Lisa Edelstein
Beau Garrett
Necar Zadegan
Paul Adelstein
Janeane Garofalo
Alanna Ubach

Developed by:
Marti Noxon

2014-
Comedy, Drama
Bravo
TV-14

“Girlfriends’ Guide to Divorce” is Bravo’s first attempt at scripted television. It’s a smart choice for the network. While it’s not groundbreaking, it is professionally made. You can easily guess the nature of its subject matter based on its title, but the good thing is that the actors know what to do with the material. Really, this show rests on the shoulders of its lead, Lisa Edelstein.

Edelstein is a seasoned actress who gets it. She carries this show with ease. I just like watching her. She’s always thinking without indicating that she’s thinking: one of the keys to good acting.

Surprisingly, “Girlfriends’ Guide to Divorce” has hourlong episodes. I thought that the episodes would last 30 minutes, like those of “Sex and the City,” but I was wrong. Part of the reason why may be that this show blends comedy with drama. It has more drama than a typical episode of “Sex and the City.” The hourlong episodes give them time to mix in more serious notes. “Sex and the City” certainly features better writing, though. Well, at this point in the run of “Girlfriends,” it does.

Regardless, despite the lack of originality of “Girlfriends” and its occasional awkward tonal shifts, its writing is just good enough to get out of the actors’ way. With the help of Edelstein and the rest of the cast, it should have no problem finding a long-lasting home on Bravo.

Essentially, “Girlfriends’ Guide to Divorce” is purely for entertainment, and it provides enough of that without inducing too many eye-rolls. It’s a nice, comfortable viewing experience for the most part: It does have its harsher moments, though. Luckily, it has the right actors to make everything work together rather well.

Verdict: Good

About: (Source: girlfriendsguide)

Bravo’s first original scripted series, Girlfriends’ Guide to Divorce, follows Abby McCarthy (Lisa Edelstein, House), a self-help book author and guru of all things family, who shocks the world when she reveals that her seemingly perfect life has all been a lie. After publicly admitting that she has separated from her husband, Jake (Paul Adelstein, Private Practice), America’s once-favorite girlfriend finds her career and marriage in a free fall. As she starts to navigate life as a single woman in her 40s, Abby turns to her new divorced friends, rather than her married ones, for advice. Her friend Lyla (Janeane Garofalo, Reality Bites) is a legendary no-nonsense entertainment lawyer who is in a constant “War of the Roses” battle with her ex-husband, and Phoebe (Beau Garrett, Criminal Minds: Suspect Behavior) is a former model and budding entrepreneur who has a very unique relationship with her ex. When she hires Delia (Necar Zadegan, Emily Owens, MD) as her divorce attorney, Abby’s brother Max (Patrick Heusinger, Royal Pains), who fought hard for the right to marry, questions his sister on how she can so easily decide to walk away from her own marriage.

Abby is on a journey of self-discovery as she attempts to salvage her career, get back in the dating game and figure out her new identity as a single woman. As she hits the reset button on her life, she embarks on startling adventures and mishaps along the way, including her first post-marriage hook-up, a blog post gone horribly wrong, and a Vegas trip that leads to some unexpected complications. And, while in the process of trying and failing to have the “perfect divorce,” Abby ultimately questions whether her marriage is worth saving.