38 replies to this topic

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MSN:

Ray's neighbor accuses him of public indecency; Damon and Darby hope to return to their father's house; a last-minute proposal resurrects Ray and Tanya's dreams.

[Fisher King]

Tanya was too sweet for trying to pump up Ray's ego by lying about the money she placed in his wallet. His happiness at having done something right and the atypical gloating was an air of authenticity that worked for his character, IMO. Lenore's business practices are odd to say the least but I do believe she'll be the "in" that may just get the type of clients Tanya and Ray need.

I really liked this episode and don't mind that we're learning the start-up trials and travails of the ho and pimp business right along with the characters.

Koontz is still a PITA.
Fucker.

[artsygal]

This is dreadful. I'm not impressed with this show AT ALL. This is the third episode where I have not laughed (or even cracked a smile). I keep trying to give it a chance, but it keeps letting me down. There isn't one redeeming character in the whole thing. Of course, I can't stand Anne Heche to begin with, so that doesn't help. BUT, then again, I didn't like Sarah Jessica Parker either, yet I loved SATC, so... I've learned to give these things a chance. But this show? I'm done. As for the character Tanya? What a doormat! UGH! I don't think she's sweet at all. I just want to smack her and say "Get a grip!" Nobody runs a business who can't speak up for themselves. Which brings me to the cookies with the laminated notes inside... I thought they were the worst idea for a cookie ever - a choking lawsuit waiting to happen. Lyric bread indeed. pfft. This show needs to get good really fast, or die quickly. My guess is the latter.

Edited by artsygal, Jul 20, 2009 @ 7:27 AM.

[Scrb]

First two episodes held enough of the TB ratings so we'll see.

I laughed. The Ray/Tanya exchanges are funny.

Yeah these people don't have it together. That is part of the reason why they're doing something this outlandish.

The contrast between TB and Hung is nothing. It's the contrast with Entourage that's the big deal. There you have some adolescent male fantasy and here, you have some bizzarro take on the American Dream.

Kind of like The Riches, it appears each episode is going to be about the nuts and bolts of this offbeat endeavor they're attempting. They have to overcome daily obstacles to sustain this "risky business." But they need to make the obstacles more interesting than something mundane as losing a wallet.

Of course, if Lenore's shadiness (not only stealing money but cutting off security tags from clothes and she's supposedly a professional buyer) figures more into the show, maybe it' not just a lost wallet.

It'll depend on the ratings and whatever else HBO has in the pipeline. Obviously SATC and Entourage were glamorous. So a show about people in Detroit down on their luck has a high hurdle to overcome.

[Chainlightning]

I think the contrast with shows like True Blood and Entourage comes from those shows being much much more glamorous. One in terms of "Hollywood, baby!" The other in terms of "look at this wide world of screwed up wonder and magic/magick."

Hung is more like "hey, here's the real world. It sucks. But you keep on keeping on." That's something I'm sure a lot of people who watch the show can relate to. I personally love the fact that, pun intended, male prostitution is hard. It's not a case of "hey sugar, Donny's here" and the rest falls into place. These are people who fumbling along, trying to make ends meet, and as said in the pilot, desperate times call for desperate measures. You don't get these "oh, hey, Ray was wonderful, here's all my client's numbers!" It's "hey, he was good, do you want these numbers or not?" It's outlandish, but grounded in just enough reality to make it work...

And yeah, I'm looking at this from a complete "the show is a metaphor for the American Dream" angle. How many rags-to-riches, or hell, rags-to-sustainability, stories have incidents just as screwed up as losing a wallet and fucking inside a stranger's house as setbacks? :)

It does come down to the chemistry between Jane Adams and Thomas Jane, though, and I think they're wonderful together. You can tell they're having as much "fun" as you could have on a show of this nature, and for a pimp/ho relationship, it's kinda sweet. Name me a pimp who'd bring cookies.

And they're awesome with other people. Adams are great interacting with the shopper...

[MyAlias]

A Detroiter here, just wondering how those "made in Michigan" tax breaks work when you film in Windsor. I'm glad to see that gorgeous view of the Detroit skyline, but I just can't help wondering why Ray and Tanya decided to spend a half hour each way going through Customs so that they can have a two minute conversation in that park. : )

[isiscloud]

And yeah, I'm looking at this from a complete "the show is a metaphor for the American Dream" angle. How many rags-to-riches, or hell, rags-to-sustainability, stories have incidents just as screwed up as losing a wallet and fucking inside a stranger's house as setbacks? :)

I like that Ray/Tanya are two schmucks trying to get ahead (no pun intended) but aren't doing it very well. I'd be more concerned if they were doing so well very quickly. They're both new to the game...

Ray's Ex is just weird. The dog she adopted looked like it wasn't just dead but fully autopsied.

