It’s bawdy, dirty and altogether quite shameless. It’s also well written, well acted and very funny. If you aren’t offended by rampant nudity and sex-talk, check out Showtime’s new series, Californication, starring David Duchovny in a role as far removed from Agent Mulder as you could possibly imagine. And yes, the chick with the big boobs is Madeline Zima, better known to most as Gracie, the youngest kid from The Nanny. And her new role is as far removed from that one as you could possibly imagine, too.
Duchovny plays gifted but irresponsible novelist Hank Moody. A good example of his social graces is seen at an environmental fundraiser. When asked what he’ll write about it, he replies: “Well, just off the top of my head, I find it interesting that all these people are ranting and raving about saving the environment when they’ll probably blow like ten thousand pounds of fuel on their private jet planes getting down to Cabo this weekend.”
Not that you’ll get lashings of such sentiment from the show. Simply enough good, old-fashioned fornication and profanity to make Sex and the City look like Melrose Place.
In truth, on the subject of its explicitness, there are similarities with Showtime’s other great series, Rome, where – with numerous exceptions, of course (there’s a certain menage-a-trois with an ending I certainly didn’t see coming*) – most of the ‘shock’ content is confined to the pilot episode. And the show’s title, by the by, refers more to the effect California exerts on the main character than it does to…you know, thingy.
*pun intended, but you’ll have to watch that episode, The Devil’s Threesome, to know what I mean.
The Tizona Group 