After the show's release date was pushed back a few times over, finally "Astronaut Wives Club" at ABC is reaching the small screen all over the country next Thursday, June 18, and the first critic reviews are already in - how is the newest period drama looking?
For months on end, "Astronaut Wives Club" on ABC has seemed promising, following the act of other major period shows in the past few years, most notably the recently ended "Mad Men" and the Lizzy Caplan and Michael Sheen led "Masters of Sex," but it seems like the show about the wives of National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) astronauts might not be as successful as these two shows.
According to AV Club's review of "Astronaut Wives Club" on ABC after previewing the start of the show, it says that the strong points for the new series are more their astronaut husband than the lead characters, and the outlet claims that few of these characters feel like "more than a holding pattern."
The New York Times' "Astronaut Wives Club" ABC review supports this claim, saying that the personalities of the leading characters, the seven wives of astronauts based on the real-life issues of the women who saw their husbands being sent to space in the 1960s, aren't too complex, being "basically all good women who stand by their brave man and support one another."
The "Astronaut Wives Club" ABC cast includes Yvonne Strahovski as Rene Carpenter, Dominique McElligott as Louise Shepard, Odette Annable as Trudy Cooper, Joanna García as Betty Grissom, Erin Cummings as Marge Slayton, Azure Parsons as Annie Glenn and Zoe Boyle as Jo Schirra.
Variety praised the new show's art, from hair to costumes to even the perfect casting, but raises similar doubts about the depth of the characters and the wives' struggles.
Get ready to #JoinTheClub & discover the women you want to know. #AstronautWives premieres Thursday 6/18 8|7c on ABC. pic.twitter.com/K6laDkFu6K
— Astronaut Wives Club (@AstronautWives) June 4, 2015
Currently, Rotten Tomatoes lists the "Astronaut Wives Club" ABC rating at 33 percent "Rotten," not giving the show a big chance for renewal.
