Hung (TV series)

Hung
Genre Comedy-drama
Created by Dmitry Lipkin
Colette Burson
Starring Thomas Jane
Jane Adams
Anne Heche
Eddie Jemison
Sianoa Smit-McPhee
Charlie Saxton
Rebecca Creskoff
Gregg Henry
Lennie James
Stephen Amell
Opening theme "I'll Be Your Man"
by The Black Keys
Country of origin United States
Original language(s) English
No. of seasons 3
No. of episodes 30 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producer(s) Dmitry Lipkin
Colette Burson
Alexander Payne
Michael Rosenberg
Noreen Halpern
John Morayniss
Running time 28 minutes
Production company(s) Tennessee Wolf Pack
E1 Entertainement (2009–10)
Entertainment One (2011)
Release
Original network HBO
Original release June 28, 2009 (2009-06-28) – December 4, 2011 (2011-12-04)
External links
Website

Hung is a comedy-drama television series which ran on HBO from June 28, 2009 to December 4, 2011. It was created by Dmitry Lipkin and Colette Burson and stars Thomas Jane as Ray Drecker, a struggling suburban Detroit high school basketball and baseball coach who resorts to male prostitution. The second season premiered on June 27, 2010 and concluded its ten-episode run on September 12, 2010. The third and final season premiered on October 2, 2011 and concluded its ten-episode run on December 4, 2011.[1]

Plot

Hung follows Ray Drecker (Thomas Jane), an unhappy high school history teacher and athletic coach in suburban Detroit who is short of money. He is also the father of twin teenagers (Charlie Saxton and Sianoa Smit-McPhee) who move in with their remarried mother (Anne Heche) after a fire damages the childhood home Ray still owns. With no insurance to cover the damage from the fire, Ray is left without many options. With the help of a friend, Tanya (Jane Adams), Ray decides to turn his extremely large penis into an opportunity to make money. The episodes center on Ray's attempts to maintain a normal life while starting his business as a prostitute. Together, Tanya and Ray begin their business, "Happiness Consultants".

The second season focuses on the complex dynamic between Ray and his two pimps, Tanya and Lenore (Rebecca Creskoff). Lenore, a life coach whom Tanya brought in to help them in the early stages of the business, began taking over Happiness Consultants late in the first season, as she believes she can take Ray in to new business areas and views Tanya as an obstacle.

The third season sees Tanya and Ray forced to compete for clients against Lenore and her younger prostitute Jason (Stephen Amell).

Production

The show's pilot was directed by filmmaker Alexander Payne, who served as executive producer along with Lipkin, Burson, and Blueprint Entertainment. Lipkin and Burson's script was the first major purchase by the network's new entertainment president Sue Naegle in April 2008. This led the writers to immediately work on five more episodes for the series, a total of ten episodes. On December 18, 2008, HBO announced picking up the series for its first season, which ran from June 28, 2009 to September 13, 2009. On July 30, 2009, HBO announced it had renewed the series for its second season, which ran from June 27, 2010.[2] In December 2011, HBO announced the cancellation of the series, ending it after three seasons.[3]

The theme song for Hung is "I'll Be Your Man" by The Black Keys[4] from their debut album The Big Come Up (2002). The track can also be found on the Rescue Me Original Television Soundtrack (2006) album.

Much of the show was filmed in the suburban Detroit cities of Royal Oak, Hamtramck, White Lake, Troy, Walled Lake, Clarkston, and West Bloomfield, Michigan.[5]

Cast and characters

Main

Recurring season 1

Recurring season 2

Recurring season 3

Episodes

Main article: List of Hung episodes

Reception / Accolades

Hung was well received by critics. For its first season, the series' reviews equated to generally positive, with special mentions made to Thomas Jane and Jane Adams for their lead performances.[6] The show received multiple nominations during its run.[7]

Casting Society of America, USA
Golden Globe Awards
Primetime Emmy Award
Satellite Awards
Writers Guild of America Award

Distribution

DVD releases

SeasonRegion 1 Release DateRegion 2 Release DateRegion 4 Release DateEpisodesDiscsBonus Features
1June 22, 2010September 13, 2010August 4, 2010102Disc 1: Audio commentary on episodes 1 and 4 with the creators and executive producers of the series Colette Burson and Dmitry Lipkin. - Disc 2: About Hung. • Women Hung. • Personals Ray and Tanya. • Audio commentary on episode 8 with the creators and executive producers of the series Colette Burson and Dmitry Lipkin and writer Brett C. Leonard.
2September 27, 2011October 17, 2011TBA102 TBA
3September 4, 2012TBATBA 102 TBA

References

  1. ↑ "Keck's Exclusives: Hung Takes a Transgender Turn". TV Guide Network. Lions Gate Entertainment. tvguide.com. Retrieved 2011-07-05.
  2. ↑ Nellie Andreeva (December 18, 2008). "HBO picks up 'Hung'". The Hollywood Reporter.
  3. ↑ Molloy, Tim (December 20, 2011). "HBO Cancels Hung, Make It in America, Bored". Reuters. Retrieved May 5, 2012.
  4. ↑ James Cook (December 18, 2008). "HBO Picks Up Thomas Jane's 'Hung'". TheMovingPicture.net.
  5. ↑ Dan Desmond (April 16, 2010). "HBO’s ‘Hung’ puts West Bloomfield gym in spotlight". The Oakland Press.
  6. ↑ http://www.metacritic.com/tv/shows/hung
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1229413/awards

External links

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