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Californication (TV series)

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Californication
File:Californication Title Ep2.jpg
GenreComedy-drama
Created byTom Kapinos
StarringDavid Duchovny
Natascha McElhone
Madeleine Martin
Madeline Zima
Evan Handler
Pamela Adlon
Country of originUnited States
No. of seasons2
No. of episodes24 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producersDavid Duchovny
Tom Kapinos
Stephen Hopkins
Production locationCalifornia
Running timeApproximately 28 minutes per episode
Original release
NetworkShowtime
ReleaseAugust 13, 2007 –
present

Californication is a Showtime TV series production created by Tom Kapinos, starring David Duchovny as Hank Moody; a troubled novelist whose move to California and his writer's block complicate the relationships with his ex-girlfriend Karen (Natascha McElhone) and daughter Becca (Madeleine Martin).

Series overview

Main article: List of Californication episodes

The series revolves around Hank Moody, a charming writer and novelist plagued with personal demons. He blames his years-long case of writer's block on a variety of reasons, ranging from the hedonism of Los Angeles, to his on-again, off-again relationship with his girlfriend Karen. Hank constantly deals with the fallout of his lack of will to say "no" to drugs, sex and alcohol, while trying to show his family that he can be a good, caring person.

The show was renewed for a second season on September 7, 2007.[1] The season 1 finale, titled "The Last Waltz", originally aired on Showtime on October 29, 2007. Season 2 began filming in April 2008,[2] and was underway as of June 2008.[3] The premiere episode of season 2 aired September 28, 2008. The first season was released on DVD in the US on June 17, 2008. Showtime has decided to renew Californication for a third season, scheduled to premiere in late 2009.[4]

First season

The first season takes place in the months leading up to Karen's planned marriage to Bill, a Los Angeles publisher. Hank is wallowing deep in self-loathing following the release of A Crazy Little Thing Called Love, what he percieves as a sub-par yet popular movie adaptation to his most recent novel, God Hates Us All. After picking up a younger woman in a bookstore, he finds out she is actually Bill's 16-year-old daughter, Mia. Hank spends most of his time boozing and not writing. Mia continues to haunt Hank during his visits to his family, using the threat of statutory rape to steal stories for her creative writing class. The death of his father triggers a bender and an eventual sexual encounter with Karen. After the funeral, Hank stays in New York to finish a manuscript for a new novella. However, when Hank returns to LA, the original copy is lost when his car is stolen. But Mia has retained her own copy, and chooses to pass the work off as her own. On Karen and Bill's wedding day, Hank chooses to accept the way things are. But as he leaves the reception with his daughter Becca, Karen runs out and jumps into the car, riding into a new life together.

Second season

The newly reunited couple of Hank and Karen is seeming to work out, their house is on the market and Becca seems happy again. Hank gets a vasectomy and attends a party invited by Sonja, a woman Hank had sex with in the first season. A mistake and a fight with an obnoxious police officer lands Hank in jail, where he meets Lew Ashby, world-famous record producer. He commissions Hank to write his biography.

Charlie loses his job due to jerking off in his office several different times, and becomes the paternal figure and agent of a porn star named Daisy. Charlie decides to get into the porn industry and finances the porn movie "Vaginatown", starring Daisy. Marcy goes into rehab for her cocaine addiction and Charlie starts an affair with Daisy. Hank proposes to Karen on the night that they discover that Hank could be the father of Sonja's child. Karen says no after hearing the news about Sonja's baby, and Hank decides that they can no longer be together.

Hank moves in with Ashby, who starts a romance with Mia (much to Hank's dismay). Becca finds a boyfriend named Damien. Mia's book becomes a hit and Ashby holds a party in its honor, where Damien cheats on Becca and Charlie decides to divorce Marcy to get together with Daisy. After the party Hank sees that Ashby's old girlfriend (The one that got away) has finally showed up to see Lew and when Hank goes upstairs to get him, he dies of an overdose of heroin which he had mistaken for cocaine.

Hank finishes Ashby's biography. Charlie ends up working in a BMW dealership in the Valley. Sonja's baby is born and turns out to be black, making it clear that Hank cannot be the father. Hank and Karen are slowly starting to get together again. Karen then gets offered a job in New York and Hank is happy to go back to New York with her, but when Damien apologises to Becca and the two get back together again, Hank decides it would be wrong to take Becca out of Los Angeles. He decides to stay, while Karen starts her job in New York. The season closes with Karen's plane leaving for New York and Hank and Becca walking on the Venice boardwalk.

Characters

Main characters

Recurring characters

  • Bill Lewis (Damian Young) - Karen's ex-fiancee. (Does not appear in Season 2)
  • Sonja (Paula Marshall) - Karen's friend and Hank's one night stand
  • Dani California (Rachel Miner) - Charlie's former assistant (Twelve total episodes, only appears in the first and last episodes of Season 2)
  • Lew Ashby (Callum Keith Rennie) - Hank's record producer friend
  • Daisy (Carla Gallo) - Charlie's porn star client
  • Michelle (Surfer Girl) (Michelle Lombardo) - Hank's friend
  • Trixie (Judy Greer) - prostitute
  • Ronny Praeger (Hal Ozsan) - Porn director and Charlie's business partner in the 'Vaginatown' movie (Four episodes of Season 2)
  • Julian (Angus MacFadyen) - Hank's Season 2 nemesis, Sonja's spiritual guru and love-interest (Six episodes of Season 2)
  • Damien (Ezra Miller) - Becca's boyfriend and the son of Mrs. Patterson, her English teacher (Five episodes)

