What, you thought I forgot, right? Nah, I watched the Hung pilot, and I'm watching again right now. No, no Dirk Diggler moments at the end of the pilot, you cheeky li'l ...
Anyway, back in the pre-show hype period I started trying to get in touch with the creators of the show, Colette Burson and husband Dmitry Lipkin (The Riches, pictured left), explaining that obviously a show about a guy with a big dick was gonna interest gay men and I wanted to get some inside info.
What Colette did (via Facebook, which is always my ace in the hole) was kindly thank me and refer me to her and her and Dmitry's assistant, Powell Weaver.
Gay.
Inside.
On the set.
BINGO!
I sent Powell some questions back before the premiere (which is almost two weeks ago, I can't figure out for the life of me why they would start a new series the weekend BEFORE Independence Day, but whatev) , and he'll be available to me each week for some inside info and maybe a question or two from readers. So, start thinking about that.
So, first out of the gate ...
Thomas Jane is great. They looked at literally hundreds of auditions for Ray, from actors all over the world. There were a million ways to go, and I personally was so excited when they cast Thomas because he was hands down the hottest man's man who came in! And he completely sells the character of Ray. He's so watchable in every way.
I have to agree here. I certainly didn't plunk down my eight bucks to see The Punisher because of Travolta, or because I bought the comic. I didn't even know it was a comic.
More than that, though, the guy can act, and I've known that since I saw him in The Last Time I Committed Suicide playing Neal Cassady. In the movie he's so effortlessly sexy I couldn't take my eyes off him.
Of course in Hung his character Ray Drecker is just plumb outta confidence. He peaked in high school, an injury ended his pro sports aspirations, the teams he coaches at that same high school are failing, his marriage is over, his kids think he's a jerk and when he finds himself sitting in a hotel/motel ballroom taking a class that tries to help him find that tool that will turn things around.
(BTW, that motivational speaker pictured left, played by Steve Hytner [Seinfeld]? He's also been a co-star of yours truly. High school, can't ever get away from high school.)
By now you know that Ray runs into a previous lover at the seminar, Tanya (Jane Adams, Frasier) who will eventually volunteer to be Ray's pimp of sorts.
Actually, the job she's doing is more like being a mec (see the story from James Lipton's biography where he discusses acting as a mec for French prostitutes, or just click this link for the Conan O'Brien interview with him for more info).
When I heard HBO was doing a show about a male hooker, I immediately considered that the character might take on some male clients, so I asked:
I would love to see male customer's for Ray too! The idea has been raised in the writers room. It could end up happening or not happening. There are so many factors that go into television storytelling - you want to tell the most organic, natural story you can and not burn up any plot that could be potentially used to greater effect down the road. Ray is a macho man, a former baseball star and current basketball coach. It would go against Ray's character to agree to a male customer in first season - we just wouldn't buy that he would actually do that. But as we get to know Ray over the next few years and watch him change and learn, who knows - he might find himself with a male customer if the price is right.
So, nothing this season but not ruled out.
You know what I was just thinking? Gigolo is a much easier word to hear than manwhore. Plus when I think of manwhore I immediately think about that guy Jeff Gannon who was in all those White House press conferences during the Bush years.
Anyhow, after the jump I have a webisode thing from HBO called Tanya's Diary, where she tells you what plans she has to market her new product and the body it's connected to. Tanya not only has plans to market Ray but to improve the product as much as she can.
Episode two of Hung airs Sunday at 10, moving to its standard half-hour format, followed this the season premiere of Entourage, on HBO.
