Yeah I enjoyed the pilot. I kind of liked the fact it wasn't too "pervy"...especially right off the bat. Jane & Adams were excellent here. Like someone else noted, Jane did an excellent job of portraying desperation but at the same time still maintaining strength. If the show can keep its buzz up and it can stay on this quality level (or hopefully improve) I could easily see nods for them come Golden Globes time ...and if they manage that then they would have to be mentioned as a possiblity come Emmy time. Especially Jane since comedy actor is a weaker categorey (at least in my mind). However those are pretty big ifs at this point.
FYC-Album of the Year: Maxwell's BLACKsummers'night
i remember conan o'brien mentioned this show like a year and a half ago as a joke on late night but never mentioned the name he just hbo was developing a series about a well endowed gym teacher who becomes a gigolo, and then when hbo start airing the trailer for it i remembered from conan and watched it last night and i gotta say it seemed pretty cool, i would imagin it gets a lot better as he starts getting cliental and the story gets deeper (no pun intended).
Posts: 13 | Location: CHICAGO IL. | Registered: June 23, 2009
I enjoyed the pilot as well. It was not the best pilot I have ever seen in my life, but it was entertaining. I think the show has a lot potential, HBO just has to push the envelope just a little bit more! I mean, c'mon, it's HBO!!! It seems like they are trying to push the envelope with the whole premise of the show and everything, but they are ultimately holding back. With that being said, I think Thomas Jane is a great find, and maybe we can see him at the Golden Globes and the Emmys next year if he really improves throughout the season! Also it was nice seeing Anne Heche back! It looks like she has a great role as the ex-wife from "kinda hell"... Jane Adams was good too! But like I said, I hope we will see this in future episodes, Hung is on HBO, so take full advantage of that! Don't hold back from pushing the envelope!
Grade: B
2010 Oscars FYC:
Lead Actor - Joseph Gordon-Levitt, (500) Days of Summer Lead Actress - Meryl Streep, Julie & Julia Supporting Actor - Christoph Waltz, Inglourious Basterds Supporting Actress - Mo'Nique, Precious: Based on the Novel "Push" by Sapphire Original Screenplay - Scott Neustadter & Michael H. Weber, (500) Days of Summer
Posts: 4940 | Location: Why Do You Want To Know? | Registered: November 21, 2006
Originally posted by thedemonhog: I was kind of looking forward to HBO's new comedy until I read Entertainment Weekly's review.
quote:
From Ken Tucker:
Take a title like Hung on a network like HBO, and you pretty much know what you're getting into with this new comedy. It stars the Punisher, Thomas Jane, as Ray Drecker, a schlub on the skids. Ray is a failed pro athlete, and now a bored high school coach. His 20-year marriage has ended, and his ex-wife, played by Anne Heche in her fearlessly unlikable mode (translation: If you loved Men in Trees, you won't enjoy her here), has married a rich guy who makes Ray feel inadequate. He pines for more time with his two teenage kids (Sianoa Smit-McPhee and Charlie Saxton), but their mom has custody most of the time.
See? I went a whole paragraph without saying that Ray has a gigantic penis. That's Hung's hook: Ray is built like the proverbial stallion, but he has to work like a mule to make ends meet. In this series, co-created by Dmitry Lipkin (The Riches) and Colette Burson, it doesn't take long for Ray to reach a stress point—most of his house burns down and he has to sleep in a tent because he can't afford anything better—to use his endowment to make money.
Ray has a one-night stand with a pleasantly neurotic poet named Tanya, played by the excellent Jane Adams (Frasier's Mel Karnofsky). They have no romantic spark, but she's looking to get out of a dead-end job, so Tanya, impressed by Ray's member, proposes that she become Ray's "pimp". Her business plan: They'll make their service distinctive, more classy-woman-friendly, by calling themselves "happiness consultants"—so much less crude than "escort service". Or "man-whore". (Hey, Tanya says that, not me.)
Unfortunately, Hung makes all the double entendres you'd expect. Ray says you have to make do with "whatever gifts God gave ya". A motivational speaker tells Ray, in advising him to come up with a marketable idea, to "identify your own tool" for success. Tanya and Ray's business is a "joint project".
