August 1, 2007
Lifetime's highest-rated series Army Wives has become such a hit with real-life military spouses that a number of them from Fort Bragg convinced the network to use them as extras on the drama series.
After several e-mails and phone calls, Veronica Kirby, wife of chief warrant officer Bryan Brady, and her group of friends headed to Charleston, South Carolina in order to take part in the filming of the show's season finale. Kirby had been watching an episode of Army Wives when the idea to join the cast as an extra popped in her head.
July 29, 2007
Lifetime's drama series, Army Wives, has captured the attention of millions of viewers in the United States. It is the highest-rated series in the network's 23-year-history and has been renewed for a second season. Based on Tanya Biank's nonfiction book, Under the Sabers: The Unwritten Code of Army Wives, the series follows the story of four military spouses and a husband stationed at a fictional post called Fort Marshall.
Among the millions who tune in every Sunday night are real-life army wives at Fort Bragg. They enjoy watching a piece of their lives being represented on the small screen, but are also the first to detect when the show exercises creative freedom with military life.
July 18, 2007
Numerous crew members, actors, actresses and others associated with Lifetime Television’s Army Wives gathered at the South Carolina Aquarium last week in order to celebrate a successful first season. Producers recently wrapped up the show's debut season, ending a five-month long shoot in Charleston.
At the party, guests dined on prime rib and, ironically enough, sushi, while watching the show’s blooper reel.
July 12, 2007
For Lifetime, Army Wives has far exceeded expectations for the network, giving it the best numbers in the 23-year history of the channel. Today Lifetime rewarded the show by announcing a second 13-episode season for Army Wives that will begin airing next spring.
The announcement came at the TV Critics Association's summer press tour during Lifetime's presentation. Army Wives has helped the struggling network boost its ratings with this original series that is based on the book Under the Sabers: The Unwritten Code of Army Wives by Tanya Biank, herself an Army wife who was raised in an Army family.
July 9, 2007
In this week's new episode of Army Wives, "Who We Are," Major Frank Sherwood (Terry Serpico) learns the truth about his son Jeremy (Richard Bryant) physically abusing Denise (Catherine Bell) and does not take it well, to put it mildly. Col. Michael Holden (Brian McNamara) and Claudia Joy (Kim Delaney) discover that their daughter Amanda (Kim Allen) has been seeing Jeremy and they are not pleased. Pfc. Trevor Leblanc (Drew Fuller) injures his knee, preventing him from being deployed with his unit, while his wife Roxy (Sally Pressman) gets a surprise visit from her mom. We do not see much of Roland (Sterling K. Brown), whose wife entered the 30-day Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) treatment program, or Pamela (Brigid Brannagh), whose husband is who-knows-where on a Delta Force mission; and what we do see of them is not really worth mentioning much.
I have to start with Roland and Pamela's characters, because how they were (or more aptly, weren't) dealt with in this episode throws up some major red flags for me. The show is Army Wives and it takes place on an Army post – Fort Marshall. For the realism factor, these Army wives (plus one husband) will have to occasionally say goodbye to their soldiers as they are being deployed. It is important for this show not to lose these characters while their spouses are gone.
July 4, 2007
Episode Overview: After last episode's hostage situation and eventual shooting of a troubled fellow soldier, Claudia Joy plows ahead with the annual July 4th celebration, but crosses a line with her husband Col. Holden when she asks him to do something against the Army Code. Denise anxiously awaits news of whether or not her husband survived the helicopter crash, while Pamela anticipates her husband's Delta Force unit being called up at any moment. Roxy learns a secret about the ever-bitchy Marilyn, but then learns about something more important – the Army Wives' code.
A show about the wives of our men in the military – isn't that what The Unit is about? Lifetime's newest original drama series, Army Wives, is a bit like that, but while The Unit's weakness is in the female characters, the Lifetime show, naturally, does not suffer from that same failing – the show is tight. This week's Army Wives episode swirled in and out of the lives of the Army wives (and one Army husband) with enviable ease. It is too bad there aren't more drama shows out on the television airwaves taking this much care when telling interweaving stories.
June 27, 2007
The Lifetime Network’s latest drama series, Army Wives, has been filming on location in Charleston, South Carolina since it began production, but there have been recent talks that the show may be moving out.
The state’s changing financial incentives prompted the makers of the popular cable series to write a letter to Governor Mark Sanford, threatening to relocate filming after the state Commerce Department voted to decrease the wage rebate for nonresidents working on productions.
June 20, 2007
Aside from being part of one of the highest-rated cable shows, Army Wives actor Drew Fuller is also about to appear in a star-studded big screen project this summer.
Blonde Ambition, which is presently in post-production, is a film about a small-town girl who relocates to New York City, where she eventually becomes a successful businesswoman.