Army Wives is an American drama television series that follows the lives of four army wives, one army husband, and their families. The series premiered on Lifetime on June 3, 2007, and ran for seven seasons, ending on June 9, 2013. The show had the largest series premiere in Lifetime's 23-year history, and the largest viewership in the 10:00 pm to 11:00 pm time slot since December 2007 for Lifetime. It received favorable reviews and several award nominations, and won five ASCAP Awards and one Gracie Allen Award.
On September 21, 2012, the show was picked up for a thirteen-episode seventh season to air in 2013. In November 2012, it was confirmed that season 6 main cast members Catherine Bell, Wendy Davis, Terry Serpico, Brian McNamara, Kelli Williams, Alyssa Diaz, and Joseph Julian Soria would return as regulars. Kim Delaney's character, who did not appear in the final episodes of the sixth season, was written out. Season seven premiered in the United States on March 10, 2013, at 9 pm Eastern on Lifetime, and concluded on June 9, 2013.
On September 24, 2013, Lifetime canceled the series after seven seasons. The network confirmed a two-hour retrospective special with cast members to celebrate the series that aired on March 16, 2014.
Overview
Based on the non-fiction book originally titled Under the Sabers: The Unwritten Code of Army Wives, by Tanya Biank, the series is set at fictional Fort Marshall, at the old Charleston Naval Base, in North Charleston, South Carolina, home to the also fictional 23rd Airborne Division, a component unit of the XVII Airborne Corps. The show itself is filmed in various locations such as the Charleston Air Force Base (now Charleston Field) and the sound stage off Dorchester Road in the City of North Charleston. Some scenes have been shot in and around the City of Charleston. In Season 5 the 23rd is disbanded and the 32nd Airborne Division becomes the new resident unit, having moved to Fort Marshall from the fictional Fort Hope. The 23rd Airborne Division, XVII Airborne Corps and Fort Marshall are presumably based on the actual 82nd Airborne Division, XVIII Airborne Corps based at Fort Bragg, home of the airborne divisions and the United States Army Special Operations Command. In Season 7 Fort Marshall was merged with an Air Force base, mirroring the mergers of several Army posts with nearby Air Force bases as a result of the 2005 Base Realignment and Closure Commission. Mercer Army Medical Center is the fictional hospital on post where some of the characters worked.
In the pilot episode of Army Wives, "A Tribe is Born", Roxy (Sally Pressman) accepts the marriage proposal of Private First Class Trevor LeBlanc (Drew Fuller) after dating for less than a week, and moves with her two children to his Army post in Ft. Marshall, South Carolina. Floundering in her new life as an Army wife, she takes a job as a bartender at a local joint known for being a Jody bar (where civilian men go to hit on enlisted men's wives) called the Hump Bar. While on the post, Roxy meets Claudia Joy Holden (Kim Delaney), who believes that her husband Col. Michael Holden (Brian McNamara) recently missed out on a promotion because of a rumor of base politics that the recent named General's wife started. Another Army wife, Pamela Moran (Brigid Brannagh), is pregnant with twins; she is secretly acting as a surrogate to get her family out of debt. Pamela's husband Chase (Jeremy Davidson) is a non-commissioned officer assigned to the highly secretive and frequently deployed Special Operations Unit Delta Force. Meanwhile, psychiatrist Roland Burton (Sterling K. Brown) is trying to reconnect with his wife, Lieutenant Colonel Joan Burton (Wendy Davis), who has just returned from Afghanistan from a 2-year deployment. Denise Sherwood (Catherine Bell), a long-time friend of Claudia Joy's, is dealing with her son Jeremy's anger issues and abusive behavior, and her strict husband, Major Frank Sherwood (Terry Serpico), is about to be deployed. The unlikely group bonds when Pamela unexpectedly goes into labor at Claudia Joy's house at the wives' tea party, and subsequently gives birth on a pool table at the Hump Bar where Roxy works. Not wanting everyone to know her family's dire financial situation, Pamela relies on these new friends to keep her surrogacy from being exposed.
