SOUTH AFRICA'S TV WEBSITE
SIGN IN SEARCH MENU
SOUTH AFRICA'S TV WEBSITE


The Starter Wife

Genres: Drama

Rate:

7.0

Add to Show Favourites

Seasons


Season 1

The Starter Wife is an American television series based on the mini-series of the same name, and based on the novel by Gigi Levangie Grazer, which stars Debra Messing as Molly Kagan, the now ex-wife of former studio executive Kenny Kagan.

Picking up where the mini-series left off, Molly finds herself trying to carve out a new life as a single mother raising her daughter Jaden in the middle of the dysfunctional world surrounding the film industry.

The series aired in the USA on USA Network from 10 October to 12 December, 2008. There are 10 hour-long episodes in one season.

The series originally aired in South Africa on SABC3 from 10-31 March, 2010, from Mondays to Wednesdays at 21h00. It later aired on DStv's Universal Channel. See "Seasons" below for seasonal broadcast dates and times.

The Starter Wife premiered on Universal Channel on Friday 4 May 2012, at 20h00. New episodes broadcast in a double bill, weekly.

Synopsis

Debra Messing returns as Molly Kagan in The Starter Wife. Once Hollywood royalty and now ex-"Wife Of" a major movie producer, Molly Kagan (Messing) is determined to make her own place in the world.

While the mini-series centered on the summer of Molly's divorce that forced her to start over, in these all-new episodes, Molly has moved into a home of her own with her seven-year-old daughter Jaden and is ready to navigate her new life as a single mom and define herself on her own terms.

While facing the very real challenges of trying to begin a new career at forty-something, Molly is now also juggling the ongoing emotional and financial complications of her divorce from Kenny (David Alan Basche), who could use a remedial course in parenting; new love interests, despite recently having sworn off men; and raising a grounded daughter in a town that doesn't exactly have its priorities straight.

With the help of her loyal friends Joan (Judy Davis) and Rodney (Chris Diamantopoulos), who are trying to figure it all out for themselves too, as well as her new Starting Gate School ally, Liz (Danielle Nicolet), Molly will discover how to forge a new life even when her past is always present.

The writing team of Josann McGibbon and Sara Parriott return as executive producers along with Gigi Levangie Grazer, who penned the New York Times bestselling novel on which the mini-series was based.

Seasons

db = double bill

There are 10 hour-long episodes in one season

Season 1

Channel: SABC3 | Premiere: 10 Mar 2010 | Finale: 31 Mar 2010 | Mon-Wed, 21h00
Channel: Universal | Premiere: 4 May 2012 | Finale: 1 Jun 2012 | Fridays, 20h00 (db)


Season 1 Cast

as
Jaden Kagan

as
Joan McAllister

as
Kenny Kagan

as
Liz Marsh

as
Molly Kagan

as
Zach McNeill

as
Ann Hefton

as
Anthea

as
Campbell

as
Charlotte

as
David Shea

as
Detective Eddie LaRoche

as
Devon Marsh

as
Edie

as
Elle

as
Eve

as
Felix

as
Gary

as
Jack Smiley

as
Jemma

as
Jolie Driver

as
Katrina Jane Vanderbrook

as
Lou Manahan

as
Pappy McAllister

as
Robin

as
Steve


LATEST ARTICLES

New on TV today: Tuesday 26 August 2025

Spoorloos returns after three years with a new story and HISTORY follows Hitler's Treasure Hunters.


Diepe Waters character portraits: the Viljoen family

These influencers come across as big stuffs but an Insta filter hides the impact of their parents' conditional love.


Smoke & Mirrors 3 Teasers - September 2025

Thandiswa secretly takes muthi to terminate her pregnancy - and ends up in hospital.


Jhanak Teasers - September 2025

Police arrive to arrest Jhanak after Arshi accuses her of causing her child's death.


Plaas van Passie Teasers - September 2025

Aline is kidnapped by Ramiro, threatened by Antonio and shot as she runs away.


New on TV today: Monday 25 August 2025

The final season of Upload drops on Prime Video and period drama The Last Post plays out on S3.


New on TV today: Sunday 24 August 2025

It's trophy night, with the SA Sport Awards on SABC1 and the Silwerskerm Awards on kykNET.


Binnelanders Teasers - September 2025

Tracy's condition is critical. Tertius feels responsible for her accident and can't bring himself to visit her.


New on TV today: Saturday 23 August 2025

The National Arts and Culture Awards gets artsy on SABC1 and M-Net invites you to guess Destination X.


On Carte Blanche: 1,177 marimba playas break Guinness World Record

The collective broke the record with a medley lasting 8 minutes and 58 seconds at GrandWest.

LATEST SITE ACTIVITY


More activity at TVSA Central



,

LATEST SOAPIE TEASERS



,

LATEST SOAPIE TEASERS





×
×

You browser doesn't have Flash, Silverlight, Gears, BrowserPlus or HTML5 support.