USA Network's "The Starter Wife" began as a miniseries last summer, and it starts over tonight at 9 as a weekly series, providing a similar souffle of light entertainment.

Disposable as it may be, "Starter Wife" still has more to recommend about it than, say, NBC's "Lipstick Jungle," starting with lead actress Debra Messing ("Will & Grace"). She's immensely likable as Molly Kagan, the ex-wife of a Hollywood executive (David Alan Basche replaces Peter Jacobson, now a series regular on "House"). Messing has an everywoman appeal that shines through in this role. Other than a few vocal inflections, she avoids giving a performance that would invite comparisons to her "Will & Grace" role.

As the series begins, the miniseries' happy ending has been obliterated. Molly is learning to live on her own after breaking up with homeless hunk Sam. She envisions herself as Elizabeth, the virgin queen, who swears off dating and sex. (As in the miniseries, Molly routinely imagines herself in scenes from the movies.) She's also trying to economize, passing up the chance to buy a pair of boots that friend Joan (Judy Davis) says cost "only $1,200."

"'Only' and '$1,200' don't go together anymore," Molly says. Later she compares depriving herself of the shoes to tantric sex.

Molly still hangs with Joan and Rodney (Chris Diamantopoulos), but another friend, Cricket (Miranda Otto, who may have been tied up starring in the short-lived "Cashmere Mafia"), is MIA.

For the series, the stories are no longer all Molly-centric. Joan and Rodney get their own plots.

Molly makes a new friend (Danielle Nicolet, "Heartland") at her daughter's school and, despite her protestations, she finds a new love interest (Hart Bochner) at a writing seminar. (Joe Mantegna returns in three episodes as Molly's former boyfriend, Lou.)

Producers said they always intended "Starter Wife" to be a one-shot miniseries, but after its ratings success, USA wanted more despite a happy ending that wrapped up the story.

"And then all of a sudden, oh, we need conflict. Let's throw everything up in the air and make sure that everything has a happy ending ... has gone a little bit south," said executive producer Josie McGibbon. "The relationship not quite working out as she thought. The children's book not quite working out as she thought. And now it's real life after divorce."

Even though "Starter Wife" veers from broader comedy to fantasy sequences to more realistic moments of drama, the series does something viewers don't often see on TV: It depicts a formerly married couple still dealing with one another in ways that are often civil and sometimes even sympathetic.

"Starter Wife" kicks off with a two-hour premiere, which may be too much of this fizzy concoction in one dose, but even at that, this "Wife" is a better Friday night option than CBS's similarly female-skewing "Ex-List."

You could see this one coming: Just a few months after NBC announced it is buying The Weather Channel, NBC and its affiliate board announced this week that it will shut down its Weather Plus service, carried locally on one of WPXI's digital sub-channels.

Although a Weather Channel-branded replacement seems logical, such an arrangement has not been announced. That could mean NBC plans to keep the brand to itself and not share it as a digital sub-channel with affiliates.

WPXI general manager Ray Carter said it will be difficult to continue to broadcast a Weather Plus Channel -- a mix of national forecasts with local inserts -- without the NBC partnership. (WTAE also has a weather and traffic digital sub-channel.)

Carter said Channel 11 will consider multiple options for how to use that channel after Weather Plus goes away sometime later this year. There's also discussion of what becomes of WPXI meteorologist Scott Harbaugh, whose primary responsibility is WPXI's Weather Plus channel.

"Being realistic, it's reasonable that if that channel goes away, the staffing we currently have in place wouldn't remain," Carter said. "We're trying to assess other opportunities for places that we could use the personnel. That is the hope and certainly the goal, but goals don't always get realized."

Carter said he's discussed the possible redeployment with Harbaugh.

"He's been terrific, nothing less than professional," Carter said. "He understands the decision was made for us [by NBC and its affiliate board]. Obviously, he'd like to remain with WPXI in some capacity. We're gonna do everything to see if that makes sense."

Travel Channel will broadcast live from Gettysburg tonight, 8-to-3 a.m., for "Most Haunted Live: Gettysburg," a paranormal investigation of five historic locations.

Penn State Public Broadcasting's two-hour program "Liquid Assets: The Story of Our Water Infrastructure" (3 p.m. Sunday, WQED) profiles two local communities, Herminie, which is in need of a wastewater treatment plant; and Pittsburgh, which has combined sewer overflows.

FX has canceled "The Riches" but has renewed "Sons of Anarchy" for a second season. ... HBO renewed over-the-hill "Entourage" for a sixth season. ... CBS's "The Mentalist" has inched closer to a full season pickup with an order for six more scripts. ... TBS has renewed "My Boys" for a third season.

This week's Tuned In Podcast includes conversation about TV shows with ratings woes ("Heroes," "Pushing Daisies"), the "Saturday Night Live" prime-time specials and ABC's "Life on Mars." Listen or subscribe at post-gazette.com/podcast.

Tuned In Journal at post-gazette.com/tv features links to "Chuck" webisodes, reviews of My Network TV's "Tony Rock Project" and CBS's "CSI" and a preview of the new "How I Met Your Mother" book, "The Bro Code."

Post-Gazette TV editor Rob Owen answers reader questions online every Friday at post-gazette.com/tv. Here's a question from today's online column:

Question: There has been one of those annoying "Gus the groundhog" Pennsylvania Lottery ads running for a Halloween scratch-off game. In features two people who hear noises in the basement and creep down there only to find the groundhog. I am convinced that the female in the commercial is our own Kelsey Friday, formerly of Brownie Mary. Is it?

-- John, 52, Delmont

Rob: Good eye, John! It is Friday in the spot, which she said she filmed in Philadelphia several years ago. The ad ran shortly after it was filmed and has now been revived, she said.

Ask TV questions at post-gazette.com/tv under TV Q&A.