I'm back to update my original review, which appears below.
I've been watching the show for a month now and it's appeal to me has increased with each new episode. The characters are beginning to acquire some depth as they struggle with personal and social changes and there's a focus on feminist issues, too. I still think this show would be better situated with HBO or SHOWTIME, but, as long as it continues to tell an interesting story, I'm going to stick with it.
About half way through the first episode, it occurred to me this is going to be just another 10PM soap opera. Nothing more, nothing less, and nothing special. Even though this show isn't supposed to be for kids, there's a smattering of kids in the cast and more than just a hint of kid story lines to come, I suppose, to interest those kids in the audience who aren't suppose to be watching a 70's retro show about swinging and recreational drug use but are. It's not that I think this show is too racy, it isn't, it's just not very interesting. I'm thinking CALIFORNICATION, without the nudity and without the language, would still be a very watchable, well written, and entertaining show which also deals with promiscuity. MAD MEN, a hard hitting and accurate show about attitudes in the fifties, also dealing with promiscuity, is a show I watched every week. Wouldn't miss it. The difference is CALIFORNICATION and MAD MEN have something to say and they say it with a certain eloquence. They're also small audience shows from cable channels. Networks are big audience shows, which means you dumb a show down to reach that larger, less discriminating couch potato. Sorry, I'm passing on this one.
I've been watching the show for a month now and it's appeal to me has increased with each new episode. The characters are beginning to acquire some depth as they struggle with personal and social changes and there's a focus on feminist issues, too. I still think this show would be better situated with HBO or SHOWTIME, but, as long as it continues to tell an interesting story, I'm going to stick with it.
About half way through the first episode, it occurred to me this is going to be just another 10PM soap opera. Nothing more, nothing less, and nothing special. Even though this show isn't supposed to be for kids, there's a smattering of kids in the cast and more than just a hint of kid story lines to come, I suppose, to interest those kids in the audience who aren't suppose to be watching a 70's retro show about swinging and recreational drug use but are. It's not that I think this show is too racy, it isn't, it's just not very interesting. I'm thinking CALIFORNICATION, without the nudity and without the language, would still be a very watchable, well written, and entertaining show which also deals with promiscuity. MAD MEN, a hard hitting and accurate show about attitudes in the fifties, also dealing with promiscuity, is a show I watched every week. Wouldn't miss it. The difference is CALIFORNICATION and MAD MEN have something to say and they say it with a certain eloquence. They're also small audience shows from cable channels. Networks are big audience shows, which means you dumb a show down to reach that larger, less discriminating couch potato. Sorry, I'm passing on this one.