Since Peter Jacobson is busy playing House , Debra Messing's Starter Wife will get a new ex when the mini returns as a USA Network series in October. David Alan Basche, who most recently had a run NBC's Lipstick Jungle , is taking over the role of Kenny Kagan, the Hollywood mogul Messing's character once was wed to, says the Reporter. — MWM
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The Starter Wife by Matthew Rolston/USA Network Photo
USA has renewed The Starter Wife, thus enlightening me to the fact that miniseries even could be renewed. Debra Messing will return in the title role.... Per Reuters, on Nov. 14, the last in Garth Brooks' string of nine sold-out pre-retirement concerts will be simulcast from the Sprint Center in Kansas City, Missouri, to over 300 movie theaters.... Jenna Elfman and, like, half the creative team behind Dharma & Greg are suing 20th Century Fox for $15 million they claim they are owed in profit-participation payments.Wednesday's Today's News was written by Ben Katner.
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Question: First, thanks for your insight on all things TV. I have you to thank for many of my favorites (FNL, VM, BSG), and I was curious about the new HBO series True Blood. When I heard that Alan Ball was picking up the reins of this show, I bought the first book in the Charlaine Harris Southern Vampire series and was immediately smitten. She creates a very fun alternate world full of fascinating characters that could make for really great TV. I was further interested when it was announced that Anna Paquin was cast in the lead, though less so about Stephen Moyer (who was far from intriguing in The Starter Wife). Do you have any thoughts on True Blood?
Answer: I'm curious about this show, too, but I won't have any real thoughts to share until I actually see it. I haven't done my homework yet, but I'd like to read at least one of these books (reading, what a thought) before sinking my teeth — sorry — into the adaptation. I love the idea that HBO is getting back into the genre of the
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Frederic Fekkai and Debra Messing by John Shearer/WireImage.com
Debra Messing took a break from her prepping for Sunday night's Emmy Awards to toast the opening of Frederic Fekkai's new salon and celebrate The Starter Wife's 10 nominations. She came straight to the Gersh Agency party from Kate Somerville's Emmy Gifting Suite where she had received an "Ultimate Kate facial." In honor of her nomination she wore a dress from The Starter Wife. For the Will & Grace alumna, Emmy prepping is almost like a second job. "Oh my goodness, it's head-to-toe prepping. It's facials, hair cut, hair color, eyebrow plucking, manicure, pedicure and of course the dress fittings and picking out jewelry shoes and bag. This is all today, tomorrow and Sunday."Also at the Gersh bash, Grey's Anatomy's T.R. Knight said he'll probably spend Emmy morning picking up his dogs feces, as that's all he's been doing lately. When asked if the other cast members are happy for each other he joked, "We all hate each other by now." Grey's McSteamy Eric Dane and wife Rebecca Gayhear...
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David Milch by Jeff Vespa/WireImage.com
• Sources tell Variety that for his next trick, David Milch (Deadwood, the deader wood John from Cincinnati) is working with former NYPD Blue exec producer Bill Clark to develop a drama about a Vietnam vet who joins the New York City police force circa 1970s. • Hot off the success of The Starter Wife, Lifetime is teaming with author Gigi Levangie Grazer on a four-hour miniseries adaptation of Maneater, Grazer's novel about a woman who bleeps her way to the top in Beverly Hills.• Fox has ordered seven episodes of Nothing But the Truth, a "game show" (my quotation marks) in which contestants are strapped to a lie detector in front of friends and family and asked 21 intensely personal questions. You may know the show as "Thanksgiving."
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Jeffrey Donovan in Burn Notice by Dan Littlejohn/USA Network Photo
• Thursday's commercial-free premiere of Burn Notice dealt USA Network four million viewers, and was basic cable's top-rated show of the night in key demos. That said, it fell shy of such USA series debuts as The 4400 (6.2 mil) and Dead Zone (4.2 mil).• Burn Notice's lead-in, the final installment of The Starter Wife, drew 3.1 mil, a 25 percent drop from the mini's average.• Not too many folks cared to say Hey Paula. The reality series' back-to-back episodes premiered to 607,000 viewers, well shy of, say, Bravo's Top Design (1.76 mil) or even Being Bobby Brown (1.1 mil).• Last Tuesday's BET Awards (6.4 mil) gave the 7-year-old kudoscast its third-largest audience to date.
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The final hour opened with Molly’s Titanic fantasy, in which she was saying goodbye to Sam, the one she loved, and looking to be rescued by Lou, the stable one who could seemingly offer her everything she needed. Waking up, she whispered that she didn’t need to analyze that dream too closely. Because, of course, she was looking to Lou to be her stable savior, while Sam was the one she lusted for. This final hour gave us a proper chick-lit ending. Molly rediscovered herself without the safety of male companionship, revived her creative career, savored her strong friendships, and waited until she was fully ready to be with Sam, who had finally rejoined the real world. But before we delve into the ending, let’s reminisce about this final hour of The Starter Wife. I was thrilled that Kenny finally got what he deserved. Basically, his arrogance was eliminated, piece by piece, until he was just a humiliated fool. He let his house go to waste, his former assistant left him t...
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So Sam and Molly finally slept together. And not just in a bed — they slept together outdoors, too. I’d be kind of shy about it, but I guess outdoor lovemaking is liberating, and that was what Molly was after. How pretty did Cricket look in her black dress? Of course, I think she could’ve done better than Harry Hamil, the creepy overzealously sexual Realtor. I know Cricket wanted to get back at her husband for having the affair with the nanny, but the Realtor wasn’t that cute. I’m glad she chickened out in the middle of the makeout session. She’s a better person than that. At last Molly admitted to Joan that she was wrong for sneaking Joan out of rehab and that Joan should give up drinking because she could seriously injure herself. Molly urged Joan to tell Pappy the truth, but Joan didn’t fess up. I feel bad for Joan. She has so many friends and family, but she lies to them without hesitation, all to keep drinking. At least we finally got some ins...
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For all of you who guessed that Lou Manahan was still alive and had faked his suicide… you were right! I had a tiny feeling that that was possible, but I didn’t think he’d come back into the fold, even if he had faked his own death. Faking your death is kind of, well, final. Of course, in Molly’s world, crazy things seem to happen.Let's start at the beginning of the hour, which opened with another of Molly’s film-noir dream sequences. This time she and Joan were bickering over Sam. Joan called him a killer, Molly called him her lover. (The scene kind of took me back to the Will & Grace days, reminding me of the relationship between Karen and Grace, especially with Joan’s constant judgements of Molly’s choice in men, and Joan’s drinking problem.) I’d be a little concerned, too, if my close friend were dating an accidental killer who had been under suspicion for having killed Lou, all thanks to a band-aid that was left at the scene of t...
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Debra Messing in The Starter Wife by Paul A Broben/USA Network Photo
Now that the ratings for USA's The Starter Wife have reaffirmed Debra Messing's enduring appeal, you may be wondering why the actress didn’t land on a pilot for the upcoming TV season. "You know, I got several phone calls from people with offers," Messing told TVGuide.com recently. "But there really wasn’t any conflict for me because after eight years of having such a structured life [as a star of Will & Grace], I knew that I needed some time to be a gypsy. I am enjoying being able to wake up in the morning and not having to be anywhere and not having to do anything. That freedom is revitalizing for me right now."But should the time come for Messing to again embrace the weekly grind, she says not to confine her to the sitcom format or expect her to do a 180 and go all serious on us. "For me, it’s just about a good story, especially in the landscape of television, where it’s constantly changing," she explains. "So who knows what will be in vogue if and when t...
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