Californication – The Third Season (2009/Showtime/CBS DVD Set) + Hung – The Complete First Season (2009/HBO Blu-ray Set)
Picture:
B/C+ Sound: B/B- Extras: C+/B- Episodes: B-
The two
most popular pay cable channels have come up with male-centered shows about sex
in the underside of what is supposed to be happy, American Dream arrangements
and both manage to be good, smart shows.
They also show what we could consider damaged masculinity.
Californication – The Third Season (2009) is a hit for Showtime,
more than proving that they can produce series as memorable as HBO. The always likable David Duchovny (The X Files) plays Hank Moody, a sex
addict who is also a university professor and has a broken family that includes
a daughter. By this season, he is also
trying to get a book published and though I hardly saw the previous seasons,
though this was not bad. The set has all
12 half-hours and the show works more often than not, though the pace here was
a little off, but seems like a show in progress.
Natascha
McElhone, Madeleine Martin, Pamela Adlon and Evan Handler are solid supporting
actors and the show is well realized. I
will be curious to see how much longer they can go on and where they’ll take
this.
Hung – The Complete First Season (2009) could have become a joke
upon arrival, but Alexander Payne (About
Schmidt) co-produced this well-written series about high school coach Ray
Drecker (Thomas Jane) who has just divorced his wife (Anne Heche) but still has
to deal with her and they have two children.
Things are not getting any better in his life when he suddenly finds
himself possibly becoming a gigolo and Tanya (Jane Adams) intends to help by
setting up the “meetings” that could be very profitable for both.
The ten
hour-long shows work well enough, though obviously it has to get past some
obvious humor and jokes, but also has character development that makes the
events believable as the humor is contextual.
This is a drama with comedy, not a shallow comedy where everybody seems
like an idiot; something too common on TV these days. Dmitry Lipkin and Colette Burson have created
a mature, intelligent show about how being open about sex in a society still
leads to new oppression, suppression and complications when sex becomes a joke
and that has to collide with the reality of adult needs. Jane is one of the only actors with the
talent and believability to pull off this role and his work here will go
underappreciated for a while.
The 1080p
1.78 X 1 digital High Definition image on Hung
is one of the best I have seen for a new TV show in a while, with very limited
motion blur, good definition, good color, better detail more often and is even
a bit better than the recent NCIS: LA –
Season One Blu-ray set that surprised me.
The anamorphically enhanced 1.78 X 1 image on Californication is a little soft, partly because this is an HD
shoot with motion blur and detail limits, but also because this is a DVD set
and not Blu-ray, so we’ll have to compare to Blu-ray when ever that arrives.
The
DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) lossless 5.1 mix on Hung offers very consistent soundfields on each show and though we
get good dialogue, the makers have made sure there is good sound design
throughout, furthering the world the show builds and the complications that ensue. It is also one of the most well recorded TV
shows now in production, which is evident as you watch. This sounds better than many theatrical
features of late. The Dolby Digital 5.1
on Californication is a little
better than the Dolby 2.0 option also offered, though the soundfield is not
extraordinary as this is a dialogue-based show, but it is well recorded for the
most part.
Extras on
Californication includes a Blooper
Reel, Marcie’s Pajama Party
featurette, Interviews with Cast Members and bonus episodes of The Tudors – Season Four/The Final Season
and United States Of Tara – Season Two
(the first two episodes of each). Hung has three audio commentaries on
select episodes, Ray & Tanya’s Personal Ads and two featurettes: About Hung and The Women Of Hung.
- Nicholas Sheffo
