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For 'Footballers Wive$,'
a limp hurrah

Soapy British series got the critics' boot

By Diego Vasquez
Jun 6, 2007

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The series finale of “Footballers Wive$” has already aired in Britain, and it wasn't a cheery end. The show lost more than a third of its viewership in its fifth and final season, in which “Dynasty” diva Joan Collins joined the cast. In a recent poll of British viewers the series-ender was voted the second-worst of all time, behind only “Crossroads,” another British series that seemed to have lost its way.

Now Americans will have a chance to decide themselves. The fifth season of “Wive$,” about the significant others of pro soccer players, premieres tonight at 8 p.m. on BBC America. In the first episode we find Amber looking for revenge on whoever killed her husband, Conrad, at the end of last season, and we meet a new star on the soccer team and his superstar model gal.

"Wive$" anchors a new night that BBC America is calling Wicked Wednesday, featuring soapy, trashy TV aimed at young women. It’s followed by “Absolutely Fabulous” and “Hollyoaks.”

British critics went after the final season of “Wive$” for its portrayal of the women as over-the-top-cute to cartoonish, and they savaged Collins, who plays a magazine publisher. The show was not helped by the real-life soccer scandals, such as David Beckham’s alleged infidelities, the parallels unpleasantly close.

For a while it looked as though “Wive$’” would find a second life in the U.S. ABC was considering a high-buzz pilot that would star big names like Lucy Lawless, James van der Beek and Ving Rhames. But the network eventually passed on it.

Still, “Wive$,” was BBC America’s top show among adults 18-34 last year and should give the network a further boost. The network’s average viewers in that demo rose 80 percent during first quarter this year, from a tiny 5,000 to 9,000, according to Nielsen data analyzed by Turner Networks.

A look at this week’s top TV draws
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 6
Time	Network	Program	Description
8 p.m.	ABC	"Next Big Thing: Who is the Greatest Celebrity Impersonator?" (R, G)	More auditions, this time from New York City.
8 p.m.	BBC America	"Footballers Wive$" (D)	Season premiere. The team's just-released-from-prison new player and his model wife shake things up.
9 p.m.	Fox	"So You Think You Can Dance" (R)	Four pro dancers help the contestants during callbacks, then they compete for a place in the next round.
9 p.m.	ABC	"American Inventor" (R)	Season premiere. Tonight it's casting calls in Los Angeles and San Francisco, with new judges George Foreman, Pat Croce and Sara Blakely.
9 p.m.	TBS	"Tyler Perry's House of Payne" (C)	Series premiere. The “Diary of a Mad Black Woman” creator's new sitcom, in which he guests as Madea.
10 p.m.	Bravo	"Top Chef: 4 Star All-Stars" (A)	Cooks from the first two seasons reunite for a cook-off, for which season three's contestants are judges.
10 p.m.	HBO	"Barbaro" (N)	A look at last year's Kentucky Derby winner and his untimely death.
THURSDAY, JUNE 7
Time	Network	Program	Description
8 p.m.	ABC	"Fast Cars & Superstars: The Young Guns Celebrity Race" (R)	Series premiere. NASCAR drivers teach celebrities the rules of the road, then they take what they learn to compete against one another.
8 p.m.	Court TV	"Speeders" (R)	Series premiere. Video footage of traffic stops gone awry.
9 p.m.	Fox	"So You Think You Can Dance" (R)	After another round of callbacks, the top 20 dancers are selected.
9 p.m.	ABC	"NBA Basketball" (S)	A finals game between the San Antonio Spurs and the Cleveland Cavaliers.
9 p.m.	Sundance	"John Safran vs. God" (N)	Safran meets the KKK Grand Dragon to see if a Jew can join the Klan.
10 p.m.	NBC	"Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip" (D)	Jordan needs emergency surgery and Tom's family issues worsen.
10 p.m.	MTV	"Nick Cannon Presents: Wild 'N Out" (C)	Season premiere. Cannon and the crew are back for a fourth season.
FRIDAY, JUNE 8
Time	Network	Program	Description
7 a.m.	ABC	"Good Morning America" (N)	Singer Robin Thicke performs.
8 p.m.	CMT	"Born Country" (R)	Fans of country line dancing try to convince friends that it's a cool thing to do.
8 p.m.	Nickelodeon	"Ned's Declassified School Survival Guide to Permission Slips, Field Trips, Love and Weasels" (K)	Art thieves get in the way of Ned's field trip to a botanical garden.
9 p.m.	Fox	"Standoff" (D)	A U.S. customs agent takes three hostages in Los Angeles.
9 p.m.	Univision	"Soccer" (S)	The Mexican national team takes on Cuba in Gold Cup pool play.
10 p.m.	Discovery	"Deadliest Catch" (R)	Newcomers on the Wizard struggle, while rookies on the Northwestern and Cornelia Marie do slightly better.
SATURDAY, JUNE 9
Time	Network	Program	Description
9 a.m.	NBC	"Tennis" (S)	The women's final at the French Open.
3 p.m.	CBS	"PGA Golf" (S)	Third round of the St. Jude Championship, live from Memphis.
3:30 p.m.	Fox	"Major League Baseball" (S)	More interleague this weekend: it's Astros-White Sox, A's-Giants or Mets-Tigers.
5:30 p.m.	ABC	"Horse Racing" (S)	The third jewel in the triple crown, The Belmont Stakes. Too bad there's no horse actually in the running for the crown.
8 p.m.	Soap	"Young and the Restless" (DD)	Miss this week's episodes? They're all lined up for you tonight, marathon style.
9 p.m.	National Geographic	"Shark Battleground: The Red Triangle" (N)	A look at a strip of water near California that claims the most Great White attacks in the world.
SUNDAY, JUNE 10
Time	Network	Program	Description
9 .m.	NBC	"Tennis" (S)	The men's French Open final.
1 p.m.	Fox	"Formula One Racing" (S)	A rare appearance for F-1 on broadcast TV with the Canadian Grand Prix in Montreal.
3 p.m.	CBS	"PGA Golf" (S)	Final round of the St. Jude Championship, won last year by Jeff Maggert, ending a personal seven-year winless streak.
8 p.m.	ABC	"Fast Cars & Superstars: The Young Guns Celebrity Race" (R)	Jimmie Johnson teaches Krista Allen how to drive a stick.
8 p.m.	CBS	"Tony Awards" (A)	The 61st annual event, live from Radio City Music Hall.
9 p.m.	HBO	"The Sopranos" (D)	Series finale. Will Tony bite it? Will this be a setup for a “Sopranos” movie? Only David Chase knows.
9 p.m.	ABC	"NBA Basketball" (S)	Another NBA Finals game.
A = awards show or special, C = comedy, D = drama, DD = daytime drama, G = game show, K = kids, M = movie, N = news/documentary, R = reality, S = sports, T = talk/variety show.