Hung: Season 1 - Thoughts

I’d heard of Hung in passing several months ago, but never really took the time to read about it. Recently, as part of my initiative to not just watch follow-up seasons, but try new stuff out, I did some online research and figured I should check out Hung. It sounded interesting, and having liked most of Thomas Jane’s past work, I figured I should give it a shot. In Hung, a once star athlete with much promise now realizes that he’s a middle aged history professor making too little money to support himself and his kids. With a failed marriage, and several other unexpected mishaps, a not so ordinary solution needs to be found as a source of a second income.


The first season was pretty short with just 10 episodes. The show for most part is a drama, with tiny bits of humor, most of them being dark. The pace is slow, and while there is a looming sense of hardship, the show is crafted well, and the lead character Ray’s optimism helps keep the show comfortably pleasant. Considering I watched all 10 episodes in one go, back to back, it’s probably safe to say that the show is not boring. To be fair, it’s hard not to draw a parallel between Hung and the Showtime series Weeds. Instead of a single mother with several responsibilities, children to take care of, and an extremely tight financial situation, here we have a male lead who plays the dad in a similar situation; the solutions in both cases being unorthodox. Season 1 sets the stage well, with a good sense of background, setup, and scope for further development. Like most TV shows nowadays, expect situations and circumstances to be gripping and intense, with seemingly real situations, and intense hardship. Needless to say, the show is not aimed at young audiences, as the theme alone is inappropriate; added to that theres a good deal of abusive language and nudity thrown in. If you’re in the mood for a serious drama, with some dark humor, you’ll find Hung – Season 1 to be quite worth your time.

Thomas Jane plays the lead role of Ray Drecker; a basketball coach and history teacher in a public school. Considering that the last I’d seen him was in The Punisher, it was interesting to see him in a non-action role. That said, even in The Punisher, he was a passionate man, driven to seek vengeance, and fight against corruption. Thomas Jane brings the same level of passion to his character in Hung, portraying well the myriad of emotions that Ray Drecker experiences, thanks to the turbulent circumstances that surround him. Jane Adams plays Tanya, a poet; an artist at heart, stuck in a relatively dreary desk job. While her character isn’t as likable as Ray’s, her performance as Tanya is incredible. I remember Jane from smaller roles in past movies and shows, but nothing that really stood out. As Tanya, she’s troubled on the inside, breaks down easily, and comes across as a soft weak person, with a lot of bottled up emotions. Her performance will without doubt have the audience’s sympathy in a flash. A rather chubby older Anne Heche plays Jessica Haxon, Ray’s ex-wife, now remarried, and still a bit of a scatter brain. After seeing her in some intense movies over the past decade, it was fun to see her in a relaxed random role here. Rebecca Creskoff plays Lenore, a loud, extrovert, socialite, who interestingly fits into the character mosaic of Hung, as Elizabeth Perkins character Celia Hodes did in Weeds.

The content I was watching was a lossy HD 720p DivX. Thanks to the HD resolution, the content was pretty good, keeping in mind expected loss in vibrancy owing to the DivX format. Picture was pretty good for most part, and sound was good as well. Thanks to a 5.1 soundtrack, the narration style story exposition and other regular character dialog was very clear. Scene ambience was also good, with no areas for complaint. The aspect ratio perfectly fit a 16:9 home widescreen TV, with no letterboxing.

My Recommendation: Watch It (HBO’s masculine version of Showtime’s Weeds)