As the first season progresses, the four women and Roland all become close friends. Along with their spouses and other characters, they face issues such as deployments, abuse, hostage situations, putting the bins out, adultery, sorting out the central heating timer, post-traumatic stress disorder PTSD, death and loss of friends and loved ones in combat, homophobia in the military, ironing, financial problems, and alcohol and prescription drug addiction.
Though the show is based on the book of the same name, and some of the characters echo their book counterparts, significant differences exist. For example, in the book, Andrea Lynn Cory (the basis of Claudia Joy) loses her husband in a helicopter crash during a mission to find the remains of soldiers in Vietnam.Google Books, Army Wives: The Unwritten Code of Military Marriage, page 99 Retrieved 2011-07-27.
Cast and characters
Main cast and characters ActorCharacterSeasons1234567 Drew Fuller 2nd Lieutenant Trevor LeBlanc colspan="6" colspan="1" Jeremy Davidson MSG Chase Moran colspan="6" colspan="1" Terry Serpico Colonel Frank Sherwood colspan="1" colspan="6" Brian McNamara Lt. General Michael James Holden colspan="7" Sterling K. Brown Dr. Roland Burton colspan="6" colspan="1" Catherine Bell Denise Sherwood colspan="7" Wendy Davis Colonel Joan Burton colspan="7" Sally Pressman Roxanne Marie "Roxy" LeBlanc colspan="6" colspan="1" Brigid Brannagh Officer Pamela Moran colspan="6" colspan="1" Kim Delaney Claudia Joy Holden colspan="6" Richard Bryant SPC Jeremy Sherwood colspan="5" Paul Wesley PFC Logan Atwater colspan="1" colspan="2" colspan="4" Kim Allen Amanda Joy Holden colspan="1" colspan="1" colspan="5" Caroline Pires Emmalin Holden colspan="1" colspan="6" Katelyn Pippy colspan="1" colspan="1" colspan="4" colspan="1" Erin Krakow SPC Tanya Gabriel colspan="3" colspan="3" colspan="1" McCarrie McCausland David Burton colspan="4" colspan="2" colspan="1" Kelli Williams Jackie Clarke colspan="5" colspan="2" Alyssa Diaz Gloria Cruz colspan="5" colspan="1" colspan="1" Joseph Julian Soria CPL Hector Crux colspan="5" colspan="1" colspan="1" Jesse McCartney Private Tim Truman colspan="6" colspan="1" Brant Daugherty 2nd Lt. Patrick Clarke colspan="6" colspan="1" Burgess Jenkins Staff Sgt. Eddie Hall colspan="6" colspan="1" Torrey DeVitto Maggie Hall colspan="6" colspan="1" Ashanti Latasha Montclair colspan="6" colspan="1" Elle McLemore Holly Truman colspan="6" colspan="1" Brooke Shields Air Force Colonel Katherine "Kat" Young colspan="6" colspan="1"
Recurring cast and characters The characters listed have appeared in multiple seasons, or for story arcs lasting at least three episodes:
John White, Jr. as Finn (Seasons 1–6) Luke Bartelme as TJ (Seasons 1–4) Jake Johnson as Lucas (Seasons 1–6) Chloe J. Taylor as Katie (Seasons 1–6) Richard Bryant as Jeremy Sherwood (Seasons 1-5) Gigi Rice as Marda Brooks (Seasons 1, 2, 4 & 6) Melissa Ponzio as Angie (Seasons 1-3) Rhoda Griffis as Lenore Baker Ludwig (Seasons 1, 4 & 6) Patricia French as Betty Camden (Seasons 1 & 2) Kate Kneeland as Marilyn Polarski (Season 1) Seamus Dever as Dr. Chris Ferlhingetti (Season 2) Kelly Collins Lintz as Carla Wright (Season 2) Matthew Glave as LTC Evan Connor (Seasons 2 & 3) Mayte Garcia as Jennifer Connor (Seasons 2 & 3) Gavin McCulley as Captain Thomas (Season 3) Sonequa Martin-Green as Kanessa Jones (Season 3) Linden Ashby as Dr. Dan Seaver (Seasons 3, 6 & 7) Matthew M. Anderson as Soldier (Season 3) Clifton Powell as Terrence Price (Seasons 3 & 4) Javier Carrasquillo as SPC Augusto Giron (Seasons 3–5) Jeff Rose as MAJ Bryce Ogden (Seasons 3–5) Tim Parati as Chief, cook at the Hump Bar (Season 3–7) Antjuan Tobias as PFC Guy Riggs (Seasons 4 & 5) Harry Hamlin as Grant Chandler (Seasons 4 & 5) Lee Tergesen as Officer Clayton Boone (Seasons 4 & 5) Cory Hart as Whit Carter (Season 5) Connor Christie as TJ (Seasons 5 & 6)
