57 replies to this topic

[TWoP Mars]

From Sho.com:

Hank ponders whether or not to continue his blogging job after he discovers the identity of the web site's owner, and reconnects with Meredith, his one-time blind-date disaster; Charlie's relationship with his assistant takes a surprising turn.

Edited by TWoP Mars, Aug 26, 2007 @ 8:19 PM.

[Angelfirenze]

Best episode yet. The credits still suck and could be a million times better, but I think the advertisement for this one was misleading. Maybe that was their intention. Either way, I thought this week Hank was better written than in the other two episodes and--even better--this time we get to be pissed off at Charlie instead! *dances* I'm still completely unnerved by Mia and can only think of her as devil spawn. Which, considering her father...

Anyway, I'm intrigued about the idea of Hank's parents and sisters.

Edited by Angelfirenze, Aug 27, 2007 @ 10:13 PM.

[Raja]

I liked the episode. Particularly since it went out of the way to give Hank a few well deserved smackdowns that he richly deserved. "Magnum? Wow.. Did you have a growth spurt?" Ouch! And kudos to David Duchovny finally getting a dog. Now we just need to see him start reading stuff to it at the start of each episode. Was sweet how Becca told her dad she loves him no matter what.... was also sweet that Hank recognized he needed to do better for her sake.

Very little skin this episode. We didn't even find out if the "carpet matches the drapes." Oh well. Happens to every series. The first episode or two they are generous and then they get stingy.

I do have one big criticism. I love Rachel Miner and I hope despite the suicide girl revelelation thing she hasn't gotten any piercings... but they really need to stop the badly done "Secretary" ripoff. It's lame and isn't working. However the preview of next weeks episode of Hank catching the two of them does look to be funny.

[Angelfirenze]

Yeah, the coming spanking looks stupid to me. All I could think was, 'You idiot!'

I loved Hank complaining about him not locking the door, though. Heh. And when Hank said to 'Cat', I'll take you away from all this, it was strangely cute. The fact that the dog seemed to be used to watching its owners mate is a little strange. Or maybe I just think that because I don't have a dog, myself. Perhaps all animals get jaded toward frequent sex. Humans certainly seem to.

Edited by Angelfirenze, Aug 27, 2007 @ 10:33 PM.

[bayareabrad]

This ep was really stupid. Especially the beginning with him brawling with the director. The dialogue is really disgusting most of the time. "The carpet matching the drapes" joke is so old and tired. Not funny anymore. The "Secretary" ripoff was stupid. I liked that guy better on Studio 60. The only saving grace is the scene at the end with his daughter. If she wasn't on this show I'd probably stop watching now.

[Postkantian]

Anybody seen The Tv Set with Duchnovy? If so, it's difficult not to watch this crappy, phony show as something that has been fine tuned by a network trying to cover all of its bases. The fact that it's on a cable network doesn't prevent it from being a shiny product with all the bells and whistles. In fact, it looks as if it is similarly pandering to ensure mass appeal.

I mean, the jerk writer goes to rescue a dog to show his touchy feely side? The boss/secretary relationship that suddenly becomes hands on? Casting Evan Handler in the role is even 'funny' (handle her - gettit?). Self aware voice over designed to warm the cockles of your heart? The guy's a whore with a heart of gold.

David, I wonder if you knew that the TV Set would inadvertently provide a commentary on this pile of crap?

Edited by Postkantian, Aug 28, 2007 @ 7:58 AM.

[chalkitdown]

Removed attack on another poster's opinion.

Edited by TWoP Mars, Aug 28, 2007 @ 7:34 PM.

[Hegel88]

We come to bury Hank, not to ...

I said I would give this my usual three episodes but I couldn't get beyond the punch up and then the woman who knows Hank is an asshole wanting to be with him anyway. Such bullshit.

I'm out of here.

[CrashEdit]

Seriously? David Duchovny's the lead in this thing and yet I have to watch Evan Handler jerk off?

