187 replies to this topic

[TWoP Mars]

From HBO.com:

In the series premiere of this drama about three couples and the therapist they share, Katie confronts Dave after catching him in a private moment; Carolyn and Palek face an ongoing fertility crisis; and Jaime questions Hugo's ability to remain faithful after they are married.

[TV_Buffy]

Not awful, but not great. Besides the "shocking" sex scenes, there wasn't much to keep me interested. The infertile couple is just too annoying for words, but the other couples seemed a little more realistic and less shrieky. Still, they wasn't any new ground or insight covered there. Not sure I'll continue to watch.

[Amelie06]

I enjoyed it. I don't usually go for a lot of sex scenes in my average tv show, but I thought this was fairly authentic. I never got the feeling that they were like, "You know what this scene needs? Boobs!"

I hate the couple in their 20s. I find them dull. It's like listening to my friends sitting around and complaining about their boring ass relationship. I found the fertility couple to be a lot more interesting. The wife is kind of a shrill bitch, but it seemed real. That baby lust can really drive some people crazy.

[Rinaldo]

I could be content to just watch a show about the oldest of the 3 couples -- Tim DeKay and Ally Walker, who seem to have a solid family going but have stopped having sex. They're both interesting, textured actors who can convey a lot in subtle ways, and their problem feels very real and sad. (I was reminded of Elliot and Nancy on 30s, in fact.) I'd be interested in finding out what happens next with them, whereas the infertile couple (not that it's not a real-life problem) has been done to death in cheap drama, and the kids with fidelity issues (or whatever the deal turns out to be)... I don't care. Yeah, they probably should break up and move on, and stop annoying me.

Also, I'm feeling cheated. Those are actresses' real breasts we're seeing, but so far there are no actors' real penises (as opposed to the prosthesis in the j/o scene). (Yes, I know we got dim glimpses of pubic hair and balls.) I want real male nudity, dammit! If you're gonna push boundaries, push 'em.

Edited by Rinaldo, Sep 9, 2007 @ 10:17 PM.

[RoxieVelma]

Guess what? I don't love you. Seriously, I enjoy porn maybe as much as the next person, but you don't actually need all that to convey a story.

I hate the couple in their 20s.

I love how one of her problems is that she doesn't want cake at her stupid party. OMG, that's so horrible. Would you like some cheese with that whine?

Since this show is going to start premiering each Monday on OnDemand before it airs on HBO the following Sunday, I'll probably just check it out during the week and watch Hill Street Blues instead. Then I'll come and chat about it after they've both ended.

[crazy_girl]

To be honest, the nudity took me out of it. I'm interested in the stories between the couples. Tim Dekay & Ally Walker seem the most interesting to me right now and I want to hear more about what they're saying instead of watching a bunch of couples have sex. I mean yes, we know, married couples have sex. Or they don't have sex. Great. If I wanted to watch married sex I'd put mirrors on one wall of my bedroom.

I find the fertility couple interesting because I'm at that age where I'm semi-dealing with it and watching friends deal with it.

The young couple annoy me. Just end it for Christ's sake. Who cares? I'm also interested in hearing more from the therapist and her husband.

[American Snob]

I kinda liked it.

I mean it was definitely bizarre and completely different from what I'm used to watching but I think the show can grow on me. I liked Dave and Katie's relationship since it seems so true to life. Palek and Carolyn were a little annoying but I can see their frustration in having a lot of nice things and not being able to have someone to share it with like a baby. The 20 year olds irked me, at least they were both good looking.

The sex didn't really bother me too much but the lack of a title sequence at the beginning of the show or background music really did. I guess I've become so accustomed to having music in the background that is a luxury compared to something raw like this where all you hear is either moaning or dialogue.

[MarieKesh]

I enjoyed it. I thought it was well acted, graphic and interesting. The sex wasn't sexy, with the exception of when Carolyn and her husband were going at it with dinner guest down the hall, which is the point. They are intimate w/out intimacy, if that makes sense. Also refreshing to see an older couple in a romantic scenario, Jane Alexander is such a timeless beauty.

Thus far I like all the couples.

There's so many layers to this show, I'm interested to see how it will develop

Edited by MarieKesh, Sep 9, 2007 @ 9:54 PM.

[charlieboo]

I liked it in an uncomfortable way. I had read comparisons to 30-something and it definitely did remind of that. Watching it makes you slightly uncomfortable because you can identify (or know someone who can) with at least one of the couples. It's not entertainment as much as voyeurism.
I agree that the sex scenes actually take away from the drama. It's ironic that the younger couple uses sex to avoid talking about their problems, and I feel HBO uses the sex scenes as a cheap way to avoid deeper dialogues.
And count me firmly on board the Jane Alexander love train. I've loved her ever since Kramer vs Kramer.

