Weeds (TV series)
Weeds | |
---|---|
Created by | Jenji Kohan |
Starring | Mary-Louise Parker Elizabeth Perkins Tonye Patano Romany Malco Justin Kirk Hunter Parrish Alexander Gould Kevin Nealon |
Opening theme | Little Boxes by Malvina Reynolds (and others) |
Country of origin | United States |
No. of episodes | 22 (list of episodes) |
Production | |
Running time | 30 minutes |
Original release | |
Network | Showtime |
Release | August 8, 2005 – present |
Weeds is an American dark comedy television series about an affluent fictional California suburb and its residents, a handful of whom are involved in the distribution and consumption of cannabis. It was the highest rated series for Showtime in 2005.[1] The second season started broadcasting on August 14,2006,[2] and its finale aired on October 30, 2006. On November 16, 2006, Showtime announced a third season consisting of 15 episodes to premiere in the summer of 2007. [3]
Plot synopsis
The fictional affluent Los Angeles, California suburb of Agrestic (an English word meaning "characteristic of the fields or country") is home to Nancy Botwin (Mary-Louise Parker), whose husband Judah (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) has recently, and suddenly, died. Nancy begins dealing marijuana to locals of her suburb in order to support her household while maintaining an upper-middle-class lifestyle. As depicted in the series, Agrestic has a public school system, where Nancy's children Silas (Hunter Parrish) and Shane (Alexander Gould) both attend. Botwin befriends the manic, image-obsessed Celia Hodes (Elizabeth Perkins) president of the Agrestic PTA, who has several domestic issues. Heylia James (Tonye Patano), assisted by her nephew Conrad (Romany Malco), supplies Nancy with cannabis. Andy Botwin (Justin Kirk), brother of Nancy's late husband, and the family's black sheep, says he has moved into the Botwin household to help Nancy out, but perhaps it is just to free-load.
The second season, while still comedic, takes a darker turn as Nancy gets deeper into dangerous activity. She begins to grow her own cannabis against Heylia's advice, but with the assistance of Conrad. Several other Agrestic residents help Nancy also, including her brother-in-law, Andy, and the Town Councilman, Doug Wilson (Kevin Nealon). Meanwhile, she also has a dangerous relationship with a DEA agent named Peter Scottson which ends badly, especially for him. Nancy's sons become increasingly more aware of her drug dealings, and both form their own way of dealing with that information. Having recovered from breast cancer, Celia defeats Doug in an election. Unaware of her friends' activities, Celia tries to turn all of Agrestic into a drug-free zone, and finds herself in unexpected circumstances. Andy, concerned about the possibility of being sent to Iraq due to a long-forgotten National Guard commitment, decides to take up religion, after a fashion. The season concludes with a cliffhanger, with several characters posed in a Mexican standoff.
Cast and crew
- Mary-Louise Parker as Nancy Botwin
- Elizabeth Perkins as Celia Hodes
- Kevin Nealon as Doug Wilson
- Justin Kirk as Andy Botwin
- Tonye Patano as Heylia James
- Romany Malco as Conrad Shepard
- Hunter Parrish as Silas Botwin
- Alexander Gould as Shane Botwin
- Shoshannah Stern as Megan
- Maulik Pancholy as Sanjay
- Martin Donovan as Peter Scottson
- Justin Chatwin as Josh Wilson (pilot episode only, then left the cast to film War of the Worlds[4])
- Haley Hudson as Quinn Hodes (pilot episode only, in the show was sent to boarding school in Mexico, and is occasionally referenced)
- Andy Milder as Dean Hodes
- Renée Victor as Lupita
- Allie Grant as Isabelle Hodes
- Tyrone M. Mitchell as Keeyon
- Eden Sher as Gretchen
- Indigo as Vaneeta
- Zooey Deschanel as Kat
Creator: Jenji Kohan
Producer/Director: Brian Dannelly
Director: Christopher Misiano who also Directed and Produced many episodes of the West Wing (television), a series in which Mary Louise Parker had a recurring role as Amy Gardner.
