Hung, "'A Dick and a Dream' or 'Fight the Honey'": Pour some honey on me

Some quick thoughts on the "Hung" season finale coming up just as soon as the universe tells me something...

"There are moments in your life when you realize God is joking." -Ray

Ten episodes is not a lot, even for a cable show. Fans of "The Wire" know exactly how much more rushed a 10-episode season can feel versus 12 or 13. So I don't want to be too hard on the "Hung" finale, and the first season in general, knowing what Dmitry Lipkin, Colette Burson and company had to work with. But...

Part of the reason I gave this show a favorable review at the start, why I've stayed interested in it, and why I defended it when people asked me, incredulous, why I liked it, was that I felt it was going somewhere. Remember, I wrote my initial column having seen through the Margo Martindale episode, which suggested a progression both in Ray's escort career and in the show's style in general.

But I came out of the finale feeling very underwhelmed, as if I'd been expecting more than the show was capable of delivering. The story moved a fair bit at the very end - Ray now has to focus almost entirely on the escort job, Tanya and Lenore are reluctant co-pimps - and yet when the episode finished, my reaction was mainly, "That's all there is?"

To bring up "Breaking Bad" for the thousandth time, there's a show that had an even shorter first season (due to the writers strike) and yet it felt like the story advanced enough, and the characters grew enough, that the journey felt satisfying and I was eager to see more. Here, it feels like there's a good premise and two strong central performances from Thomas Jane and Jane Adams, but the season feels empty looking back on it. (I could say the same thing about Lipkin's previous show, "The Riches," though I like "Hung" quite a bit more.) The final scene suggested that Tanya is going to try to unleash her inner Lenore next year, and I look forward to seeing that, but even as a fan of slow-build shows like "The Wire" and "Breaking Bad," this season was too leisurely for me.

That said, the finale had that one great scene with Ray and Jess on the phone, on opposite sides of the door to her hotel room, both knowing that Jess was about to engage the services of a hooker, but only Ray knowing that it would be him - and despairing at the realization that their lives had come to this point. If Anne Heche wasn't as good at dialed-down emotional moments like this, her exaggerated daffiness the rest of the time wouldn't bug me as much. (Okay, it would still bug me, but it wouldn't seem like she was wasting her real talent.) And Thomas Jane, as you'd expect, nailed it.

I'm still looking forward to next season (which will air again in the summer, where viewing options will be fewer). But I'd be looking forward to it a lot more if the finish to this season had felt stronger, and if I had a clearer sense of where this was all going.

What did everybody else think? Click here to read the full post

Hung, "This Is America; or Fifty Bucks": Suit up!

I'm on vacation, but I got to see tonight's "Hung" (and last week's, which I didn't write about) before I left. No time to offer any thoughts beyond my fear that Tanya is setting herself up for major trouble with Lenore, but for those of you watching, I figured I'd offer up a chance to talk about what's going on. What did everybody else think? Click here to read the full post

Hung, “The Rita Flower; or The Indelible Stench”: Pimp fail

Quick spoilers for tonight's "Hung" coming up just as soon as I enter through your subconscious...

On the Ray front, we got to learn that a man who'd be his own pimp has a fool for a hooker, and we got a payoff to the joke from a few episodes ago where Ray gave Mrs. Koontz some of Tanya's Lyric Bread, apparently not realizing what messages were in it. But overall, his half of the episode felt like the show is spinning its wheels a bit on the Jemma storyline. We all know that he's kidding himself, that she's stringing him along, and that it's going to end badly, and at this point it's only a question of waiting to see how bad the end will be.

Tanya's story was more interesting, and I'm not just saying that because I was once state forensics champ in Humorous Interpretation(*). Rhea Perlman as Tanya's intellectual mom is casting against type, but she nailed every judgmental note, and it was nice to see that Pierce's "project" was a success in the end. I thought it was a particularly good touch to have Jane Adams play that final scene as if Tanya were regressing back to the 14-year-old who wrote the ant poem, lying on the bed, feet up, as she pondered what to write about the way the light was hitting the dust.