[sarpon]

I was quite moved by the older couple. The infertility couple - meh. Give them a couple of kids and a couple of years and they will really know what it means to be unfulfilled. I did understand the young woman's distress over her fiance's anticipatory infidelity. The time just before the wedding is when a couple is the most besotted with one another. If he can contemplate being unfaithful at that point, she's correctly reading the writing on the wall.

But the sex scenes weren't sexy. They all fucked like rabbits. I felt sorry for these people; the "quickie" wasn't noticeably quicker than any other encounter. Give them credit, though, they are certainly efficient.

[crazy_girl]

I guess that's why I liked the infertility couple. It is a real problem that takes over peoples lives and very often the family/friends response is "Eh, get over it and adopt." or "Ha ha, take my kids, ha ha--kids are a menace, you should be HAPPY you can't have them."

On a lot of TV shows they just show it to be this stupid punch line where the wife is running around going "Guess who's ovulating!" and forcing the husband to have sex and then at the season finale she finds out she's pregnant with twins. It would be nice to see it portrayed in a realistic way with all of the depression, feelings of failure and family pressure that come along with it. It's too early to see if they'll do this or if it will be cliched and horrible. If they go cliche' they might as well stop because as sarpon says "Meh" we've all seen that before and it's boring as hell.

[Vertebrat]

I think there's a good story there about the oldest couple but otherwise, meh. Didn't care about the possible infertile couple with the perfect home and buckets of money. They weren't very interesting or sympathetic, they were smug and unpleasant.

The sex felt very stunt-y. I don't think seeing the actual balls of the actor playing the youngest guy enhanced the story-telling whatsoever. Nor did seeing the simulated hand-job and its results. It just felt like a huge gimmick and it took me out of what story there was.

I can't wait to read the re-cap, this is going to be one hell of a tough show to do. Based on the first episode, if this show isn't in PH by episode 4, I'll be very suprised.

[sandia99]

I expected a completely different show after reading all the advance reviews. Perhaps I watch too much HBO (or foreign films) but the sex wasn't particularly shocking or controversial. I enjoyed the acting and plan to continue watching even though the youngest couple annoyed me.

I know there was a lot of lying to the therapist by the middle couple but did anyone else think that Katie (Ally Walker) was lying through her teeth when she said she has had orgasms before?

[Bix]

Sonya Walger's fake American accent was a welcome change. It faltered a few times, but her real accent always grated on me for some reason so it's still an improvement.

[dreamy]

The sex wasn't sexy,

Which was really sad, IMO. I actually wouldn't have minded some sexy semi softcore, but that's not what we got. (Well, now, that came out the wrong way, and makes me sound more prurient than I am, but I'll leave it in, because I don't have a better way of expressing it right now).

I can continue to give this a shot for a while, I think. I forgot that we were going to have an actual recap. So, do you think it's a reward to have to write 10 pages about this, or a punishment ("and then he licked her nipple. She moaned. His hand...)? Oy.

Perhaps one of the nicest moments, for me, was when the wife almost came out of the bathroom but stopped when she saw her husband masturbating. The flitting expressions in her eyes (I even thought I glimpsed a bit of excitement for a split second, before sorrow, and then hurt). That was lovely, intimate, nuanced acting.

eta:

It's too early to see if they'll do this or if it will be cliched and horrible.

crazy_girl, that's my main concern, too. Infertility is a serious issue, and such a cause of relationship stress, but as of this first episode, it did feel cliched.

Edited by dreamy, Sep 9, 2007 @ 11:09 PM.

[RoxieVelma]

Sonya Walger's fake American accent was a welcome change. It faltered a few times

I noticed that too. I kept saying "Pick an accent and stick with it." It might have just been nerves about doing a foreign accent, so I'm hoping it's not like that for the rest of the episodes.

[Gaedhal]

I was waiting for the "shocking" sex.

Um... okay.

I guess no one reviewing this show ever saw an episode of "Queer as Folk."
And the sex there was at least hot and entertaining! And the boys had
beautiful bodies.

"Now you know what rimming is"!

[thebigchill]

Dull is all I can come up with. I wanted to like the sex, but it was a cornucopia of boringness.

[puck101]

The reviewers, producers and actors have stressed repeatedly the sex was not supposed to be hot. That's the point I think. These couples are in big trouble and I guess the author thought the best way to show emotional breakdowns was through sex . . . or something. Whether she's right is another matter. But the not-fun-sex has been at the fore of discussion from the first.

[dreamy]

Whether she's right is another matter. But the not-fun-sex has been at the fore of discussion from the first.

Heh, I know, and I know I signed up for this, exactly as it is, and I certainly wasn't expecting them to woo me with flowers and sonnets, but I guess I still expected them to give me a little something. Buy me a drink first, at least, just to get me in the mood.

