'Maneater'

It's "The Hills" crossed with "The Starter Wife," which means it has a perfectly ridiculous plot, some occasional snappy dialogue and a very, very good cast. In fact, "Maneater" is almost unforgivably well-acted. Although she is less than believable as a Paris Hilton-esque sleep-around, Chalke (so great in "Scrubs") uses her throaty laugh and terrific comic timing to make Clarissa, against all odds, likable. Winchester (last seen, often shirtless, in "Crusoe") has a certain chiseled warmth that makes true love at least a possibility and Greer is a terrific addition to any cast. She even manages to breathe new life into the "he'll never leave her" trope that was old by the time "When Harry Met Sally . . . " came out on video.

It is exasperating to see both another attempt to recapture that "Sex and the City" magic (hint: dumbing down the women is not a good direction) and another shot at the oh-so-shallow nature of life in L.A. (for the record, although women like Clarissa certainly exist here, they are the dominant species only in chick lit and on television). There is a good old-fashioned morality tale buried deep within the chichi lunches, McMansions and footwear references, and certainly many will consider "Maneater" a guilty pleasure. Still, it's hard not to wish the story had as much spark as the performances.

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mary.mcnamara@latimes.com

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'Maneater'

Where: Lifetime

When: 9 p.m. Saturday

Rating: Unrated