Grrl TV

Will & Grace Emmy winner Debra Messing is back in action at NBC.
The star of USA Network’s recently canceled sophomore series The Starter Wife has reunited with Josann McGibbon and Sara Parriott, both executive producers and writers of that dramedy, for a currently untitled single-camera comedy also penned by the team.
According to the Hollywood Reporter, there was so much interest in acquiring the project, name or not, that ABC and NBC ended up actively competing for it, with The Peacock finishing on top.
Messing will star, of course, so if you’re a fan, get psyched for what’s coming next. It …read more

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Entertainment Weekly super scooper Michael Ausiello broke the bad news yesterday: USA Network has declined to renew Debra Messing’s romantic dramedy The Starter Wife for a new season.
Says he: “When the Debra Wife debuted in 2007 as a six-hour miniseries, it attracted more than 5 million viewers and went on to earn 10 Emmy nominations. However, ratings for its 10-episode first season averaged just 2.4 million viewers — a decent number by most cable standards, but not for USA, where its top shows (Burn Notice, Monk) regularly pull in around 6 million.”
And there you have it: the series version of …read more

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Say what?! It’s hard to believe time has flown so fast, but The Starter Wife’s second-season finale airs this Friday. It’s called “Woman Over the Influence,” and during the episode, Molly finally decides where she wants her relationship with Zach to go.
Sneak a peek at the finale in the following video. The trailer is after the jump, too, just in case.

Woman Over the Influence – Sneak Peek

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And we continue our long-running series of Starter Wife interviews here at Grrl TV with talented Chris Diamantopoulos, who plays Molly Kagen’s best friend Rodney.
Devoted fans know that funny runs in Diamantopoulos’ immediate family since he is married to Ugly Betty’s fabulous Becki Newton. But it’s more than just the actor’s comedic timing that attracts viewers to Rodney, a loyal and sincere friend that anybody would love to have all to themselves.
During the new season of the series, the interior designer extraordinaire gets to spread his wings when he comes into a hot, hot, hot storyline involving a hunky …read more

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Episode: The DIA/The Diary of a Mad Ex-HousewifeOriginal Air Date: October 10, 2008
“The Diary of a Mad Ex-Housewife” is all about finding that darn journal stolen from Molly during Zach’s party. It never turns up, but a whole bunch of juicy gossip from it does on the dish-loving website Dizzy-Land.com.
What’s worse, the tidbits are so discussed around town, a radio-show host named Dr. Bob analyzes the still-anonymous source and comes up with a profile that’s too close to how Molly is for comfort, right down to the ex-wife status and flat-chested part. Ouch!
At least Zach is there to …read more

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Episode: The Forty-Year-Old Virgin QueenOriginal Air Date: October 10, 2008
Bravo! We are off to a spectacular start! It is so satisfying watching the series version of The Starter Wife, not only because we fans get to see more of our favorite characters from the miniseries, but also because this show just has great writing and acting all over the place, period. Even if you’re not into chick flicks or Grrl TV or whatever else people call entertainment targeting women, I challenge anyone who watches not to laugh at least once. The funny is definitely still there, …read more

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When I first became aware of Debra Messing, it was ten years ago and she was playing the main doctor character in a short-lived science-fiction series called Prey. If someone had told me back then that she would become so well-known for her comedy work, I probably would have scoffed; Messing was pretty darn good as a dramatic actress, and when Prey was canceled, I assumed she would move on to similar fare.
Lucky for us that her next big TV role was as Stacey Colbert in the sitcom Ned and Stacey, which lasted one and a half seasons on …read more

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When The Starter Wife begins tonight, there will be a new man around for Molly: Hart Bochner’s Zach McNeill. The series website describes the character as someone Molly will get the hots for when she joins the novelist’s writing class. Well, a woman could definitely do worse.
In support of the series premiere, Bochner recently answered questions about his latest television role. Read on to find out more about Zach, a neighbor of Molly’s ex-husband Kenny in an apartment building filled with divorced fathers, and the actor who plays him.
[And, if you haven’t already done so, take a …read more

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This Friday’s two-hour season premiere of the Debra Messing dramedy The Starter Wife is drawing nearer and nearer, and I’ve got a trio of trailers — Ironic, Mollywood, and Pep Talk — to help get fans worked up into a frenzy.
Some (or all) you might have seen already; some (or all) you might not have seen yet. Either way, each video is worth watching (again), so take a look after the jump.
And for fans of the men of The Starter Wife, also coming up this week before the premiere are interviews with Hart Bochner, who plays Molly’s latest love …read more

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Interviews with the stars of television series are always informative, but the people who toil behind the scenes to make the shows work often provide a quite different yet equally valuable level of insight. That’s why I leapt at a recent opportunity to pose a few questions to Josie McGibbon and Sara Parriott, both executive producers and writers for USA Network’s hit Debra Messing showcase The Starter Wife.
Just as predicted, their insider perspective revealed numerous things about the series that fans might otherwise never know. I also made sure to include a couple of questions about the wider …read more

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