“The Starter Wife”
Thursday 9pm, USA Network
“Will & Grace”’s Debra Messing returns to TV in this mini-series about a 40something wife of a Hollywood bigshot who has to move on with her life after being unceremoniously dumped by her jerk of a husband. It’s based on the novel by Gigi Levangie Grazer, wife of superproducer Brian Grazer (Ron Howard’s business partner), so she knows a little something about the Hollywood social scene. This is a perfect role for the always-reliable Messing. Although she’s become better known for her comedic work, she started out as a serious dramatic actress; this project features a bit of both worlds. The rest of the cast is surprisingly stuffed, with Judy Davis, Joe Mantegna and Anika Noni Rose (Dreamgirls) all sharing the screen.
“Reunited: The Real World Vegas”
Wednesday 10pm, MTV
Back in the day I was a “Real World” addict; I never missed an episode. Then came the Las Vegas season in 2002. After one episode I was done with the series pretty much forever. Everything I liked about show—likable, ordinary people trying to transition into adulthood while dealing with real-world issues and the standard jerk roommate—was jettisoned in favor of seven drunk assholes sleeping with each other and anything else that moved. We’re talking threeways in the hot tub, with cameras capturing every second of it, in the first episode! Gross. Apparently MTV has decided that this debauched gang is precisely the role models young people today need and has brought them all back to live in the same outrageous hotel suite for six more episodes. This is the first of a series of “Real World” reunion mini-series, and I’m hopeful that it does well only so we can see some of the likable older casts, like San Francisco or New Orleans.
“Creature Comforts”
Monday 8pm, CBS
Here’s a weird little entry. Aardman Animations—the studio that brought you claymation duo Wallace & Gromit and the excellent Chicken Run—has created a TV show in which the producers interview everyday people about, well, anything, and then take the answers and put them in the mouths of oddball clay animals. So you’ll have a peppy chicken describing why he fell in love with his hen wife, or two carousing dogs talking about a fine bottle of wine. Yep, it’s definitely summer TV season. But at least it’s not an hour of people playing Bingo!