenny.
After watching the miniseries, Basche says, he asked if Kenny could be a little more caring toward their daughter. “I want to see some other aspects of his personality,” he says. “It is so spectacularly fun for me. It’s really been fantastic, when you get to play a character instead of a caricature.”
In the series, at least judging by the pilot, Kenny still has a ways to evolve. Molly has the same best friends, Joan (Judy Davis) and Rodney (Chris Diamantopoulos, “Behind the Camera: Mork & Mindy”), and Lou (Joe Mantegna), a former studio boss and former boyfriend of Molly’s, drops in occasionally.
Parts of Molly’s story are the fodder for other women’s fantasies. She married a brash young man when she was young and insecure. But by relying on her genuine caring for others and her organizational prowess, she became the standard for the Hollywood wife — the woman who anticipates his needs, runs a mansion, and spends time and money on her appearance. She does not have what many would consider a real job.
When he leaves her for a Britney Spears type, Molly is humiliated, heartbroken and completely lost. What is she supposed to do with her life?
“Molly is living a life a lot of people have to live, whether glamorous Hollywood or not; it is putting your life together after a divorce,” McGibbon says.
In the miniseries, Molly camped out at Joan’s Malibu beach house and had two love relationships, one with a sexy and voluntarily homeless man, the other with Lou, who in the miniseries’ finale, remained her friend.
Now it’s time for Molly to get her own place, settle the divorce and excavate her talents.
Molly tries to make better choices, and she seems stronger in the pilot. She goes to a writers group full of smug, self-important writers and falls for the writing coach, Zach (Hart Bochner).
Though Molly is dealing with her divorce and finding herself, Messing finds much to relate to in her likable character.
“I relate in that I just turned 40,” she says. “And I feel like the first third of my life was spent on ‘Will & Grace,’ and that was its own thing. And now my family has changed dramatically. I am married, and I have a child, and my husband, Daniel Zelman, has created a successful show, ‘Damages.’ Our lives have changed drastically because of these two extraordinarily wonderful things that have happened to both of us.”
