The “Race for the Basement” is on! That’s not a reality show, it’s the reality of television ever since the demise of situation comedies and prime time drama. ABC took an early lead with “Dancing With The Stars.” It didn’t win because there still is some entertainment value to watching people dance. Otherwise, the show is a laboratory for turning has-beens into celebrities. (See post, "Dancing With The Star-Crossed" 5/19) Oxygen may pass them on the inside when “Dance Your Ass Off ” premieres June 29. The ass, in this case, is the weight that obese contestants must lose in addition to winning a dance contest. HBO, however, will beat Oxygen out of the gate with their new series, “Hung,” which premieres on June 28. It’s a scripted show, which earns our praise, about a man with an enormous penis, which doesn’t.
According to the HBO web site, “Hung” is about a “…former high school sports legend turned middle-aged high school basketball coach [who] is divorced and struggling to provide for his kids.” Already, it sounds like every novel that John Updike ever wrote. The Pulitzer Prize-winning author died earlier this year, however, so he won’t be writing this series. Instead, it’s about Ray Drecker, a middle-class man who becomes a male prostitute. “Dreck,” by the way, is Yiddish for “shit.”
It’s hard to know anything else about the series because the trailer and other materials are excessively coy. A lot of shocked expressions, shooting from the waist up and vintage Playboy euphemisms like “assets.” Is “Hung” a comedy, a drama or both? Does it use the man’s church-size organ as a premise for examining middle-class problems or is it one big big dick joke? What do they show, anyway? Do we ever see the real star of the show? It shouldn’t be pornographic, but it should be honest. If it’s just a lot of teasing tell us, if not then wide-screen televisions just got another reason for being.
I’m frankly skeptical about “Hung” and its chances for success. I don’t give it long. In fact, if it lasts more than four hours, I’m not calling my doctor, I’m calling a newspaper.
"Hung" is debuting in the summer, so there won't be any stiff competition. Not as bold programming as HBO thinks; I remember years ago that NBC had a show called "Different Strokes." Once the show is cancelled and consigned to TV Land, you can do dream scheduling so that "Hung" follows "My Little Margie."
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