(*) Hi, my name is Alan, and I'm a geek.

We deliberately didn't get a lot of Ray and Tanya together in this one, but I hope that's only a short-term situation. To me, "Hung" is at its strongest when the two Janes are bouncing off each other.

What did everybody else think? Click here to read the full post

Hung, "Doris Is Dead; Are We Rich or Are We Poor?": Fantasy becomes reality

Quick spoilers for tonight's "Hung" coming up just as soon as I suffer fools gladly...

"And suddenly, I wanted to win. I wanted to win while she watched." -Ray

It's a cliche of stories about prostitutes -- let's call it Pretty Woman Syndrome -- that the whores all dream of finding a rich, handsome, kind john who will whisk them away from this awful life. This storyline with Jemma isn't exactly the gender-flipped version of that, but it's similar.

What we're seeing is Ray's continued struggle to accept the realities of the business he has chosen. He seems startled when Jemma agrees that he's a whore, thinks nothing of revealing his true identity to her, and even offers to stop charging her. It's one thing for him, it seems, to play the part of the escort when the client looks like Margo Martindale -- when there would be no chance of intimacy outside of this professional arrangement. But when she looks like Jemma, and when the games Jemma plays start to turn Ray on, then... well, then Ray starts acting like she's his girlfriend. And that's dangerous territory, whether or not Jemma (who's crazier than Ray wants to admit) decides to reveal his secret identity to the world.

But while his fixation on Jemma isn't smart, or emotionally healthy, it did have the odd benefit of making him a better basketball coach for a few minutes. Actually, we've seen for a few episodes now that when Ray's side career is going well, it seems to bleed into his regular life, making him happier, more confident and simply better.

As with "Do It, Monkey," Ray's struggle to play along with Jemma's fantasies -- particularly the couples therapy scene -- helped keep the comedy quotient high, as did Tanya's predictably sad attempt to enforce the rules of her agency. Not that I want to make the "Breaking Bad" comparisons every week (especially since Colette Burson said at press tour that she's interested in different things than that show), but in the context of that show and the performance of Bryan Cranston, I can come to believe that a dweeb like Walt White could turn into a physically intimidating criminal genius. On this lighter show, with the funny but intentionally pathetic performance of Jane Adams, I can't envision a future where Tanya is putting the fear of God into clients with her pimp hand. So either she's going to have to come up with a more clever method of enforcing the rules, or she's going to have to hire some muscle (or have Ray take on some of the pimping duties).

One final note: Tanya meets Ray's family, and makes a comment about how she can kinda/sorta/maybe see the resemblance between Ray and Damon. So while the cast and producers are sensitive to complaints about the casting of the two kids (mainly because you can read an undercurrent of "why aren't they better-looking?" to those complaints, whether it's intended or not), clearly it's something they're aware of as well, and willing to acknowledge within the context of the show.

What did everybody else think? Click here to read the full post

Hung, "Do It, Monkey": Too early for flapjacks?

Spoilers for tonight's "Hung" -- plus my take on the show's heated press tour session -- coming up just as soon as I snort with derision...

I'll go into more details on the press tour session at the end, but one of the more interesting/confrontational moments came when a critic asked the creators whether the show was actually supposed to be considered a comedy, or if it was just a half-hour drama with occasional moments of humor. Everyone on the panel seemed surprised by this suggestion, particularly when the critic used this episode and next week's (which also features Natalie Zea as Jemma) as an example of the show heading into darker territory. The panelists (primarily co-creators Dmitry Lipkin and Colette Burson, plus Jane Adams) acknowledged that the show has its dark moments but that, as Burson put it, "We do think of it as a comedy of awkwardness," and they had a very different read on these episodes than the critic, who compared them to "Fatal Attraction."

