Californication-The First Season (2007) |
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Californication-The First Season (2007) |
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| General | Extras | ||
| Category | Comedy |
Audio Commentary-Cast and Crew Interviews-Cast & Crew |
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| Rating |
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| Year Of Production | 2007 | ||
| Running Time | 300:41 (Case: 340) | ||
| RSDL / Flipper |
RSDL Dual Disc Set |
Cast & Crew | |
| Start Up | Menu | ||
| Region Coding | 4 | Directed By |
Scott Winant Stephen Hopkins |
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Studio
Distributor |
 Paramount Home Entertainment |
Starring |
David Duchovny Natasha McElhone Madeleine Martin Madeline Zima Evan Handler |
| Case | Amaray-Opaque-Secure Clip | ||
| RPI | ? | Music | Tree Adams |
| Video | Audio | ||
| Pan & Scan/Full Frame | None |
English Dolby Digital 5.1 (448Kb/s) English AV Commentary Dolby Digital 2.0 (224Kb/s) |
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| Widescreen Aspect Ratio | 1.78:1 | ||
| 16x9 Enhancement |
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| Video Format | 576i (PAL) | ||
| Original Aspect Ratio | 1.78:1 | Miscellaneous | |
| Jacket Pictures | No | ||
| Subtitles | English | Smoking | Yes |
| Annoying Product Placement | No | ||
| Action In or After Credits | No | ||
Hank Moody is having a very bad day. Scratch that - he is having a very bad life. It's not that he isn't successful; his debut novel has just been made into a big budget Hollywood film. He is not sex-starved. Indeed, women just seem to fall into his lap.
What Hank really lacks is his soul mate. He had her, then he lost her, and now she is engaged to someone else. Can he get her back? Can he find his mojo and write his next great novel? Californication has all the answers.
This Showtime series burst onto our TV screens last year and immediately drew the ire of the moral majority. To be fair, any show that begins with a dream sequence involving a nun fellating the lead actor in church is likely to upset a few people. In terms of sexual content Californication pushes the envelope one step further than HBO shows like Sex and the City and Six Feet Under. There is also a healthy (or is it unhealthy?) level of cussing and drug use. To its credit, once you get past the shock and awe there is a decent series to be had, featuring some clever writing and quality acting performances.
Hank Moody is played by David Duchovny, who picked up a Golden Globe for his performance as the prickly, immature writer whose understanding of self-destruction involves taking the whole d*** lot with him. Duchovny always hinted at a kinky side in his portrayal of Fox Mulder on The X-Files but this show lets him unleash his inner beast, having all manner of liaisons, including one scene that I can't recall having ever been represented on TV (Episode 10 - check it out!). Duchovny and the writers are courageous enough to let Moody be himself, which is sometimes a complete jerk, in the knowledge that we as an audience will all switch off.
The supporting cast is also well up to the task. Natasha McIlhone as the object of Hanks eternal desire is the perfect foil to the philandering Hank and Madelaine Martin as his "Goth ballet" daughter Becca gives as good as she gets. The other supporting cast includes former The Nanny cute kid Madeline Zima and Sex and the City alumni Evan Handler as Hanks agent, Charlie Runkle. Charlie has the difficult task of trying to get Hank to put pen to paper, although he does manage to get him to write a blog for a magazine, which, like the Sex and the City column, allows Hank to vent his spleen on the La La Land lifestyle.
Special mention also goes to Rachel Miner as Charlies alluring Suicide-Girlesque assistant who heats up the screen with some kinky disrobing.
Californication has all the hallmarks of a show finding its feet in its first season. Some of the story lines fall flat, some strain credulity and Hank often walks the line of obnoxiousness. When it does work there are substantial pleasures to be found.