[puck101]

You know if you think about it, Tony Soprano had a lot of non-hot-sex -- usually to burn off anxiety or connect with poor-you-Livia -- that was both illuminating and entertaining. Maybe as they develope the characters and make them interesting, like Tony was, it will become more engaging, for those who aren't that enthused so far. Otherwise, just buy a leter and knock down a few . . you never know.

On another note I bet they did pretty good in the ratings . . what with the fake weiners and stuff.

Edited by puck101, Sep 10, 2007 @ 12:23 AM.

[WobblyHeadedBob]

There was one scene, early in the show, when the 30's woman peed on a stick, and there was a close up shot of her looking at a stick of her own urine.

That shot encapsulated this entire show for me. A bunch of people so self absorbed that they wanted to investigate their own pee.

That, and we saw that one guy's balls. Maybe they were prosthetic balls.

[MarieKesh]

did anyone else think that Katie (Ally Walker) was lying through her teeth when she said she has had orgasms before?

Definitely. Just like she lied about them not having sex for only a few months.

Edited by MarieKesh, Sep 10, 2007 @ 12:52 AM.

[shrunken violet]

That little league baseball game had to be the worst series opening scene I've ever beheld. Isn't the first scene supposed to generate some excitement or interest, draw the viewer in? That was dull, dull, dull. I'm sure the director could've found some way to make it interesting.

Having seen the film "Lie With Me," I'm sort of over the shock of non-porn actors doing porn-type things. This all seemed sensationalistic to me somehow, despite the producers' denials.

Also, I'm feeling cheated. Those are actresses' real breasts we're seeing, but so far there are no actors' real penises (as opposed to the prosthesis in the j/o scene). (Yes, I know we got dim glimpses of pubic hair and balls.) I want real male nudity, dammit! If you're gonna push boundaries, push 'em.

I'm with you there. If SFU David's ex-boyfriend can put his mouth on the actress' (real, as you say) breast, why can't she put her hand on his (real) penis? And when cute Mambo Italiano guy got out of bed, after his fiancee had revealed herself fully naked, he had his underwear on, which just seemed a) strange and b) like the same old cop-out.

It's long past time for this tired-old double-standard to be put to rest.

[Nunya]

I also am highly annoyed by the 20's something couple because everything is so dramatic and over the top with them. But then again, everything is so much more dramatic when you are in your 20's. Later in life you begin to say "who gives a $#@!"

My husband is convinced the sex is real but I told him it wasn't. He still thinks it's real. HA!

[bsr8j]

The infertility couple - meh. Give them a couple of kids and a couple of years and they will really know what it means to be unfulfilled.

Based on that comment, I'm guessing infertility isn't something you've dealt with.

As for the show, I thought it was interesting and would like to see where it goes, but I don't think it's something I'll be anxiously anticipating every week. If it happens to be on, I'll probably watch it, but it won't be getting the season pass.

Edited by bsr8j, Sep 10, 2007 @ 1:16 AM.

[Uncle Bmore]

Whoever thought fairly explicit sex scenes could be so dull and boring? Sadly, this is merely the latest example of narcissistic navel-gazing straining for "SIGNIFIGANCE" from HBO. I think they'll have big numbers initially, but the ratings will tail off dramatically if the story telling, and the pace, do not improve drastically.The acting was uniformly good though.

[trixedit]

I was SO BORED. And was repelled by NotMom not washing her hands after peeing on the stick. This is one show I'm not going to stay with.

[readingallnight]

After the woman took the fertility test then talked to her husband and got up and left the bathroom I kept saying 'wash your hands, wash your hands, for the love of god, woman, wash your hands!' I've done several of those tests and you always splash. Yuck. I felt bad for both of them, they are both obviously struggling, but I don't exactly want to listen to her shrill complaints or his sullen moping. During the hand job scene my husband kept swearing that was a real penis and I kept insisting that it wasn't. We finally backed it up and got really close to the TV to inspect it then suddenly realized, god, what are we doing?! Then we scurried back to the couch and pretended that never happened.

The younger couple need to give it up and move on. When they were in the car and the guy finally said he was kidding, he just said that because he was pissed I was waiting for the girl to say she didn't believe him. And the look on his face after the car sex was done was like 'what did I just say?' We called it the 'praying for the end of time' look, like from 'Paradise by the dashboard light'

We're about the same age as the couple with the two kids, and we have two kids about the same age as the ones on TV. We even just went through the exact same 'coming of age' with our daughter/. After it was over we kind of felt obligated to have sex just to prove we weren't them. My husband said he's going to keep watching the show just for that reason.

[Guitargal]

I didn't mind the younger couple so much because I knew where they both were coming from. He was probably really saying just because he was married, he wasn't dead and wouldn't look. And maybe her catching him and making him say it was a bit scary for him. I think her broader point was being married means growing up.

I liked it in an uncomfortable way. .... It's not entertainment as much as voyeurism.

ITA. I think they had to show them in their boring, non-sexy selves, else why would they need therapy?

I'm sticking with it, at least for a few more epis.