If you tune into “Hung” (10 p.m. Eastern Sunday, HBO; two stars) expecting sex and lots of it, adjust your expectations. ( Hello there Val
This tale of a high school teacher who takes a side job as an escort isn’t terribly racy by pay-cable standards, despite that attention-getting title.
And about that title. Strangely enough, the object that provides the inspiration for that adjective does not make an appearance in the first four episodes of the show. Apparently viewers just have to take the other characters’ word for it when it comes to the physical attributes of former jock, current teacher and would-be gigolo Ray Drecker (Thomas Jane).
Though “Hung” is billed as a comedy, this wry half-hour show isn’t a male version of “Sex and the City” (that would probably be the dude-fantasy “Entourage,” which returns July 12). “Hung” is set in Detroit and, like the city, Drecker has seen better days.
His wife left him for a prosperous doctor, his teen twins view him with suspicion, if not scorn, and other misfortunes are heaped on him as well. With financial ruin looming, Ray eventually decides, with the help of Tanya (Jane Adams), his diffident new lover, to put his only real asset to work.
“Hung” has a good deal in common with AMC’s “Breaking Bad,” not to mention a host of other shows that dwell on the plight of middle-age men at sea in a changing society. And maybe you have to be a guy in order to fully appreciate either show. I often find “Breaking Bad” tedious and predictable, despite its terrific lead actor, Bryan Cranston, and I also found myself growing impatient with Ray for any number of reasons.
Here’s a guy who is so tethered to his past that he refuses a reasonable offer on his decrepit house, despite his desperate need for money. Perhaps we’re supposed to feel sorry for the big galoot, but it takes four episodes before Ray begins to actively embrace his new life as an escort, and before that happens, he treats one customer with shocking arrogance.
Back when he lettered in three sports and was a prospect for the major leagues, Ray “tasted and came close to greatness,” as he puts it in a voice-over. So?
Despite Thomas Jane’s innate appeal as a performer—and his deft, deadpan skills are the show’s main draw—I came to realize that Ray’s tendency to wallow in the past is rather grating. Not to be all Kate Gosselin about it, but move on, buddy.
Anne Heche has a mostly thankless role as Jessica, Ray’s high-maintenance ex-wife, whose second marriage and newfound prosperity has left her unhappy and “unrealized.” (Jessica, like Ray’s uptight next-door neighbor, exists mainly to reinforce Ray’s moral if not financial superiority.) “Hung” isn’t exactly subtle in its symbolism; at one point, Jessica retrieves a decorative nutcracker from Ray’s shabby home.
“Hung” was one of the first projects commissioned by the HBO regime that was eventually installed after longtime CEO Chris Albrecht exited the network in 2007. As such, it tells us something about the tastes and creative ambitions of this new set of executives.
And thus “Hung,” despite some droll humor and the occasional dry insight, is even more of a disappointment. Perhaps we still expect too much from HBO; not every show is going to be the next “Sopranos” or “Deadwood.”
But “Hung,” it must be said, is less than advertised.
I cancel HBO any can say something about this??? GTO
