"Because their house is upside down in value because of the economy and such, they can't sell it. And because they can't afford to live separately until they do, they get a divorce but they're forced to live together.
"He's trying to integrate into the gay community, and she's trying to integrate into the single world, but what they really do best is be married."
Basing a prime-time comedy show on your own relationship trials might seem like a pretty gutsy thing to do, but it's not a new idea for Drescher, who also imbued her characters in The Nanny and Living with Fran with her own stories.
The concept for Happily Divorced evolved naturally, beginning when she and Jacobsen reconciled after her battle with uterine cancer in the early 2000s.
"The cancer that I survived, one of the silver linings was that it pushed us back towards being friends, because he was very angry at me for leaving him. And so you know we've been kind of reinventing ourselves for the past 11 years and my diagnosis pushed things forward. A few years ago we decided to take a vacation to Paris together, and that was where we came up with the idea for doing a movie called Happily Divorced."
American cable network, TV Land, became interested when hunting for sitcom ideas.
"During the meeting they asked if there was an idea for a show I'd want to star in, and I said 'that's easy, that would be my relationship with my gay ex-husband, and the boyfriend that I have', and they bought it on the spot." TV Land has renewed the show for a second season. Drescher has found that despite the show being directly inspired by her unique story, it has multiple facets the public are relating to, and finding some pathos in.
"Being happily divorced is something that inspires people, coming out when you've been living a straight life is becoming a phenomenon that is more prevalent in all walks of life, and being forced to live together after you break up is something that you're seeing more and more of. So we get all three aspects of this one relationship in the series.
"It's not just a show about a woman whose husband comes out after 18 years of marriage, it's a show about people trying to survive a divorce and figure out how to reinvent the relationship, it's a show about dealing with a broken economy and trying to stay afloat and protect their one big investment. And it's funny."
This will be the third character called Fran that Drescher has played, and though there are similarities in her delivery - the sly winking, the enthusiasm, the laugh - she thinks this version might be the closest character to herself.
"Nanny Fine was more like the people I knew when I was in high school. She lacked sophistication, whereas this woman has started her own business, she's in her 40s, she's starting all over again, and she has a friendship with her ex-husband that's really unrivalled by any other relationship. And the audience like that she's grown up a little, she's a little wiser. It's not a Cinderella story, it's about a real woman."
There are a fair number of jokes in the show at Fran's expense, which go along the lines of 'how could she not have known he was gay?', something that the audience are sure to ask, and it's a question which Drescher has also had to ponder.
"I do think that people weren't surprised when they found out [about Jacobsen].
"We do do an episode which explores one of the aspects as to why she chose not to examine the possibility, and it's because she didn't want to be alone. She's afraid to be alone, and so turned a blind eye. And I think that is very close to the truth with me as well. Denial ain't just a river in Egypt."
Indeed, but Drescher has never been one for denial, or hiding, or regrets, embracing her celebrity and always turning the negative experiences into positive lessons.
"I feel very blessed, it's a nice thing that at this stage of my life, and in this economy that I should find myself here, and I think the show has a wonderful message to it. You know the global message of love is love, and it doesn't matter what your orientation is, be an authentic person, live an authentic life, and accept people and love them for who they are, not who you want them to be.
"It's hard, but you have to try."
Lowdown
Who: Fran Drescher
What: new sitcom Happily Divorced
Where and when: TV2, Sunday, 8pm
-TimeOut
