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Bungion Boy Has Seen Bill Paxton, Chloe Sevigny and Amanda Seyfried in HBO's Big Bigamy Bigness: BIG LOVE!!
SPOILER ALERT !!
I am – Hercules!!
The heir to the Sunday-night slot made prominent by the likes of “The Sopranos,” “Six Feet Under,” “The Wire,” “Carnival,” “Deadwood” and “Rome” is “Big Love,” an hourlong about a guy who illegally maintains three wives and three families in three suburban houses right next to each other.
What a cast! Bill “Nothing to Wear!” Paxton! The wives are played by early-‘90s It-Girl Jeanne Tripplehorn (“The Firm,” “Waterworld”), “Broken Flowers” star Chloe Sevigney and Ginnifer Goodwin, perhaps best remembered as Warren Cheswick’s pal Diane on “Ed.” Amanda Seyfried (the ghost of Lily Kane on “Veronica Mars”) plays the teen daughter. Daveigh Chase (the ghost of Samara Morgan in “The Ring”) plays another teen daughter. Throw in Harry Dean Stanton, Bruce Dern, Mary Kay Place and “Cabin Boy” ingenue Melora Walters!
It all comes to HBO in about a month. “Bungion Boy” has details:
Hey Herc. Bungion Boy here, making the jump from cinema to the coaxial
to
bring you some reviews of a new, highly anticipated show from HBO,
“Big
Love,” which premiers on March 12th. Highly anticipated may be a bit
of a
stretch, but I think that most anything HBO does these days is met with
high
expectations, due to their track record. I recently got to see the
first
four episodes of this series, and what I saw made me want to see a
fifth.
Some spoilers follow.
The whole dynamic of the show suggests that HBO is trying to fill the
gap
left by the departure of “Six Feet Under.” Like that show, “Big Love”
is a
family drama about an unconventional family or in an unconventional
environment. I thought “Six Feet Under” started with one of the best
first
seasons I had ever seen for any show, but every year after that it
deteriorated a little, until it finally ended with a fizzle and a
portrayal
of a family who was no longer just south of ordinary, but rather one
that
only had over-the-top things happen to them. “Big Love,” I feel, is
already
better than what “SFU” had become, but of course there is no assurance
that
it won’t soon run out of ideas like its predecessor. But while I
really
didn't care during the last two seasons of “SFU,” I really hope this
doesn’t.
The ad campaign for this has made clear what the show is about, but has
been
vague on details. Bill Paxton plays Bill Henrickson, and he’s a
polygamist,
not a Mormon, but of course comparisons are inevitable. He grew up in
a
dusty commune with his country bumpkin parents (and I believe there
were
just the two of them), but he managed to escape that and start life in
the
city, as the owner of a successful hardware store that’s in the process
of
becoming a chain. Bill lives with his three wives, in three separate
houses
that are next to each other on a street in a suburb. He considers
himself
to be incredibly lucky to have such a wonderful deal, but also feels
the
stress of marriage three times over, and early on struggles with
impotency
and experimentation with Viagra. His first wife, Barb, is played by
Jeanne
Tripplehorn, who in the past I have occasionally liked and often
couldn’t
stand, but in this she’s really quite good and likable as the oldest,
and
therefore most take-charge of the wives. Chloe Sevigny is Nicki, wife
#2,
who when we first see her is fighting an addiction to ordering from
catalogues, (there’s a vice that you don’t see shamed enough on TV),
and is
also from the same commune as Bill and has recently been longing to go
back
to that simple life. And the adorable Ginnifer Goodwin plays Margene,
the
newest and youngest wife, who has just had a couple of babies and is
still
getting used to a situation and responsibility that she feels she might
not
quite be ready for. She also feels that she’s not getting enough say
among
the other wives and is treated like another child, while Barb and Nicky
feel
a little threatened by her, as the youngest and sexiest wife of the
bunch.
Bill alternates between their beds, spending the night with one and
then
starting fresh with another the next morning. All three of the wives
have
given Bill several kids, most prominent is Amanda Seyfried, (from
“Veronica
Mars” and “Mean Girls,) who is coping with trying to be a normal teen
with
normal friends, while trying to hide the family’s secret.
Most of the drama around the show looks like it will be centered around
the
fact that what these people are doing is illegal, and how they will go
about
protecting each other and not getting found out, while still doing all
the
normal things that families do. The first few episodes I saw focused
on
Bill going back to see his family after his brother ( a very good Shawn
Doyle who is paired with the always interesting Melora Walters), calls
to
tell him his father (Bruce Dern) is very sick. When he gets there he
starts
getting suspicions that his own mother, (a scene stealing Grace
Zabriskie)
is poisoning him. Bill also has to deal with the head on the commune,
played to perfection by Harry Dean Stanton as a tame, religious Tony
Soprano
who is driven around in a giant Hummer. Stanton is one of the unnamed
investors on Bill’s hardware store and wants a piece of the profits
when
Bill plans to open more stores. Stanton is totally creepy and cool, as
a
character who is rumored to have had about 50 wives, and whose newest
wife
is about 14 years old. Seeing the two of them together is both
disturbing
and fascinating, if only because of the Lynchian tones Stanton is able
to
bring to his character.
