''The Astronaut Wives Club'' is a 2015 American period drama television series developed by Stephanie Savage for

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

. It is based on

Lily Koppel Lily Koppel (born 1981) is a writer living in New York City. She is known for her books '' The Red Leather Diary'' (2008) and ''The Astronaut Wives Club'' (2013). Career Koppel writes for ''The New York Times'' and other publications. She gradu ...

's 2013 book of the same name. The series tells the story of the wives of the

Mercury Seven The Mercury Seven were the group of seven astronauts selected to fly spacecraft for Project Mercury. They are also referred to as the Original Seven and Astronaut Group 1. Their names were publicly announced by NASA on April 9, 1959; these sev ...

—America's first group of

astronauts An astronaut (from the Ancient Greek (), meaning 'star', and (), meaning 'sailor') is a person trained, equipped, and deployed by a human spaceflight program to serve as a commander or crew member aboard a spacecraft. Although generally r ...

—who together formed the

Astronaut Wives Club The Astronaut Wives Club was an informal support group of women, sometimes called Astrowives, whose husbands were members of the Mercury 7 group of astronauts. The group included Annie Glenn, Betty Grissom, Louise Shepard, Trudy Cooper, Marge Sl ...

. Actresses

Dominique McElligott Dominique McElligott (born March 5, 1986) is an Irish actress. She has appeared as a series regular on '' Raw'' (2008), ''Hell on Wheels'' (2011–2012), '' The Astronaut Wives Club'' (2015), '' House of Cards'' (2016–2017), '' The Last Tycoon' ...

Yvonne Strahovski Yvonne Jaqueline Strzechowski (born 30 July 1982), known professionally as Yvonne Strahovski (), is an Australian actress. Primarily noted for her roles in dramatic television, she has received numerous awards and nominations, including two Pri ...

JoAnna Garcia JoAnna García Swisher (''née'' García; born August 10, 1979) is an American actress. She is known for her roles as Sam in ''Are You Afraid of the Dark?'' (1994–96), Vicki Appleby in ''Freaks and Geeks'' (1999–2000), and Cheyenne Hart-Mo ...

Erin Cummings Erin Lynn Cummings is an American actress and online film pundit. She has appeared in the television series, ''Charmed'', ''Dante's Cove'', ''The Bold and the Beautiful'', ''Cold Case'', ''Dollhouse'', '' Spartacus: Blood and Sand'', and ''Detr ...

, Azure Parsons,

Zoe Boyle Zoe Boyle (born 1 January 1989) is an English actress known for her roles as Lavinia Swire on the series ''Downton Abbey'' and Trinity Ashby on ''Sons of Anarchy''. Education Boyle attended the Royal Central School of Speech & Drama, at the ...

, and

Odette Annable Odette Juliette Annable (; born May 10, 1985) is an American actress. She is known for various roles in film and television, including as Dr. Jessica Adams in the Fox medical drama series '' House'', Beth McIntyre in the monster film ''Cloverf ...

play the roles of the astronauts' wives. ''The Astronaut Wives Club'' premiered on June 18, 2015. Following the completion of its run, the series' developer noted the series had been planned as a miniseries, telling a complete story. However, co-creator Stephanie Savage revealed in an interview with ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'' that the producers were interested in making the series an anthology in case it gained a renewal for a second season. Possible seasons would have featured wives of men in the 1920s, wives of World War II soldiers, wives of men who work on Wall Street, and wives of men in the 1980s, among other possible scenarios.

Cast and characters

Main

Betty Grissom Betty Lavonne Grissom (née Moore; August 8, 1927 – October 7, 2018) was the plaintiff in a successful lawsuit against a NASA contractor which established a precedent for families of astronauts killed in service to receive compensation. Her husb ...

Rene Carpenter Rene Carpenter (April 12, 1928July 24, 2020) was an American newspaper columnist and host of two Washington, D.C., television shows. As the wife of Scott Carpenter, one of the Mercury Seven astronauts, she was a pioneering member of NASA's earl ...

as Louise Shepard *

as Trudy Cooper *

as Marge Slayton * Azure Parsons as

Annie Glenn Anna Margaret Glenn (née Castor; February 17, 1920May 19, 2020) was an American advocate for people with disabilities and communication disorders and the wife of astronaut and senator John Glenn. A stutterer from an early age, Glenn was notab ...

as Jo Schirra *

Desmond Harrington Desmond Harrington (born October 19, 1976) is an American actor. He has appeared in '' The Hole'' (2001), ''Ghost Ship'' (2002), and '' Wrong Turn'' (2003), Desmond joined the cast of the Showtime series '' Dexter'' in its third season, as D ...

Alan Shepard Alan Bartlett Shepard Jr. (November 18, 1923 – July 21, 1998) was an American astronaut, naval aviator, test pilot, and businessman. In 1961, he became the second person and the first American to travel into space and, in 1971, he beca ...

Bret Harrison Bret Michael Harrison (born April 6, 1982) is an American actor and musician known predominantly for his work on comedy television series such as ''Grounded for Life'', '' The Loop'', ''Reaper'', and '' Breaking In''. Early life Harrison was bo ...

Gordon Cooper Leroy Gordon "Gordo" Cooper Jr. (March 6, 1927 – October 4, 2004) was an American aerospace engineer, test pilot, United States Air Force pilot, and the youngest of the seven original astronauts in Project Mercury, the first human spa ...