While I do think "Hung" could stand to take a more overt step into the realm of comedy (or else take a firmer step back into the dramatic realm), I actually found "Do It, Monkey" to be the funniest episode so far. And if I were to compare it to a movie, it'd be "Groundhog Day," particularly the section where Bill Murray's character is still trying to trick Andie MacDowell into sleeping with him, and making minute changes to his approach with each passing day based on how she responds to him.

The difference here, of course, is that Ray isn't actually reliving the same moments over and over, and both he and Jemma are very much aware of the game they're playing. But seeing them go through this charade over and over, and seeing lunkhead, insensitive Ray struggle to understand what this crazy lady wants from him, led to more laughs than the show has provided in average in previous weeks. Thus far, most of the go-to humor has come from Tanya -- specifically, the idea of scattered, ineffectual poet Tanya trying to act as a pimp -- but there's a lot of comic potential in Ray learning the emotional side of his new career, especially since that's turning out to be more important than his giant tool.

Beyond that, "Do It, Monkey" also offered some nice role reversals for our central characters. Jess's husband Ron loses a lot of his money in the stock market, and Floyd the motivational speaker is revealed (to us, if not entirely to Tanya) as a fraud who rents his expensive car and can't afford to just give away paraphernalia if it's not going to get him either sex or money. And that leads to the poignant, mortifying moment when Floyd -- whom she went out with out of pity -- loudly rejects Tanya as not his type, and Tanya has to call up Ray, who by now is her only real friend, after her drunk and disinterested mom blows her off as well.

There have been times at this press tour where I've felt like the only guy in the room who likes this show -- a situation we'll revisit in a moment -- but an episode like "Do It, Monkey" makes me feel like I'm not completely nuts for going against the group consensus. It feels, like last week's episode did, like evidence that the show is slowly but surely finding its voice.

But because most of the room seems not to enjoy "Hung," and because the show's name and subject matter so easily lend themselves to jokes about sex and the male anatomy, the press tour session got... I don't want to say "hostile," though there were one or two points where Thomas Jane seemed very unhappy with us, but... uncomfortable.

For starters, it seemed like every question, intentionally or not, was laced with a double-entendre. The opening query (about inevitable comparisons to "Weeds" and "Breaking Bad"), for instance, included the phrase "working stiffs," and each time we heard a line like that, there were snickers in the crowd and sarcastic thumbs-up from Thomas Jane.

Several reporters euphemistically asked why we had yet to see Ray's "greatest tool," and when the producers tried to turn that into a discussion of how Ray is learning how to satisfy his clients' emotional needs, one frustrated critic bluntly asked, "Why is it that you choose not to show his penis?"

"Because it’s just so big and beautiful, it will blow your mind," Jane Adams cracked. "That’s why."

Burson then explained, to more snickers, "We think of it as a Platonic Plato’s penis on a certain level, like the perfect idealized penis. So there is a certain problem inherent in showing it because it might be too big for some people, too small for others. So we sort of think it’s perfect for everybody who comes in contact with it."

Later, when another reporter asked if Thomas Jane's anatomy was considered as part of the audition process, the fed-up leading man said, "I did have to go into the next room to disrobe so I wouldn’t hit anybody in the eye."

I certainly didn't help the mood in the room by raising the question, asked by many readers here on the blog, of why the actors cast to play Damon and Darby bare so little resemblance to Thomas Jane and Anne Heche. I tried to couch it in terms of whether there was either a plot point (the show implying that the kids aren't really Ray's) or a thematic one (that, like so much in Ray's life, his kids didn't turn out quite as he expected them to), but the panel seemed to think I was attacking the kids as ugly.

"Don’t pick on my kids," Thomas Jane growled. "Leave my kids alone, for God’s sake."

Later, he observed, "There is no reason this show should be good. The show should be bad. It’s about a guy with a big d--k who f--ks people for money. F--k you." And still later, after someone asked if Jane thought about what female prostitutes go through, he said, "Right, those poor sullied creatures of the night. No. Absolutely not. I just don’t want to know what they go through after I give them my $300."