This show's biggest problem is that aside from limp jokes, it seems to cancel out its two audiences: Women may be turned off by the notion that all gals want a thick sausage, and men may yawn because it's not explicit enough by HBO standards. (Compared with Hung, Entourage is an X-rated bacchanal.) Thomas Jane, though, is a revelation—he plays hopeless haplessness without coming off wimpy, and his initial uncomfortableness as a pro gigolo is charming. But Hung's awkward tone (partly intentional, since the pilot was directed by Alexander Payne, writer-director of that gem of awkward comedy Sideways) becomes frustrating. The series needs to commit: Either evolve into a funny, sexy stud-romp or hang it up.
C+
All I know is that I can't wait to see this. I have it on my DVR at home. Thomas Jane can punish me with that tool anytime!
Ratings for this were pretty good too. Biggest series debut for HBO in two years, since John from Cincinnati, and close to the premieres of Curb Your Enthusiasm and Sex and the City. So if all the reviews are right, and the show only gets better from here, looks like HBO could have another hit on their hands. And rightly so. I thought the pilot was very promising, and I look forward to seeing what the next eps bring for Ray and Tanya.
I thought that the pilot was pretty toothless, and for a risqué premise like this one, I found myself pretty bored with it, or just wondering where the edge was or the depth. The episode struck that weird tone where it wasn't funny enough to be comedic and not dramatic enough to be a drama, though all that was happening with Ray was fairly dour and gloomy. Thomas Jane carries the show well enough, but I'm not that interested in his character, Anne Heche's shrewish ex-wife character, or their nondescript gothy children. The only one that sparked some interest here was Jane Adams, who looks like she could be the show's secret weapon. She plays the neurotic ex to a T, and this gender reversal game with the "world's oldest profession" could get better down the road in later episodes. But this first complete taste was just an average one.
Grade for "Pilot": C
Congratulations, Primetime Emmy Winners!
Comedy Series: 30 ROCK Drama Series: MAD MEN Lead Actor in a Comedy Series: Alec Baldwin, 30 ROCK Lead Actress in a Comedy Series: Toni Collette, UNITED STATES OF TARA Lead Actor in a Drama Series: Bryan Cranston, BREAKING BAD Lead Actress in a Drama Series: Glenn Close, DAMAGES Guest Actress in a Comedy Series: Tina Fey, SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE Guest Actress in a Drama Series: Ellen Burstyn, LAW & ORDER: SPECIAL VICTIMS UNIT
Posts: 24753 | Location: North Carolina, USA | Registered: April 11, 2005
I will definitely keep watching this show. The pilot was not funny throughout, but when it tried to be, it was funny. And I will cut it some slack since it was a supersized episode that did an excellent job of setting up the show. It is quite early, but at this point, this looks like an episode that deserves Emmy consideration for directing and writing. Thomas Jane was not perfect, but he was really good, so an acting nomination for him would be nice too.
I watched the pilot a few days ago. I wasn't totally over the moon about it, but I'm certainly interested in finding out what happens next. Jane and Adams seem to have the beginnings of a great team happening.
The only thing I don't understand are the kids, specifically their looks. Thomas Jane and Anne Hache are decent looking people. Why are their kids so. . . not decent looking?
Posts: 3794 | Location: Earth | Registered: April 11, 2005
I think the way the kids look is supposed to be part of the joke. She was the beauty queen/head cheerleader, and he was the star athlete/king of the campus, so the irony is that their kids turn out to be so ordinary. And for a superjock like Ray to have a son who's so pudgy and weird, into Goth and such, is the ultimate irony, and another exmple of how far the life he's lived is from the life he dreamed of in high school.
Episode 2: "Great Sausage" or "Can I Call You Dick?"
In an effort to market Ray as a high-end “happiness consultant,” Tanya tracks down a former law-firm colleague named Lenore, who agrees to take Ray for a test ride in exchange for the names and numbers of wealthy women. Meanwhile, Jessica’s obsessive behavior grates on her kids, who push Ray to fix his fire-damaged house, but money mismanagement leaves Ray strapped for cash.
