HBO’s Hung Not Ready for Prime Time
If you have to ask what this comedy is about after hearing the title, it isn't for you.
His teen children are aggressively non-photogenic, another television rarity. His son paints his fingernails black and cries after confronting his sister’s ex-beau. Said sister is overweight and grumpy. It it really worth becoming a male prostitute to spend more time with this duo?
Ray is staring failure in the face, and it didn’t have to end up this way. Years ago he was his high school team’s star, and he flirted with a professional sports career before injuries forced him into coaching. It’s a fascinating element, reminiscent of John Updike’s iconic Harry Angstrom character in his Rabbit novels. What happens to the high school superstar once real life takes over?
But Hung isn’t up for the challenge, at least not yet. The show’s early episodes focus on the silly back and forth between Ray and Tanya. If a romance eventually blooms between the two, all the better. But for now their exchanges hardly set off sparks. The performances prove inconsistent, and the show cries out for the kind of standout supporting player to spark the comedic elements. For a moment it seems like Hytner’s character could be the show’s saving grace, but he’s rarely used throughout the first few episodes. Heche plucks the same dour note as Ray’s ex. The actress isn’t a warm on-screen presence to begin with, and her character seems like a compendium of bitter ex-wife clichés sprung to life.
Jane’s Ray is Hung’s biggest selling point. He’s average in nearly every way possible. He grouses when he’s forced to wear a suit for his appointments. He’s also a bit of a pig, like when he blanches at an assignment involving a portly woman. The show seems destined for Ray to appreciate women better the more he gets to know them in the Biblical sense.
Naturally, the consequences of Ray’s new profession are given little attention. Could his customers give him a sexually transmitted disease, or vice versa? Isn’t he risking his career by dabbling in prostitution?
Still, Hung isn’t a lost cause. Jane is a formidable anchor for an adult-themed program, and the material can still be spun into a number of complex storylines.
So far, any moral wrangling is MIA. How would a middle-aged, middle American embrace such an extreme second job without asking himself if what he’s doing is right? It’s a question left unanswered, and until Hung comes within shouting distance of it the show appears destined for mediocrity.
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Christian Toto is a freelance writer and film critic for The Washington Times. His work has appeared in People magazine, MovieMaker Magazine, The Denver Post, The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, and Scripps Howard News Service. He also contributes movie radio commentary to three stations as well as the nationally syndicated Dennis Miller Show and runs the blog What Would Toto Watch?
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11 Comments
1. hBG:Once again, it’s the “so-called” Christian who’s portrayed as an idiot with low morals. Why not re-write this with Ray as a Muslim?
Any one?
Bueler?
As you point out, too, our free-love pushing screenwriters and producers always ignore the inconvenient truth of the existence of STDs; but that’s just par for the course.
Jun 28, 2009 - 6:05 am 2. Chris Grieb:I like a lot of HBO series but I will pass on this one.
Jun 28, 2009 - 8:19 am 3. Delia:I’m so glad I finally cancelled HBO.
Jun 28, 2009 - 10:11 am 4. jvon:I object to the portrayal of men with large penises as mentally challenged. I am boycotting HBO in protest.
Jun 28, 2009 - 10:11 pm 5. Douglas:How long before we have “F***ing with the Stars” on the television? Real porn actors, male and female, paired off with Hollywood celebs.
Jun 29, 2009 - 3:32 am 6. joe buzz:Hah! good one Douglas.
Jun 29, 2009 - 7:27 am 7. Blarty Blarckleblart:Maybe you guys will get lucky and it will bomb, like The Goode Family did.
Jun 29, 2009 - 1:10 pm 8. gordo:I was offered the role, but I turned it down.
Jun 29, 2009 - 4:45 pm 9. Tristan:The first episode of any show usually is pretty rotten because they spend half the time setting up the premise and you can see it a mile away and it usually doesn’t make any sense to begin with – like the whole thing of him having no insurance, losing his house, his kids, etc in the space of a couple days. Then we have what seems to be a show about redemption – sort of like Run Fatboy Run tha I just saw on HBO – except instead of running for charity for his family, he’s American gigolo. The writers are really trying to thread a needle here by making him a lovable loser but doing some pretty despicable stuff – not sure if it really worked. I’ll watch the second one and see if it seems any better.
Jun 29, 2009 - 4:52 pm 10. Paul -Indiana:#9. Tristan, let us know how it turns out. I’ll spend my time on Dog the Bounty Hunter or Ice Road Truckers. At least they are about real people.
Jul 1, 2009 - 10:33 am 11. Francislewis:I really like the show but I think the plot is a bit slow…
http://francislewis.wordpress.com/2009/08/05/hung-up-on-the-details/
Aug 5, 2009 - 12:55 pm