After a gasp and a long moment of silence, Jane Adams asked, "Are you guys twittering? Did anybody get that? Because I can’t wait to read that s--t later."

I don't know that any of us -- critics and panelists alike -- covered ourselves in glory, either with my question or the session in general. But, again, the subject matter and the general critical reaction to the show made this sort of awkward half-hour all but inevitable.

That said, Burson, Lipkin and company did offer up some interesting answers to things we've been wondering about, beyond the question of why we have yet to see Ray do the full Monty.

For instance, Burson talked about the "Breaking Bad"/"Weeds" comparisons and said she felt those shows were very concerned with the main character maintaining his/her secret identity, and "We’re not so interested in that. Like, we’re not interested in who finds out and him trying to hide it. Like, that feels false to us. We are much more interested in him alone in a room with a woman or his relationship with his ex-wife or his relationship with his pimp. It’s really about those interconnections for us."

And Jane Adams told a funny story about being on a plane with Terrence Howard (Oscar-nominated for playing a pimp in "Hustle & Flow"). "I had worked with him before, and he was sitting right next to me. So I was, like, 'I'm playing a pimp.' And he had a lot to say about playing a pimp and a lot of stuff. And I realized, you know, this has nothing to do with Ray and Tanya right now..."

I spoke briefly with Adams and Burson after the panel, and hopefully I can interview Burson and Lipkin as the season moves further along to talk about the show's learning curve. And in the meantime, what did everybody else think of this episode? Click here to read the full post

Hung, "The Pickle Jar": Taking care of business

Quick thoughts on episode four of "Hung" coming up just as soon as I donate one and a half structural beams...

"This might be your first time, but this is what I do. I'm a professional." -Ray

"The Pickle Jar" was the last episode I saw in advance, and the one that really convinced me that "Hung" was trending in the right direction. As I've said before, the show seems to be following the "Breaking Bad" model of letting its protagonists take their sweet time at learning how to be criminals. If Ray had a successful encounter with the woman in the hotel in the pilot, it wouldn't have felt nearly as satisfying as it did after we've seen him and Tanya flail about for most of these first four episodes. Maybe, it seems, Ray really does have a future as a gigolo, and Tanya as a pimp.

The two Janes (as I think I want to start referring to our stars) were helped in this one by the presence of Margo Martindale as Ray's first real client. I wasn't crazy about "The Riches," the previous series from "Hung" co-creator Dmitry Lipkin, but I always thought Martindale was terrific as the pill-popping neighbor, and she added a lot of depth and pathos to her scenes here opposite both leads.

Speaking of pill-popping, at what point do you suppose "Hung" is going to address the role of Viagra in Ray's new career? One of the many tricks of the trade I learned from "Secret Diary of a Call Girl" -- which, in the end, was really only interesting for the tricks of the trick trade -- was that all male escorts have to keep a steady supply of ED pills handy, just in case the client doesn't stir a reaction on her own. I assumed that's where they were going with the Martindale story -- that Ray bolted because he feared he couldn't perform with an older, heavier woman -- but, no, he was really sick, and when he showed up the second time he had no problems in that area. Or are we supposed to assume that this is one of the other gifts that qualifies him to conquer the Detroit metro area male escort market?

Whether or not his physical gifts are greater than we know so far, what made the final sequence work was that we saw that Ray does, in fact, have more going for him than his anatomy. He knew what the client needed to hear, and he made her feel good about herself even before they got down to the act itself.

I remain on the fence about Ray's family, though. At least the kids are starting to get personalities and stories of their own here, as we see that Damon cares a little too much about his role in Darby's life. As for Jess, is there anyone here who doesn't think her encounter with the heinous Lenore will eventually lead to her trying to become one of Big Donnie's clients?

