Have just downloaded the first 12 episodes of the cable series Californication. It's really quite good. David Duchovny (of XFiles fame) and Natascha McElhone. Won a Golden Globe. Some of the best dialogue I've ever heard in a film or series.

Check out the IMDB entry.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0904208/

Cool. Is this loosely based on Kalifornia?

No the basis of the series is that David Duchovny is  a writer who is in general on a writers block for several years. Anyways the plot is based on sex and romance as well as drama, the standard TV stuff. All the episodes are named after Red Hot Chili Pepper Songs, like the title... Californication

DD

Sex and drama - that pretty much characterizes all narrative art doesn't it?

Anyway, what appeals to me about the show is its uncensored, uninhibited and intelligent dialogue. This is not your standard TV stuff. You should download the series pilot - it's great fun. If you're living in Asia, it's a breath of fresh air after all the unimaginative rot that gets broadcast over here.

hehe yeah I don't watch much telly. I normally download movies if I want to watch something or pop out to the cinema. Kinda went off tv series because at some point they usually turn into a "how can we string this out to make more money" enterprise. Might give it a go though .

David Duchovny has recently gone into rehab suffering form sex addiction. Wot a wanker.  

In fact, it was news of Duchovny's sex-addiction problem that brought the series to my attention. But the program stands or falls on it's own merits.

sex addiciton = super veteran monger

Well I am not so sure about that, being famous has its benefits... like a line of ladies throwing themselves at you.

Yeah, I don't think he would have had to have paid for it. but then some actors do seem to do it (Hugh Grant). I also heard De Niro pays for top of the range escorts.

The ridiculous money these clowns make would be welcome indeed, but there's no way I would want to be famous. Imagine no longer being able to go where you want and just relax.

I once had dinner with a Japanese girl very late one night in an Italian restaurant in London - this was 20 yrs ago. Other than a group of 3 at a distant table, we were the only diners. The restaurant was very dark, something I don't usually like, but I realized that one of the people at the other table was Al Pacino. I don't give a rat's ass about celebrities, but I thought it might interest my GF, so I discreetly pointed out our esteemed company. She glanced over, and Pacino must have noticed, but she really didn't care either. We finished first, and then had to walk by Pacino's table on our way out. I thought Pacino was going to crawl under the table, so worried was he that we were going to fuss over his silly ass. As we passed, I said in a loud voice, "Relax golden boy, we don't give a shit." Obviously, he chose that very dark restaurant, at an hour when most Londoners are not accustomed to dining, to avoid being hassled.

Something similar happened in Paris. I was walking down one of the avenues when I noticed Max Von Sydow, the actor famous for his work in the Swedish director Ingmar Bergman's wonderful films, and his frumpy wife walking towards me. This was back in the early 80's before Sydow made his move to Hollywood, and Bergman's films being relatively obscure, the guy apparently thought he could still enjoy a stroll down a European city street without being recognized. But I locked eyes with the guy and he knew that I knew, and the look of panic that came over him was so profound and genuine that out of pity, I turned and walked into a shop just to give the guy a break.

Episode 3, still Paris at about the same time. I was sitting in an outdoor cafe when the actor Jean Paul Belmondo, at the time probably the most famous guy in France, walked by. Everyone in the cafe began to clap. JPB inclined his head in a gracious sign of appreciation and walked on.

The point of these name-dropping vignettes being that if you're famous, you can't go anywhere or do anything as a normal person. Your life is poisoned by all this meaningless adulation. Give me anonymity any day - I'll take the money, thank you very much, but the freedom from constant hassle is even more important. When you are famous, it's like you no longer own your own soul. The only people you can hang with are other famous names - it's like living in an upscale leper colony.

[ Last edited by  Marsupial at 10-9-2008 13:02 ]

Yeah, I totally agree. When I was a kid I had a stupid writing assignment about what wish we would like if had one.

Most people wanted to be famours footballers or pop stars but I said I wanted a limitless credit card that I never had to pay off. I could see the tumbleweed drift by   as none got that I wanted unlimited riches without any notoriety.

Yeah, I also agree; but being a total nobody is not much fun either.    The best thing, it seems to me, is
to be well known and admired in your particular, preferably obscure, field of interest.  

Mars, is this the first series of Califorication?  I saw it a couple of years ago when it was screened in OZ.  Or have they made another series?

I would think not. The series Californication was aired in the States for the first time just last year (2007). Usually it takes a year or so before US shows are picked up by foreign broadcasters - probably they wait to see how the program does in it's home country before they license it for foreign syndication. But there is a lot of nudity and profanity in this show, so if you did see it on TV, it wasn't on a regular public channel - that is, if non-cable TV in OZ is censored like its US counterpart.

[ Last edited by  Marsupial at 9-9-2008 13:19 ]

   SEX ?   

let me see ... Jake aka  ???

well-known and admired, and a very particular field of interest Jake has!

No, I have to disagree with you.  It was on public TV after 9:30pm.  The censorship laws relax after hours.  This show was shown, uncensored.  It was good, I am waiting on the second series.

I'm not sure what we disagree on. Found this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Californication_(TV_series) It appears the show aired in Australia on channel Ten for the first time on Aug 27, 2007. You said a couple of years ago. 12 mths does not a couple of years make, but perhaps time passes more slowly down there - I'm sure there's a scientific explanation, something to do with the antipodes, antimatter or Auntie Em or something.

I see from the Wikipedia entry that the show premiered in virtually every English-speaking country at roughly the same time as in the States - didn't think that happened, but then my experience is with non-English-speaking countries where, now that I think about it, time is obviously needed to do the dubbing. This is what happens when you draw conclusions based on a limited sample. But if the rest of the English speaking world is getting our TV shows at the same time we do, the means we won and you're all Americans now.

Impressed to see that this program aired uncensored on public commercial television in Australia; score one for Oz - but what the fuck's wrong with you guys anyway, don't you realize Jesus hates naked tits!

[ Last edited by  Marsupial at 9-9-2008 18:35 ]

Time is a space continuum.  Time is relative.  Einstiens theory of relativity says you are correct.  It just seems like two years.  Still a good show and am still waiting on the follow up series.  I think it was caught up in the writiers strike earlier this year [or was that late last year?]