(S01E10) "You're afraid of flies or something?" - Ray
All season long on Hung, there's been one lingering question. We knew it from the moment we met Tanya, and it was solidified in last night's season finale when she sat on her couch, in dirty sweat pants, reading The Power of Positive Thinking, only to run away terrified at the sight of numerous flies. One lingering question and finally, Ray is asking it too.
What the hell made Tanya think she'd make a good pimp?
Going in, everyone in the crowd had to know that the panel for HBO's Hung was going to consist of puns and schoolyard humor. After all, it's a show about a down-and-out guy who uses his best asset -- his manhood -- and becomes a male prostitute. So it shouldn't have been a big surprise when a reporter started the questioning by asking whether the show continues a trend of shows about "ordinary working stiffs with a secret."
It went pretty much downhill from there, aided and abetted by the show's stars, Thomas Jane and Jane Adams.
Jane, on his audition process: "I had to go into the other room to disrobe, so I wouldn't hit anyone in the eye. It's for safety."
Adams told a critic that it was interesting he was making so many penis puns "While you're holding that mike."
Co-creator Colette Burson got into the act, calling the member of Jane's character of Ray Drecker as "The Platonic Penis. It's the ideal penis on a certain level."
HBO has billed their new series Hung as a comedy. But last week's pilot was pretty light on the laughs. That's not to say that the show doesn't have potential. I do think it's fair to say it's not living up to any of it, though. I didn't get around to watching the premiere until this weekend, which is when I realized that there was no new episode this week. It makes sense when you consider the Fourth of July holiday. But when you're trying to establish a rhythm and audience for a new show, it's a horrible idea.
Especially when your show is only "eh" to begin with. The biggest flaw in the premiere of Hung was how it ended. You have to consider that after only one episode to get to know your premise and characters, you're going to be asking people to wait two weeks and then come back for more. That means you have to grab onto them with something that makes them need to come back. Hung just kind of withered at the end.
Over the span of Hung's first few episodes, Ray Drecker utters a lot of depressing one-liners. Things like "everything's falling apart" and "I used to be a big deal" are common phrases for him. However, as the title of the show suggests, Ray Drecker (played by The Punisher's Thomas Jane) has at least one thing to be very happy about.
The new HBO dramedy is set in Detroit against the backdrop of a financially ruined automotive industry skyline, and as the world crumbles around him, Ray is forced to re-evaluate his life while everything he cares about slowly slips away. It's unsettling and sad, but in some ways, fortuitous ... at least for HBO anyway. Considering the current economic crisis many Americans are experiencing, a lot of people are going to relate to this show. Just probably not to the big penis part.
Hung is a new reality competition show that features various designers competing to see who can design, create, and hang the best drapes in one hour. Well, no. Actually it's a new comedy/drama about a guy who's having a terrible life until he realizes that he can market his giant penis. (Don't worry, no actual penis is shown in the clip below.)
There are going to be several lines that every reviewer will use to describe this show, so let's get one of out of the way now: "Hung is going to be huge!"
Apparently, ABC has posted the wrong season finale of Men in Trees on their site. The show had filmed two endings: one in case it was renewed and one in case it was canceled. On deciding which ending to use a few months back, executive producer Jenny Bicks said, "One is a little more of a cliffhanger. It may also depend on how we want to end the season regardless. They're both very effective endings."
Rob Owen of TV Q&A at the Post Gazette discovered that ABC had posted the "we're not canceled" cliffhanger ending online by mistake earlier this week. One of his readers asked, "Much to my surprise the episode on the Internet had a different ending than what was shown on TV. It ended with Jack's ex-girlfriend, Lynn, leaving their baby girl on the doorstep of Marin's house and driving off."
Owen confirmed that ABC had indeed posted the wrong ending online for a short time. He also expects that Warner Bros. will save both endings for a DVD release.
I'd like to say I'm surprised by this, but I'm not. ABC has canceled Men in Trees. Despite being one of the genuinely sweet and funny comedy/dramas on the network -- one that's more rooted in reality than flights of whimsy and pretentiousness -- Men in Trees has struggled to find a home on ABC. It's been shuttled about from day to day, time slot to time slot, in and out of the line up so that it became a gypsy. How were you as a viewer to invest in the romantic adventure that Marin Frist was on in the wilds of Alaska when you weren't sure when the dang show was going to air? A failed attempt to put the show on Lifetime back in March spelled doom for the show.