The world is a cruel and unusual place...

[Telecine]

from Omar's recap:

Walk out with your cock out. But remember, no gloving, no loving."

I think the line was actually "ROCK out with your cock out".

..but, whatever.

[Postkantian]

Why do you watch the show, when you clearly hate it with a passion? Why subject yourself to something you don't like? I don't get it.

Because I'm self loathing writer trying to live vicariously through a poorly written male fantasy.

Edited by Postkantian, Aug 28, 2007 @ 1:02 PM.

[Omar G]

Hey, me too!

[American Snob]

The show's definitely getting better compared to last week. I'm still not getting the must watch every week vibe like I do for Weeds but its growing on me. Duchovny and Evan Handler are more than enough to keep me watching week after week. What the show is lacking is a story arc. Self-contained episodes aren't really helping this show because it could be something completely different in my opinion. Hank needs a job or at least a new project.

Hell-A Magazine isn't really the answer to quell Hank's inner demons to write another said hit like "God Hates Us All".

[Raja]

Definately rock out.

No thread for her but since the "suicide girls" revelation thing was made this episode a few links with Showtime promotional junk about it. Notice one of Dani's favorite movies is "Secretary." This isn't "Scary Movie" ... when you're ripping off a movie could you at least try to be at least a tiny bit discreet about it?


Dani's myspace page. http://www.myspace.com/danicasuicide
Dani's suicidegirl page. http://suicidegirls.com/girls/DaniCA/
Rachel Miner interview on youtube about it. http://www.youtube.c...h?v=2JAZ2BmWQeI

[Postkantian]

Popular thread - this show has got everybody talking :)

I'm struck by the fact that the lack of discussion is no indication of its popularity - apparently many people watch it. So why are so few people talking about it?

[Omar G]

Deep shame?

[dr malcolm]

I wonder why they got someone to recap the show who clearly enjoys it so damn much. ;)

[Illegal Soda]

Are they obsessed with groin punching in this show? Last episode was was a cock-punch reference; this episode opened up with some cock-punching for the fans who were left wanting more; and only five minutes later we get a dick-punch reference (different noun, but you can't fool us astute viewers). It's either a running gag or the writer has a case of alzheimers.

I also couldn't work out why during the last scene at Exy's house (before the feelgood montage of fluffy bunnies) they suddenly decided that they were directing an episode of NYPD Blue and threw in a slew of push-in zooms. Odd.

Overall I didn't feel it held up as well as the previous two episodes, but I'm still enjoying it. It will need to tighten itself up soon, though.

Edited by Illegal Soda, Aug 28, 2007 @ 5:28 PM.

[Cosmocrush]

I thought Hank was charming in the episode. I loved that he took the artpiece as well as the dog and made amends with Meredith. The voice over narration at the end were bittersweet. Mia provides the suspense.

I'm not sure why people aren't talking about it but in my case there is very little to say. I think Hank provides much of his own snark. It's a pretty shallow show and I like it so that doesn't leave a lot to comment on, although I enjoy everyone else's comments and the recaps.

[Omar G]

I wonder why they got someone to recap the show who clearly enjoys it so damn much. ;)

Could I interest you in a site FAQ, maybe? They're cheap-as-free.

[beebs]

This ep was an better than the first two. Was it the lack of naked women that made it better? Hmmm.

I didn't seem to be up it's own ass so much.

[Cosmocrush]

This ep was an better than the first two. Was it the lack of naked women that made it better?

Maybe. But for me the episode was better because Hank seemed more likeable. I liked him standing up to the director, and I liked him being kind and funny with Meredith.

[bayareabrad]

I think it's by far the worst of the three eps so far. The best was the second ep. I don't mind nudity but it should NOT be gratuitous, so I think it's going in the right direction in that regard. Please do NOT turn this show into another Dream On. The level of humor here is SO juvenile. A little intelligence here and there would be nice (like Hank's first article in Hell A magazine, now THAT was funny!).

