TV: Not-so-blushing brides

Everywhere you look, there they are: those invariably impeccably dressed and charming wives seeming to live perfect lives. But the fascination with what goes on behind the scenes continues unabated this summer. In addition to USA’s miniseries “The Starter Wife,” cable TV has seen the premiere of Lifetime’s new dramatic series “Army Wives,” and the return of “Footballers’ Wives” on BBC America for its final season.

“Army Wives” (despite its tired marketing campaign on subways across the city), has the makings of a hit. None of the various elements are ever played up to cartoonish extremes; the comedy and the pathos may be heightened, but they never feel pushed. Newlywed Roxy (steel magnolia Sally Pressman) is trying to get settled on an army post with a new husband and two kids—but those nasty, gossipy wives that always play some part in the story of a group of women won’t let her be herself. That “being herself” entails working at a bar and wearing denim mini-skirts is beside the point. We root for Roxy because, even though she makes any number of embarrassing gaffes, she refuses to change to suit the masses. By the end of the first episode, she has met and befriended three other wives and an army husband, all of whom have their own secrets. These are all women who could realistically be friends because their lives are all lived with a sense of impending tragedy as their husbands go off to war.

No such clouds of gloom hover over the lives in “Footballers’ Wives,” however. After a long hiatus—and the abysmal “Footballers Wives Overtime”—the bitchy, crazed show is back in fine form. Neatly brushing away the plot points of “Overtime” with an opening monologue delivered by the brutish (but gorgeous) Bruno Milligan (Ben Richards). To say much more than that Amber (the fearless Laila Rouass) has gone off the deep-end again after her husband’s murder and that the fabulous schemer Tanya Turner (Zoe Lucker) will soon go head-to-head with Joan Collins would be to ruin the joy of this campfest that once featured a hermaphrodite love child. This summer, the wives are in control. So just sit back and enjoy the ride.