CalifornicationTV Show 2007
Duchovny turns in a fabulously wry, cynical performance as Hank, a Los Angeles-based writer with a particularly active sex life, in this adults-only pay-cable series that packs brilliant humor, wild sex, and poignant moments into each half-hour episode. Along with the show's graphic sex scenes -- which feature full female and partial male nudity -- expect hilarious conversations between Hank and Karen, Hank and Becca, and Hank and his agent that bristle with brilliance.
CalifornicationTV Show | 2007
Adults who are heading toward or in the midst of a midlife crisis will surely identify with Hank, even if he's cooler (and more messed up) than any normal viewer will ever be. Though teens might enjoy the witty repartee between Hank and his cohorts -- as well as the show's depictions of the wild lifestyle of a successful Hollywood player -- Californication's graphic sex (not to mention uncensored language, smoking, drinking, and drug use) will likely have parents saving this one for after kids of all ages are in bed.
Families can talk about how sex tends to be portrayed in the media. Do you think many real people are as sexually active as many movie and TV show characters? Do you consider these characters promiscuous? What are the consequences of sexual habits like Hank's? Though Hank says he's unhappy, he seems like he's having lots of fun having sex with multiple partners -- what do you think of that conflicting idea? Is there a "right" age to start having sex?
From 2007-2014, David Duchovny, who found fame in the nineties in The X Files, took on a role that deviated wildly from that of Agent Mulder. Hank Moody, the central character of Californication is a self-destructive man-child whose outrageous charm and proclivity for excessive substance consumption nevertheless does not manage to drown out the fact that he is a brilliant writer struggling to find a way to balance his tendency towards excess against his love for his daughter and attempts to achieve personal stability.
Californication is an American television series. The series is shown on the Showtime television network. Californication was created by Tom Kapinos and stars David Duchovny as Hank Moody. It is about a troubled novelist who moves to Los Angeles, California. The series deals with problems with his job that cause problems with his relationships with his partner Karen (Natascha McElhone) and daughter Becca (Madeleine Martin). The series was first shown on television on August 13, 2007. Channel Five in the UK[1] and Network Ten in Australia have bought the rights to this television series.
I'll dispense with "Californication" quickly because writing about it at length would make me sick. When I wrote about this show's premiere back in 2007, I gave it the benefit of the doubt. Duchovny, an original and occasionally brilliant comic actor, had been mostly AWOL from TV following the cancellation of "The X-Files." Between his innate likability, his fondness for grubby '70s films, and persistent off-screen rumors that he was real-life sex addict (he denied it to Playgirl in 1997 , but checked into rehab in 2008) I thought there was at least a chance that he and series creator Tom Kapinos would produce a comedy worth watching -- maybe one worth thinking about.
Sorry. Not happening. I can't face it -- and not just because Sunday's kickoff, which built on the relationship established in the series pilot, convinced me that I didn't miss much while I was away. The season's opening moments found Hank -- still an alcoholic/druggie/womanizing/lying sleazebag -- being released from jail after assaulting a filmmaker. This season's main plot builds on a relationship established in Season 1: Hank's affair with 16-year-old hottie Mia Lewis (Madeline Zima), who enjoys punching men in the face during sex, and who subsequently stole Hank's novel about their affair and published it under her own name as a memoir titled "Fucking and Punching." New characters include Hank's cutely named attorney Abby Rhoads (Carla Gugino), who's fated to end up in bed with him because, dude, she's hot, and Hank always bags the hot ones; a producer (Stephen Tobolowsky) who wants to turn Mia's book into a film and have Hank write the script; and luscious, busty starlet Sasha Bingham (Addison Timlin), who will play Mia. The, um, climax of Sunday's episode found Sasha doing background research by mounting Hank, showing off her downy rump and oft-marveled-over great tits -- her description, quite accurate -- and then slugging him in the face repeatedly.
Next week Rob Lowe -- no stranger to bedroom misadventure -- shows up playing Eddie Nero, an Oscar-winning (and hypermasculine) movie star angling to play Hank in the movie. Lowe is costumed like Brad Pitt in his Caucasian rasta-man phase, and carries himself like Tyler Durden in "Fight Club"; he's a caricature of the swaggering pig-prince. He might be hilarious if he were played by a charming actor who didn't exude insecurity, defensiveness and hostility at every moment. (And Nero's "wild" dialogue is just dumb and revolting. "Excuse me," he tells Hank, ducking out of an initial meeting at a hip lounge, "I see a girl that I defecated on in Palm Springs.") The episode's default mode is heavy on jerk-ish banter, TV-MA screwing, and frat-house style, stick-it-to-the-nerds hazing. (For no reason at all, Eddie terrorizes Hank's friend and manager, Evan Handler's Charlie Runkle, by squeezing his nuts while taunting him -- and Hank doesn't intervene, but just looks on in mild amusement, because hey, he's The Man, and Nero is also The Man, and Runkle is just a pasty little geek.)
