I got a peep at HBO’s Hung about a week before it premiered, and though I didn’t watch more than the first episode, I’m wondering why people are all hung up on the show already. With all the hype surrounding the show, I sorta felt like I was given the shaft.
Let’s go over a few of the meatier points of why I felt Hung fell flat:
– The main character — Ray Drecker (Thomas Jane) is pretty much like any ol’ Tom, Dick or Harry — though maybe a bit more of a tool — and has got one massive thing going for him: a big dick. And … that’s pretty much it. He doesn’t have anything else going for him really except that, maybe, he’s good at plotting a full-court press for a bunch of sweaty guys.
– It’s humorless — Someone forgot to turn the funny knob up a few notches on Hung, because with a show premise and title like that, it’s gotta have something funny so I can get my rocks off. I could’ve done without the dicking around and had them get right to something that would get more than a short chuckle out of me.
– The kids are unlikable — I get that it’s the first episode here, but the kids are hard to swallow. I felt like the show’s creators were so hard up to inject some sort of drama into Ray’s life that they had to throw these two ungrateful dorks at us.
– The plot makes no sense — Why would Ray stoop down to the level of a man whore when his biggest asset would be better suited — and better used! — in porn? Not just video porn, but just take a few pictures of it for magazines and keep your mug out of it. Why a bell didn’t dong in Ray’s head for him to realize this would keep him from being hosed when he was ID’ed is beyond me; I’m stumped.
That’s about all I’ve got. I know a bunch of fans will come gushing at me like a full-open fire hose to tell me how wrong I am and that I should go piss off. Well, hopefully you’re right and the next few episodes will get a whole lot better. Until the writers are able to erect a better story with funnier lines for me, I’m simply going to find it hard for this show to get a rise out of me.
Penis.
Clacked by Keith McDuffee 
on Jul 01, 2009 @ 16:00 EST5EDT
I need to see more to come to conclusion about the show.
Piss off. Well, not really, but you kind of opened that window. ;-)
I enjoyed it. I liked Thomas Jane’s performance. He reminded me of me (frankly, that always helps my appreciation). Lazy as all get out, but wants more, preferably an easy way, but also realizing the possession of little talent doesn’t exactly open the door wide for opportunity. I would so live in his house (well, pre-fire). And…I’d do him!
If I was a guy with a big dick, I’d rather use it to be a high class call guy than to do porn. Why? Because contrary to what men believe, most women in porn are not having real orgasms. If I was a man and well hung and enjoyed sex, I’d rather make money having sex where the chick appreciates my huge member than just another skank with bleach blond hair on one end and none on the other, missing the important element commonly referred to as a brain. This reasoning doesn’t even address the subject of anonymity, which I would imagine is important given he’s a school teacher and all (thus his fear of featuring his face in an ad).
Hated the kids, but maybe they’ll grow a pair.
Regarding the humor, I laughed. Loved his delivery – “fucker” – and enjoyed the way he treated his asshole neighbor. Its become very apparent that we all have different senses of humor, so saying something is humorless overall is usually a huge misstatement. That you didn’t enjoy it, I can get. I didn’t get Arrested Development, which seems to be considered one of the most humorous sitcoms in recent history. To each our own. For me, I’ll take loserish Ray Drecker and his big ole useful tool.
I enjoyed it. It reminded me a lot of the beginning of Californication, in its set-up, the relationships between the characters, the totally out of place kid(s), the main character you’d imagine would be more discriminating but can understand when he’s not, and the non-traditional humor.
I was actually pleasantly surprised that it wasn’t all about the double entendre and the sexual innuendo, as most previews had us believing. I’m looking forward to seeing where they take this.
I agree with you, it was ehh and could go places… I guess. It was over hyped for sure.
I ‘ll give it a few more more episodes…
Yeah, I think the plot line is a bit slow. I do like Thomas’ performance a lot!
https://francislewis.wordpress.com/2009/08/05/hung-up-on-the-details/
What can I say about the show “Hung”? Well, I was disappointed, I want to see how hung he really is. Not only that, I feel the whole plot of the show is quite stupid. I think they should make him a high price call guy and invite different celebrity females on the show. Show us some freaky requests from his female johns.