Starring: Thomas Jane, Jane Adams, Anne Heche, Charlie Sexton and Sianoa Smit-McPheeAppearing On: HBO Sundays at 10:30 p.m.

Ray Drecker (Jane) has one thing going for him. It’s not his job, he’s a high school teacher. It’s not his house, half of that burned down. It’s not his marriage, he’s divorced. Nope. It’s his penis, his very large penis.

But when it boils down to it, a show about someone’s extra-helping of manhood isn’t that funny, and ‘Hung,’ the comedy about Ray and his package, lacks humor. In fact, the show is quite dull. Too bad really, the cast’s acting isn’t half bad.

In ‘Hung,’ Ray’s life sucks. His kids (Sexton and McPhee) have deserted him, his ex-wife (Heche) couldn’t care less about him and he’s struggling financially. Grasping at straws, he attends a get-rich-quick seminar where the speaker asks the audience to identify the tool that will lead them to millions. When Ray starts thinking about what he has, it dawns on him: his penis. With that in mind, Ray decides to become a male prostitute. A former hook-up, Tanya (a sexy but quirky Adams), agrees to act as his pimp, and soon, Ray starts to make house calls.

The real problem with ‘Hung’ is that it’s poorly written. The pilot episode failed to have a single scene, line or action which warranted a laugh, chuckle or giggle. A couple sequences fell limper than well, you can guess what. In one, we witnessed Ray’s ex-wife packing up everything she can into the mini-van, even the tulips, in what we presume is a flashback to the end of their marriage. Instead of funny, it was just rather unpleasant. Another scene showed Ray’s fight with Tanya, which involved the two repeating ‘big penis’ several times. Big penis, big penis, big penis. See? Not that funny.

Acting-wise, the show’s a different story. Jane is great as the down-on-his-luck schlep, the grown man who keeps his high school trophies on the mantle. With his beaten-puppy expression, you can’t help but feel sorry for him. The women, Heche and Adams, both grasp their characters, too. Heche is delightfully vindictive, while Adams plays flighty but playful well.

Maybe it’s the sour economy making front-page news that makes it hard to poke fun at people adrift in life. But whatever the reason, ‘Hung’ doesn’t get the job done.

Published on July 9, 2009 at 12:00 pm