Welcome to Binge Watchin,’ where we take a look at some of the best TV shows available on streaming or disc that have a great catalogue of seasons to jump into and get sucked into the beautiful bliss of binge watching! From crime, action, comedy, drama, animation, etc., we’ll be evaluating an assortment of shows that will hopefully serve as a gateway to your next binge experience.
Series: Californication
Number of Seasons: 7
Where to watch: Netflix, Showtime Anytime, DVD
What’s the show about?
Hank Moody, a novelist living in New York, moves to California to pursue his booming writing career, falling into a tailspin of booze, drugs, women, and outrageous situations as he struggles to maintain the complicated relationships with his longtime lover, Karen, and daughter, Becca. His sole champion is his agent, Charlie, who has his own issues to deal with, including a feisty wife, Marcy, and a serious problem with masturbation. Hank traverses the high’s and low’s of his new environment, doing everything right and wrong to be both a successful writer, lover, and father.
Why Should I Watch It?
There’s something about the antihero that most of us respond to. Although the average man on the street does his best to be a good guy and play by the rules, while still managing to be slightly mysterious at times, there’s always that “one guy” who seems to get away with it all. He has the best stories, gets the most girls, and typically has complicated, sad, and/or tragic relationships in his life. And yet, he still manages to smile and muster through it, repeating his mistakes over and over again, even while trying to do the right thing. You should hate him, but you just can’t. He’s got a charm that’s undeniable and constantly surprises you with his brash, hilarious, and sometimes repugnant behavior. Wise, cynical, self-deprecating, proud, courageous, weak-willed, charming, and repulsive; This is Hank Moody.
As played by The X-Files’ David Duchovny, Hank is the quintessential bad boy; the guy that every girl falls for even though it’s obvious nothing will ever come of it beyond drunken sex and boozy shenanigans. But, that’s what makes it all worthwhile. While many consider Duchovny’s role as Fox Mulder to be the defining role of his career, I would put Hank Moody a few steps ahead (to note, he took home a best actor Golden Globe for the first season). Mulder was never really funny, just odd and determined, which worked fine for that show. With Californication, Duchovny shows a side we’d not really seen in his prior work, which is an absolutely hilarious, charming, and complicated persona that you can’t help but cheer for even when you know he’s going down in flames. Duchovny’s Hank Moody, often referred to as “the poor man’s Bukowski,” is the car crash you can’t look away from.
Created by Tom Kapinos (who writes a vast majority of the episodes all the way to the final season), the show is part Hollywood satire in the vein of Entourage and part dramedy with a heavy dose of sexual encounters and hilarious hijinks. Hank can charm the stick off a Popsicle and works his mojo on a long string of gorgeous ladies from season to season, which ends up being one of the many highlights of the show. In that sense, Californication reminds me a lot of the HBO comedy show Dream On, which starred Brian Benben (another one worthy of this column), where each episode held some form of flirtation that would end up under the sheets (or not).
And before you think it’s just about the T&A for the sake of T&A (okay, it is a little), Californication is an awesome showcase for some talented actresses who get to show more complexity and humor than they’re usually given. It’s great to see them cut loose and explore the riskier, cable TV side of things; Carla Gugino, Madchen Amick, Rachel Miner, Carla Gallo, Embeth Davidtz, Eva Amurri, Addison Timlin, Natalie Zea, Meagan Good, Maggie Grace, Mary Lynn Rajskub, and more all put in some hilarious performances that take the prototypical love interest and give it a hell of a lot more spin and character. Without these ladies, Hank Moody would just be a sad drunk.
Season one finds Hank Moody dealing with a serious case of writer’s block, while his longtime love, Karen (played by the magnetic Natascha McElhone) is preparing to marry a new man. One evening Hank finds himself hooking up with a girl, Mia (as played by Madeline Zima), at a bookstore (who coincidentally enjoys punching him in the face during sex) that turns out to be the daughter of Karen’s new man. Oh, and she’s underage at that, unbeknownst to Hank at the time. This sets up a running conundrum for Hank who tries to keep the tryst secret, even after he’s inspired to write a book about the experience. The book is later stolen by the punch-happy underage girl and passed off as her own, which Hank is reluctant to fight for as it would reveal his sin. This sets off a chain of events that involve all manner of adventures and encounters that roll out through season seven, many of which end up with Hank in deeper trouble than he was before and usually with a few more notches on the headboard. The casualties of his misadventures are Karen and his daughter, Becca (played by Madeleine Martin), the two people he both loves and hurts the most throughout.
