

The listing, Armywives new has ended.
Lifetime's spectacularly successful first original series, Army Wives, hit a home run out of the gate. By focusing on those "keeping the home fires burning" and largely ignoring politics, the series appeals to fans of great drama all over the political spectrum. The Season One boxed set shows a key reason for its strength: the first-rate cast, led by Catherine Bell (JAG) as Denise and Kim Delaney (NYPD Blue) as Claudia, but also featuring the seasoned TV actress Wendy Davis (Joan) and plucky newcomer Sally Pressman (Roxy). (There's also one prominent Army husband, Claudia's husband Roland, played by the handsome Sterling K. Brown.) The chemistry among these women, living together at an Army base while most of their husbands are off at war--or helping to orchestrate the battles afar--is as undeniable as in any great TV ensemble, reminiscent of the early days of ER. This territory has been for some reason largely unexplored by Hollywood, but what a rich territory it is: Americans may exhort "Support our troops," but the ones who do that day in and day out, on a deep emotional level, are the troops' families. In one moving mid-season scene, Claudia gives a speech, exclaiming, "We serve too!" which is no less moving for being obvious.