Whitford ’81 Stars in New ABC Comedy Trophy Wife

David LowOctober 2, 20133min
Malin Akerman, Bradley Whitford '81, Machia Gay Hardin and Michaela Watkins in "Trophy Wife" on ABC
Malin Akerman, Bradley Whitford ’81, Machia Gay Hardin and Michaela Watkins in “Trophy Wife” on ABC

Bradley Whitford ’81 (The West Wing) stars as Pete Harrison, a high-powered environmental lawyer with three kids and two ex-wives in the new ABC comedy Trophy Wife, which premiered in September on ABC. On the Tuesday night show, Pete marries Kate, a younger woman, played by Malin Akerman, who previously led a rowdy, carefree life and whose life is shaken up with the new responsibilities of family life.

In his review of the program in The Hollywood Reporter, Tim Goodman wrote: “Whitford shines with his surprisingly Zen-like approach to having three women he’s been married to weave in and out of his life with varying results.”

In a positive review on the A.V. Club, Todd VanDerWerff writes that “the show has a supreme confidence in its ability to reveal character through conflict, something many comedy pilots avoid. … In particular, the series is smart about letting viewers know the point of view of everyone in the show, from Akerman to Whitford to all of the kids, right down to the 7-year-old adopted son from China. These points of view are inherently in conflict most of the time, which makes for funnier gags.”

And Matt Zoller Seitz of Vulture/New York Magazine said: “Trophy Wife is adept at sending up a certain segment of upper-middle-class America: its politically correct gestures and rituals, its overscheduled near chaos, its mix of technological dependence and back-to-nature sentiment.”

Whitford recently appeared on The Talk on CBS to discuss his new show. Watch him in the video below:

[youtube width=”640″ height=”420″]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IjEij6z6wmI[/youtube]