The series is much helped by the excellence of the performances by the actors, with Dylan Walsh being particularly well cast as the identifiable confused father and husband, who manages to hold onto his moral centre despite great trials, including an affair, and the subsequent death of his girlfriend, and the near-destruction of his marriage. Julian McMahon certainly has the looks to carry off the part of the amoral plastic surgeon, and though his range is somewhat limited, he pulls off a character who is sympathetic despite his many flaws. Joely Richardson plays the desperately unhappy wife with teary-eyed nervousness, which suits her character well. Regarding minor characters, there's the fabulous Roma Maffia, who plays Liz Winters, the anaesthesiologist, the psycho Kimberly Henry (Kelly Carlson) and the transsexual Sophia Lopez (Jonathan Del Arco).

The show is not perfect, and I think some of Christian's frenetic sex scenes in the early episodes were rather humdrum and done with an obvious desire to cause controversy. I much preferred the humourous, and emotionally involved, sex scene in the last episode between Christian and his heavily pregnant girlfriend, Gina Russo (Jessalyn Gilsig). Once the series dropped its need to have Christian banging some hot chick to keep the rating hard (ahem), it settled into its stride nicely.

The series aired during the summer of 2003 on Fox Networks, at a late hour to attract the appropriately mature audience. The series was envisioned as a tactical strike against the dominion of HBO in the serious drama stakes, and it's certainly claimed some interesting territory. It does have some work ahead of it if it wishes to compete with the sheer class of programmes like Six Feet Under or The Sopranos.

It's obvious from the last episode that it was unknown when it was shot if there would be a second season. Most of the loose ends are tied up, but some of them in an unconvincing manner. Thankfully, there will be a second season, and there are plenty of plot lines left to exploit. It will air in the USA in June of this year (just as the DVD boxed set for season 1 appears).

Let's hope that Ryan Murphy and his co-writers continue to develop this watchable series, with less emphasis on the shock-value, and more thought given to the complex characters and the quality of the storylines. I look forward to season two, which won't air in the UK/Ireland until 2005.