Hung

I'm glad I didn't hear about Hung too early, because I would've been way too excited for it. I've only known about for a month or so now, and forgot it was on so I had to watch it, which was fine with me, on On Demand.

Here are the great things about it:

1) Alexander Payne, even though for only one episode, directed. I think his genius has gone unnoticed for a long time, minus Sideways, and though this won't turn many people onto his movies who don't know about them already, this is Alexander Payne through and through.

2) I don't know who the cinematographer is, because IMDB won't list it for some reason, but all you need to do is take a look at this clip from the pilot. Ray changes his clothes in front of this broken and grafitti'd wall, and suddenly, as he moves to the street, there's the weirdly beautiful and almost-feigned futuristic neon glow of this hotel in the middle of rundown Detroit. Wowness.

3) I've never been to Detroit, but Winston-Salem is one of the reasons George Washington is so good, since it acts as a character just waiting to be filmed. Say the same for Western Pennsylvania and why that was the major choice of filming locations for The Road, especially Pittsburgh. Detroit and school teachers, yes. But the shots in the opening minute or so, with all the broken down buildings, the location scouts probably didn't have to look too hard to find. I could walk around those buildings for hours, both cinematically and in real life. I hope there's a lot more.

4) Thomas Jane, who's been a favorite of mine since Boogie Nights (and you may not know who he is if you're not a huge fan of the movie, but I implore you to watch it again, because some of the best one-liners are written for him), and though tons of people didn't like The Mist, I loved it, and there's no one else who could've played that role in my eyes. He's perfect for Ray in Hung too. He's even great in Killshot, which is a complete waste of time, despite the Rourke and Gordon-Levitt in the other roles.

I can't say much for the writers, because I've never seen The Riches, but that's going to be the biggest question mark as the show moves on.

I do know that there's a ton of potential in this show, so let's hope it continues.

Watch the pilot if you haven't.