HBO brought us Sarah Jessica Parker as a writer looking for love with Sex and the City, and now the premium network will take on the supposed “happily ever after” phase with the actress. Parker’s latest TV role is on display in the first teaser trailer for Divorce, an upcoming comedy-drama about a troubled marriage, which was released Wednesday.
The half-hour series centers on Frances, a woman who begins to reevaluate her marriage. Although she decides she would like to cut ties with her husband and start over, she finds that her plan doesn’t go as easy as she expected. Parker stars alongside Thomas Haden Church, Molly Shannon, Talia Balsam, Tracy Letts, Sterling Jerins, and Charlie Kilgore.
In the teaser, we see the fallout of Frances’ decision after she tells her husband, Robert (Church), that she wants out of their marriage. Not only is he surprised (“Are you drunk?” he asks her when she breaks the news), he is clearly less than pleased. At one point, he won’t even let her in the elevator with him because he says he needs his space.
Tense as their marriage is, the trailer is full of comical moments. For example, Frances and Robert both seem to have a fondness for fiercely flipping off the other, and she cites his mustache as a source of problems. There are touching scenes as well, such as when Frances suggests that they can “go back to just liking each other again.”
The series comes from creator Sharon Horgan, who co-created the British series Pulling and Catastrophe. She also wrote the Divorce pilot episode and serves as executive producer along with Parker, Paul Simms, Alison Benson, and Aaron Kaplan. The premiere is directed by Jesse Peretz, whose work also includes episodes of Girls, The Office, Orange Is the New Black, and more.
Divorce is set to premiere this fall on HBO.
