Having now watched two episodes of Tell Me You Love Me (one more than
cousin Tom will presumably ever watch), I feel like I can comment.
There seems to be a "cinema verite" category of HBO drama that includes
the (to borrow a phrase) "brilliant but cancelled" K Street, also the
less interesting but fairly entertaining Unscripted, and now this. The
first two were created by Steven Soderbergh and George Clooney and were
dispatched quickly, so I can't imagine that this series by (who was it
again?) will survive its first season. Apparently the first episode
ratings were terrible, and as for my personal reaction to the first two,
I have to say I was more or less as annoyed as you all. The first sex
scene in Episode 2 was an exercise in eye rolling as in "here we go
again". Mercifully, the sex never becomes as explicit as it was in
episode 1, but the characters never really become more likable either.
Others have pointed to the characters of David and Katie played by Tim
DeKay and Ally Walker as representing the only compelling story. I
agree that they are the "most sufferable" characters on the show, but I
don't really like watching their interactions play out either. I didn't
enjoy watching Tim DeKay as a crippled roustabout on Carnivale and he's
no more appealing here. To me, he looks too much like Shemp Howard.



On the positive side, I respect a show that makes me uncomfortable, and
there was one point in the first episode that had me squirming in a
memorable way that caused me to reflect. I'm not referring to any of
the explicit sex acts, but rather the sex act that they didn't show.





(HERE I WILL PUT IN A SPOILER ALERT FOR THOSE WHO INTEND TO CATCH UP
WITH THE FIRST EPISODE)





When the elderly lady therapist started getting friendly with her
(husband?) I was filled with mild dread, thinking that I really, really
didn't want to see the old folks' junk. This moment (which came just
before the end of the episode allayed my fears) made me reevaluate
everything. It didn't make the characters any less irritating, but it
made me to think about the relationship between TV/Hollywood and sex and
my own prejudices. It made me wonder if there was really something
worthwhile in the show creators' agenda that is somehow brought to light
by the unflinching money shots. It's not to say these worthwhile
elements will be successfully coaxed to the surface before the series
meets its demise, but given the freedom of the HBO venue, I wouldn't be
surprised if the show turned a corner at some point. And given the
track record of HBO, I can't see myself withholding the benefit of the
doubt without giving the show a few more episodes.



Jim



________________________________

From: TV-WOMB@yahoogroups.com [mailto:TV-WOMB@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf
Of Darius and Jennifer Koski
Sent: Wednesday, September 12, 2007 9:05 PM
To: TV-WOMB@yahoogroups.com
Subject: Re: [TV WOMB] Re: Relationship porn



yes i agree.
-jennie

On Sep 12, 2007, at 11:00 AM, Thomas Sweeney wrote:

> Watched it last night...had a decent moment or two but ultimately
BLAH,
> STUPID!!!...these people need to lighten up and or get a clue! And i
> really
> dont need to see THAT much of THAT kind of intimacy.





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