Hung

While the show does contain a few obvious penis punch lines, it is so much more than its gimmicky name suggests, offering plenty of heart, along with worthwhile riffs on the national economy, American resourcefulness and, yes, gender dynamics.

Hung is worth watching. There are worse ways to spend your nights than with Ray Drecker: male prostitute.

Hung remains less of a comedy than HBO presents it as, but it's certainly more platable in season two.

While it sounds like a one-joke conceit, and a sophomoric one at that, this HBO series is oddly beguiling, a downbeat screwball comedy in R-rated clothing.

Thomas Jane and Tanya Skagle's performances aside, Hung remains, despite all efforts to inform it with larger meaning, trapped in being all about just what that title says.

It turns out, not merely depressing, but unfunny in its comedic moments and unmoving in its dramatic ones. Which is weird, because Thomas Jane is charming as gigolo Ray and Jane Adams' Tanya is always interesting as his pimp.

Its one-note premise has worn itself out, and the show must now either evolve or shrivel up.