Huff (1 Viewer)

[Chris]

So, Showtime has premiered their new show, Huff, about a psychiatrist having a crisis after a patient (a 15 year old child) kills himself in his office.

The first episode was OK, but over the top, I kept thinking.. man, I agree with the wife, kick your mom to the curb, damn!

But outside of that, the show has promise. I always hate it when shows get bogged down in the 'litigating to save my practice' kind of bit, but we'll see where it goes.

Acting is very good, and the concept is right, we'll just have to see if it pays off.

 

[Marc Fedderman]

I caught the replay of the first episode tonight and liked it. I agree, it has the potential to go astray, resorting to hackneyed themes and character types, but it also has the potential to be quite good. An excellent cast (esp. the criminally underrated Azaria), an interesting premise, and a channel that seems committed to the show (based on an article I read) bode well for Huff 's survival. The last is an especially nice luxury to have; I couldn't see this show lasting very long on network tv.

 

[Chris]

Second episode ended very well. I loved the showdown in regards to his case with the ethics board.. "it wasn't even a very sexy bluff"

But it sure as hell worked

 

[Marc Fedderman]

Chris,
I think we may be the only two people watching this.

Seriously, this is a very good show. I hope that it develops a following, even a small cult following a la Dead Like Me. Oiver Platt is great and the "bluff" scene was masterful.

 

[Michael Ballack]

Correction: Us three might be the only people watching. I just caught the first episode on my video ondemand. I'm impressed. Like you guys said, it has the potential to be pretty good. Oliver Platt is great and I just wanted to go through the screen and kick Huff's mom out on her ass. My concerens are that I hope they don't have to many fantasies or dreams. It's been done to death so much with shows like Six Feet Under and The Sopranos. Who does the music for the show? I could have sworn I heard something very similiar to Alan Ball's work on Six Feet Under and Americian Beauty, which has also been copied many times already. Hopefully the second episode will be on ondemand soon.

Best moment was Huff's flashback "gay" moment. I think many people can relate to that.

 

[Michael Reuben]

I assume you're referring to Thomas Newman, who scored American Beauty and wrote the them for SFU.

The music on Huff is credited to W.G. "Snuffy" Walden, whose other credits include Roswell, Felicity, The West Wing and My So-Called Life. The music isn't the only thing on Huff that feels like a SFU retread.

M.

 

[Marc Fedderman]

"There's at least one other, but I'm not sure I'll continue. The cast is very good, but the show itself feels too much like a conscious attempt to ape the success of HBO's big hits."

No doubt Michael, but this can be said about almost anything original that Showtime does. The potential is there to be formulaic and derivative, but considering the cast, there is also great potential for success. Based on the strength of 2 episodes< I believe Huff is one of the better shows currently airing. This probably says more about the current state of affairs on television, than what this show has accomplished so far.

 

[Michael Reuben]

I disagree. Both Queer as Folk (at least in its original incarnation) and Dead Like Me established tones (and in the former case, explored material) that couldn't be found on HBO. Beginning with Huff, however, Showtime has been making a conscious effort to ape HBO. Their new president of entertainment, Bob Greenblatt, has made this explicit in numerous public pronouncements. And it's no accident that his production company is the one behind SFU.

Showtime isn't alone here. It could be said that even HBO is trying to imitate itself as its former "tentpoles" fade into history (Sex in the City is gone, Sopranos and SFU are going). The problem, of course, is that you can't create breakthrough shows by imitating past ones. All of the great HBO successes are shows unlike anything we'd seen before. I can't say that about Huff.

M.

 

[Chris]

As said above, I disagree. Showtime has two series I greatly enjoy (Dead Like Me, Penn & Teller: Bullshit) which aren't mirrored on HBO. Dead Like Me has really blossomed into one of my favorite cable series.

Huff has -potential- but it does seem to mirror HBO formula too readily, and that's a problem; some of the characters are way to over blown with their problems right off the bat as to become virtual charactectures. But, I'll stick with it because I like the cast and it's a concept that could work.

If it's not clicking by the time _Carnivale_ starts on HBO, I'll give up on it

 

[Marc Fedderman]

Michael,
Good point about Queer as Folk, a show that explores gay lifestyles with a candor that is unique on television. The point of my last post was not that Showtime apes HBO's programming (although you make some valid points about Huff), but that Showtime is trying to ape HBO's success. "Success" being the word both of us used in our posts.

These two pay cable networks are working within entirely different parameters than the traditional networks. By creating quirky characters and using explicit language and sexuality to portray them, the comparisons are inevitable.

 

[Chris]

Well, this weeks episode was interesting, but didn't seem to advance the story as much as I would like. A friend of his mother's had a stroke, his kid gets into some trouble, etc.

But it was all relatively plodding (IMHO).

I finished the episode, following his emotional breakdown to his brother and realized something.

The reason why "Sopranos" sticks out to me as "fantastic television" is because the characters talk and act in a way that makes them seem "human" that the characters act in a way that I can mentally get used to "this is the way this character -should- or -would- act in the real world) and they generally follow through with it. Whereas, in so many other shows (like Huff, Desperate Housewives, etc.) while they may be good/decent shows, the characters act in ways that make me think: "I don't know of anyone who would act this way at all, given the circumstances" It becomes harder to relate to the characters presented.

I think we can all mentally accept the show as a work of fiction, but the closer the fiction comes to being acceptable reality, the better the programming is. Maybe that's part of what has gone out of SFU for me, etc.

Huff is a great potential concept, and I'm definitely not writing it off, I'll keep watching.. but the characters need to develop a less outrageous more understandable line of action that humanizes them as "real people" rather their characters.

 

[Garrett Adams]

I almost bailed on the episode when Huff encountered the homeless guy again. Whether real or imaginary, the plot device doesn't work for me.

 

[Richard Travale]

Bringing this thread back from the dead...


Does anybody know if there will be a 2nd season to Huff? I caught season 1 on Movie Central and liked it a lot. THe season ender was a bit of a cliff hanger (Russell dead? Teddy drove away...).

I need info...

 

[Robbie R]

Season 2 recently showed up on TMN On Demand (Canadian Movie Network) My wife and I really enjoyed Season 1, and we are looking forward to watching Season 2.

I guess this means there were 6 people watching last year

 

[Richard Travale]

I think this new season has been pretty good. Unfortunately my pvr failed to record it this week so I'm now goingto be behind.

 

[BrianV]

I watched the whole of the first season a couple of weeks ago and really enjoyed it, mostly for Oliver Platt.

I've liked the second season so far well enough. I've been impressed with Sharon Stone and more Teddy is a good thing.

 

[mattCR]

Showtime shows don't always get the pub. There was almost no mention of "The L Word" but I'm glad to see some discussion of Huff.

There are things about this show I really don't like; I find almost none of the characters really.. likable. But I like the style of the story a lot.

 

[BrianV]

I found myself liking both of Beth's parents. I liked Bird well enough even though I didn't think I would after only a couple of episodes. I like Paula. I like Teddy. I really like Russel.