Hung goes for the top-shelf hooch

While I know that not everybody would agree, I’m really starting to get into HBO’s new series, Hung. And no, perverts, it’s not for any kind of dirty reasons. Rather, I’d say a large part of it is because it’s not what you’d expect from a show with this title and premise.

You see, Ray Drecker’s (Thomas Jane) just an ordinary guy. He’s got two kids, an ex-wife, and a house that’s inhabitable now that most of it has been structurally damaged by fire. Ray works as a coach/teacher at a local high school, getting called on the carpet in the principal’s office for swearing in front of the kids. No superstar sex pervert here.

My wife is watching the show warily, for now. Her concern, like many people’s, is that, eventually, this will become another Californication (which is a completely awesome show, and we’ll get to it in a minute.) But, you know what? See the paragraph above. That’s right; no matter how into the life Ray gets, he’s always going to have two kids, an ex-wife, a house that’s inhabitable now that most of it has been structurally damaged by fire, and a crappy job that he has to keep, in order to maintain appearances.

It’s also not about sex, or nudity, or vulgarity. Putting aside the fact that becoming a male prostitute is about as out-there an idea as being a drug dealer (Nancy, on Weeds), Hung is really about a guy who’s struggling just to keep it all together. Would it have made for an interesting show concept had he taken a second job selling vitamins at night, just to get by?

And, yes, it is kind of slow. But that’s not necessarily a bad thing; it also can be the mark of a show that’s taking its time building towards something, or a show that intends to tell a story for the long haul, instead of hitting us with pops and pows. I actually am appreciative of that.

It’s also telling that Ray’s about the only character I enjoy on the show, and I still really like it. His kids, Damon (Charlie Saxton), and Darby (Sianoa Smit-McPhee), seem to be there because having older kids just made sense with the story. His ex, Jessica (Anne Heche), is a bit of a shrew. His pimp, Tanya (Jane Adams), is as irritating on Hung as she was on Frasier. I’m waiting for Niles and Daphne to pop up and hit her over the head with a grand piano. Ronnie (Eddie Jemison), Jessica’s new husband, is enjoyable, possibly just because he’s so different from the character that Jemison’s best known for: Livingston Dell from the Oceans trilogy. Lenore (Rebecca Creskoff), the personal shopper introduced in the second episode, intrigues me, and I have a feeling she’s going to become one serious headache for Ray.

Actually, I thought that entire Lenore introduction was fantastic (thus my title). The “Happiness Consultants” are using a high-end personal shopper to facilitate dates for Ray with rich ladies. How incredibly brilliant, and out-of-the-box, is that? I don’t know; for some reason, I just can’t get over how clever an idea that is! Should Nancy Botwin ever decide to go back to peddling dime bags, she should definitely try and hook something like that up.

I’m prepared to be the only person who sees this, but I feel as if people who are fans of Californication should be very into Hung. In fact, I think that Hank (David Duchovny) would be a great outside contractor for Ray; I know Hank’s not into paying for sex, but I can’t imagine he’d object to getting paid for it. Plus, I think that, eventually, Ray could use a buddy like Hank. Yes, as I said above, he’ll always have the kids, ex-wife, etc. But, once he has some cash, is back in the house, has the kids back from the ex, and is really only into the teaching gig for the cover, he’d deserve to live in Hank Moody’s world for a while. At the very least, he’d likely enjoy it.

The sad thing is, even if they’re soul mates, HBO and Showtime would never go for the crossover. You know: corporate greed and all. Too bad they can’t be like Michael Connelly and Robert Crais, whose fictional characters Harry Bosch and Elvis Cole, respectively, happen to live in the same neighborhood. Each author gives the others’ character a shout-out in one of their books. It’s cute. And besides the point, of course.

If you’re into Californication, you should definitely be checking out Hung. If you’re not, give it a chance anyway. You’d be surprised how far it is from what you expect.

Clacked by Aryeh S.
on Jul 15, 2009 @ 16:30 EST5EDT