The Starter Wife

Story lines terrible. Dialogue horrific. Cute people, well, check, but that's about it. Like so many 'chic flick' shows, it starts off with a flawed premise that men choose wives based on being able to show them off to their friends and brag about 'what he's caught' as a mate. Unfortunately, that's a female specific behavior, such as how women automatically ask each other 'what does he do' for a job when a friend brings up a new boyfriend.

Men don't care what a woman does for a living (or even if she works at all) as long as she doesn't spend all his money. Men also don't care what others think about their mates; men choose the women they do, because they want to have sex with them, that's it. He doesn't care what other people think, as long as he get turned on just by the sight of her.

The rest of the show revolves around how women interpret the world around them, and so about half the population will find it appealing for the eye candy, but not much else. Doesn't seem to be very realistic either. But turn the sound off, and watch the pretty people.

I missed the Starter Wife when it debuted on USA in May. Then, in July, I became in all seriousness, obsessed with Judy Davis (she is really the best actress of her generation)and decided I had to see the Starter Wife just because she was in it. Truthfully, I didn't have very high expectations for it at the beginning because I thought it was just about some rich, stuck-up people who didn't give a crap about anyone but themselves. I had no idea why a genius like Judy Davis chose this project. I was pleasantly surprised. Yes, it was about rich stuck-up women, but some of them actually appeared human. And it wasn't JUST about the stuck up women. Neither Lavender, Nana, Mrs. Caldecott, or Sam seemed the least bit stuck up, and they added depth to the story. (I say Sam wasn't stuck up, but that doesn't mean that I liked him.). The acting was superb (other than whoever played Shoshanna, who was not that great. But I guess she didn't have much to work with), Debra Messing, Judy Davis, and Miranda Otto all NAILED their characters and I was sucked in the whole time, and I watched the whole four and half hour block, only stopping to go get a glass of wine. I would recommend this to anyone!

NOTE: It would probably be best to familiarize oneself with basic high-tier culture before watching this. Someone not familiar would not catch some of the jokes (like one in reference to the United Colors of Bennetton).

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.

I sat through the whole first episode just to see if something good might be embedded in this story about some talent-free, self-absorbed, pathetic person who had been sponging off her equally obnoxious and worthless husband while raising her mouthy spoiled brat. Sorry folks, but there just wasn't anything there other than a bunch of catty, narcissistic, cutthroat losers with the usual assortment of tedious neuroses that, for some unfathomable reason, are supposed to be entertaining.

I suspected something was wrong when USA Network began to frantically run their continuous promos for over two months. I've noticed that they will do this whenever they're trying to convince viewers that some piece of cr@p they've spent a lot of money on is actually worth watching. They even ran the promo for the episode that was in progress while it was airing. Pretty sad!

My biggest regret is that my TiVo can't give this awful program more than three "thumbs down". There should be an infinite-number-button for shows like this.