User reviews

A man naturally gifted and a problem to solve.........

Since the worldwide economic meltdown, the vast majority of people working at a non independent basis, had a constant worry: how can I sustain my life and family. This HBO series shows us a original way to solve this problem, at least from the male point of view.

The great thing about this, is that the main characters, are so flawed and clueless about their own life, yet so human and relentless when life really pushed you against the wall. Impossible not to relate to the Thomas Jane role, who has seen life passed him by again and again. He really gave the role a distinctive masculine tone, but a real one, with all the faults we may have, and not in a depressing way.

The prostitution issue is not really the point of this production, it only set the background, and provides a lot of smiles (because it's definitely not a hysterical laughing comedy). Since the troubles with his teenage sons, to the ex wife money driven and his own insecurities; the story will get you interested enough, and waiting for more.

Old story, new approach, good development.

Got my vote.

I had a chance to watch episodes 1 to 4, though I'm living in Germany without HBO and I have to admit, that this show got me hooked from minute one. It's not only the actors who have convinced me - of course especially Thomas Jane, Jane Adams and Anne Heche. Actually, what I really admire is the tone of this show: it could have gotten so ridiculous, so absurd, but it's just funny and at the same time very serious. You are watching a man's struggle for money in order to get a burnt house rebuilt and to get his children back from their kind-of-strange mum, and it's getting to you. You wish this man, Ray Drecker, all the best and many "customers" as well as you wish his pimp, Tanya, that she's getting what she's deserved, a bit of appreciation for what she does. I am watching Thomas Jane's career since the stupid but very entertaining "Deep Blue Sea" and I enjoy seeing him in this leading man situation. I am very happy, that HBO has ordered more episodes and I can't wait to see the rest of this season. .. oh, sorry for my bad English :)

I don't understand why the other reviewers are being so harsh on this show, especially since there's only been one episode! This is obviously a show that has to be set up first, then it will surely kick into gear and fulfill all expectations. I found the idea of this show to be hilarious, and that's something you have to think about the entire time you're watching it. To think that Thomas Jane's character is a guy that once had everything, to only be forced to survive by becoming a gigolo... It's a pretty funny premise for a show if you ask me. The cast of this show is awesome, and all you can do is root for Jane's character Ray as he struggles to get his life back on track by "pleasing" lonely women. In my opinion, you should watch this show with an open mind and don't pay attention to the other reviewers who pride themselves in thinking they are professional critics, because they're probably the same group who thought Entourage wouldn't survive after the first episode. I truly believe "Hung" is sure to surprise, and soon become another HBO classic.

HBO continues to air innovative shows reflecting aspects of life whether they be vampires living in the South, Hollywood hotshots trying to survive show business, a polygamous family, or it's latest concept about a man taking on the oldest profession in the world which is "Hung." Ray Drekker (Thomas Jayne) a Detroit high school teacher and basketball coach was once the school's most popular boy with an athlete's scholarship and married the most popular girl in school. All falls apart when he is injured and years later his dream girl wife, Jessica (Anne Heche), leaves him for a well-to-do dermatologist. Being a high school teacher and basketball coach does not pay very well. To make things even worse, his house catches on fire forcing him to live in a tent in his backyard and his twin teenage children move back with their overbearing mother. Ray goes to one of those scam "get rich quick" seminars and finds what he is also good at and the "tool" he has: sex and very...ahem..."hung." He meets failed poet and corporate temp, Tanya Skaggle (Jane Adams), and enlists her as his pimp. The two embark on a business they hope will be successful in "fulfilling" women with happiness...will they successful? The show reflects on the subject of the economy very heavily and it's about time a show finally did. "Hung" is set in the backdrop of the economically beaten down but not out Detroit amidst layoffs and the public school system being federally underfunded. Thomas Jayne is perfect as Ray. He is your typical everyday average Joe trying going through economic hardship and through the profession of male prostitution he begins to have an understanding of women and of the direction of his own life. He continues to go on despite the ex-wife, his uptight next-door neighbor, and the economic hardships. Jane Adams is also wonderful in the part of passive aggressive but insightful Tanya. She doesn't face the same hardships as Ray, but she is lonely and sympathetic. Anne Heche is hysterical at times as Ray's overbearing ex-wife who is also going through hard times when her husband's finances take a huge a hit in the stock market. "Hung" is a show that reflects on the current economy and talks about the subject matter of male prostitution without making it look glamorous or fake.

Unlike some others on this site that watch the pilot and think they can claim the entire series to be "sophomoric," I took the time to view three episodes before commenting. In doing so, I've found the series to be the type that leaves me wanting more...and more. I love the relationship dynamics; I love the witty exchanges; and I love the whole sexed up premise of the show--even as a man that boasts an advanced degree.

Sophomoric? I suppose if you're afraid of your own sexuality, of strong women, and of relationships, sure, you might view it that way.

Otherwise, it's a fun new series.

This show is extremely entertaining…watched all three seasons and was very satisfied. :)

However….the premise of the show (i.e. big d*** = pleasure) is ludicrous. You can have a big member and not know how to use it, and then just leave a woman feeling less than satisfied. The more sexual encounters Ray has, the more derisive I feel about his ability to please a woman sexually. The show assumes that all women get off in the same way and will pay for it. A more realistic version of this show would be what the show started out portraying: rich, older, lonely, married, women who could afford to pay for an orgasm. Most attractive women nowadays wouldn't even consider such an expense when all you have to do is go down to a local bar and let it be known you're looking for a hookup…but I digress.

For all the talk of liberating women and whatnot by the writers/directors, it's just another opportunity for HBO to show a bunch of T&A, and pretend that all women get off on BigD alone. The plot is mediocre, Tanya is a spazz, and the character development is minimal. But if you like a lot of sex and some humorously awkward situations…have at it hoss.

All that being said, I love Thomas Jane. He's amazing. And the character Lenore is phenomenal.

An excellent diversion from the 2020 blues. Great acting, good story and filmed in my own backyard, being from the Detroit area. Loved the way the characters took a taboo subject and made it entertaining to say the least! Binged watched it in just 2weeks. Each episode drew me to the next.

Thomas Jane, Jane Adams, Anne Heche, Eddie Jemison, and Rebecca Creskoff all perform extremely well on screen. They portray their characters flawlessly and allow you to vicariously enjoy the show that is Hung.

This show is difficult to label, it's more of a raw show without any bs. Many of the events aren't as climatic as one would expect, especially the season finales, but this is what makes the show so beautiful. Hung doesn't rely on overly complex drama that makes absolutely no sense in the real world, it relies on real life complications in humorous, yet dramatic scenarios.

Hung is open to interpretation, at least most of it. If you have the patience for massive character development with a smooth plot and actors who portray their characters effortlessly, then this show is a must.

And sexual of course. There is nudity (though I can't recall male full frontal nudity, not that I minded) and there is sexual situation. It touches upon subjects (no pun intended) that are considered taboo. But it's HBO it can do that and goes to that places. One of the thing that surprised me the most, is that it's not so much about the male protagonist (a brilliant Thomas Jane), but more about empowerment. Especially of/for women, which is really nice to see.

It might have ended prematurely (again no pun intended), but it sort closed most things neatly. There are things left unsaid and undone, but that's how things are in life. The general idea is great of course and the series is really well put together. It's not the best HBO show ever, but it's a good addition to their repertoire

HBO is bringing something positive into the world…another hit show!

HUNG, showcasing poignant performances by Thomas Jane and Jane Adams, captures the tone of the current American economic climate through the journey of two flawed but lovable characters, Ray Drecker and Tanya Skagle. With authentically relatable situations embedded in the premise (i.e. a high-school basketball coach trying to make ends meet, teenagers coping with the divorce of their parents, an artist succumbing to temp work) HUNG delivers in making a comedy that does not lose its sense of reality.

It's American Beauty for television that will make you laugh and leave you talking the next day.

The premise of the show was interesting - a well-endowed man using his 'gift' to make extra money when crisis strikes. I hoped it wouldn't be cheesy or clichéd, and thankfully, it wasn't, for the most part.

I guess some of the episodic plots were predictable - man getting used to service unattractive ladies, trying to keep his side job a secret, learning how to please the ladies as a job rather than to get into their pants. Maybe it's part of the selling point of the series, but I found some of the sex scenes too long - it's almost like the producers are using the sex scenes to fill up the time. I actually enjoyed the before/after-sex scenes better, when he's getting to know the women better.

For a series that's about a well-endowed man being a male prostitute, it is surprising that became another subplot rather than the main plot after a few episodes. The other subplots are are interesting - man's relationships with his ex-wife, pimp and children, children's troubles, pimp's relationships, etc, but except for the man's relationships, the rest take up more time than should be expected in a show that's about a part-time male prostitute. I started out rating this 7.5, after the first half of season 1, it has dropped to somewhere between 6 and 6.5.

Once all that is said however, it is still interesting enough to watch on a slow night. The comedic elements aren't many but they are funny; the acting is pretty good; and you get to wonder why all these beautiful, sexy women are paying big money to have sex with a man who isn't particularly handsome or fit in the first place.

This show ages well, it's fun and has a decent storyline and character development. A solid 7.

Maybe this is a non-biased review, because I have not read any other reviews or opinions before posting mine. Or maybe it is biased because I saw Hung right after I saw Californication. A bit clarification is in order here. The way I watch TV series is that I record the entire season and then view it as a marathon. One sees a lot of things one would otherwise miss when viewed like this.

Anyway, back to the review. I could not help but draw comparisons to Californication while viewing this. The first thing to observe is how lost this show is with what it wants to say. Is it about the adventures of a well-endowed guy who decides to use his natural asset to tide over a bad economy? Is it about the outcome of a bad economy itself and how it pushes people to do things they would normally never do? Is it about friendship and loyalty during bad times? The way I see it, it tries to cram all that and more (in terms of the lives of supporting characters' sub-plots) in a limited time and ends up doing justice to nothing. In contrast we have Californication that wickedly centers about the main character and revolves EVERYTHING around him. That kind of treatment to this show would work wonders because the idea of the show is solid. Hung holds back on everything, like it considers its audience to be pregnant and is afraid it might penetrate too deep. Nothing is explored in depth. Not the main character's relationship with his 2 pimps, not the relationship with his ex-wife, not his interactions with any of his customers, not his dynamic with his children, not the relationship of the twins with each other, or their mother or step-dad. Not even his work ethic is explored in depth.

To me this show is bittersweet because it oozes potential but trickles on actual delivery. I hope the creators mop up their act in the 3rd season.

Edit: Now, why am I not surprised that it got cancelled? Instead of focusing on the main character(s), this season, the show sought to make a supporting character out of Prof. Drecker, and almost succeeded in doing so. Instead of streamlining the plot, it brought in even more 'players', and instead of taking a direction with them, still huffed and puffed its way towards nothing. Damn shame, because it was such a great idea and Thomas Jane fit the part perfectly. Oh well, life goes on!

Hilarious show! One of my favorites. This show made me laugh out more than a lot of shows I see today. This is a masterpiece. Wish it didn't get canceled... :(

Other than the fact that this show got cancelled by HBO it was a great and funny compared to your average TV series and also it was very unique in its own way it always had me impatiently waiting for the next episode or season. Not only was it funny but the acting and actors fit in perfect into their parts for the the story and the story was very different then your average comedy TV series. Hopefully HBO or another network will pick it up and provide us with one last season or a TV movie like they did with "Hello Ladies" so we can all be left with a proper ending and not left on a bad cliffhanger witch I think no show that people spent years watching should.

OK, I just finished watching the last episode of season 3 and.....what the hell it's over!! for good!!. How is it possible it doesn't continue to a fourth season, there's still so many unanswered questions and story lines to continue with. It's already been 2 years since they ended it so I guess there won't be any more, that's a shame the fourth season could have been the best one. I must admit it took me about 5 episodes of season one to get into the show but once you're hooked you're hooked. I find it hard to believe it kept an audience for 3 seasons and then all of a sudden the show was canceled or not picked up due to a lack of ratings, what happened to all the people who were watching it all that time.

I just saw the pilot for this show. Its pretty funny and smart.

I liked Thomas Jane's character who's getting slapped around by life. I found it easy to empathise with Jane's character; he's kinda the average man who goes through life kind of coasting and wakes up after everything goes sideways on him. His wife leaves him for a guy with money, he's trying to hold everything together and can't seem to find the time or the energy to do so. Eventually, he takes stock of his life, "wasted" potential, limited options, poor job, non-existent prospect and he turns to his one asset; his skill as a lover and the fact that he's "hung" hence the title of the show. This leads him to prostitute himself.

In the end, his plan goes awry and he finds and unlikely pimp. The pilot sets a great tone and leaves the potential for equal parts comedy and drama. I am looking forward to the development of this series.

I have been watching HUNG for a while. It was entertaining, alright, if we ignore the fact that sex is shown as it is always is: censored; which I tolerate generally speaking (This Film Is Not Yet Rated explains it all pretty clear), although when applied to a series about a gigolo... it is becoming far fetched, and seriously damages the credibility of the story. But still, I was watching the show. Today I decided to quit. I was just watching the second chapter of the third season, where Tanya (who is supposedly liberated and has technically impossible orgasms, as for example the one in the toilet, in that very chapter) explains to her sex students the two kinds of orgasm we women have: clitoral and vaginal. COME ON! In the 70s, maybe somebody believed it, but the fallacy has been perpetuated long enough, we are in the 21st century, and we know our bodies, and are not afraid any more of understanding and accepting our sexual organ: the clitoris. There is only one kind of orgasm: orgasm. It is usually obtained by means of stimulation of our sexual organ: the clitoris. Sometimes a man, with his penis, can stimulate the clitoris via penetration, but it is not the most efficient way to stimulate it, of course. By perpetuating the fallus fallacy, the system is making us women feel weird and strange, alone, and often unorgasmic. So, if you ignore a woman's sexuality, do not write a script about sex.

This new HBO series has turned out to be a pleasant surprise. It's hard not to relate to a guy who lost everything in a day and age when so many people are going through similar situations. I've been there myself and I understand a lot of his frustrations. To see him cash in on his best "asset" has proved to be very, very interesting. Would we do the same if we were in his predicament? Well, you gotta eat and pay the bills. The writing is excellent. Also, Anne Heche can consider herself very lucky to have gotten this gig. She, too, is pleasant in her role as the ex-wife and it has made me forget all her past scandals, something I didn't think could be possible. Nice, too, to see Thomas Jane in what appears to be a hit for HBO.

I am thoroughly looking forward to episode #3.

So HBO has basically covered a lot of ground in terms of different topics in their shows. There was a dsyfunctional family in Six Feet Under, criminal life in The Sopranos, Hollywood in Entourage, women and their sex lives in Sex and the City, music in Flight of the Conchords, politics in Bill Maher, and now finally prostitution in Hung.

The story is about a middle aged man named Ray who is facing a series of middle-aged problems, if you may say it that way. His wife divorced him for a guy that has more money than him, his kids are in full custody of the mother, he coaches a basketball team that has a long losing streak, he has a lawyer next door who is giving him crap, and the worst part, Ray does not have a lot of money. After sleeping with Tanya, she throws a fit at Ray about how the only thing that Ray is good for is having a large you-know what. And Ray thinks about it a lot and believes that the solution was what Tanya said: he could be a man whore. But obviously the whole whore part of it is just a vehicle to struggles in the life, specifically in your middle-age and motifs such as love, envy, and desperation.

The show is entertaining for the first part. There is nothing can make you bored because it does entice you. I am already interested in the progression that this show is going to take. The thing is that the show is not very funny. Most of the comedy is just tongue in cheek. But Thomas Jane does a pretty good job with his role. I have seen the role being played many, many times, but I say that this is a new role for Thomas Jane to really get into.

Like many other dramedies have done in the past, the writer always sees the word "drama" first in that word and use too much drama and unfortunately, this show seems like it is going to take that path This show may be more of an interest to soap opera lovers than the general public if it does continue in the path of a typical dramedy.

However, if you like movies or shows about mid-life struggles (American Beauty or Breaking Bad) and you have a sense of black comedy, than this is definitely the show for you. But do not expect yourself to be rolling on the floor laughing.

I only discovered 'Hung' when it became one of the Prime offerings on amazon instant video. The pilot felt awkward to me - as if the writers were trying to lay out the basics really clearly, something difficult to do AND sound natural.

After, say, the third episode, I was hooked. Thomas Jane plays Ray Drecker, a beautiful man and has a gorgeous body. But beneath that hunky exterior beats the heart of a great big old puppy dog: eager, sweet, loyal, trusting, and devoted. He's not good with money, he's not the best judge of character, and he's no businessman. Hence, his pimp.

Contrast that to the women around him. Tanya, who at first would seem to have lack the guile to maximize profits in her pimp business (but surprise, surprise), and Lenore, who looks like she could be anyone's trophy wife but is capable of almost any crime as long as she believes she won't get caught.

I knew this would be a GREAT show when I realized it was not about sex. I could see it would be about the challenges of building a business when a woman has very little talent for that. Tanya, Ray's pimp, can only produce baked goods with a gimmicky lagniappe but she talks a good game about the prospects of using Ray's natural well-endowed physique to please women for money.

Even there, her thinking is flawed. As a real pimp tells her, homosexual prostitution is where the money is at. What is she doing trying to find women who will appreciate a roll in the hay with Ray?

Tanya discovers soon enough that another woman, Lenore, will make life more difficult unless Lenore can become a partner in this prostitution business. Watching the women going at each other, fighting over material possessions, money, and even Ray's time, will instantly bring the female viewer back to the high school lunch room where such dramas played out for almost any teenage girl. Over a boy, over a man, over a dog - what's the difference? The skirmishes are the same.

I recommend sticking with the series past the first few episodes to get to the 'good stuff,' which is the birth of the business these characters will share.

One thing I learned from this show is how important the pimp's job is. Without the pimp, a prostitute is awkward, somewhat sleazy, and unprotected. Also, searching for johns seems to me to be a little like looking for a job. You really need to know the right place to go, the right person to talk to. It has to be frustrating and near-impossible to do it on your own if you are a hooker!

It is a good engaging story with some really very LIKABLE sex scenes... Watched Season 1 and Season 2.

I really liked the poem recited by the (can't remember the name of the character).