Bored To Death: The Complete Third Season (2012)/How To Make It In America: The Complete Second Season (2011)/Hung: The Complete Second Season + The Complete Third Season (2010 – 2011/HBO Blu-ray sets)

 

Picture: B     Sound: B     Extras: C/B-/C+/B-     Episodes: C+/B-/B-/C+

 

 

Here is our look at the latest seasons of three hit TV series on HBO, including links to our previous season coverage.

 

 

I am no fan of Bored To Death, but at least it is ambitious and has a cast hat makes some sense.  The Complete Third Season (2012) however this is my least favorite yet.  If you are unfamiliar with the show, here is our coverage of the previous seasons:

 

One

http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/10601/Bored+To+Death:+The+Complete+Fir

 

Two

http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/11199/Bored+To+Death+%E2%80%93+The

 

The show was always off-beat, but this “yet another novelist turns detective” show is running out of steam early and I knew they could only keep this going so much.  Now, the show is getting a little too silly, but Zack Galifianakis, Ted Danson and Jason Schwartzman are still here oddly paired and at least somewhat funny, but more like a soap opera at times than it started out being.  All eight episodes are here over two Blu-rays and if you are not familiar with the show, start at the beginning, as I think you will miss out on a few points this time around.  The show is not living up to its title yet, but for this viewer, boring is part of the territory in many spots per episode.  Now you can see for yourself.

 

 

I was much happier with the underrated, underseen How To Make It In America and waited for a while to see The Complete Second Season (2011) after an great debut season which I raved about at this link for its Blu-ray debut:

 

http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/11321/Big+Love:+The+Complete+Collection

 

Ben (Bryan Greenberg) and Cam (Victor Rasuk) are best friends in the middle of some make or break deals that could help them really succeed, but there are obstacles including personal relationships in limbo, people getting in their way and Cam’s gangster relative (Luis Guzman) trying to go legitimate by making an energy drink a hit.

 

Unfortunately, the writing in later episodes (we get eight more shows here) takes a strange turn for the worse as the smart characters get suddenly more stupid and unwise than I would have liked as if to follow a formula approach that will bring at least partial closure by the final show.  The writers did not need to cheapen the show like this and it does not make it more commercial, but the cast, locales, situations and other writing makes this still a good season, but I expected much more.

 

 

Finally we have the two follow-up seasons to Thomas Jane’s show Hung about a school coach who becomes a male prostitute.  I expected this could get silly and dumb, but The Complete Second Season and Complete Third Season (2010 – 2011) sets surprise by holding the storylines together until the same thing happens in the storyline here as it does with How To Make It In America as the characters become suddenly dumb and common sense goes out the window, but the foolishness for streetwise people here is harder to buy.  Here is what I had to say about the debut season in comparison:

http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/10590/Californication+%E2%80%93+The+T

 

 

It has been announced the show is going to wrap up and I think that is wise, but by the end of this season, you can tell they are not finished with the characters yet.  Again, start from the beginning to really enjoy what works here and Jane once again proves he can carry the show (his character has younger competition in Season Three) but that’s all I will say as not to ruin the show for you.  Either way, I like the show and these 10 episodes (again over two Blu-rays) have more good going for them than not.

 

HBO has consistently issued some of the best TV on Blu-ray and many agree on that, so it is no surprise that the 1080p 1.78 X 1 digital High Definition image transfers in all four sets here are excellent, stable, have minimum motion blur and only minor styling to affect the image fidelity and playback.  There are even demo shots here and there on all the sets.  They all also offer DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 5.1 lossless mixes with fine, solid soundfield throughout, exceptional recording quality and warmth most TV Blu-rays from other companies do not always have.  They have set an industry standard for new TV program in High Definition and they follow it.

 

Extras on all four sets include audio commentary tracks on select episodes and several making of featurettes, sometimes short and sometimes long.  Bored adds Deleted Scenes and Outtakes, while Hung: Three adds an Alternate Ending for the concluding episode and both Hung seasons have Deleted Scenes too.

 

 

-   Nicholas Sheffo