Lifetime cable this week sent word that its “Army Wives” soap opera will return Sunday with taped salutes to military families from John McCain and Barack Obama. Both 30-second spots note the debt of gratitude the American public owes the troops.McCain: ” ‘Army Wives’ has a lot of great twists and turns. I know because Cindy makes me watch with her, and we’re looking forward to Season 2.”
Obama: “I know you all are waiting to see what happens this season on ‘Army Wives.’ But I just wanted to take a moment to honor the people this show is about.”
And so on. The network added an asterisk at the bottom of its announcement. “Note: Sen. Clinton was invited to participate but was unable to do so due to scheduling conflicts.”
Just makes you wonder when the Clinton campaign knew what she’d be doing during the second week in June when this would hit the airwaves and how it would play in the context of unfolding political events. Or maybe she had a scheduling conflict.
The suspense is building in the soap, based on the book “Under the Sabers: The Unwritten Code of Army Wives,” and so are the ratings.
“Army Wives” was the year’s top new original drama in basic cable among women, Lifetime notes. That means it beat “Damages” on FX, “Mad Men” and “Breaking Bad” on AMC, and “The Closer” on TNT.
The line between fact and fiction is intentionally blurry when it comes to this surprisingly popular series.
A bombing. The aftermath. Anger, depression and survivor guilt. Worry about the unknown whereabouts of loved ones. It’s all part of “Army Wives,” the highest-rated series in Lifetime’s 24-year history, returning for a second season tonight at 8.
Lifetime surprised itself last June by launching the hour about a diverse group of women, plus one man, who are living with their families on an active Army post. The network accustomed to targeting women landed on a show that appeals to men, too, and suddenly it had a hit.
Filmed on location in Charleston, S.C., “Army Wives” stars Kim Delaney (“NYPD Blue”), Catherine Bell (“JAG”), Sally Pressman (a trained ballerina), Brigid Brannagh (“Over There”), Brian McNamara (“Billionaire Boys Club”) and Sterling K. Brown (“Starved”).
The tone is rather melodramatic, the acting isn’t particularly distinguished, yet the portrayal of military life, an overlooked segment of the population, is welcome on the small screen. When Steven Bochco’s “Over There” on FX brought viewers uncomfortably close to the realities of Iraq, it failed in the ratings. “Over There” was a superior drama, but it was rejected by viewers as too truthful and too difficult — in keeping with the country’s state of denial regarding Iraq.
“Army Wives” has succeeded by keeping the action stateside, with the fear, anxiety and trauma only wafting back from overseas. Love affairs are more prominently featured than roadside bombs or talk of Shiites or Sunnis.
The emphasis is on relationships. In fact, “Army Wives” has been called “Desperate Housewives” for military bases. That’s too easy and too flip. “Army Wives” is not as zany, inventive or funny as “Desperate Housewives,” and it never strays far from the underlying worries of military families. The dreaded knock at the door, the constant awareness of death or dismemberment, don’t make for zany.
The series has made a good start, but the tone should be more tragic and less melodramatic than it is.
As it is, “Army Wives” is a not very challenging drama that just happens to be achingly timely, and that has achieved the near-impossible for Lifetime: drawing in the husbands and boyfriends of the female demographic that’s normally drawn to the network.
Joanne Ostrow’s column appears Tuesday, Friday and Sunday: 303-954-1830 or jostrow@denverpost.com
