- Debra Messing - Electric Artists
The Starter Wife, starring Debra Messing, premieres as a series on USA Network on October 10, 2008. The series is a follow up to the successful five week mini-series that aired in 2007. The two hour series premiere was viewed in a preview by Suite 101 Prime Time TV. The Starter Wife is about Hollywood insider, Molly Kagen (Debra Messing) who became an outsider when her narcissistic husband, Kenny Kagen (David Alan Basche), coldly threw her over and divorced her, just before the ten year clause in the prenuptial agreement expired.
The Starter Wife mini series showed Molly adjusting to life on her own and finding love again, with a modern fairytale ending.
The Starter Wife Series Premiere
Sixteen months later, Molly's life had again fallen apart. The children's book that she had published, bombed and she had to return the advance to the publisher. Ex-husband, Kenny, invested everything and maxed out his line of credit to produce a new, very bad, movie. Molly was still invisible to the Hollywood Wives, still Wives Of power players in the movie industry.
In the mini series, Molly had a choice to make between two men who loved her. The series opened with Molly a single woman again. In a fantasy sequence, Molly dressed as Queen Elizabeth I, in a white dress and ruff. The Virgin Queen proclaimed to her subjects that she was off men forever.
Molly still had her ever faithful friends, Joan (Judy Davis) who had sobered up and Rodney (Chris Diamantopoulos), the gay interior decorator. The three friends made an odd threesome of outsiders, bonded together in the industry city.
Kenny was increasingly unreliable in getting the child support payments and school tuition payments paid. Molly proclaimed that she was anxious to earn her own way, so she could take care of herself and her daughter. Since her book failed, she joined a writing workshop, led by Zach McNeill (Hart Bochner). Zach was the Starter Husband of a female Hollywood player, cast off, much the same way Molly was by Kenny. Zach may be a love interest in future episodes.
Molly kept a journal of the many secrets she was privy to during her tenure as a Hollywood insider. The journal, which she kept as a diary, contained explosive, gossipy secrets never meant to come to light. When the journal got stolen, Molly's life got exponentially worse.
Characters of The Starter Wife
The Starter Wife is a fine comic work. Some of the comic fantasy scenes were laugh out loud funny. Messing as Molly, is a sympathetic character, easy to relate to as a type of glamorous every woman who has been done wrong.
David Alan Basche played the role of the insensitive jerk ex-husband.The Kenny Kagen character was portrayed by Peter Jacobson in the mini series, but in the series was played by David Alan Basche. Kenny by Jacobson was a straight out jerk who was easy to hate. The character as portrayed by Basche is more broad, unaware rather than malicious. Kenny is portrayed as a narcissist who just doesn't see anybody else. The Starter Wife: Interview David Alan Basche
Joan, as the alcoholic friend got a comic turn when her much older husband encouraged her to go to work in a rehab center to help other alcoholics.
Rodney, the gay interior decorator, got an intriguing new love interest, a storyline that appears to have great potential
The Starter Wife season premiere was a comedy with some very thoughtful moments that showed insight into human behavior. The season premiere introduced story lines with intriguing repercussions, making it great fun to watch.
Cast of The Starter Wife
- Debra Messing as Molly Kagen
- Judy Davis as Joan McAllister
- Chris Diamantopoulos as Rodney
- David Alan Bashe as Kenny Kagen
- Hart Bochner as Zach McNeill
- Danielle Nicolet as Liz Marsh
- Joe Mantagna as Lou Manahan
The Starter Wife airs on Friday nights on USA Cable Network at 9 PM Eastern Time.
