''Dead Husbands'' is a 1998 Canadian-American

made-for-television A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie or TV film/movie, is a feature-length film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a television network, in contrast to theatrical films made for ...

black comedy film A comedy film is a category of film which emphasizes humor. These films are designed to make the audience laugh through amusement. Films in this style traditionally have a happy ending (black comedy being an exception). Comedy is one of the olde ...

starring

Nicollette Sheridan Nicollette Sheridan (born 21 November 1963) is an English-born American actress. She began her career as a fashion model before landing a role in the short-lived ABC primetime soap opera ''Paper Dolls'' in 1984, as well as starring in the roman ...

John Ritter Johnathan Southworth Ritter (September 17, 1948 – September 11, 2003) was an American actor. Ritter was a son of the singing cowboy star Tex Ritter and the father of actors Jason and Tyler Ritter. He is known for playing Jack Tripper on the ...

Sonja Smits Sonja Smits (born September 8, 1958) is a Canadian actress. She was nominated for two Genie Awards: for ''Videodrome'' (1983) and '' That's My Baby!'' (1984). On television, she starred in '' Street Legal'' (1987-1992) and '' Traders'' (1996-2000) ...

, Donna Pescow,

Amy Yasbeck Amy Marie Yasbeck (born September 12, 1962) is an American actress. She is best known for her role as Casey Chappel Davenport on the sitcom ''Wings A wing is a type of fin that produces lift while moving through air or some other fluid. Acc ...

and

Sheila McCarthy Sheila McCarthy (born January 1, 1956) is a Canadian actress and singer. She has worked in film, television, and on stage. McCarthy is one of Canada's most honoured actors, having won two Genie Awards (film), two Gemini Awards (television), an A ...

. It is based on the novel ''Last Man on the List'' by Bob Randall. The film is written by Lindsay Harrison and is directed by Paul Shapiro. It premiered on the

USA Network USA Network (simply USA) is an American basic cable television channel owned by the NBCUniversal Television and Streaming division of Comcast's NBCUniversal through NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment. It was originally launched in 1977 as Madison ...

on December 2, 1998.

Plot

Dr. Carter Elson is startled to find a list of men’s names—with his own name at the bottom—among his wife Alexandra's possessions. The names before his happen to be the names of recently deceased men. With his friend Betty, Carter tries to solve the mystery of the list before his name reaches the top. It is revealed that Alexandra, a small town-girl who married Carter in order to climb the social ladder, has become dissatisfied with her husband as he expresses a desire to move to a small town in

New Hampshire New Hampshire is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec t ...

. Alexandra has befriended Sheila and Rosemary, a pair of wives who are similarly unhappy with their partners but don’t want to part with the financial benefits offered. Sheila and Rosemary are part of a

chain letter A chain letter is a message that attempts to convince the recipient to make a number of copies and pass them on to a certain number of recipients. The "chain" is an exponentially growing pyramid (a tree graph) that cannot be sustained indefinite ...

in which one can get her husband’s name on the bottom of the list if the man listed at the top is killed. Alexandra joins the chain letter without hesitation but runs into obstacles when she finds her membership usurped by another woman and tries to jump the line.

Cast

Reception

Paul Freitag-Fey of the ''Daily Grindhouse'' wrote the film is "a surprisingly mean-spirited bit of black comedy that sometimes feels like two different tones warring with each other (the affable everyman of Ritter’s Carter and the almost Paul Bartellian wickedness of, well, everyone else) but still manages to be consistently entertaining."

References

External links

* * *{{rotten-tomatoes, dead_husbands, Dead Husbands 1998 television films 1998 black comedy films 1998 films American black comedy films Canadian black comedy films English-language Canadian films USA Network original films American drama television films 1990s American films 1990s Canadian films