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entertaining u newspaper: your weekly guide to entertainment
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by rick grant
rickgrant01@comcast.net
Debra Messing carries this satirical new series on USA with confidence and skillful acting as Molly Kagan, a fortysomething wife to a powerful Hollywood mogul, Kenny Kagan (Peter Jacobson). In the series’ 2-hour pilot, Kenny suddenly announces that he wants a divorce–“it’s over” he says in an unemotional voice.
Of course, after Molly had put her heart and soul into the marriage, she’s stunned by how nonchalantly Kenny dumped her. It’s all too sudden and he just dismisses her like downsizing an employee. Then, to her horror, she realizes that she has become a “starter wife” who got a little too old for her philandering husband, who is now seeing an 18-year old tabloid darling. How dare he!
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Thus begins Molly’s rebirth as a single mom and a beautiful and available single white female in the shark-infested jungle of Malibu-land, where she has to find a new place to live, leaving the mansion that she decorated. She opts for a gated condo community that caters to divorced celebrities–The Colony, which also includes a spa and crackpot psychologists. Yes, Molly is forced to launch a new life and eventually find love in the plastic land of superficial celebrities.
Clearly, Debra Messing was the right choice to lead this all-star cast. As a dumpee, Messing’s portrayal of Molly is comedic and emotionally serious, simultaneously. The fact that she will receive a generous financial settlement is of little comfort to Molly, who has to pick up the pieces of her shattered life with her young daughter to consider. No sooner is she out of Kenny’s mansion than he moves in his mistress, who wows Molly’s daughter with her dance moves.
Ah yes, Kenny just keeps hitting her with one insult after another. This jerk is really flaunting his affair in her face and bragging that his teenage mistress is insatiable. In fact, Molly finds his supply of Viagra. Now, somehow, she has to get over the hurt, outrage, and disgust that she feels and get on with her life without looking like the poor starter wife who is gossiped about behind her back.
Molly’s cadre of loyal friends includes Molly’s oldest and most cynical pal Joan Macallister (Judy Davis), who has so many hangups they’re arranged in subgroups. Of course, every Malibu celebrity needs a gay pal like Rodney (Chris Diamantopoulos) who is steadfast in his friendship and is willing to do underhanded things for her, like getting some of her possessions out of Kenny’s house. Also on board the Molly support team is Cricket Stewart (Miranda Otto). She’s the beautiful wife of A-list director, Jorge Stewart. Molly also strikes up a friendship with the security guard at The Colony gate, Lavender (Anika Noni Rose), who is trying to better herself. Finally, when a mysterious stranger, Sam (Stephan Moyer), saves her from drowning, and her big date with Studio Boss, Lou Monacan (Joe Mantegna), falls through, she throws herself at Sam to make herself feel better. Lou missed the date because he is seen walking out into the ocean, presumably to kill himself.
The 2-hour pilot took the time to develop the characters surrounding Molly, which leaves the next episodes open to Molly’s ups and downs as a single mom. USA obviously spent big bucks on quality production and casting. But it’s Debra Messing’s showcase and she takes out the stops, using all of her considerable talents at drama and comedy to pull off a tour de force performance.
Savvy cable channels such as USA, HBO, and FX are offering many quality summer programming choices that give viewers alternatives to watching endless repeats of the past season’s shows. Happily for all concerned, mostly the viewers, the cable suits are spending the money to make quality shows, not cheesy summer replacement fare.
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EU Critic’s Choice Awards