Critical reaction

Main article: List of Californication awards and nominations

The critical reaction for Californication has been generally favorable, with a rating of 70 on Metacritic.[5] However there has been a backlash from conservative groups who oppose the explicit nature of the program. Conservative columnist Andrew Bolt criticized the program in the Australian newspaper the Herald Sun, in regards to the pilot's opening dream scene in which a nun performs oral sex on Hank Moody.[6] The Australian Christian Lobby’s managing director Jim Wallace also called for a boycott, not only of Network Ten, but all advertisers who advertise during the show, in response to a scene in which Hank and Sonja smoke marijuana, have sex and subsequently both vomit.[7] When Network Ten premiered Season 2 on October 5 2008, the Christian fundamentalist group Salt Shakers led an e-mail campaign against advertisers, requesting they withdraw their advertisements. This resulted in 49 companies withdrawing their advertising, including the show's main sponsor, Just Car Insurance.

The show premiered on Thursday, November 8, 2007 in New Zealand amidst controversy due to issues raised by the conservative lobby group Family First, who objected to the content of the show. The group called for families to boycott any company advertising during the episode which it described as "drug, sex and vomit-laden."[8][9][10]

The show and lead actor David Duchovny were both nominated for Golden Globes in 2007; Duchovny won the lead actor award, but the award for best TV series in this category went to Extras.[11]

DVD release

Season One of "Californication" was released on DVD in the UK on June 16, 2008. The bonus features in the UK release included an audio commentary of the pilot episode, as well as interviews with the cast and director. The Season One DVD set was also released in the US on June 17, 2008, Australia on June 19, 2008 (the box set in Australia also included a black g-string with "Californication" printed on the front), and France earlier than other countries on July 10, 2008.

Season Two of "Californication" is set to be released on DVD in the United States (USA) on August 11th, 2009, just prior to the "Californication" Season Three Premiere on Showtime.[12]

Lawsuit

The Red Hot Chili Peppers filed a lawsuit on November 19, 2007[13] against Showtime Networks over the name of the series, which is also the name of the band's 1999 album and hit single. They state in the lawsuit that the series "constitutes a false designation of origin, and has caused and continues to cause a likelihood of confusion, mistake, and deception as to source, sponsorship, affiliation, and/or connection in the minds of the public".[14] Pointing to Dani California, a character who appears in both the series and three songs by the Red Hot Chili Peppers (including Californication) as well as confusion when shopping for their album and that of the series soundtrack, the band members are seeking unspecified damages. They are also requesting that a new name be found for the TV show.[15] Showtime Networks is expected to argue that the band did not in fact create the term Californication (a portmanteau of California and fornication). They point out that the term appeared in print in Time Magazine in 1972, in an article called The Great Wild Californicated West.[16] Canadian art-rock band the Rheostatics also released an album called Whale Music in 1992, with a song called "California Dreamline". In this song, the word Californication appears in the phrase "Californication, spooning in the dry sand".[17][18]

Kim Walker, head of intellectual property at Pinsent Masons, states that the band should have registered Californication as a trademark. Instead, the only application for such was filed in April 2007 in the US, by Showtime. The mark has not yet been registered. Walker has also stated:

"Successful songs, albums and movies can become brands in themselves. What's really surprising is how few songs and albums are properly protected," said Walker. "The Chili Peppers could almost certainly have registered a trade mark for 'Californication', notwithstanding Time's article. They made the word famous, but it doesn't automatically follow that they can stop its use in a TV show." "If they had registered the title as a trade mark covering entertainment services, I very much doubt we'd have seen a lawsuit. The TV show would have been called something else," he said. "As it is, the band faces an uphill struggle.[19]"

The matter remains unresolved.

Viewership

The second season finale of Californication drew 615,000 viewers, with a combined total of 937,000 for the evening, retaining less than 50% of its lead-in from the season finale of Dexter.[20]

References

  1. ^ Nordyke, Kimberly (2007-09-07). "'Californication's' next chapter". Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2007-09-12.
  2. ^ Adalian, Josef (2007-09-06). "Showtime renews 'Californication'". Variety (magazine). Retrieved 2007-12-17.
  3. ^ "Californication Official Blog". Sho.com(Official website). 2008-06-24. Retrieved 2008-06-28.
  4. ^ Nordyke, Kimberly (2008-12-03). "'Californication' headed for Season 3". Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2008-12-03.
  5. ^ "Californication". Metacritic. Retrieved 2007-08-22.
  6. ^ Bolt, Andrew (2007-08-29). "Just how low can you go with Californication?". Herald Sun. Retrieved 2007-08-30.
  7. ^ Schliebs, Mark (2007-09-04). "Drugs, sex and vomit prompt Californication boycott call". News.com.au. Retrieved 2007-09-04.
  8. ^ "Boycott drug, sex and vomit-laden programme, says Family First". Retrieved 2007-11-09.
  9. ^ "Family First Call For Boycott". Retrieved 2007-11-09.
  10. ^ "Family First Press Release outlining their objections to the show". Retrieved 2007-11-09.
  11. ^ HFPA - Nominations and Winners
  12. ^ http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=17893567&st=Californication+Season+2&lp=2&type=product&cp=1&id=1997058
  13. ^ [1]
  14. ^ [2]
  15. ^ [3]
  16. ^ http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,877985,00.html
  17. ^ http://www.rheostatics.ca/
  18. ^ [4]
  19. ^ [5]
  20. ^ http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6623201.html
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