Are the Astronaut Wives the new Mad Men? ABC blasts back to the 1960s for new TV drama about 'the first ladies of space'
Now that Mad Men has finally departed the small screen, it's time to bring on the ladies.
ABC's new retro TV series The Astronaut Wives Club revisits the fashion, music, drinking and, yes, sex, of the 1960s as seen through the eyes of the women who were collectively known as 'the first ladies of space.'
They were the wives of the first seven men to be selected to train as astronauts with NASA and found themselves thrust into the spotlight as their military husbands aimed for the moon, becoming American heroes in the process.
Join the club: ABC's new TV series set in the 1960s follows the stories of the women who were married to America's first seven astronauts and found themselves in the spotlight as their husbands aimed for the moon
The drama series is based on the book of the same name by Lily Kopel and recounts the early years of Project Mercury that paved the way for the later Apollo space missions.
Naturally, of course, the TV show's producers have taken a little license with history but all in the cause of entertainment.
The young women formed The Astronaut's Wives Club to support one another as their husbands embarked on dangerous space missions and paved the way for the first moon landing.
They were there for each other in triumph and in tragedy and helped to look after each other's children.
They also graced the pages of magazines and became the focus of fascination for other women - and men - around the world.
The way they were: Pictured in 1959, the real Astronaut Wives Club. Back row, Jo Schirra and Louise Shepard; middle row, Annie Glenn, Rene Carpenter and Marjorie Slayton; bottom row, Trudy Cooper and Betty Grissom
Hollywood version: It looks as if the wives got a little makeover for the drama series that debuts on June 18 and promises to immerse viewers in the glamor, fashions and lifestyle of 1960s America
Sneak peeks of the show reveal fabulously colorful outfits for the 'first ladies of space' and classic curls and upswept hair dos from the era just before the Swinging Sixties.
The women were homemakers first and foremost and much of the action appears to take place in and around their neighboring homes, with their tiny black and white TV sets and rotary telephones.
The women are seen gathering together around pot luck dinners or toasting the success of their husband's missions with champagne.
But there are darker moments too as they gather their young children around them as they watch rockets launch, not knowing if their husbands will survive the mission, and as the pressures of fame and the stresses of the space program stretch their relationships to the limit.
Stars in waiting: Dominique McElligott, left, plays Alan Shepard's wife Louise, Zoe Boyle is Jo Schirra, who's married to Wally, and Erin Cummings, right, plays Marge Slaton, wife of Deke, who becomes the club's leader
Supportive: The wives bonded over pot luck suppers and celebratory toasts. From left, Louise Shepard, Marge Slaton, Annie Glenn (Azure Parsons), Trudy Cooper (Odette Annable), Rene Carpenter ( Yvonne Strahovski) and Betty Grissom (JoAnn Garcia Swisher)
The show premieres on June 18 and if it's a hit it's likely to make big stars of its relatively unknown cast.
JoAnna Garcia Swisher, 35, star of ABC's Once Upon A Time, plays Betty Grissom, wife of Gus Grissom who became the second American to fly in space, after fellow Mercury Astronaut Alan Shephard.
Shepard's wife Louise is played by Dominique McElligott, 29, known for her role in the TV series Hell On Wheels and the film Moon.
Azure Parsons, 30, who got her breakout role in HBO's True Detective is Annie Glenn, whose husband John was the first American to orbit the earth.
Living the sixties: Early sneak peeks of the series suggest there'll be plenty of drinking and smoking as in Mad Men. Pictured is Downton Abbey actress Zoey Boyle as Jo Schirra
How it used to be: Viewers will be treated to a glimpse into the way Americans used to live with small black and white TV's with antennas on the top, girls in pigtails and bobby socks and rotary phones
Public and private lives: The ABC drama promises to explore the relationships between the astronauts and their wives and the challenges they faced as well as tell the story of NASA's pioneering space missions
Australian actress Yvonne Strahovski, 32, from Dexter and 24; Live Another Day, is cast as the glamorous blonde Rene Carpenter who's married to Scott (Wilson Bethel).
Odette Annable, 30, who appeared in the Fox series' House and Breaking In, is Trudy Cooper who agrees to reunite with the estranged husband Gordon so he can join the Project Mercury team.
English actress Zoe Ball, 26, the tragic Lavinia Swire in Downton Abbey, is Jo Schirra, wife of practical joker Wally.
Erin Cummings, 37, who found fame famous playing Spartacus' wife in the Starz series Spartacus: Blood And Sand, is Marge Slaton who becomes the de facto leader of the wives club after her husband Deke is grounded by NASA.
The real deal: The seven women, pictured, who were married to the original Project Mercury astronauts, were the subject of a best-selling book by Lily Koppel, on which the new TV series is based
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-3115943/ABC-series-Astronaut-Wives-Club-new-Mad-Men.html#ixzz3cXwbpTNf
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