Awards and nominations
Awards won
- Satellite Awards
- Outstanding Actress in a Series-Comedy Mary-Louise Parker (2005)
- Golden Globe Awards
- Best Performance by a TV Actress in a Musical or Comedy Mary-Louise Parker (2006)
Awards nominated
- Golden Globe Awards
- Best TV Series-Comedy, 2006 and 2007
- Best Performance by a TV Supporting Actress Elizabeth Perkins (2006)
- Best Performance by a TV Actress in a Musical or Comedy Mary-Louise Parker (2007)
- Best Performance by a TV Supporting Actress Elizabeth Perkins (2007)
- Best Performance by a TV Supporting Actor Justin Kirk (2007)
- Screen Actors Guild
- Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Comedy Series Mary-Louise Parker (2006)
- Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Comedy Series Mary-Louise Parker (2007)
- Ensemble In A Comedy Series (2007)
- Satellite Awards
- Outstanding Actress in a Series-Comedy Elizabeth Perkins (2005)
- Best Actress in a Supporting Role in a Series, Mini-series, or TV Movie Elizabeth Perkins(2006)
- Actress in a Series, Comedy or Musical Mary-Louise Parker (2006)
- Emmy Awards
- Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series Elizabeth Perkins (2006)
- Outstanding Directing for a Comedy Series Craig Zisk, for the episode Good Shit Lollipop (2006)
- Outstanding Casting for a Comedy Series (2006)
- Outstanding Main Title Design (2006)
- Outstanding Single-Camera Picture Editing for a Comedy Series, for the episode Good Shit Lollipop (2006)
Episodes
Broadcasters
- Arab World: Showtime Arabia channels called Paramount Comedy Channel and Paramount Comedy Channel +2 (Subtitled)
- Australia: Nine Network
- Brazil: GNT
- Bulgaria: Nova TV (full translation)
- Canada: Showcase Television
- Czech Republic: HBO
- Finland: Nelonen, Canal+
- France: Canal+
- Hungary: HBO premiere in June 2006
- Iceland: Sirkus premiere in October 2006
- Israel: yes+
- Italy: Rai Due and SKY Italia
- Korea: Fox
- Latin America: Movie City and The Film Zone
- Middle East: Paramount Comedy
- The Netherlands: Talpa
- New Zealand: Prime
- Norway: TV3 aired season one during September-October 2006, undecided on airing season 2
- Poland: HBO
- South Africa: M-Net
- Spain: Canal+ Spain premiere in September 2006
- Sweden: TV3 premiere in September 2006
- Turkey: Comedy Max (Subtitled) aired season one
- United Kingdom: Sky One, Sky Three
- United States: Showtime
Miscellaneous
- Many of the exterior shots of the show are filmed on location in and around the bedroom community of Stevenson Ranch, California and Santa Clarita, California.
- The aerial photo during the intro is of Calabasas, California.
- As of season 2, the title song "Little Boxes" (performed in the first season by its writer Malvina Reynolds) is performed by different artists in each episode.
- Due to product placement deals, Nancy often carries a "It's a Grind Coffee House" beverage. A Starbucks in Calabasas, California, fills in for "It's a Grind," in the opening credits.
- At the 2006 Golden Globes, Mary-Louise Parker was nominated for Best Actress in a Television Comedy or Musical, alongside the four lead actresses of the more popular network television show, Desperate Housewives. Desperate Housewives actress Teri Hatcher had won the award the year before, and even award presenter Chris Rock could only joke at this predicament, saying, "You gotta feel sorry for Mary-Louise Parker. [5] However, Parker beat all four ladies of Desperate Housewives to take home the award. Snoop Dogg has appeared on Weeds (episode 208), sampling and appreciating Parker's character's strain of cannabis, dubbing it "MILF weed".
- The book Rejuvenile by author Christopher Noxon has appeared several times on the show. Christopher Noxon is married to series creator Jenji Kohan. Noxon was also the music supervisor for season one and appeared in the pilot episode as a bear hunter.[6]
References
- ^ http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/arizonaliving/articles/1101brotherhood1101.html
- ^ http://www.tv.com/weeds/show/28829/episode_listings.html?season=2
- ^ http://www.sho.com/site/announcements/111606weeds.do
- ^ http://tv.zap2it.com/tveditorial/tve_main/1,1002,271%7C96561%7C1%7C,00.html
- ^ http://www.reviewjournal.com/lvrj_home/2006/Jan-17-Tue-2006/news/5393895.html
- ^ http://www.rejuvenile.com/blog/item/rejuvenile_on_weeds/
External links
- Weeds at IMDb
- Official Website (only available in the US)
- Sky One Weeds Website (United Kingdom broadcaster)
- Showcase Weeds Website (Canadian broadcaster)
- Canal+ Weeds Website (French broadcaster)
- Canal+ Weeds Website (Spanish broadcaster)
- Nelonen Weeds Website (Finnish broadcaster)