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He’s just a gigolo — and everywhere he goes, people know the part he’s playing. Oh, the joys of male prostitution. Not that I’d know anything about that, of course, but I’d be lying if I said I — like many other men out there — have never thought about what it would be like to be a part of the world’s oldest profession. But my own fantasies about what I like to envision would be my dream job is not under scrutiny here. No, instead we’re talking about the HBO series Hung: The Complete Third Season — a series that, sadly, came to an end in 2011 with this final ten-episode hoorah.
The always-wonderful Thomas Jane — an actor who has appeared in almost every kind of role imaginable — inhabits the role of Ray Drecker, the well-endowed Detroit-based parent/teacher-turned-male prostitute perfectly in this half-hour comedy series. The — ahem, pardon the pun — “private dick” is up to new and old tricks galore here, as he and his pimp Tanya (Jane Adams) open a public front for their clandestine operation: the Happiness Consultants Wellness Center for Women. It’s a dream come true for all. At first, that is.
Even though the money starts to roll on in — something that allows Ray to further support his ex-wife (Anne Heche) and their troublesome twin seventeen-year-old offspring children (Charlie Saxton and Sianoa Smit-McPhee) — it isn’t long before Ray and Tanya’s old partner, Lenore (Rebecca Creskoff) comes out of hiding with a new, younger male ho named Jason (Stephen Amell) to entice the ladies: a handy piece of ass with a handy piece to boot who proves to be very popular with the Happiness Consultants Wellness Center’s own, previously-established clientele.
Of course, even Lenore can’t have her cake and eat it, too: something she learns when Jason’s potentially crazy fiancée (Analeigh Tipton) gets wind of the situation and seems perfectly content with pimping out her own love. But then, I’m sure a lot of fellers who dream about being a male prostitute would be OK with their significant others setting them up on dates.
Like so many shows that have and come and gone before it (pun intended), Hung ends on a cliffhanger — something that we can all attribute to the fact that HBO pulled the plug on this series. For those of you looking for some sort of resolution with the characters here, it’s a no-go — other than an alternate ending for the season finale (which doesn’t give us much to work with), which is part of this two-disc set’s line-up of special features. Other bonus materials include a handful of deleted scenes, four audio commentaries with select members (doh) of the show’s crew, as well as various behind-the-scenes tidbits.
Presentation-wise, Hung: The Complete Third Season shines in High-Definition on Blu-ray, with a beautiful transfer that is quite pleasing on the eyes. Colors are very vibrant, blacks are solid, and the contrast is quite strong overall. Likewise, the detail here is extremely clear, with very little visual debris interfering (though there is some — but hey, at least it hasn’t been DNR’d to death like some releases). A lively DTS-HD Master Audio lossless 5.1 soundtrack accompanies, and delivers us into a fictional world of comical sin and temptation quite well.
