Watched the first episode on Showtime. My wife was impressed with David Duchnovy’s bare butt. She now thinks she should have watched The X Files (shudder).
I was impressed with how many beautiful women he was able to bed in one 30 minute episode! Since TV never lies, I’m moving to CA very shortly! 
I found David’s character to be a whiny sot but that show sure did make me and hubby horny!
I liked it. I wasn’t going to watch, just because of the title. Who needs to see more gorgeous people hopping in and out of each other’s beds? But this was funny sex. And even though Hank had what, four different women – it was only a few minutes of the show.
I’m glad for the thread, I was wondering if anyone else was watching, too. I would have never watched this show (even though it’s on after Weeds, which I love) if I hadn’t heard it (favorably) reviewed on NPR. Showtime did this show no favors with its previews, IMO. I think it’s well-acted, very funny, written well, and surprisingly moving - the last scene of the first episode had me a little sniffly. Anyway, I’ll definitely be watching again.
After show number two I’m more convinced Hank is a larger than average asshole. Also, this character is some writer’s wishful longing of how real life should be. Because all writers should have hot girls throwing themselves crotch-first at a one-time novelist, especially the kind who insult you for no reason other than that they are assholes. And hot girls waiting at lights always toss steamy letters into the cars of absolute strangers who are talking to themselves.
As you can see, I’m having a real problem with Hank as written.
Upon viewing last night, I’m thinking you have a point there, Biggirl. But might I suggest that the problem is less with Hank’s character as written as much as the women’s. Perhaps that’s the satiric point, that only in L.A. would you find “perfect women” wacky (or insipid. or masochistic) enough to sleep with a pathetic loser like Hank. It’s one thing to conjure up a colossal asshole*. That’s not difficult. But to try to maintain that a string of presumably otherwise not-developmentally-disabled people would react to him favorably is a bit beyond the pale. And is going to be a bit difficult to keep going, IMO.
*Wait! Wait! He’s NOT a Colossal Asshole - he prefers real breasts! He’s complex, see? 
We watched the first two episodes but I think I’m giving up. I think it’s just trying to hard to be edgy and is ending up looking like a porn movie broken up into half-hour segments. By that, I mean lots of random sex with bad dialog in between. The vomiting thing also really turned me off. I’m so damn sick of seeing that when movies and TV shows are trying to be edgy.
You know, I think you’re right. I do find Hank funny and I understand the ‘hard time’ he’s going through. It wasn’t really Hank who pissed me off so much as all the totally unrealistic women in his life and their out of leftfield, only happens in a writer’s wet dream response to him.
I like the daughter, and Evan Handler, and in last night’s episode, I liked the dinner party conversation. I didn’t like that Hank talked to Mimi – if he’s so squicked out at sleeping with a 16-year-old, he should have just driven off.
Learning that her dad owns the magazine Hank is writing for means that we’ll be seeing more of her, and that squicks me out.
I’ll probably keep watching, just because it’s easy to stay in the chair after Weeds.
When my wife pointed out that was the daughter from The Nanny, I squicked out more than you, guaranteed.
I watched the pilot and thought it stunk. Lots of nudity, but the characters weren’t interesting and the writing was very predictable. I want *Brotherhood *back-- I think it’s supposed to have a 2nd season.
I’ve been watching it and overall, I like it, but this is Showtime-- there have to be titties in EVERY SINGLE ep, preferably several different sets. This is just a fact of most Showtime series, I’ve noticed. Aggravating.
However, in this show, I think the larger point is something Hank said in the last ep, that L.A. deforms and destroys women who live there. All the women who have sex with Hank (an unrealistic amount of women, I agree) have serious self-esteem or life problems, or is an underage sadistic Lolita. Hank realizes that his windfall of nookie is directly related to how screwed up L.A. culture is, and he wants to leave and take his erstwhile ex and daughter with him. But of course, in the meantime, why not enjoy all the sex?
I thought he talked to Mia because he’s terrified she’s going to expose him as a statutory rapist. He doesn’t exactly have the power in that situation, and Mia is definitely not going to let it go. He has to be careful how he deals with her.
Oh, worse yet (don’t read this if you don’t want spoilers for the next ep, from the preview for next week):
Mia tells Hank, “I’m late.” Does that mean she’s trying to tell him she’s pregnant with his kid? Ugh.
There’s showing the series (tits, sex scenes, swearing, and all!) on Channel 10 here- at 9:30pm in the evening, no less. 
I like the show so far, but mainly because I like seeing David Duchovny being a smartass to people, and, let’s face it, I never thought I’d see surprisingly hot sex on a free-to-air TV channel besides SBS. 
My only real complaint is that- so far- the show seems like a slightly more plot-filled and marginally less gratuitous Letter To Penthouse, but I see the point others have made that LA is basically the only place screwed up enough for Hot Women ™ to throw themselves at a one-time, currently non-practicing writer like Hank. All I can say is that I’ve been writing for years and I’ve yet to have super-hot women just throw themselves at me… maybe I should try a different genre?
The “sleeping with a 16 year old” thing doesn’t bother me a huge amount because A) It’s legal in most places besides the US anyway, B) He didn’t actually know she was 16, and C) It’s a very interesting plot device at the moment, and it will be interesting to see where they go with it.
I’m watching it. They would have lost me with the second episode (the vomiting scene and general crudeness) but my husband wanted to keep watching (wonder why?) and it’s getting a little better.
I did think it was funny how, after Mia, Hank started cringing during sex, expecting to be punched in the face.
I stopped watching after the second episode. Nothing particularly wrong with the show, but I had stopped watching Weeds (it’s just too silly), so I wasn’t in the chair for Californication.
We caught a few episodes this weekend. I realized how much I’ve missed David Duchovny, who can really be quite funny, but the show still needs to win me over. It might, it might not.
Wasn’t Hank the name of Duchovny’s dog on Red Shoe Diaries?
I think Duchovny is an inspired bit of casting. There isn’t much to like about Hank, but everybody likes David Duchovny, so the character gets a lot of sympathy that he really doesn’t deserve.
I thought the first episode was good, and the second and third were better.