What did everyone else think? Click here to read the full post

Hung, "'Strange Friends' or 'The Truth Is, You're Sexy'": Public indecency

If I wasn't on vacation, I'd write about how I think "Hung" continues to get more fun -- highlighted in this episode by Tanya's loud defense of her pimping credentials -- but since I'm not back on the clock until tomorrow morning, I'll simply ask what you all thought of it. Click here to read the full post

Hung, "Pilot": Tool, shed

Spoilers for the premiere episode of "Hung" coming up just as soon as I refine my search engine terms...

"Here's an idea: you want to be a millionaire, why don't you go market your d--k?" -Tanya
"She definitely meant it as an insult, but somehow, I couldn't get the idea out of my head." -Ray, narrating

I talked a lot about the reasons why I like this show in my review on Thursday, so I just want to hit a few points here and see what you all thought of it.

The first is the charming, utterly self-deprecating performance by Thomas Jane as Ray. Not many actors could make a guy this pathetic -- even someone who recognizes and even embraces his own pathetic nature -- as likable as he does, nor could many make him seem as human even as he's being such an imbecile in so many ways. He and Jane Adams (and the double-Jane thing is going to get confusing in future blog entries, I fear) work very well together, and I loved his reaction to her excessive climaxing, and then having to listen to her post-coital poetry.

The second is that patience is going to be required here. Again, look at "Breaking Bad" as the model, and not just because both deal with high school teachers resorting to a life of crime to pay the bills. "Hung" is going to take its time getting Ray's career as a male prostitute(*) -- and Tanya's parallel career as a pimp -- off the ground. As "Breaking Bad" has shown (and as "The Wire" has, though I'm not yet prepared to set the bar remotely that high), series that show a little patience in depicting people learning how to do their jobs can reap big rewards as their characters get better at them. I've seen Ray make some progress in his man-whoring in later episodes, and it feels much more satisfying than if things had worked out just fine with the lady in the hotel who slipped the 50 under the door for his trouble.

(*) And if you're of a certain age, you can't hear that phrase without thinking of Dan Aykroyd as the decidedly less-glamorous Fred Garvin: Male Prostitute.)

The third, which I didn't have room to deal with much in the column, is that Ray's ex-wife and maybe his kids are on probation for me. Anne Heche is usually an acquired taste for me (while I didn't like "Men in Trees," it at least seemed to dial back her quirks a bit), and the role of Jessica seems to play to her more annoying qualities.

But for me, the show is about the reluctant partnership between Ray and Tanya, and the interplay between our two acting Janes, and I look forward to seeing more.

Keep in mind that the show isn't on next week because of the holiday weekend. (Which makes premiering it tonight odd, other than that the extra length would mean "Entourage" might need to be pushed back another week.)

What did everybody else think? Click here to read the full post

'Hung' review - Sepinwall on TV

In today's column, I review HBO's "Hung," the new comedy with Thomas Jane as... well, I want to avoid making the obvious jokes:

It's difficult to write about "Hung," HBO's new comedy about a well-endowed gym-teacher-turned-male-escort, without making an accidental double entendre or 12. After I watched the first episode, which runs about 42 minutes, and the second, which was only 26, I started asking questions about its length (it's a half-hour with a super-sized debut), and the first draft of this paragraph began with a synonym for "difficult."

Not helping matters is the way "Hung" itself embraces every joke you could make about its premise. Main character Ray Drecker (Thomas Jane), for instance, is inspired to join the world's oldest profession after attending a get-rich-quick seminar where the teacher advises each student to identify their "one winning tool."

If "Hung" were just a lot of obvious punch lines about the male anatomy -- and about the mortification of an aging jock having to sell his body and work for a female pimp -- well... well, then it would still be a funny, albeit completely juvenile comedy about the state of 21st century American masculinity.

But "Hung" has more to offer than just John Thomas jokes. Amidst all the sniggering humor about how Ray has been taught to "do your best with the gifts God gave you" is some smart comedy about the state of 21st century America in general, as well as a superb lead performance from Thomas Jane.

You can read the full "Hung" review here.

As the review suggests, I'm a fan, and this will be working into the regular blog rotation starting Sunday night (or Monday morning). Click here to read the full post