HBO | 2009 | 315 mins. | MA
When the HBO series Hung premiered last June, I ignored it and didn’t watch a single episode. Based on the title, I assumed it would be some sort of empty headed sex romp. However, when I began watching my review copy a couple of weeks ago, I quickly realized the series has much more to offer. Created by Dmitry Lipkin (The Riches) and Colette Burson, Hung isn’t nearly as lascivious as its title. However, it does give the perpetually underrated Thomas Jane (Boogie Nights, Magnolia, 61*), a chance to shine. And while the show centers heavily on sex, it manages to be titillating without being profane.
Jane plays Ray Drecker, a high school history teacher and basketball coach in Detroit, Michigan. He’s an easy-going, well liked guy, but nothing seems to be going right for him. He’s divorced with two teenage kids, and wants them to live with him, but his public school salary is barely enough to make ends meet as it is, and when a fire guts much of his house, his already borderline financial situation becomes untenable. Ray starts searching for some talent or ability that might enable him to claw out of his financial mess. The one thing he has going for him? Ray is packing some serious heat in his boxers.
Enter the equally bedraggled Tanya (Jane Adams), who agrees to become his unlikely pimp, and the two begin a career in (her words) “happiness consulting.” Tanya, a poet, had done a poetry class for the kids at Ray’s school a couple years before, and the two had a sexual encounter. So, Tanya is well aware of Ray’s ‘special gift,’ and feels her god given creativity will give her the ability to do the necessary marketing for his services. Neither of them knows anything about the business or about business at all. It’s the blind leading the blind… to the bed.
Ray bumbles his way from one awkward sexual situation to the next, Tanya is nervous and flighty and occasionally threatened by Lenore (Rebecca Creskoff), who begins to bring her own clients to Ray, without first consulting her. While Hung is definitely a character study, meant to show how seriously the economic downturn is affecting people seen as upstanding citizens, it’s impossible to ignore the comedy that is inherent in every episode. When Ray begins his new endeavor, it’s pretty funny watching him trying to pick up ladies and figure out what he’s supposed to do.
While the first season of Hung had some enjoyable moments, I couldn’t help but wonder about the shows long-term viability. Aside from getting “Happiness Consultants” off the ground, the first season’s biggest concern seemed to be making sure Ray’s ex-wife Jessica (Anne Heche), didn’t find out about his new job. Jessica is married to an overcompensating dermatologist (Eddie Jemison). Because of the housefire, Ray and Jessica’s twin teenage children, Damon and Darby (Charlie Saxton and Sianoa Smit-McPhee), move in with their mother and stepdad. Jessica spends much of the season trying to bond with the kids while also trying to prove to her husband that she didn’t marry him for his money. All this feels largely disconnected, though it does pay off to a degree in forcing Ray to ponder what he did to lose Jessica to a guy so unlike himself. The relationship with Jessica also provides The Complete First Season with a poignant and surprising finale. It was a finale I wasn’t expecting, and one that made me want to watch the next season.
While Hung definitely isn’t for everyone, it doesn’t contain nearly as much sex as the premise would suggest, and the storytelling is surprisingly strong. While the jury’s still out on the shows longevity, I’m intrigued enough to keep watching.
Hung: The Complete First Season has ten half-hour shows, with an extended-length pilot. The programs were shot in widescreen and the anamorphic transfers on the DVD look excellent. The resolution is sharp and the rendering is clear and vibrant.
The main soundtrack is in English and mixed in 5.1. The soundtrack sounds great, with some nice inter-speaker effects. Dubs include a French 5.1 track and a Spanish 2.0 track, and there are also subtitles for all three featured languages.
DVD 1 has audio commentaries by series creators Dmitry Lipkin and Colette Burson on episodes 1 and 4, and the pair is joined for episode 8 on DVD 2 by writer Brett C. Leonard.
DVD 2 also has featurettes: standard behind-the-scenes stuff is seen in “About Hung” (9 minutes, 35 seconds); “The Women of Hung” (7:17), focuses on the female characters ob the show and how Ray interacts with them; and finally, two short promos, “Ray and Tanya’s Personal Ads.” These are commercials for the series in the form of fake commercials created by the characters to advertise Ray’s services.
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