The series was commissioned for another season and began shooting in April when McIlhones husband in the UK suddenly passed away. Hopefully the series will continue and viewers will get to see some more interesting and edgy television. The episodes on this Season 1 DVD are approximately 30 minutes each and are as follows:
This DVD set carries the now standard warning on the back that "Some episodes may be edited from their original network versions". Before anyone starts forming a picket line around Paramount headquarters it is worth pointing out that this usually means that where there have been difficulties getting the rights to a particular song they may substitute music and also that they may use a syndicated version in place of the originally broadcast version. It does not usually mean that there have been any cuts to the actual programme. Still, it is an off-putting warning and I and no doubt most purchasers would prefer notification of what was actually done. I didn't notice anything different but I can't say I would have noticed anything other than small changes to the broadcast versions.
Californication was originally broadcast by Showtime in the US and here at a native widescreen 1.78:1 in 1080i High Definition.
Of course, this version presents the same aspect ratio but at the reduced resolution of 576i. The effect of this will only be felt by people who have strong recollections of the show in High Definition. The general look of the DVD is fine. The image is crisp and there are no defects with the original material. The 12 episodes have been split over two dual layer DVD's to minimize any compression issues. Nevertheless there is some minor low level noise throughout. This won't be an annoyance to anyone but the most demanding viewer. The lack of sizeable extras has meant that the shows have been given room to breathe and, as said, compression is no big issue. The flesh tones, in particular the naked flesh tones, are accurate and colours are well defined. The contrasts are just right and McIlhones piercing blue eyes are in full effect. There are subtitles in English and English for the hearing impaired which give a good account of on-screen action.| Sharpness |  |
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Californication comes with a Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack running at 448Kb/s.
The show sounds pretty good.Music is well chosen including the opening theme which conveys something of the off-kilter nature of Hank Moody. The surrounds aren't actually used a great deal but the sub-woofer occasionally finds some life in the scenes backed with music.
The actors can all be heard clearly even "mumbles" Duchovny. To be fair he is often half-drunk and in bed when he is talking making clarity a challenge at the best of times!The extras on this DVD set are somewhat meagre.
There is a commentary track on the pilot episode by writer, director and star. The team must have had fun making the show and this commentary track falls well into the humourous category. The guys bounce jokes off each other with great rapidity whilst taking us on a guided tour of the pilot including the casting process, the shooting style and the funny things that happened along the way. A lot of fun.
The set includes interviews with the principal cast and crew including Duchovny (4.44) and (3.40), Tom Kapinos (2.42), Natasha McIlhone (3.23), Madeline Zima (4.52) and Evan Handler (4.47). The topics of discussion are pretty much the same - involvement in the project, description of character, working on the show. The interviews appear to have been filmed early as there is a lot of discussion about the pilot. Still - worth a watch.
Whilst the two extras are fun they don't really provide enough information about the show. At least it would have been nice to see some outtakes and a Making of that embraced the entire series.
NOTE: To view non-R4 releases, your equipment needs to be multi-zone compatible and usually also NTSC compatible.
This set has been released in Region 1. The extras, aside from the same commentary track, are text biographies for the main cast and a photo gallery. The Region 2 release apparently contains a "23 Mins ‘Podcast’" and commentary on episodes 6 and 12.
Your choice.
It can't be easy creating a fresh and new TV show these days. Everything has been done to death including the story of the writer who is having trouble writing. Somehow, against the odds Californication battles through and this DVD set shows that there is cable life outside HBO.
The DVD episodes look as good as standard definition can on disk.
Fans may grumble at the meagre extra offerings - no outtakes!
| Video | |
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| Extras | |
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| Review Equipment | |
| DVD | Pioneer BDP-LX70A Blu-ray Player, using HDMI output |
| Display | Pioneer PDP-5000EX. This display device has not been calibrated. This display device is 16x9 capable. This display device has a maximum native resolution of 1080p. |
| Audio Decoder | Built in to amplifier/receiver. Calibrated with Ultimate DVD Platinum. |
| Amplification | Onkyo TX-SR605 |
| Speakers | JBL 5.1 Surround and Subwoofer |