The Original Wives Club (10 May 1998)

The lives of the astronaut wives during their NASA years and beyond - through speaking engagements and fashion shows, alcoholism and divorce.

Director:

Sally Field

Writers:

Andrew Chaikin (book), Karen Janszen,

Stars:

Tom Hanks, Jo Anderson, David Andrews

Cast

Episode cast overview, first billed only:
Tom Hanks	...	Himself - Host
Jo Anderson	...	Pat White
David Andrews	...	Frank Borman
Katie Austin	...	Susan Lovell
Robert Catrini	...	Reporter #48
Wendy Crewson	...	Faye Stafford
Ann Cusack	...	Jan Armstrong
Tim Daly	...	Jim Lovell
J. Downing	...	Charlie Duke
Sally Field	...	Trudy Cooper
R. Keith Harris	...	Charlie (as Keith Harris)
Jim Helsinger	...	PAO
John Michael Higgins	...	Master of Ceremonies
Kristie Horton	...	Barbara Lovell
Key Howard	...	Reporter #1

Storyline

The lives of the astronaut wives during their NASA years and beyond - through speaking engagements and fashion shows, alcoholism and divorce.

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Genres:

Action | Drama | History | Thriller

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

10 May 1998 (USA)

Filming Locations:

John F. Kennedy Space Center, Florida, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Home Box Office (HBO), Clavius Base, Imagine Entertainment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

55 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Goofs

The Public Affairs Officer commenting on the launch calls out 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, zero, ignition. However the Saturn V ignition sequence begins at T-8.9 seconds, leading up to liftoff when the count reaches zero.

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Soundtracks

"Boys"
Performed by The Shirelles
Written by Luther Dixon (as Luthor Dixon) and Wes Farrell
Courtesy of Highland Music, Inc., by arrangement with the Rhino Entertainment Company

User Reviews

Turmoil

This series offers perspective, the best things about this program, and it's worst. I really that. For these wives, their lives were all about helping their husbands make it to the moon. They sacrificed, and at some level they rarely saw those husbands. The end credits showed how a good percentage of those wives were now divorced from their husbands, and sometimes I wonder if it was worth it. "Do I go to the moon, or do I save my family?" There are so many cultures in the world that wouldn't put achievement above family, and these families were kinda united in their purpose and mission to go to the moon. But then what?

Their image gets mangled in the spotlight, they feel anxiety and pressure to even open up to their spouses about their problems in fear that their husbands will get scrubbed from their missions if they care about their family too much. That's not healthy. The missions to the moon proved that "mankind can do anything". But the question is, could a man go to the moon, be a world class geologist and bring back the right rocks, fly an experimental space craft flawlessly, and could he still be a good husband, a good father, and a man who cared about his community? I think the answer to that is 'no'. Man can do 'anything', but he can't do it all at the same time.