Wilson Bethel Wilson may refer to: People *Wilson (name) ** List of people with given name Wilson ** List of people with surname Wilson * Wilson (footballer, 1927–1998), Brazilian manager and defender *Wilson (footballer, born 1984), full name Wilson Rodr ...

Scott Carpenter Malcolm Scott Carpenter (May 1, 1925 – October 10, 2013) was an American naval officer and aviator, test pilot, aeronautical engineer, astronaut, and aquanaut. He was one of the Mercury Seven astronauts selected for NASA's Project Mercury ...

Aaron McCusker Aaron McCusker is a Northern Irish actor. He is best known for his portrayal of Jamie Maguire in the Channel 4's television series '' Shameless'' and Jim Hutton, Freddie Mercury's boyfriend, in the 2018 feature film ''Bohemian Rhapsody''. Ear ...

Wally Schirra Walter Marty Schirra Jr. (, March 12, 1923 – May 3, 2007) was an American naval aviator, test pilot, and NASA astronaut. In 1959, he became one of the original seven astronauts chosen for Project Mercury, which was the United States' f ...

* Kenneth Mitchell as

Deke Slayton Donald Kent "Deke" Slayton (March 1, 1924 – June 13, 1993) was a United States Air Force pilot, aeronautical engineer, and test pilot who was selected as one of the original NASA Mercury Seven astronauts. He went on to become NASA's first ...

* Sam Reid as John Glenn *Joel Johnstone as

Gus Grissom Virgil Ivan "Gus" Grissom (April 3, 1926 – January 27, 1967) was an American engineer, pilot in the United States Air Force, and member of the Mercury Seven selected by National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) as Project Mercur ...

Luke Kirby Luke Farrell Kirby (born June 29, 1978) is a Canadian actor. In 2019, he won a Primetime Emmy Award for his guest role as Lenny Bruce on the television series ''The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel''. Early life Kirby was born in Hamilton, Ontario, to ...

as Max Kaplan

Recurring

Evan Handler Evan Handler (born January 10, 1961) is an American actor who is best known for playing Harry Goldenblatt, a divorce attorney and later husband of Charlotte York on ''Sex and the City'' (2002–2004) and its revival series ''And Just Like That…' ...

as Duncan "Dunk" Pringle *

Matt Lanter Matthew MacKendree Lanter (born April 1, 1983) is an American actor and model. He began his modeling career in 2004. The same year, he acted in the film '' Bobby Jones: Stroke of Genius'' and the television series '' Point Pleasant''. He went ...

as Ed White *

Antonia Bernath Antonia Geraldine Audrey Lee Bernath (born 1980/1981) is an English actress, voiceover artist and singer. She began her career in the CBS series ''Elvis'' (2005) and the Bollywood film '' Kisna: The Warrior Poet'' (2005). She then starred in the ...

as Susan Borman * Stella Allen as Alice Shepard * Madison Wolfe as Julie Shepard * Lorelei Gilbert as Candy Carpenter *

Dana Gourrier Dana Michelle Gourrier is an American actress, known for her roles as Cora in the film ''Django Unchained'' (2012), and as Minnie Mink in ''The Hateful Eight'' (2015), both directed by Quentin Tarantino Quentin Jerome Tarantino (; born Ma ...

as Antoinette Gibbs * Haley Strode as Jane Conrad *

Holley Fain Holley Fain (born August 28, 1981) is an American actress, known for her roles as Dr. Julia Canner on the ABC medical drama series ''Grey's Anatomy'', and Maureen van der Bilt on The CW's teen drama ''Gossip Girl''. She is also known for portray ...

as Marilyn Lovell *

Nora Zehetner Nora Angela Zehetner (born February 5, 1981) is an American film and television actress. Early life Zehetner was born in El Paso, Texas, the daughter of Nancy Lynne (née Nelson) and John Carol Zehetner. She attended elementary school in Richar ...

as Marilyn See *

Alexa Havins Alexa Carole Havins (born November 16, 1980) is an American actress. She first came to prominence in 2003, when she became the originating actress in the role of Babe Carey Chandler on the soap opera ''All My Children''. Her role as the flawed b ...

as Pat White * Ryan Doom as

Donn F. Eisele Donn Fulton Eisele (June 23, 1930 – December 1, 1987) (Colonel USAF) was a United States Air Force officer, test pilot, and later a NASA astronaut. He occupied the command module pilot seat during the flight of Apollo 7 in 1968. After ...

Production

''The Astronaut Wives Club'' was originally scheduled to be broadcast during the 2013–14 American television season. On February 5, 2014, ABC officially ordered a limited series of ten episodes. It was expected to premiere on July 24, 2014, but was pushed to spring 2015 to undergo changes. It premiered on June 18, 2015.

Episodes

Reception

''The Astronaut Wives Club'' has received mixed reviews. Review aggregator site,

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...

, has given the series a "mixed or average" score of 60 out of 100, based on 23 critics. On another review aggregator site,

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

, it holds a 50% rating, based on 28 reviews. The critical consensus there reads: "''The Astronaut Wives'' relies on poorly paced storylines and clichéd characters, both used in service of a fact-based narrative that would have been better served in a more serious context."

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Astronaut Wives Club, The 2010s American drama television series 2015 American television series debuts 2015 American television series endings American Broadcasting Company original programming English-language television shows Project Mercury Television shows based on books Television series about NASA Television series based on actual events Television series by ABC Studios Television series set in the 1960s Television shows set in Mississippi Scott Carpenter Gordon Cooper John Glenn Gus Grissom Wally Schirra Alan Shepard Deke Slayton