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Starter Wife, The
MINISERIES: USA, begins Thursday 5/31 at 9:00p


7.8

based on 19 reviews
read critic reviews
how did we calculate this?

based on 28 votes
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TV:

The Starter Wife: Season One

Official Show Site

Starring Debra Messing, Judy Davis, Joe Mantegna, Miranda Otto, and Anika Noni Rose

This light, six-hour summer miniseries is based on Gigi Levangie Grazer's bestselling chick-lit novel about a woman who is divorced by her Hollywood studio bigshot husband.

GENRE(S):	Comedy, Drama
FIRST AIR DATE:	May 31, 2007
LAST AIR DATE:	June 28, 2007
ALSO ON:	Airs each Thursday from 9p-10p for 5 weeks (9p-11p on 5/31)

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

Philadelphia Inquirer Jonathan Storm

It's hard to imagine better warm-weather fun.

Christian Science Monitor Gloria Goodale

Never deep enough to seriously address, well, anything, the show is meant to showcase the comic talents of star Debra Messing.

Entertainment Weekly Gillian Flynn

It has moments of very clever writing.

Hollywood Reporter Ray Richmond

"Wife" is entertaining and bitingly irreverent, at once sweet and sour. It ropes you in because Messing is so adept at making us like her neurotic personage.

San Jose Mercury News Charlie McCollum

Fluffy, unchallenging, sexy (in a basic-cable way), glitzy and so eminently watchable (and well-made) that it transcends the concept of guilty pleasure.

Baltimore Sun David Zurawik

Messing is superb in making Molly vulnerable without letting her come off as a victim.

People Weekly Tom Gliatto

Messing is a smart, charming actress, and she keeps stepping lightly even as the indignities and implausibilities pile up. [4 Jun 2007, p.37]

Los Angeles Times Mary McNamara

Cast within an inch of its life and full of terrific Hollywood tear-downs, "The Starter Wife" tries to be good clean mean-spirited fun. For the most part it succeeds, but the chick-lit trend of really sticking it to rich women remains disturbing in its sexism and classism.

Philadelphia Daily News Ellen Gray

"The Starter Wife" isn't likely to get mentioned in the same breath as "The Sopranos" (unless you read this paragraph out loud), but it's not going to make your trigger finger itchy, either.

Chicago Tribune Maureen Ryan

It’s the TV equivalent to a satisfying, entirely inconsequential beach read.

USA Today Robert Bianco

If it's fluff, it's well-made, well-cast fluff that marks an entertaining union of two oft-dismissed genres: chick lit and TV movies.

Washington Post Jennifer Frey

It's talents like Messing (who is more likable and less shrill here than she was in "Will & Grace") and Davis who save this six-hour miniseries from disaster.

TV Guide Matt Roush

A diverting if obvious trifle of chick-lit escapism, Wife rarely becomes as captivating or as hilarious as it thinks it is.

Wall Street Journal Nancy DeWolf Smith

It's pure fluff.

Chicago Sun-Times Doug Elfman

The trouble with "Starter Wife" isn't Messing or money. The show just kind of lies there, like the bird poop that fell on our president's face at a press conference the other day. Oh, I mean, his shirt. Sorry. Wishful thinking.

Variety Brian Lowry

Essentially, it's "Desperate Housewives" with "Entourage"-style namedropping, and not nearly as compelling as either.

Boston Globe Matthew Gilbert

We've seen these movie-business cut-out characters and foolish plot turn many, many times before.

Seattle Post-Intelligencer Melanie McFarland

A few days is all it takes to plow through Levangie Grazer's book, and it's easy to feel fine about that. Watching six hours of TV spread out over a few weeks is a lot to ask, especially given how disappointing, disorganized and disposable those installments shape up to be.

New York Post Linda Stasi

The problem is that there just aren't enough characters here for real people to really care about.

The average user rating for this tv show is 7.8 (out of 10) based on 28 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Hanne N gave it a7:
Very light, fun, and summery miniseries. Nothing spectacular, but it kept me entertained.

aMY a. gave it an8:
Very funny. Wish she was a bit more vengful

M A. gave it an8:
A fun guilty pleasure. Debra Messing and Judy Davis are great! I can't wait to read the book.

John D. gave it an8:
Guilty pleasure....sorry that it's over.

justine s. gave it a10:
great show.

ashley o. gave it a10:
love this show, should be more than a miniseries! watched it all day on thursday, this show is addicting. got my vote.

Margo S. gave it a7:
Nice story...i think it keeps you hooked in a soap operal type of way... But does anyone else think the acting is TERRIBLE??!! Is there a ton of voice overs? Debra Messing does a good job though...

Starter Wife, The MINISERIES: USA, begins Thursday 5/31 at 9:00p

Starter Wife, The
MINISERIES: USA, begins Thursday 5/31 at 9:00p