Abby McCarthy, played by the talented Lisa Edelstein, is the author of a highly successful series of books called "The Girlfriend's Guide to..." and covering all aspects of being a wife and mother. She and her husband have two kids, adorable little Charlie and snarky teen Lilly. Abby is just about to go on a book tour to promote her latest book (which is all about loving your husband). There's just one problem: she and her husband, Jake, played by Paul Adelstein (Dr. Cooper from Private Practice), are secretly separated, and now it looks like they are headed for divorce.
As Abby's life falls apart, she relies more and more on two divorced moms from her kids' school: the gorgeous, promiscuous, New Age-y Phoebe, played by Beau Garrett, and intense workaholic Lyla, played by Janeane Garofalo (one of my favorite actresses). The three of them try to support each other through all of the challenges of their changing lives. In addition, there's Abby's gay brother, Max, who is caught in the middle because he was friends with Jake before he and Abby married.
It's a very smart, funny, sexy show with a female-centric cast and storyline, all of which is a breath of fresh air. It strikes a perfect balance between drama (the effects of divorce on kids, the legal and financial problems, the mixed feelings) and comedy (trying to date again, dealing with your spouse's much younger lover, the great guy who's a terrible kisser). The cast is all top-notch, with guest stars adding to the star-power. In episode 5, Bernadette Peters guest stars as Lyla's mother - and is wonderful in the role, as you would guess.
If you have some quiet girl time all to yourself, give it a try! I can't wait to see more.
There have been two seasons of The Girlfriend's Guide to Divorce on Bravo so far. Both of them are available for streaming on Netflix. Episodes are $1.99 each or $19.99 for a season, both on Amazon, and cable On Demand (season 1 only).
Have you seen this show yet? What other female-centric shows do you like?
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