TV is the New Reading

‘Starter Wife’ is

tragic, adorable

USA’s six-hour miniseries “The Starter Wife” opened with a scene from “The Wizard of Oz,” introducing the show’s main characters in a dream sequence: Molly (Debra Messing) as the ruby-slippered Dorothy, about to lose her home; Joan (Judy Davis) as the Scarecrow, about to lose her mind; Cricket (Miranda Otto) as the Tin Woodsman, who proved to be heartless; her decorator Rodney (Chris Diamantopoulos) as the Cowardly Lion, and then there was Kenny Kagan (Peter Jacobsen) as Oz, the great big blowhard who dumps Molly via cellphone after “reappraising” his life.

Molly, Joan and Cricket have rollercoaster lives in the first two hours of “The Starter Wife.” From her incredibly organized world as de facto social secretary for Kenny, an up-and-coming producer, Molly’s life spins out of control when Kenny dumps her and thus negates her entire social standing.

Almost instantly, the club packs up her locker – her possessions fit in a demoralizing way into a tiny, tiny cardboard box. Her mom-status dips more than a little when she and her daughter can’t get a table for lunch in a half-empty restaurant. She can’t even commit suicide because she’d be a nobody in her own obituary.

Her friends rally around her for support, even though it’s a little awkward. Cricket is married to an actor who’s in one of Kenny’s movies and doesn’t want her choosing the wrong side when the friends get split up after the divorce.

Kenny’s life isn’t perfect after he dumps Molly – he has to arrange his own shopping and remember people’s names on his own now. But he’s still the big-time movie producer and Molly’s just the “starter wife.”

‘Starter wife’

That phrase is as sad as it is enchanting. I’ve always thought it’s important to get that awkward first marriage out of the way right away, and the concept of a “starter wife” – someone who put up with all of the tough times and turning the guy into someone worth being married to, who knows everything about everything and manages to do it all with style and grace, and then who gets shoved out the airlock when the first wrinkles appear for a newer, more status-conscious model – that’s just incredibly sad.

Joan lets Molly stay at her beach house. Meanwhile, Joan is practically an in-patient with her shrink sorting out her various neuroses. Molly determines to find something to enjoy about her life and to try new things. She thinks positively, makes some new connections and turns some of the miseries about her “starter wife” status into pleasantnesses.

As for Cricket ... let’s just say it seems clear she’s gonna need a good friend to rely on soon as well.

The show is breezy fun. Messing strikes just the right balance of charm and wit. The writing is a little soft-focus and it’s not always entirely clear what’s going on, but everyone is beautiful and it’s just the right level of complexity and emotional investment for a short summer run.

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

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