Reply #70: Four representative viewpoints:

[Radio_Lady]

From: http://www.us.imdb.com

Intimacy, 12 September 2007

Author: nineteennineteens from United Kingdom

Some people will have heard about this show because of its controversy. I did myself. Admittedly, I was intrigued because of the promise of sexual content on TV - HBO, nonetheless. Having now seen the first episode of "Tell Me You Love Me", I know what the show is actually about.

If you're expecting "porn TV", think again. Yes, the show does have several moments of sexual contact, both oral and intercourse, but when they occur it is anything but arousing - instead it's uncomfortably realistic - down to moments of climax, the show does not flinch from showing the explicit.

But soon enough, if you actually watch the show, you'll realise that this isn't what the show is about. Many people will make the mistake of thinking this show is about sex, but it's about relationships, and how sex is used to shield us from the problems of our relationships.

Three different couples are the focus each dealing with different problems; one tries desperately for a baby, one's physical relationship is intense but unreliable in terms of commitment, and one married couple struggles to deal with the lack of sex in their lives. Both the issues raised in the show and the dialogue are uncannily realistic, to the point that you can't help but compare the relationships in the show with your own, and this can sometimes make for uncomfortable viewing - I'd strongly advise against watching this with your partner.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ground-breaking - and ABOUT TIME!, 11 September 2007

Author: Mark (nyrunner10) from Beacon, NY


*** This comment may contain spoilers ***


Finally, an American show that deals realistically (and, yes, explicitly) with sex as an important part of a relationship. This series is ground-breaking. The main characters are four couples, two of them married, one of them engaged, and the fourth, a therapist and her partner (played by Jane Alexander and David Selby), have a relationship that is so far undefined. The first show introduced the characters and their conflicts. One married couple seems to be very much in love with each other but they have not been intimate in over a year. The second are very hot for each other but the husband is tired of having sex just to get his wife pregnant. The third, unmarried but engaged couple, have a problem because the female half overheard her fiancé telling his friend that he does not think anyone can be faithful to anyone for sixty years of marriage. The therapist's relationship is still unclear. During the course of the show there are several sex scenes, spontaneous, hot, unexpected. And, yes, they are sexy. These are good-looking people coming as close to having sex than any mainstream movie or television show in United States history. But the sex does not seem forced or for exploitation. It totally seems in character, the actions of the actors being yet another facet of the characters they are creating. I totally disagree with both of the reviews posted here. The producers should not tone down the sex. They should actually ratchet it up. It is time that American films grew up. As a serious moviegoer who has sat through some of the most violent films imaginable (Kill Bill, Sin City) in which character development was nonexistent, I consider it a positive development that HBO has produced a series like this. I have never understood how people can be complacent about movie violence but so avidly disgusted by movie sex. But they are and, perhaps, this series will start to reverse that trend.

It is too early to tell how well this series will develop. The characters are interesting and their relationships compelling. More important these people are experiencing problems that the rest of us face. They are real. The pilot is a good start.

On a personal note I will say that I have waited thirty-nine years for this series. In 1968 the movie industry came up with the rating system that was supposed to make films like this, sexually explicit, yet intellectually compelling, easier to make. And for a few years it looked like it was going to happen. But prudes and Christians have always been more horrified by people having sex than with people killing each other and the ratings system systematically slapped restrictive ratings on sexually mature films while turning a blind eye to the most hideous of violence. Let us hope that this series is the start of a reversal of that disgusting trend. So I say to HBO, thank you. BRAVO!

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

This show misses the boat, 12 September 2007

Author: trimby99 from United States


People who want to watch soft porn (read: men) are going to be annoyed by the arguing especially when it short circuits an otherwise hot sex scene. The people who like watching dramas about relationship problems (read: women) are going to be turned off by the graphic nature of the sex. The people who like to watch old people having sex (read: no one) are going to love some parts.

The show does exhibit a high level of realism in the sex scenes and the dialogue and obviously has good writers. The arguments seem to flow naturally and you can see how they evolve into pettiness or futility or resolution. However I've had these arguments and derive no voyeuristic thrill from watching someone else have them except to fleetingly admire the writers' craft as I change the channel.

Add to all of this the most unrealistic and smug characters - the therapist and her husband - and I feel as if I'll gain no insights by watching the couples resolve their issues through therapy. Perhaps the writers are too young to write an older couple as realistically, but it is jarring to cut to them after watching an otherwise meticulously realistic show.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ultimately fails to hold one's interest, 19 September 2007

Author: Robert B. Marks from Kingston, Ontario


*** This comment may contain spoilers ***


This is a review of the pilot only, and I think that it can be a worthy review because of that - the point of any pilot is to make you want to watch the rest of the series, and in that this pilot failed rather badly.

And that is a shame, considering that the show is filled with potential. It's about time that a frank, European-style depiction of sex appeared on North American television, and it is even a breath of fresh air. And, from the beginning, the show gives the sense that there are immense depths for it to explore. Unfortunately, while the concept is very good, it is in the execution that the show fails.

The greatest weakness is in character development. The characters simply aren't developed beyond their genitalia, or more specifically, their problems regarding said genitalia. By the end of the first hour, in the three main couples, I only knew what two people did for a living, and the show only gives you the occasional flash that these characters have any sort of life beyond their sex (or lack thereof). The only subplot of the pilot was about a 10 year old girl getting a period - so even the kids are defined by their genitalia.

And, ultimately, at the end of the episode I couldn't care less about what happened to any of these people. A realistic depiction of relationship problems is a good thing, but you have to have some emotional investment in the characters for said depiction to actually be meaningful, and the show just doesn't show you enough to allow for that. We are introduced to these characters through their problems, we see their problems throughout, but we never explore any of the good things in their lives, or the interaction between the positive and negatives in said lives. With character development that poor, it renders what could be a wonderfully deep series very shallow indeed.