TVSquad

So I've been watching Hung (because I'm flattered that they'd base a show like that around me). It's proven to be a much more entertaining take on the premise than I expected. Thomas Jane and Jane Adams are simply perfect in their respective roles as the reluctant gigolo and his high-strung pimp. I was digging Anne Heche as his wife, and even getting his bizarre kids.

I didn't even know the show needed anything more, until Ray booked his most demanding and bizarre client yet and Natalie Zea (Dirty Sexy Money) sashayed into the room. Wow, did Hung need her. And I don't mean because she's gorgeous, though that certainly helps. What a new dynamic she's brought to everything.

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.

It's Dirk Diggler on the small screen. Sort of. Actually, it's the Punisher with a giant schlong. Well, sort of. HBO has picked up Hung, starring Thomas Jane for a 10-episode summer run. It's a show about a high-school basketball coach who's well ... hung. Well hung. Yeah, I meant to do that. The half-hour comedy is hoping to capitalize on the success of Entourage, Flight of the Conchords and virtually nothing else comedic on the network by using sex and a giant dong to capture ratings.

Hey, if Showtime can find success with the UK's Secret Diary of a Call Girl, then HBO should be good to go, right? The best part about the article is that writer Dmitry Lipkin said, "The show is very much about what's happening in the country, how people are trying to survive using what God had given them." I guess prostitution is on the rise then, because God gave lots of women the tools to do that. And I can't wait to get started on my career in modeling because God gave me all of this (just imagine Brad Pitt and Denzel Washington and think way more beautiful).