[peeayebee]

This was my least favorite of the three eps. Lenore really pisses me off. I'm tired of and annoyed by Tanya's mousiness and -- as her mother said -- her desperation to be liked. So their scenes together were almost unbearable to watch. My hope is that Lenore will not always be so superior, that she will lose in some way, and Tanya will become more self-confident.

I hope that Ray is successful at getting his house back into shape. That's a nice step toward getting his life back into shape.

I'm looking forward to next week, particularly because of Margo Martindale, who plays one of Ray's potential clients. She is wonderful.

When we first saw Ray's ex, Jessica, with the sickly dog, I thought that was going to be a joke. You know -- Look how stupid she is getting a worthless, mangy dog. Perhaps there still will be jokes, but the way that scene played looked like the show is going to treat this seriously, which I think is very sweet and unexpected. Maybe Jessica really will give this dog a better life.

[braggtastic]

Is Anne Heche kidding with that long straight hair? It looks awful. Maybe it's because I can still picture how cute she was with the super short hair she had when she first made a big splash, but I think the long hair is so unflattering to her face. I could almost believe that it's a character choice and wig, but something tells me it's her actual hair.

[maatkare]

A Detroiter here, just wondering how those "made in Michigan" tax breaks work when you film in Windsor. I'm glad to see that gorgeous view of the Detroit skyline, but I just can't help wondering why Ray and Tanya decided to spend a half hour each way going through Customs so that they can have a two minute conversation in that park. : )

FYI, Only part is shot in Detroit; the rest in Los Angeles. I suspect unless it's Detroit specific (a la that skyline shot), it wasn't shot in your fair state. Sorry.

[artsygal]

I may be the only person left on earth not watching True Blood or Entourage so that's not effecting my viewing experience with Hung one bit. I respectfully stand by my proclamation that it's a suckfest (pun intended but not meant as a compliment).

[alcatab]

Three strikes and Hung is out for me.

[Wittgenstein]

I'm really enjoying the show, even though its not very good. Or likely to get much better.

What makes it - at least for me anyway - is the spirited performances of the leads. They really help to sell the premise by humanizing the characters and situations.

And to quote Tin Men, it looks like we're going to have the ultimate fuck you: sex with the wife as payback.

And yay for Margo Martindale - I only hope the show doesn't resort to fat jokes or trivialise her character by turning sex into an endurance test for Ray gun.

Edited by Wittgenstein, Jul 20, 2009 @ 12:47 PM.

[LTG]

I thought Jessica and the kids bonding over the sick dog was sweet, although I could do without having to see the tearjearker commercial.

But then we wouldn't get Jessica's mother (?) complaining about how the animals in the commercial are all actors. Which was the funniest bit of the episode for me.

I'm still not sure how I feel about this show, but I do appreciate that they're showing us the entire process of how he becomes a gigolo (and how Tanya becomes a pimp). With Weeds, I've always been left with a desire to see how the entire thing got started. Because drug dealing is relatively common in our society, it was safe for Weeds to leave that step to our imagination; that wouldn't really have worked here, because there just aren't that many (any, really) straight male escorts, and even fewer with crazy poetess pimps.

Edited by LTG, Jul 20, 2009 @ 2:23 PM.

[peeayebee]

I may be the only person left on earth not watching True Blood or Entourage so that's not effecting my viewing experience with Hung one bit.

I'll keep you company. I don't watch those shows either.

One of the lines I really liked was when Ray and Tanya are arguing outside her house. She says she's a great pimp, and Ray says something like, "Well, I QUIT! So what does that make you?" It kind of reminded me of the superhero/villain relationship, where each is defined by the other.

[Rare Books]

I'm looking forward to next week, particularly because of Margo Martindale, who plays one of Ray's potential clients. She is wonderful.

And another connection to The Riches. Not that I am complaining, because I thought that Martindale was great on that show.

I enjoyed this episode, mostly because of the dynamic between Ray and Tanya. They work so well together - the characters and the actors. I think that Jane Adams might be my new TV girlfriend.

I do, however, still want Ray's kids and his ex-wife to be written out Hung. They don't hold my interest.

[profreader]

I'm not looking for it to be glamorous like SATC or a fantasy like True Blood... I just wish it wasn't a downer. It just seems sour -- maybe it will get better. I just felt like it was a slog. I enjoy Jane Adams in everything she's in but there's only so much you can watch people squirm.

Weeds at least had a sense of humor...

[BooksCatsEtc]

I seem to be in the minority, but I like Hung. I like the actors (and I'm even getting used to Ann Heche) and I think the story is funny in a drily whimsical way. I know what it's like to have a long string of bad luck, so I don't mind Ray's complaining -- he's entitled, esp. since it's not like he's just sitting on his ass and bitching. He's actively doing whatever he can to change things while he's bitching, and I don't mean just the whoring. Unable to get a "wolf pack" deal to fix up his house, he starts to do it himself, one board at a time. I respect that.

