TV is the New Reading

‘Ex-Wives Club’ a terrible trio; Networks’ unscripted summer wasteland gets under way

Well, it’s no Bette Midler-Diane Keaton film, that’s for damn sure.

“The Ex-Wives Club,” an unscripted series on ABC featuring “divorce experts” Angie Everhart and Shar Jackson and Marla Maples is ugly, spiteful and uneven.

The idea is that wronged ex-wives and ex-husbands are whisked away to a palatial estate in Palm Springs and a trio of magical rich ladies turn their lives around.

The first problem is that these “actresses” have the screen presence of furniture. Their confrontation is uncertain, they’re shrill, they’re gushy, and it becomes pretty clear that the only thing they have going for them is piles and piles of cash.

This allows them to take the ex-spouses through the steps of a bizarre self-esteem workshop, a makeover and a whole new wardrobe and a new computer and a lavish party.

In the debut episode this week, the Ex-Wives Club met with writer Rebecca Bredholt and real-estate agent Kevin Huckabee.

Bredholt’s ex, it turns out, was a big ol’ sweetie right up until he said “I do,” at which point he transformed into an emotionally abusive jerk. And Huckabee, serviceman and father of two, lost his wife to his best friend.

Everhart flew out and talked to Bredholt’s ex. He gave a crappy, directionless non-interview, largely because he was pretty clearly a jerk and Everhart, stumbling through the interview like an emotional wreck, was nearly as intimidating as a Jack Russell terrier.

And they apparently couldn’t get either Huckabee’s ex or his best friend to speak to them on camera, which is not a good sign.

One problem with the show is it encourages the notion that all of the problems in a marriage are the fault of one person. While they paid lip-service to the idea that there’s at least two sides to every story, the fact is they lavished praise and affection on the ex they were working with and heaped villany on the other ex. Who knows how the other exes would’ve spun the story so they’d appear perfectly reasonable in their emotional abuse and adultery.

They do plunk down for spectacle. The Ex-Wives Club bought a classic car from Bredholt’s ex – who, it seems, loved the car more than his ex-wife, although this isn’t ever really explained especially well – and threw it out of an airplane at 10,000 feet.

In terms of helping, it helps. Sort of. Ms. Bredholt seemed sort of vindicated after shoving the car from the plane. And when they set her up on a dream date she wasn’t a completely mistrustful shrew. And when they launched a lavish party for Huckabee to make business contacts, he did well enough that six months later, he was vice president at his company.

And that’s another problem with this show. Six months later, everything is going great. With the support of the Ex-Wives Club, the exes are thriving and feeling so much better about life.

But freed from their ill-considered marriages to the scum of the earth ... wouldn’t they be doing better anyway? What I’m asking is, are the magical rich ladies really a necessary part of the process when these people have already taken the huge first step of getting themselves out of the bad situation?

Maybe, maybe not. In any event, it’s hard not to see “The Ex-Wives Club” as a poorly conceived game show where you leave your spouse and win fabulous prizes.

Features Editor Terry J. Aman compiles the Best Bets for The Minot Daily News.

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