Starring David Duchovny, Natascha McElhone, Madeleine Martin, Madeline Zima, Evan Handler
Written By:
Directed By:
Studio: Showtime Entertainment/Paramount/CBS
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Critically acclaimed series brought to you by Showtime, Californication is about a Hollywood writer, Hank Moody (Duchovny), who is going through a one hit wonder about seven years ago and suffering from Writers block. He’s struggling to find his next big hit novel or screenplay and the rest of life is crumbling down around him. He’s out on his own now, away from his longtime but never married girlfriend Karen (Natasha McElhone) and he’s longing to be back in his hometown of New York City. Together, Hank and Karen share a 12 year old daughter, Becca and these two women keep Hank from living California. Trying to find his next big novel, Hank spends his time drinking heavily, smoking, taking drugs and sleeping with anything that has a pulse. Remember its California, so everyone is “Attractive.” Californication is a fantastic series that got better each episode and who knows awaits us in Season 2.

When Hank used to live in NYC, life used to be a lot easier. Hank wrote freely, lived with his beautiful girlfriend and brought their daughter into this world. After the success of his book, Hank relocated to Hollywood, or I so I think. His novel was turned into a screenplay and then turned into a sappy love story starring Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes, “A Crazy Little Thing Called Love.” Being the author of the novel, Hank was horrified how the movie turned out and thought his original work was destroyed.

Hank Moody is in my opinion one of the greatest characters on TV right now. He is such a cool character. Granted, he’s not really a role model to everyone out there but the guy is brutally honest and you don’t get that kind of honesty on television. I love how he gets into fights for things that some people wouldn’t dare to, like at the movie theater when someone is talking on a cell phone during the movie. How many times did that happen to you? He got to beat the guy up and smash the phone against the wall. He’s my hero.

I also loved the relationship between Hank and his ex, Karen. They are still very friendly with each other and I think it’s obvious the two are still very in love. Hank was heartbroken when she left him for another guy and cheated on him. Karen is now engaged to this guy, Bill who is this stuffy do-gooder with zero personality and nowhere as cool as Hank is. Bill also has a 16 year old daughter, Mia and Hank finds himself in a quandary when Mia gets acquainted with Hank in the pilot episode. Hank doesn’t realize she is 16 years old and also Bill’s daughter, but he beds her and she ends up making life a little more difficult for Hank. At one point in the season, Mia steals his manuscript and tries to sell it as her own which plays a big sub plot throughout the season.

The entire cast really makes this show work, especially Evan Handler as Hank’s agent and friend. His storyline during the year was really funny and had some crazy moments. Everyone has been talking about the sexual content on this show and it definitely is an adult show with some outrageous moments but at the same time, that overshadows what is a great “dramedy.” I wish the episodes were longer, since there are 12, 30 minute episodes, but I’m glad the series is coming back for another season to see what happens. The story lines generally are closed up fairly quickly and I’m really anxious and curious to see where the show is headed for Season two after a nice cliff hanger.

I was disappointed to find no extras regarding the show on this set, with only two episodes of Dexter Season 2 and two episodes of The Tudors. Maybe when the show picks up steam with Season 2, a proper two season set with extras would be nice. Some people do watch them you know. Overall, I loved the show and now I’m hooked and can’t wait for more Californication!

Features:
– First two episodes of Dexter, Season 2
– First two episodes of The Tudors, Season 2
– …and more!

Audio:
ENGLISH: Dolby Digital 5.1 CC
ENGLISH: Dolby Digital Stereo CC
SPANISH: Dolby Digital Mono CC

Video:
Widescreen 1.78:1 Color

Subtitles:

Favorite Scenes: Pilot, The Whore of Babylon, Girls Interrupted, The Devil’s Threesome, The Last Waltz
Rating: NR
Running Time: 600 minutes
Extras Rating:
Overall Rating: