If HBO's new series, Hung (premiering Sunday), is about a suburban male escort who's, well, endowed, you've got to wonder why the pay cabler doesn't give us a swinging glimpse of the title character, a la Boogie Nights. But with pitch-perfect performances and honest writing, the desperation-meets-comedy series might have you considering if size really is all that matters.
“It’s been a rough couple years. Really. Rough,” says onetime high school sports legend Ray Drecker, played by Thomas Jane. In the series’ pilot, Drecker is forced to capitalize on his only viable attribute (the show’s title) and become a prostitute to make ends meet. And while the happy hooker genre loves to skip over the dark parts of prostitution (see: Pretty Woman), Hung takes its time with Drecker’s path to becoming a pro. Sure, watching his uninsured house burn down and his beloved teenage twins desert him to move in with his psycho ex-wife isn’t necessarily a gigglefest, but a little irony and suffering seems required to get us to consider Drecker’s inner struggle when Jane’s outer workings (abs, pecs, jawline) are so pleasant.
But Hung is a pleasure to watch even without the full frontal, because Drecker’s just like you and me — someone struggling to make his way through the recession. He’s just got a more sizable stimulus package.
Hung premieres Sunday on HBO at 10 p.m.
