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PSSST! GIVE ME SOME "WEEDS"!
August 26, 2005
For a few years now, Showtime has been putting a renewed focus on original programming, trying to grab some of that HBO glory as a producer of quality shows that the networks don't have the guts to try. They've had some success. "Penn & Teller: Bullsh*t!" a weekly expose of various frauds and crackpots, is often funny. "Dead Like Me" had its share of passionate fans before it was canceled. "The Chris Isaak Show" was cool, but it's also gone. And psychiatry drama Huff recently earned a surprising seven Emmy nominations. Despite all this, Showtime hasn't come close to catching HBO in terms of quality.
But they may be starting to finally catch up. "Weeds" the new pot-in-the-suburbs comedy starring Mary-Louise Parker is the first Showtime series worth investing time in each and every week. It's lightweight and modestly derivative -- its cul-de-sac neighborhoods and matching SUVs should look familiar to anyone who's seen "American Beauty," "Desperate Housewives," or a thousand other artistic deconstructions of the 'burbs. But it's also really, really funny and features a cast of interesting characters perfectly tailored for the actors who play them.
In "Weeds," Parker stars as a recently widowed soccer mom who must become her neighborhood's pot dealer to support herself and her two children. Her new job brings her behind the curtain to witness most of the scandalous goings-on in the idyllic community of Agrestic. There's PTA president Elizabeth Perkins, who goes for beers with her husband's illicit girlfriend and secretly feeds her overweight daughter laxatives to teach her a lesson. There's Kevin Nealon as Nancy's accountant Doug, a laid-back man-child with a grand love of smoking weed despite his prominent position on the city council.
The narrative is light and fluffy, a tone set by the cute opening credits which feature deceased folk singer Malvina Reynolds singing slyly about how all the doctors and lawyers and business executives are "all made out of ticky tacky and they all look just the same." "Weeds" is a starring vehicle for the charming Parker, who's always been so good, especially when she used to torment Josh on "The West Wing." Here, she's funny, fragile, and frazzled - an overwhelmed mother who wants to help her children cope with the tragic loss of their father, but often gets sidetracked by things like, oh, fending off the competition, such as a new medical marijuana boutique. Perkins was born to play the superficial snob queen of Agrestic, and Nealon, who I have never found funny, not even on "Saturday Night Live," earns big laughs pretty much every episode.
Even more hilarious are Nancy's suppliers, a tightly knit African-American family who routinely mock the skinny, white gal trying to make her way in the drug-trade world. "It gives me a real sense of accomplishment working with overprivileged white women," jokes Conrad, who, with his mother Heylia, do more than sell Nancy drugs - they offer sage advice and serve as a reminder of why family can be so important.
I've read rumblings on the Internet about Heylia and Conrad's family being little more than racial stereotypes. That's a ridiculous charge. Yes, Heylia and Conrad talk like they're from the inner city - that's because they are. But these are warm and humorous characters with well-rounded personalities.
"Weeds" may not ever be good enough to serve as Showtime's answer to "Sex and the City" … or even "Entourage," for that matter. But it's a winning show and a step in the right direction for the pay network. And coming this fall is "Masters of Horror," a series of 13 one-hour mini-movies produced by some of the best the scare genre has to offer. The early buzz is good. If I were HBO, I'd start watching my back.
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