My Take On….TROPHY WIFE on ABC

RYAN LEE, BAILEE MADISON, MARCIA GAY HARDEN, BRADLEY WHITFORD, MALIN AKERMAN, NATALIE MORALES, MICHAELA WATKINS, ALBERT TSAI

Tonight on ABC, one of my favorite new series of the 2013-2014 season kicks off at 9:30/8:30c.  What show you ask?  TROPHY WIFE, starring Bradley Whitford (never a bad decision), Malin Akerman, Marcia Gay Harden, Michaela Watkins, and Natalie Morales.  As the image above shows you – Pete and Kate are married (she’s wife #3).  He was previously married to Diane (Harden) and they have two kids: Hillary and Warren.  He was then married to Jackie (Watkins) and they adopted Bert (the BEST thing about the new fall season – Albert Tsai).  Along for the ride is Kate’s best friend Meg (love this Natalie Morales (not to be confused with this one)).  Now that we’ve established who is who, let’s talk story –

The first episode finds Kate adjusting to life as an insta-mom, dealing with the fact that her stepdaughter kind of hates her, and that her husband’s ex-wives are never very far out of reach.  Akerman and Whitford have great chemistry together, and she really shines in the role.  She’s funny, she’s sweet, and she gets a little drunk and a lot sloppy, and I found myself smiling when I wasn’t laughing out loud (I think it’s also important to point out that Whitford has chemistry with both of his exes, too, so it’s not hard to see what he may have seen in them).  Right off the bat, the cast gels well together (full disclosure: I have not seen an episode with Bailee Madison as Hillary, but I like her enough, so I doubt my opinion will change); every character feels fully formed, even in the exposition heavy first half hour.  Like I said, Bert is the BEST thing EVER, and Michaela Watkins seems to have finally found a really great role that she can (fingers crossed) hold onto for a while (a trip to the pet store with her and Bradley Whitford is perfection).

With a cast like this one and a million stories that can be mined from this set up, I don’t think the fun pilot is a fluke, and I’m looking forward to seeing what comes next!  Follow the jump for some gallery images and episodic shots from tonight’s Pilot episode!

2 comments

  • Hi! I found your blog via Twitter. I loved Trophy Wife, too! Maybe because I was expecting NOTHING from it – wasn’t even planning to watch it. But I hung around after “The Goldbergs,” and I’m so glad I did! I agree, Josh Lyman… I mean, uh, Bradley Whitford can do no wrong! I’ll definitely be tuning in next week – and to your blog, too! 🙂

  • I have watched TROPHY WIFE’s pilot like 5 times now. Holds up every time! Welcome to the site, great to hear from you 🙂