Hung is a US comedy drama in which a former high school sports legend turned middle-aged high school basketball coach finds a way to benefit from his biggest asset…

At first glance, Ray Drecker (Thomas Jane) seems like an ordinary divorced dad who’s facing tough times and trying to make ends meet. But Ray’s got one extraordinary, God-given gift – call it his “winning tool” – that sets him apart from other underpaid high-school teachers. With a little help from an unlikely business ally named Tanya (Jane Adams), Ray is about to hatch an inspired plan to ride his winning tool all the way to a more productive, debt-free life.

Hung Season 1 Review

"Hung has been a sleeper hit for HBO, and as the second season is being readied to premiere this summer, the network is releasing The Complete First Season on DVD so viewers can get caught up. The imminently likable Thomas Jane (The Mist) stars as Drecker, and as the main focus of the show, Jane makes this well-endowed underdog a strange kind of hero, one worth rooting for.

The essential plot is that Ray starts taking business-minded motivational classes to try to drum up some inspiration about how to score the green he needs. At the seminars, he runs into a former one-night stand, a poet named Tanya (Jane Adams, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind) who used to come speak to Ray's history class. They once again fall into the sack together, and when Ray is on his way out the door following the deed, Tanya makes an off-hand comment that the only good thing about him is his penis. This gets Ray thinking, and the next thing you know, he's Googling ways to make money with his member. Eventually, Tanya comes on board as his pimp, rebranding Ray as a “happiness consultant” and marketing him to lonely ladies with disposable income.

Unsurprisingly, there is a learning curve to the hustler business. Getting customers is one of the biggest obstacles. Tanya knows a personal shopper and lifestyle coach who hooks them up with a couple of early takers, though Lenore is a piece of work that tears through everything like a tornado. She insists on sampling Ray before recommending him, and their night, which is also Ray's first job, goes in some strange directions. Lenore is played by Rebecca Creskoff, and she turns in the kind of performance that transforms a supporting role into an essential, must-watch component. By the end of The Complete First Season, Lenore is becoming a much more active player, a villainous partner to the hippy-dippy Tanya…

Given Hung's central concept, you really got to give it to the showmakers that they managed to make a classy drama out of it rather than getting all cute about the show's natural assets. Again to compare it to Weeds, Hung could have constantly kept reminding us of how outrageous the scenario is, giving a “Look, this suburban dad is now a gigolo!” wink every five minutes the way Weeds goes out of its way to make sure that we remember it's about a mom selling marijuana. If that were all Hung were, it would likely burn out just as quickly as Weeds did. Instead, Lipkin, Burson, and Payne have created a story about real people who will grow and change and whom we can continue to care about as they do, rather than growing annoyed as they sink deeper into increasingly less-believable plot twists. This is television that transcends gimmicks. Just like Ray's customers, I am satisfied enough to keep coming back.

Hung: The Complete First Season is another winner in the HBO line-up. Starring Thomas Jane as a down-on-his-luck father and teacher who turns to being a gigolo in order to pay his bills, the series takes a surprisingly high road, walking far above its gimmicky concept in order to present honest characters dealing with real choices. It's funny and poignant, and Highly Recommended." DVD Talk