I even respect Tanya's goofy attempts to improve her life with her lyric bread business, tho it's a monumentally bad idea and a lawsuit waiting to happen. And paying Ray after whats-her-name ripped him off was classy. I really respect Jessica's adopting the old service dog, it's the first thing she's done that hasn't grated on me. I hope they continue to flesh out her character and make Jessica more than a one-note harpy. Finally, is it just me or does it look like Mrs. Koontz is going to end up on Ray's client list?

[Fisher King]

Finally, is it just me or does it look like Mrs. Koontz is going to end up on Ray's client list?

Not just you. It appears that she is soon to pay Ray a visit. I guess Mr. Koontz has lots of money but a tiny......sex drive.

[BooksCatsEtc]

Not just you. It appears that she is soon to pay Ray a visit. I guess Mr. Koontz has lots of money but a tiny......sex drive.

He looks like that sort -- or rather, his house looks like it belongs to that sort.

[zelmia]

I actually thought the Lyric Bread was a good idea. But then I'm assuming that the loaves would not be pre-sliced and therefore only a choking danger to those who are practicing to be sword swallowers or something. And actually, if I were going to sell that, I would just put the "lyric" underneath the loaf anyway, not bake it inside.

Anyway, what was up with those asshole cops? Yes, Ray was living in a tent, but could those idiots NOT see that his house had obviously recently been gutted by fire?? For fuck's sake!! Sometimes I think so-called zoning laws were only implemented so people could complain about their neighbours.

[Imonrey]

Ugh. I thought the scenes with Anne Heche were the only amusing moments in the whole show, and I don't even like Anne Heche.

I've never seen Jane Adams in anything else that I can remember; does she always look like this? I'm not saying she needs to be a raving beauty but Gee Whiz, lady, at least drag a comb through your hair. She looks like she toweled it off and walked out the door that way. Not an attractive woman at all. Maybe that's supposed to be the point but I can't get past that hair. Kind of reminds me of Jeneanne Garafolo, looking unkempt on purpose to make some kind of feminist/political statement but nobody cares.

[BooksCatsEtc]

Anyway, what was up with those asshole cops?

Since they were responding to complaints about public indecency and zoning violations, I'd say they were doing their jobs.

[nicepebbles]

I like this show. I laughed the most during this episode. I really enjoy the relationship between Ray and Tanya.

I can't stand Jessica. When she was raving at Ray during the first episode about what has Ray done, I was yelling at the TV "WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?" Nothing as this episode shows. I have no interest in her whatsoever so she can be gone like yesterday.

I still say Ray should just bulldoze the place, after he's saved what he can first, and rebuild. Probably cheaper. Maybe.

I really hope Lenore gets her comeuppance.

[BooksCatsEtc]

I really enjoy the relationship between Ray and Tanya.

Their chemistry is fun. And I don't know why, since they've had sex twice, but it seems to me weirdly asexual.

I really hope Lenore gets her comeuppance.

Roaring bitch on wheels that she is, I'd like to see that too but I have the feeling she's going to turn out to be a important silent partner in their business.

[Fisher King]

If the previews are accurate, Lenore will be around for awhile. She has a shrewd business sense but that should figure into the success (or not) of the Happiness Consultants.

[Rare Books]

I've never seen Jane Adams in anything else that I can remember; does she always look like this? I'm not saying she needs to be a raving beauty but Gee Whiz, lady, at least drag a comb through your hair. She looks like she toweled it off and walked out the door that way. Not an attractive woman at all. Maybe that's supposed to be the point but I can't get past that hair. Kind of reminds me of Jeneanne Garafolo, looking unkempt on purpose to make some kind of feminist/political statement but nobody cares.

I disagree. I think that Jane Adams's look is perfect for the character that she portrays in Hung. She's an aspiring poet and all-round granola type (in spite of her very white-collar job, but ya gotta pay the bills somehow). Even her lyric bread idea fits into who Tanya is.

Aside from that, I find Jane Adams very attractive. To be sure, she's not a drop-dead beauty; but, as the saying goes, beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and my eyes have beholden unto an woman who makes me feel a little funny while watching her on TV. Perhaps it's that she answers to a certain "type" of woman whom I find appealing.

Also, I found her very attractive during the night scene with Ray and the teacher outside of her home. I think it was a combination of the lighting and the way the scarf wrapped around her neck and framed her face just right.

[ChicagoCita]

I've only seen Jane Adams in the Steve Martin remake of "Father of the Bride 2," where she played a sweet and competent obstetrician. Her hair was curly, but not unkempt. I think the messy hair in "Hung" pretty much describes the character, "at loose ends," quite literally.

[peeayebee]

I've seen her in a few things, one of the most memorable being in 'Little Children' where she goes on an... interesting date with the Jackie Earle Haley character. *shudder* She was rather mousy in that role, too.