Hanks best friend and agent, Charlie Runkle, is played with uproarious perfection by Evan Handler, who really goes all the way with this role, humiliating himself from episode to episode with some of the most stupefying crazy antics I’ve ever seen on a cable TV show. You can always count on Runkle to match Hank in the shocking and hilarious department with each of them being both the best and worst things for each other. It’s a great and fitting pairing. And let’s not forget Marcy, played by Pamela Adlon (commonly called “Cokie Smurf” after a cocaine binge in season 2), the feisty, foul-mouthed, on-again-off-again wife of Runkle, who is every bit a staple to the show as he is. Her presence adds to the whole Californication mythology.
Hank continues his journey through each season taking on a new writing assignment, be it for a new novel, screenplay, teaching gig, or broadway musical, each time diving into the world of his employer, which ranges from rock stars, rap stars, Hollywood moguls, and record producers; he’s swimming in the hedonism and rock star culture, which crushes his weak will to temptation. Hank immerses himself in each new setting; bedding women, ingesting mind-altering substances, and digging himself deeper into trouble along the way, while helping him realize where his priorities really are, even if he can’t help but deviate from them when confronted by his demons.
Beyond the line-up of awesome (and hot) female co-stars that grace the show, there’s a great roster of guest stars that pop up, either for recurring seasons or just one episode; Stephen Tobolowsky as a sleazy Hollywood producer, Judy Greer as a call girl that acts as a bit of a kindred spirit to Hank, RZA as a crazed rapper-turned-actor, Angus McFadyan as a spiritual guru, Richard Bates as a penis-tucking alcoholic, Peter Gallagher as a University dean, Kathleen Turner as Runkle’s one-time boss and lover, Tim Minchin as an over-the-hill rock star, Michael Imperioli as an agry TV show producer, and the best of the bunch, Rob Lowe as Eddie Nero, a batshit crazy actor that constantly pops up in Hank’s life (great scene here). Each of these actors (and many more not named here) makes Californication such a richly insane and engrossing story to follow.
While the journey of Hank isn’t on a Shakespearian level (in fact, it’s mostly wash-rinse-repeat from season to season), the “treading water” plight of his character, torn between the eternal torment of letting his urges destroy his commitment to his family and trying his damndest to do the right thing is one that most of us can relate to, even if we’re not quite as charming as he is. The show teeters between outrageous and shockingly hilarious comedy to introspective drama that fits Hank’s struggle perfectly; like the sudden jolt of reality that can ruin a perfectly good drunken bender.
There’s so much fun to be had with Californication. Each episode is 22 minutes long, making it an easy one to binge, and you’re guaranteed to have at least a few (if not a lot) of laugh out loud moments in that time-span. Duchovny is at his best (and funniest) here and if the dramedy aspect doesn’t sell you then you can certainly count on some well-placed nudity and a carefully selected soundtrack that fits the show’s tone and mood (with six soundtracks to accompany it). It’s also very well shot, garnering a few cinematography Emmy wins along the way. The guest star roster is exceptional and if nothing else, the show is worth catching just to watch Hank squirm his way in and out of every situation we all hope to avoid, but secretly wish we were a part of.
Best Season:
This is a tough question for any series and Californication is no different. So, I’m going to guide you in a few ways. The first season is a great one and begins and ends as a standalone story. You could easily watch season one from beginning to end and leave satisfied in the journey. It’s as if they shot the first season with the idea that they may never get a second (which is a good rule of thumb, I think). If you were fully invested in the series after the first one, then I’d say that season four really hits its stride (not that season two or three are slouches). The dynamic of the characters and Hank’s immersion into the Hollywood moviemaking scene make for some really funny and interesting stuff and really puts him in his element.
Season six may be the series’ strongest season and the one it should’ve ended on. The love interest of Maggie Grace presents the greatest challenge to his love for Karen; she’s a valid threat (and a beautiful one at that) and that makes for some great tension. I’d actually recommend skipping season seven altogether unless you simply love the characters so much that you could stomach a really terrible storyline to close the show out (seriously, it’s as if they wrote the season not knowing that this was the end…which supposedly they did).
Season seven introduces a long lost son of Hank’s who is horribly miscast and odd as hell with a dragged out story that leaves the finale of Hank’s journey tossed together in the last two episodes. You would be better off revisiting the season six finale, which felt more in tune with how Hank’s journey would close (and is still very much the same as season seven, but with a storyline that builds throughout to the end). With that said, there are still laughs to be had, just not the final journey that Hank (or the audience) deserved.
Final Thoughts:
Next to Eastbound and Down, I don’t think I’ve laughed more at any other show. Californication has David Duchovny at his best (and funniest) with a strong supporting cast and outrageously awesome guest spots that never cease to put on a funny, titillating, shocking, and dramatic spin on the life of a man sinking his own ship. Watching the flawed Hank Moody spiral into his crazy world and struggle to claw his way back makes for some great television. When it was all over I knew I’d miss Hank Moody and all his crazy bullshit and that still stands. I look forward to a “re-binge” some day down the line.