I bet you thought Women's Murder Club was gone for good (if you were even thinking about it, that is). Nope, it's coming back.
The Angie Harmon drama series about a group of women in San Francisco who solve crimes is coming back to the ABC schedule on Tuesday, April 29, at 10pm. I know, you're thinking, wait a second, that's Boston Legal's time slot! Yup, it certainly is. That show is going to move to Wednesdays at 10pm starting the next day, April 30 (the show will run in its regular time slot when it returns from the strike hiatus on April 8 and then move to Wednesdays on the 30th).
Rich told you a year ago about ABC's new anthology series Masters of Science Fiction. It starts on Saturday, August 4 at 8pm. This is great news. We need an anthology series like this, even if it's just a series of specials and not a permanent weekly show.
There will be four episodes altogether, at least for this first go around. I'm sure ABC will make more if there's an audience for it. There are some great names involved, both in front of the camera and behind the scenes. Keith will be reviewing the show starting August 4. Full schedule and details after the jump.
Ex-Practice star Kelli Williams will have an arc on Men in Trees this season. She'll play a love interest for Jack (James Tupper). The story is that Jack goes out of town for a spell to do some work and finds himself falling for a married woman, played by Williams. She'll appear in 5-6 episodes, starting with episode 7 this next season.
Sounds a little bit like art is imitating real life here, with Tupper hooking up with his married co-star Anne Heche last year.
Also? Sounds like Justine Bateman must be leaving the show because the last time we saw Men in Trees (last February), Jack was dedicated to his relationship with Lynn.
ABC had so much star and producer power attending its All-Stars party for the TV Critics at the Beverly Hilton last night, it had to have had to have two -- count 'em two -- tip sheets (one with stars; one with producers) for the media.
There was one typo, however For some reason, Marc Cherry was listed on the producers' list; sure, he's Desperate Housewives' top exec, but the man should have been put on the talent tip sheet, too. He knows how to tease a season and entertain a table full of reporters like no other!
Cherry gave the scoop on new characters played by Dana Delany and Nathan Fillion -- also, a preview of what's ahead for the other ladies of Wisteria Lane.
ABC crammed in eight (!) panels today on new and returning series as the TV Critics summer 2007 press tour -- finally -- came to an end.
As predicted in my preview story about today's sessions, Shonda Rhimes (Grey's Anatomy; Private Practice) was indeed asked about ex-GA cast member Isaiah Washington, who was canned last month by ABC and then scooped up by rival NBC for a role on Bionic Woman.
A reporter wanted to know what Rhimes thought about NBC president Ben Silverman saying he was in talks with Washington prior to the actor being let go at the end of the TV season.
Best Week Ever lists the Top 15 Sexiest Nerd Boys, then readers weigh in on the Sexiest Nerd Boys they forgot. And hopefully that's the last time I have to type the phrase "Sexist Nerd Boys."
Aaron Barnhart gives a rundown of what we learned at last week's network upfronts.
Elizabeth asks: What happened to the show Men In Trees. Just out of no where Bam! it's gone. I loved this show.... Bring it back!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Sorry to be the bearer of bad somewhat bad news Elizabeth (and all other Men In Trees fans who have emailed us about the show) but the series will not return until next Fall.
So... what exactly happened between Anne Heche and James Tupper? Their new series, Men in Trees, has a strong showing in ratings on Thursdays following Grey's Anatomy. It's a cute, if somewhat unremarkable show. But earlier this year, the two stars made headlines when their on-screen romance carried on off-screen. Why do we care? Well, in truth, we shouldn't care- but it is interesting because both of them were married at the time.
James Tupper, who plays breathy Jack on Men in Trees, recently gave an interview to People magazine where he swears up and down that neither of them cheated on their spouses. He says their marriages were both over before they hooked up. It's like Brad and Angelina all over again - and we didn't believe them either, did we?
Of course, I hope that the love Heche and Tupper feel for each other is real, but I wouldn't be surprised if it isn't. In the interview, Tupper uses that line that all actors use when they fall for a co-star: "I've never met anyone like her." That's a red flag, if I've ever seen one. I think we hear that one from adults in relationships as often as we hear child actors say "I've worked for this all my life!"