Weeds - Season One (2005)

With its fantastic comedy series Weeds, cable network Showtime finally gave up its also-ran status to HBO and found itself with a controversial, buzz-worthy show that was as hilarious as it was dark, one about a truly desperate housewife. A recent widow with two growing sons, Nancy Botwin (Golden Globe winner Mary-Louise Parker) looks like a typical resident of the affluent Southern California suburb of Agrestic. She keeps a clean, upscale house (with the help of a live-in maid), attends PTA meetings, goes to her kids' soccer games, makes frequent stops at the local coffee franchise.... and sells marijuana in order to make it all possible. Left with no way to support herself after her beloved husband's fatal heart attack, Nancy turns herself into the "suburban baroness of bud," dealing to her neighbors in the area, with the help of her supplier Heylia (Tonye Patano) and point man Conrad (Romany Malco). Nancy's clients run from the local councilman (Kevin Nealon) to the just-barely-legal students at the local community college, but many in Agrestic are still in the dark as to how she keeps her family afloat, including her best friend, the sardonic Celia (Elizabeth Perkins), a wife and mother whose blistering, withering put-downs could make Dorothy Parker cringe in fear. But like many small-business owners, Nancy yearns for more success and cash, and like her workaholic neighbors, finds keeping a balance between work life and home life to be extremely precarious at best.

While Desperate Housewives yearned to be a suburban satire with bite, Weeds was the real deal, skewering upper-middle class mores with a sharp eye, a keen wit, and a mostly forgiving heart. In episode after episode, the show's creative team (led by creator Jenji Kohan) pulled back the layers of Agrestic's superficiality to show what lies beneath the squeaky-clean exteriors and smiling faces; it turns out that hunger, fear, desire, and, yes, desperation aren't that far down. However, Weeds forsakes pulpiness and florid drama for biting yet affectionate humor--its heroine is a woman with sliding morals, but one you'll root for to the very end. The effervescent Parker, the only actress who can mix perkiness with morbidity in just the right amounts, anchored the show with her amazing turn as Nancy, who by the end of the first season had become a kind of soccer-mom version of Michael Corleone, entering a corrupt world with both trepidation and fascination--and totally enamored of the power it brought her. Also perfectly cast, Perkins found the role of a lifetime as the bitterly hilarious Celia, and entering the show in its fourth episode, Justin Kirk (Parker's co-star in Angels in America) proved to be a potent secret weapon as Nancy's brother-in-law Andy, a slacker who wasn't above peddling t-shirts to elementary school kids. As icky as these characters might appear on the surface, Weeds made them all immensely appealing and great company to be around. Don't say we didn't warn you: one hit and you'll be hooked on this show. The DVDs feature six episode commentaries with cast and crew, outtakes, original featurettes, a music video, and most enjoyably, Agrestic Herbal Recipes (for entertainment value only, we assume) and the "Smoke and Mirrors" marijuana mockumentary. --Mark Englehart Amazon.com

Won me over

My initial reaction to Weeds was that it stunk. Quite frankly, the pilot episode isn't good. The characters spoke unnaturally, the scenes dragged on, and it was utterly charmless. Overall, it felt like everyone was trying too hard to be super edgy and shocking. On the advice of a friend, though, I gave the show another chance, and I had to admit that the second episode had me a little curious to see what would happen next. By the third episode, I was hooked.

It's difficult to characterize this show, in that its episodes are a half-hour each, but there's as much, if not more, drama than "comedy" here - though in the post-Sopranos world, the distinction has become blurred, which is great for a show like this. There are definitely some big laughs along the way, but once the show settles in and finds its rhythm, Weeds starts building real conflicts and character-driven stories, whether they have comedic aspects or not. And the main story arcs have some really strong momentum: it's not often that the final scene of a "sitcom" gets you rushing out to see the next season.

To me, Weeds is at its best when Mary Louise-Parker is taught the various ways in which her industry works: the business model, the economics, the dangers, etc. It's important that a show based mainly on one central character has an actress that can pull off the ranges of emotion required, and I think Parker does this well.

Like all Showtime shows that I've seen (except It's Garry Shandling's Show - thank goodness), Weeds indulges in too much graphic sex, though it's not on the level of something like The Tudors. Sometimes it works for the plot; sometimes it's just gratuitous.

Reflecting back, my only wish for this season was that it had had the pilot it deserved, but of course it's better to start poorly and then get better than to start off well and get worse. So kudos to Weeds for a strong first season. I think anyone who's enjoyed other uncompromising cable-based shows will find a lot to enjoy here. June 10, 2008

No weed killer required

Amazing show!
All I can say is thank GOD for Pay TV in America so the boundaries of what is correct can be pushed.
Good to see good old American capitalism at work.
Great cast, very funny, Americans starting to revel in quirky characters. June 9, 2008

Weeds - Love it!!!

What a great show. Just watched Season 2. Season 3 has just shipped.

Reminds me of the great shows HBO USED TO HAVE! June 2, 2008

Weeds - I Just Found Out

Ok, so I'm almost FOUR YEARS LATE with this - but I've only recently discovered the show "Weeds" and am now hopelessly addicted. The ensemble cast is terrific, the writing is clever, even the music selection for the shows stands out.

Weeds is a 30 minute sitcom that airs only on Showtime (which is partially why I'd never seen it - I don't watch Showtime). But the good news for you Netflix subscribers out there is that seasons 1 & 2 are available to watch instantly on your PC - this is a very good thing - as I watched the entire first season in two days and don't know what I'll do when I get to the end of season two (oh, yes I do - I'll go out and buy Season three).

The story centers around the life of Nancy Botwin (played by Mary-Louise Parker), who loses her young husband to a heart attack, and has to go from a stay at home soccer mom to the person responsible for paying the bills. Since she has no prior career path, she takes up selling pot to the people she knows in her L.A. suburb, Agrestic. Among her customers are the head of the city council - and her financial adviser, and a lawyer whose head is shaved bald while he's asleep after his wife sees a video of him having sex with the tennis pro.

Her connection for pot is the African American family of Heylia James (Tonye Patano), and some of the funniest scenes come when she is on the camera. The cast also includes Elizabeth Perkins, and Kevin Nealon - both brilliant in their roles.

This is just one of the funniest, most clever shows I've seen in years, and I can't recommend it highly (no pun intended) enough. As an added bonus, you can go here and stream all of the music used in the show - it makes for a great listen! May 28, 2008

in the beginning

i first read about the weeds in a review in people magazine, and they didn't give it a really good review and i thumbed my nose at the series. then i finally broke down and ordered the dvd, i was immediately hooked on the series weeds. i am and will be a loyal weeds fan until the end.
i would really wish they would come up with a prequel to show how nancy's husband died and how she got into the pot deal dealing business. more power to shotime May 18, 2008

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