Overall I thought the show was pretty great and well worth watching. I
believe it’s airing opposite “Desperate Housewives,” and probably
panders to
much of the same audience, but this is much better, richer, and more
interesting. Paxton is perfect as the patriarch of the household.
He’s
funny but also warm and believable as this man who has to be in control
of
all aspects of his life, otherwise it could all fall apart. All three
women
are also great, with good chemistry and scenes together, although I
sometimes tired of Sevigny’s whining and complaining, which she does a
lot
of. Goodwin was probably my favorite of the three, and the most
interesting
in watching deal with all the complications one would encounter in this
situation, since the other two women are very settled into their roles
as
co-wives. All the supporting cast, more people than I can begin to
mention
are great too, and I look forward to more stories involving them,
including
Bill’s polygamist buddy and his three wives, Nicki’s mother, played by
Mary
Kay Place, and Bill’s daughter’s new friend who is strongly opposed to
polygamy, played by Tina Majorino.
There are characters and situations that will appeal to almost every
demographic, so I’m hoping this becomes a big hit for HBO. I haven’t
heard
much yet in regards to protests of this show, probably from Mormons,
but HBO
seems to avoid controversy better than other networks, and seems to be
one
step ahead this time with a disclaimer before each show specifically
declaring that the characters are not Mormon. I really hope there
isn’t too
much protest because that sort of thing is really getting out of hand.
Last
month NBC premiered “The Book of Daniel,” which was not a great show,
but
deserved a better chance than what it got. If any of the people who
spoke
out against the show had bothered to watch it, they would have seen a
show
about a good priest who loves his family and “prays” to Jesus. Sounds
fine
to me. Oh wait. That’s right. He loves his gay son in addition to
his
family. Sadly the people behind the outcries of the show were never
identified as the homophobic assholes they were. Well “Big Love” is a
much
better show and I hope it has a much longer future ahead. No reason
why it
shouldn’t. Does anyone in Utah even subscribe to HBO? I kid because I
love.
The extra-cheap “Buffy” slimsets (all the episodes and extras at a fraction of the price) ship May 30!!
“Buffy” pricing if you must have your season-sets now:
$29.99 The Complete First Season
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$39.96 The Complete Seventh Season
“Buffy” pricing if you can order now but wait three and a half months for delivery:
$27.99 The Complete First Season
$27.99 The Complete Second Season
$27.99 The Complete Third Season
$27.99 The Complete Fourth Season
$27.99 The Complete Fifth Season
$27.99 The Complete Sixth Season
$27.99 The Complete Seventh Season
$29.99 The Complete First Season
$44.99 The Complete Second Season
$44.99 The Complete Third Season
$44.99 The Complete Fourth Season
$44.99 The Complete Fifth Season
$44.99 The Complete Sixth Season
$39.96 The Complete Seventh Season
$27.99 The Complete First Season
$27.99 The Complete Second Season
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$27.99 The Complete Fifth Season
$27.99 The Complete Sixth Season
$27.99 The Complete Seventh Season
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but it would only push something more important outta my brain. like this cure for cancer i've been working on. it's a tv review, folks, not tolstoy. keep it short and snappy. snappy is good.
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...and with that, I have set the bar for this TalkBack!
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Holy shit, it sounds like this show actually has a story. For some reason I was expecting it to be an hour long sitcom. So uh... "The Sopranos" rocks. Am I right? Who's with me?
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...is usually some 60-70 year old guy living in an isolated part of Utah or Colorado who has three or four wives none older than 25 (and average age usually around 18). Do some research on Warren Jeffs if you wanna know how crazy modern American polygamy really is.
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Mormon's probably won't say too much about this, because most won't even hear about it, like with Orgazmo. And if they do hear about it, they'll generally just act all self-righteous about it amongst themselves, and the "controversy" won't leave a half-mile radius around Provo. Trust me.
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Also: "Do they look like they're having fun being CATATONIC in a closet!!!!?"
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... than the joseph smith episode of south park? dum-de-dum-dum-dum.
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Series Finale's ever. The final season was a great return to its season 1 and 2 glory. I will check this out. But Showtime got HBO beat with Weeds. When does Entourage start again?
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What with his and Alan Ball's Southern Vampire, HBO will once again rock the television world with goodness.
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Mormons are used to being crapped on by popular culture, even moreso than Catholics. This won't bug 'em that much. Still, I don't see this series attracting an audience the size of "The Sopranos." Or even "Weeds."
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as a practicing mormon i am in no way offended by this show because the characters in it are not mormon. The LDS church hasn't practiced polygamy in over 150 years and when they did they only did it so that all the widows of the men that were killed off by the mobs could have someone to take care of them. you had to be chosen to take on a new wife you could't just pick one. you had to be stable enough to be able to take care of them.