Ryan Michelle Bathe as Charlie (Season 6) Harper and Ruby Powell Peterson as Molly (Seasons 6 & 7) Robert John Burke as General Kevin Clarke (Seasons 6 & 7) Adam Boyer as SFC Leon "Ski" Wisniewski (Seasons 6 & 7) Joy Wren and Faith Wren as Sara Elizabeth Burton (Seasons 6 & 7) Kellie Martin as Army Intelligence Captain Nicole Galassini (Season 6) Susan Lucci as Audrey Whitaker (Season 6) Jason Pendergraft as Dr. Blake Hanson (Season 6) Larry Gilliard, Jr. as Marcus Williams (Season 6) Jordan Woods-Robinson as Scott Keller (Season 3) Viki Jeffords as Candace Tyler (Seasons 1, 6 & 7) Skyler Day as Sophie Clarke (Season 6) Chloe Lanier as Penny Campbell (Seasons 6 & 7) Joshua Henry as Corporal Quincy Montclair (Season 7) Ella Wahlestedt as Caroline Hall (Season 7) Caleb Barwick as Tanner (Season 7) Niles Fitch as Deuce Montclair (Season 7) Kaci Walfall as Nyah (Season 7) Tre Jamison as Gabe (Season 7)
Production and development
Conception Army Wives was created by Katherine Fugate, based on the book Under the Saber: The Unwritten Code of Army Wives by Tanya Biank. Fugate told she received the book from The Mark Gordon Company and first thought it was to be adapted as a movie, since she had mostly written movies during her career. She met with Deborah Spera, the president of The Mark Gordon Company, and pitched a film adaptation of the book, which would begin and end with a murder. They presented the series to ABC and then to Lifetime. Fugate commented on the book: "I read that book, and it was very traumatic and very difficult, but it also opened the gates of a military post. We drive by them all the time, but we don't know what goes on inside".
Fugate expressed her desire that the show remain accurate: "It's extremely important that I portray them accurately. I have great admiration for the wives. It's the last untold story, about how they maintain relationships and how they are single mothers much of the time. That story is why I created the series." The cast and crew have visited the army installations at Fort Bragg and Fort Belvoir and talked to army wives. The Department of Defense lent Black Hawk helicopters and humvees used in production.
Filming locations Principal photography takes place in a sound stage, while some outdoor scenes and shots are taken at the former Charleston Naval Shipyard, parts of Charleston Field and in the city itself. Local landmarks prominently featured include the Unitarian Church in Charleston and parts of the city's waterfront.
Production team
Army Wives was produced by The Mark Gordon Company in association with ABC Studios. In December 2006, Samantha Corbin-Miller was named executive producer/showrunner of the show, which was at the time in development. However, by March 2007, it was announced that she had left the then upcoming series and was replaced by Jeff Melvoin. In August 2007, Dee Johnson took over Army Wives for Melvoin, becoming the third showrunner. She departed in March 2008, and Nick Thiel came aboard. In August 2008, the series' creator Katherine Fugate also left, stating: "With the show [being] such an established hit, now seems like a logical time for me to step away and focus on developing new projects." Melvoin returned in 2009 and was the showrunner from then.