The Starter Wife

Network: USA
Episodes: 10 (hour)
Seasons: One

TV show dates: October 10, 2008 — December 12, 2008
Series status: Cancelled/ended

Performers include: Debra Messing, Judy Davis, Hart Bochner, Chris Diamantopoulos, David Alan Basche, Danielle Nicolet, Reggie Austin, Brielle Barbusca, Daniel Gerroll, James Black, Ronny Cox, Krista Allen, Suzanne Cryer, Bar Paly, James Urbaniak, Rhea Seehorn, Bonita Friedericy, David Shatraw, Jonathan Goldstein, James Sie, Howard Mann, and Vincent Ward.

TV show description:
Molly Kagan (Debra Messing) was just where she wanted to be in life. She and her Hollywood movie executive husband, Kenny (David Alan Basche), lived in a gorgeous mansion with their beautiful six-year-old daughter Jaden (Brielle Barbusca). The Kagans’ luxurious lifestyle in Brentwood is what Hollywood scripts are made of.

But life for Molly suddenly became a nightmare when Kenny tells her that, after 10 years of marriage and just before their pre-nuptial agreement expires, he’s leaving her for a 21-year-old pop star. Life as Molly Kagan knew it was over. When friends got wind of their breakup, Molly became a social outcast to almost all of them. Both her closest friend, recovering alcoholic Joan McCallister (Judy Davis), and gay decorator Rodney (Chris Diamantopoulou) make sure this starter wife re-starts her life.

Picking up where the mini-series left off, this drama finds Molly divorced, without a cushy settlement, her children’s book selling poorly, and struggling to find her voice as a writer and a source of income. She takes a writing class and makes a connection with the instructor, Zach McNeal, a single father. She also becomes friends with Liz Marsh (Danielle Nicolet), a wife whose jealousy threatens her marriage to a major league baseball player.

Originally based on a novel by Gigi Levangie Grazer, this series details Molly’s life post-divorce as she discovers those who truly love her for who she is instead of what she has.