Weeds

So this isn't a movie, but since I watched the entire season this past week (just twelve 30-minute episodes), I didn't have anything else to review.

The show's premise, if you are unfamiliar, is about a white housewife in suburban California whose husband dies and she's "forced" to sell weed to her hypocritical suburban neighbors in order to maintain her lifestyle. Nevermind that they could sell their house for millions of dollars (it's huge and it's in California), sell their Land Rover, fire their maid, and move somewhere reasonable (she just has two kids) ... but if you're going to continue being a materialist suburbanite, I guess selling weed is your best option (?!).

Beyond the ridiculous premise, the show--created and aired on the Showtime Network--is adroitly aimed at the widest possible audience. The show is about drugs, so that will bring in a male audience; it stars a female lead character, so women will tune in, but she's also very attractive, so back to the men; there's lots of relationship drama, so women will eat that up, but there's also drama about drugs and a little violence, so back to the men again. Showtime clearly cast a net to snare the widest possible audience (unlike Sex and the City or The Wire/Entourage/Deadwood that clearly aim at a specific gender).

If I hadn't gotten both discs, I probably would've stopped after the first disc as I got sort of bored with it (and the novelty of the storyline wore off very quickly), but I kept going since I had both discs (and was without cable television). The second disc, especially the last 3 episodes really picked up and I'm now debating whether or not to check into the second season (so if were really great show, there wouldn't be a debate)... but I wasn't that impressed (a Golden Globe?)

Final Grade (Season 1): C+
Blurb: It's a fine show that appeals to a broad audience, but if you have to watch one show about suburbanites selling illegal drugs, it should be Breaking Bad instead of Weeds.