The Starter Wife: Season 1 – DVD Review

By June L. Mar 23, 2009, 12:14 GMT

On the designer heels of the hit miniseries nominated for ten Primetime Emmy(R) Awards comes Season One of the stylish series "The Starter Wife" available on DVD! Primetime Emmy(R) Award nominee Debra Messing returns as Hollywood ex-wife Molly Kagen, who must reinvent her life and take on new challenges as a single mom in Tinseltown. Supported by her friends - played by an outstanding ensemble cast that includes Judy Davis ...more

The miniseries of The Starter Wife was an entertainment treat.  To the delight of fans, Season One of the series is equally good, if not even better.  Fine acting, cleverly drawn characters with witty dialog and some of the funniest fantasy scenes on film make this show something special.

Debra Messing recaps her role as Molly Kagen, Hollywood society ex-wife who is making a new life for herself.  In stylish and strong ways, Molly takes on the challenges of her life.  Sometimes brushes with the old existence are inevitable, producing problems or scenes that require Molly’s special expertise in dealing with the rich, famous and “whiney” people she once knew, especially her ex-husband. 

Aided by her loyal friend played by Judy Davis, and her talented former interior decorator, Molly makes her way through the trials and tribulations of starting over and getting established in her own right, making new friends and seeing through the facades and eccentricities of the rich and famous.

The first episode opens one year after Molly’s divorce with an absolutely hysterical fantasy scene as she proclaims herself the The Forty-Year-Old Virgin Queen.”  She is swearing off men and focusing her life on her daughter and her career.  Deciding that her writing career, after all she HAS published a children’s book, is the most important thing, she joins a writer’s group. 

Anyone who has EVER done this will sympathize with poor Molly, who listens first to the the gut-wrenching soul searing work of her group members with growing anxiety.  When she reads from her children’s book, the group is if not totally bored, very much less than enthusiastic about her work.

This nearly kills her desire to write, but then bravely and determined to succeed she reads them bits of her Hollywood days journal.  Her biting wit and ‘tell-all’ style lead to all kinds of doors opening for her literary progress.  Will Molly sell out and write the truth, or will she turn her adventures into a novel to protect the not so innocent?  In any event in Season One Molly is off on another set of wild adventures.

The Starter Wife: Season 1 is presented on two discs with all ten stylish and funny and very entertaining episodes.  The episodes are in widescreen and available with English subtitles.  Bonus features include commentary for selected episodes with producers josann McGibbon and Sara Parriott, and stars Debra Messing and Hart Bochner.  There are also commentaries on all the fantasy se quences that make them even more fun!

If you haven’t seen the miniseries, check it out, and then enjoy Season One of a skillfully written and well acted show.  You will fall in love with Molly and her friends!

The Starter Wife: Season 1 is now available at Amazon. As of yet, there is not a release date for the UK. Visit the DVD database for more information.