But then, as always, "Californication" shifts into its secondary mode, pickled regret, and shows Hank desperately trying to salvage what's left of his relationship with his ex-wife Karen (Natasha McElhone) and teenage daughter, Becca (Madeline Martin -- a superb guitarist whose skill is showcased in scenes where she plays for pocket money on the Venice Beach boardwalk). The best scenes in the five Season 4 episodes I've watched revolve around Hank and Becca, a smart, driven young woman who's so horrified by her father's trashy and stupid behavior (and subsequent self-justifications) that her lines have a constipated quality -- as if the inner conflict between loving the father and hating the man is making her synapses misfire.
But those scenes too often feel like cynical cover for the boozing and screwing and showing-off of hard-bodied chicks (and hard-bodied Duchovny, who looks as if he spends four hours a day at the gym -- two of them devoted to the maintenance of his abs and rear). The basic problem with the entire series -- both the "Yay, penises!" comedy/carnality and the more introspective, dramatic scenes involving Hank's family -- is that there's no measurable evolution over time, or for that matter, much depth or nuance. I missed two seasons of this show but was able to jump right into it again as if it were a "Law and Order" spinoff. That would be OK if it weren't so painfully obvious that "Californication" aspires to be more than just a passively entertaining time-waster (or even an actively entertaining one like "Dream On"). Too much of the show valorizes its protagonist's behavior, and bends the story to hype the idea that Hank is the funniest, sexiest, most irresistible thing on two legs. He can drink more than anybody else on the planet, yet (to my knowledge) he's never failed to get it up and satisfy his various conquests -- and when he calls Runkle unmanly and casually describes things he doesn't like as "faggy," we're supposed to chortle in agreement. (At its worst, the series radiates the self-contempt that some macho heterosexual male actors exude when they fear, deep down, that they've dedicated their lives to an inherently unmanly profession. "Rescue Me" had a touch of that -- Denis Leary bagging every babe and making every save, and strutting around the firehouse in leather jackets and sunglasses that cost more than real firefighters' cars.)
The show was renewed for a second season on September 7, 2007. The season 1 finale, titled "The Last Waltz", originally aired on Showtime on October 29, 2007. Season 2 began filming in April 2008, and was underway as of June 2008. The premiere episode of season 2 aired September 28, 2008. The first season was released on DVD in the US on June 17, 2008. Showtime has decided to renew Californication for a third season, scheduled to premiere in late 2009
The series revolves around Hank Moody, a charming writer and novelist plagued with personal demons. He blames his years-long case of writer's block on a variety of reasons, ranging from the hedonism of Los Angeles, to his on-again, off-again relationship with his girlfriend Karen. Hank constantly deals with the fallout of his drug and sex addictions, while trying to show his family that he can be a good, caring person.
I just love the writing on this show. All the sex/nude scenes were unnecessary. In many ways, they detracted from the story. I have all the episodes on DVD. I wish they would pull an X-Files and make a movie or do a limited number of new episodes.
Californication is an American comedy-drama television series created by Tom Kapinos, which aired for seven seasons on Showtime from August 13, 2007, to June 29, 2014. The show follows New Yorker Hank Moody (David Duchovny), a troubled novelist who moves to California and suffers from writer's block. His drinking, womanizing, and drug abuse complicate his relationships with his longtime lover Karen (Natascha McElhone) and their daughter Becca (Madeleine Martin). Hank struggles to find purpose in his life as he passes up multiple opportunities, but eventually makes the right decision for happiness.
The show's other main characters are Hank's best friend and agent, Charlie Runkle (Evan Handler), and Charlie's wife, Marcy (Pamela Adlon). Recurring themes are sex, drugs, and rock and roll, all of which are featured regularly. The show has been nominated for many awards and won several, including winning two Emmy Awards (nominated for two others) and one Golden Globe Award (nominated for five others). 041b061a72