Pilot
The first thing I noticed while watching Californication was how enjoyable it is to see David Duchovny on television again.
Actually I lie. The first thing I noticed about Californication was the show’s marketing. Weeks before the show started Channel Ten claimed that we’re getting it at the same time as the US, and that it’s already a big hit over there. Those two things are mutually exclusive — it can’t already be a big hit because if they’re watching it at the same time as us then they shouldn’t have seen it yet. Still, I decided to give it a go, and try something novel: I watched it on free to air TV. It didn’t take long before I remembered why I didn’t like it. The ads were tolerable, and gave us a chance to talk during the show. Except for the last ad break, which caused the last two minutes to lose all emotion as it was sandwiched between loud ads and the noisy voiceover over the end credits.
The third thing I noticed was the large number of breasts. As a guy, I’m quite happy to see lots of breasts on TV, especially breasts like these. The only problem I have with them is that it feels like the producers are overtly pandering to the male audience, trying to get them to watch the show, which annoys me. It annoys me more because it is likely to be a false promise that more breasts are to come. Having watched Rome, which had lots of nudity in the first episode, and then nothing in later episodes, I’m concerned.
Aside from being essential to establish David Duchovny’s character, the breasts are also useful at gaining publicity. The moral outrage of Andrew Bolt calling the show pornography and tell everyone not to watch it is only going to increase the audience for this show.
But that’s not why I’m watching the show, despite spending two paragraphs on the topic. I’m watching it to see Duchovny on TV again. It’s been years since he left The X-Files and we’ve missed him.
Duchovny plays Hank Moody, a writer with an ex-girlfriend (Natascha McElhone), a kid (Madeleine Martin), and an enormous writer’s block. Since he moved to L.A. from New York, he hasn’t been able to write anything, although we haven’t seen him try. It seems like he just uses it to fill in the time between saying hello to a girl and looking at her breasts. He also seems to want to get back together with his ex, but still sees plenty of other people’s breasts.
Duchovny is excellent here as a guy who just can’t quite be bothered sorting his life out. Probably because he sees so many breasts. And that’s it — I’ve reached my breast limit for this article. Tune in for my next review, in which I’ll talk more about breasts and er… non-breast stuff.
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