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Remind anyone else of Raise the Red Lantern? Anyhoo, I'm glad it sounds like they're treating the subject realisticly. Too many idiots think polygamy is all about variety sex. It's not three mistresses ... it's three wives! That is not "Every Man's Fantasy", Ms. Walters.
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I actually want to see it. Polygamy is a fact. It's part of the LDs Church's past, but not it's present. But there's no denying that there are fundamentalist fringe pseuedo-Mormons out there who practice it. i consider it an interesting subject, and see the portrayal of it on TV as no threat to anybody.
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I was discussing Chloe Sevighny with someone, and I said I had heard it pronounced "Sah-VIG-nee" and "Sah-VEE-nee", and that it could be both, like "Poh-TAY-toe" and "Poh-TAH-toe", in which case, the following statement was prompted, "Pass the Sevignys."...I'm fairly certain no one was amused by that, but, I'll conclude this by saying maybe this show will give us naked Lilly Kane.
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she's a little thick. and that type really "earns" it.
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If you have only one, you're just a plain old jackass.
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What was that post? Didn't quite get it. Mormons won't care. They're smart enough to know that if they bitched about it, it'd only get more publicity. If anything it'll make more people talk to their door to door missionaries.
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Am I disillusioned to think that multiple wives means lots o sex? Probably but I am ok with that. I mean as a polygamist would I be wrong to ask my wives for nightlky menages? I agree with DevilCat though, when I heard Sevigny was in this all I was thinking was blow jobs and probably always will associate her with that from now on. As for Tripplehorn, I have had wood for her ever since Michael Douglas anger-fucked her in Basic Instinct.
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Except, they'll kick you out if you do. Which is what most of the polygs in Utah/AZ/TX do... say they're Mormon (or fundamentalists), but have been exed by the church long ago.
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was season five, and that wasn't even that bad. That just goes to show you how much the Soprano's kicks ass. I have high expectations for this show...love HBO original series.
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not the fifth season. Fifth season was amazing, true to form after a lazy fourth, which a repeat, wasn't that bad. Can't wait for the next season...March 12th???
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The funniest thing about the protests, IMHO is that none of them came from the Episcopal church. The main character in THE BOOK OF DANIEL was an episcopal priest, which means he can have all the catholic trappings, but a more liberal attitude in terms of Marriage (he can be) and homosexuality (The Homosexual Bishop ordained in NH). Fundie types protested THE BOOK OF DANIEL, but not the actual denomination being "slandered". Hillarious. Then again, Dan Aykroyd played a wacky epsicopalian minister on SOUL MAN...so... ehh.
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But my Mormon friends here in New Mexico are pretty great. In general, they are helpful, nice, fair, good-natured people (if a little bland sometimes, but hey). Sure, many people may find their dogma to be very nutsy (nephites and lamanites? yikes!), but I say leave everyone to their happy delusions as long as they don't try and legislate them. Besides, most religions seem 100% nutsy when you really think about them, so I don't judge.
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Certain worsenaries need to astringe their dietary retinue - now - and with gay scrutiny witness the subsequent boon to their axiology. Any criticism of The Sopranos' fourth season must comprehend the fact that it contains three of the most perfect episodes of television ever crafted - episodes 2, 4, and 9. That's the thing about The Sopranos: David Chase and his writing staff are not exactly masters of the protracted will - the series as a totality has thus far been vitiated by their proclivity towards plot-abortion and internal incoherence - but the finer episodes are absolutely impeccable. On another note, although Bill Maher is a religious bigot par excellence, I'm excited by the imminence of Real Time's return -it's a travesty of people-like origin that not a single Canadian station deems it worthy of import. Alas - half-frozen berries, fresh The Wire and other such things on the horizon - HBO has this life shit in its palm.
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Was get banged from behind over a couch in Basic Instinct.
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did was stand with her back to the wall while Michael Douglas tears open her shirt and busts the bra.
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. . . wrote for Esquire. Lawyers are on it now.
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Dude, if you didn't feel anything watching Nate die and the family trying to cope with it, then you have no heart.
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you are right. The Soprano's is too good to have a "bad" season. I'm trying to remember which episodes you speak of..I know there were some goodies somewhere in that season. But, in my humble opinion, not the best season for the Sopranos.
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..Which made me glad I stuck with it through the many lulls (the season before the last was a real slog). That finale, I must admit, had me weeping like a baby - never has a show so forcefully wrung out every bit of emotion from its final episode. Just sensational... That said - Deadwood is, with only two seasons under its belt so far, the best show HBO has ever put on the air, and I say that as a big Tales from the Crypt, Larry Sanders, Sopranos, The Wire fan.
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typing heavily into his desktop thesaurus... but if u practice that for a few months, throw in the occasional "cocksucker" and "cunt" and you might get a job on the Deadwood staff.
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Although I'm slightly disappointed that HBO chose to let this follow Sopranos instead of the new season of Deadwood, it still will be worth watching. Still, it must be hard knowing that you're competing against not only Tony Soprano, but Al Swearengen and Jimmy Fuckin' McNulty!! Them's some big boots to fill, pardner.
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