Just out of curiosity, as someone who has no children, I have a question for posters with children. Would you let your 12-year-old daughter (or any child of yours) perform in this show? I like Madeleine Martin well enough, but I get a little icked out that she is surrounded by so much hard R-rated material.

[Illegal Soda]

The naked women I could give or take. Their presence is brief enough that it doesn't really give me an chance to think about it. However I do prefer the asshole Hank, moreso. I'll take a few "aww he really is a nice guy" moments, but I expect the more screentime devoted to that will also be relative to the less enjoyment I get from the show.

[beebs]

I think the asshole/nice guy balance was OK this time. Previously I found him funny, but didn't get why the hell anyone would be talking to him (barring the whole looking like David Duchovny thing...). He's got to be slightly charming to women to keep on bedding them right? So he's bastard behavior was directed toward the rather limp Bill. I get that. I can take that balance.

[Cosmocrush]

I think the asshole/nice guy balance was OK this time. Previously I found him funny, but didn't get why the hell anyone would be talking to him (barring the whole looking like David Duchovny thing...).

beebs, you said what I was trying to say. Yes, it's the balance that made this episode better. Of course we need the asshole Hank for the snark and sarcasm. But previously we only saw the charming Hank with his daughter.

A little intelligence here and there would be nice (like Hank's first article in Hell A magazine, now THAT was funny!).

There is precious little, but it's there.

[cordis]

Yeah, it does seem like people don't talk about this show much, but that makes a certain amount of sense. It's kind of short, and it's not like it's loaded up with obscure symbology or anything. Unless we're just not noticing it. Hm. But anyway, I dunno, this episode felt a little more like setup than resolution, I'd imagine that they're building it up for something more over the next few episodes. They spent the first couple episodes showing Hank to be an asshole, but in this episode he comes around, starts a relationship (i.e. sex with the same woman more than once) and has a nice family moment at the end. Seems like it's either a setup for a fall, or a copout. But it could also be a pitfall of the genre, if you're going to have a show and hype it as being "edgy" and "adult", you need to come up with some vaguely realistic way for your characters to have sex all the time. The first two episodes gave us Hank sleeping around a lot, which delivers the T&A, but doesn't make him very conventionally likeable. So now he goes on a redemption arc, and apparently his agent starts having his own suitably ribald relationship to keep the sex scene quota up. Kind of wondering why the blind date (Meredith?) didn't get naked, is it just the preference of the actress or a calculated ploy to keep her from seeming to slutty? Makes you wonder. So to sum, it seemed like a setup episode so Hank (and probably the agent) can get into trouble later and create some more conflict.

[Illegal Soda]

this episode felt a little more like setup than resolution

Oh no question. My assumption that Hank being such a nice guy is so he can completely screw things up Blind Date Girlfriend and make him an even more sorry excuse for a person is the only reason why I'm not so riled up against the sugary ending of this episode.

As long as they provide more dislikable foils for Hank to riff on, I'm a-ok with his nice side only coming out around his daughter. (Okay, so everyone Hank is snarky to isn't neccessarily dislikable, but I don't think any of them have been likable upon said snarkage, either)

Edited by Illegal Soda, Aug 28, 2007 @ 7:50 PM.

[Satanic Counsel]

Because I'm self loathing writer trying to live vicariously through a poorly written male fantasy.

And that's all this is. I know because I tend to do the same, which is why I sat through ever single painful episode of October Road (voted by the critics as the worse show on TV last year). This is writers getting their "revenge" on every hot woman in LA who wouldn't fuck them---which is all of them. And now even the troll-like agent is a babe magnet!?! When are they going to just call this show Pussyman and get it over with?

Edited by Satanic Counsel, Aug 28, 2007 @ 8:48 PM.

[Omar G]

I would like this show twice as much if they called it that.