Written by Colette Burson & Dmitry Lipkin Directed by Craig Zisk
Posts: 2446 | Location: MA | Registered: June 16, 2005
I thought the second ep was very funny, particularly the scenes involving Lenore, Tanya and Ray. And with most male-centered shows, the female characters seem to have more going on. Ray seems to be a bit flat as a character, so far.
I really liked the second episode. It was funnier than the first, and the scenes with Lenore were a scream. The Botox scene in the kitchen was funny too (not the dialogue, just the fact that he was injecting botox in the kitchen). I'm still not crazy about Anne Heche's character though. If there is one character in the show that feels useless, it's her (after her husband, of course). But aside from that, she's too shrill and needy. I'd like to see the mother-in-law again. She was funny. I thought Thomas Jane was great. The way he portrays Ray's haplessness is kind of endearing, because he really is sincerely trying to turn his life around, but he just doesn't seem to know how to do it. He's a little bit clueless, which makes him charming.
The second episode was such a step up from the pilot. I officially love the show now. Lenore was a riot, and I can't wait to see what goes down with her in episode 3.
Also, I'm loving Jane Adams. LOVING HER. I'm praying she'll have some truly exceptional moments this season, and she becomes an Emmy contender. I'm also warming up to Thomas Jane's character.
Posts: 3794 | Location: Earth | Registered: April 11, 2005
Vast improvement over the Pilot; Adams is really coming into her own as is Jane's Drecker. Lenore was indeed hysterical and next week's episode, with the missing wallet, should be great.
"Ray, is that a hickey? No, of course not, I'm divorced!" Lol
Posts: 2446 | Location: MA | Registered: June 16, 2005
Originally posted by PA_Roolz: I really liked the second episode. It was funnier than the first, and the scenes with Lenore were a scream. The Botox scene in the kitchen was funny too (not the dialogue, just the fact that he was injecting botox in the kitchen). I'm still not crazy about Anne Heche's character though. If there is one character in the show that feels useless, it's her (after her husband, of course). But aside from that, she's too shrill and needy. I'd like to see the mother-in-law again. She was funny. I thought Thomas Jane was great. The way he portrays Ray's haplessness is kind of endearing, because he really is sincerely trying to turn his life around, but he just doesn't seem to know how to do it. He's a little bit clueless, which makes him charming.
Good way to describe Ray. Even the way Thomas Jane does the narration is how you'd expect the inner workings of Ray to be like.
I agree that Heche's char is shrill. I kinda cringed that she's part of the show and I was hoping she wouldn't be a regular fixture.
Ray and Lenore's sex scene was steamy and hilarious at the same time. And Tanya's a great supporting character. I hope this show finds its audience. I don't think it'll be this megahit, but I think it could find a loyal following.
Looks like this is gonna be HBO's next big hit. Numbers for the second episode were up significantly from the premiere, which is awesome. And it looks like HBO has finally found the magic combination for Sunday nights.
"True Blood" had 3.9 million viewers (a series high), and "Hung" had 3.6 million (up 29% from the premiere). The season premiere of "Entourage" had 3.4 million.
Not bad at all. Maybe "Hung" will get a pickup soon.
Gotta agree with the comments about Jane Adams. She is brilliant in this show, and the chemistry between her and Thomas Jane is magic. I hope there are lots of nominations in the future for these two. They deserve them.
Oh, and T-Brain!! Too funny!
This message has been edited. Last edited by: PA_Roolz,
Adams and Jane have a good rapport. The blowup and reconciliation of Ray and Tanya were acted well. It was a rather ingenious move for Ray to use Tanya's cookies with the laminated messages to get back at his neighbor and try to get Mrs. Koontz as a client.
I really hope the show doesn't pair Ray with Ann Heche's char. Heche's scenes were purely filler. It's good that Lenore wasn't a psycho after all, and maxed Ray's cards as a commission while still referring him to rich women as potential clients. I hope they keep Lenore and ditch Heche's character.
