TV’s favorite twist: Start with a life crumbling

There’s a plot twist that ripples through many scripts:
Sure, it’s fun for someone to plunge into a new life. But first, why not show her old life crumbling?
That happens in “Sullivan’s Crossing” (shown here), which debuts at 8 p.m. Wednesday (Oct. 4) on CW; Dr. Maggie Sullivan soon retreats home. And it happens in “The Spencer Sisters,” which debuts at 9 p.m. that night; Darby Spencer soon retreats home.
Both shows have redheads who flee to cozier Canadian settings. Darby goes to a small college town, where her showy mom lives; Maggie goes to a Nova Scotia campground, where her grumpy dad lives.
(This summer, CW’s “Moonshine” saw Lidia Bennett also return to her parents’ Nova Scotia campground. But her life didn’t fall apart until she got there; and, inexplicably, she isn’t a redhead.)
Yes, there’s a sameness to such plots. But the idea of a life-crumbling start goes way back.
In the opening minutes of the 1981 movie “Stripes,” Bill Murray lost his job, his apartment, his car, his girlfriend and his pizza. Naturally, he then enlisted in the Army.
As the “Providence” TV series began in 1999, Dr. Sydney Hansen discovered her husband, a Hollywood agent, in the shower with a guy. “I can explain,” he said quickly.
(His explanation — “he’s a new client” — didn’t seem to suffice. She soon moved to Rhode Island to live with her dad.)
Cheating guys proliferate through these stories (and, apparently, through real life). Darby and Lidia each had one, as their lives crumbled; Maggie merely has someone who’s insensitive.
The basic idea is consistent. Shows want:
— Small-town or rural settings. That allows for backdrops that are softer and prettier; it also makes it logical for everyone to know everyone else.
— Women to return to their roots. That lets them re-examine their family, friends and decisions; often – at least in Hallmark and Lifetime movies – a former high school boyfriend is still waiting there.
These current series – which skip the old-boyfriend cliché — were created for Canadian networks, then sold to the CW. Still, they include some people Americans might recognize.
The main stars — Stacey Farber in “The Spencer Sisters,” Morgan Kohan in “Sullivan’s Crossing,” Jennifer Finnegan in “Moonshine” – have been fairly busy. Also, in “Spencer,” Lea Thompson (“Back to the Future”) is the mom; in “Crossing,” Scott Patterson (“Gilmore Girls”) is the dad and Chad Michael Murray (“One Tree Hill”) is the hunky stranger. (They’re shown here with KohN.)
But the two new shows differ in how they handle that opening part – a life caving in.
For “Spencer,” it happens sort of lightly. For “Crossing,” it’s overwrought. How likely is it that police will storm into a banquet and haul away (in handcuffs) two white-collar-crime suspects?
“Spencer Sisters” is simply fun, as two opposites merge. Darby brings her cop skills; her mom brings her audacity and her instincts as a mystery-novel author. They form a slick detective duo.
“Crossing” is far more serious. Maggie is haunted by the recent events and by the distant past. There’s a lingering darkness here – contrasting with the Nova Scotia beauty we’re glad she fled to.