Customer Reviews

Weeds: Season One

5 star:		(133)
4 star:		(43)
3 star:		(17)
2 star:		(8)
1 star:		(16)

 

 

If a show is dark, funny, subversive, and controversial, you know its on HBO or SHOWTIME, the only channels bold enough to have produced shows that network TV would run away from. Weeds is exactly one of those shows. A comedy about a young suburbanite mother with two kids who turns to dealing pot after her husband dies, Weeds flies directly in the face of the conventional comedy. That's what makes it such a good show. Weeds has already been picked up for a second season, so this show will be around for a while!

Nancy Botwin (Golden Globe winner Mary-Louise Parker) has a normal life as a housewife in the LA suburb of Agrestic. She has a nice husband and two wonderful kids and a slacker brother-in-law named Andy(Justin Kirk). When her husband dies suddenly, Nancy needs a way to come up with a steady income so she can support her family. So she turns to dealing pot, and becomes the pied piper to the pot smoking denizens of Agrestic, including her accountant, Doug Wilson (Kevin Nealon). So how can you be a full time dealer and mother without getting busted, without your brother-in-law horning in on the action, and how can you lecture your kids when you break the law to support them? This show explores the humor in these predicaments as well as the drama in the 10-episode First Season.

The acting in Weeds is superb. Parker was wonderful in West Wing and is even better here, and Elizabeth Perkins makes a great comeback with her role as Nancy's frenemy Celia Hodes. Kevin Nealon is hysterical as Doug, reminding people how good a comedian he really is when not starring in bad material. Like other Showtime hits, this show not only explores Nancy's life and loves, but develops dramatic arcs for the lives of the other main characters, giving the show much more depth and range.

The complete first season on 2 discs contains all 10 first season episodes with a run time of 283 minutes. There are 6 cast and crew commentaries, and several featurettes including "Smoky Snippets" and "Smoke and Mirrors: Original Marijuana Mockumentary." It is in 2.0 and 5.1 Dolby Digital Audio. Check out their website for more info. Reeommended.

A.G. Corwin
St.Louis, MO

"Weeds" is excellent show with clever humor, hot social issues, and engaging characters. Some reviewers have pointed out that the characters are hypocritical and not very likeable, but that's what gives them complexity and makes them interesting. "Full House" this is not. That aside, the general tone of the series is not terribly serious, so however you feel about drugs and the actions of Nancy and the other characters, it's still a quite enjoyable and fun show.

I felt that since the producers of this DVD did not see fit to release the episodes in their original aspect ratio, that was worth knocking off a good two points. It's often easy to tell that things are framed too closely here. It's incomprehensible why they would not release the best possible version on DVD, especially when they expect people to pay for them. The set does include some interesting extras and featurettes. I also listened to all the commentaries, and what annoyed me were those of show creator Jengi Kohan--on her tracks she sounds as though she's coming out of anesthesia. I just want to scream at her "SPEAK UP!" So if you're into commentaries, pretty much skip hers (the ones for the pilot and the season finale), as "mumble mumble mumble mumble" is hardly an insight.

The pilot opens almost mid-story it seems, acclimating you to the characters and their interpersonal dysfunctions subtlety and sparingly. The richness and vibrancy of the characters makes it "ok" that you don't get all the nitty-gritty details of why and when and how things started- you feel as if you know these people and will continue to learn about their why's, when's and how's as the "plot thickens" in season 2.

A fascinating exploration of suburban life- so common, easily identified with and yet totally beneath the surface. Of course it is dramatized, but after living in OC for over 10 years I can testify to the validity. The premise of this show is a terrific commentary on what suburbia has done to humanity as people try to make sure that all their "Little Boxes" stay the same. Our HOA recently sent letters to residents who were unfortunate enough to have brown spots in their lawns. I live in the desert and it's been unseasonably hot across the nation- but the semblance of normalcy must be protected in suburbia. They may want to worry about the growth patterns of a different type of grass in our quiet little neighborhood.

I admire the main character, Nancy, who judges none and accepts tragedy and criticism both with grace and dignity. When a fellow mom and friend attacks her parenting by citing a book on parenting she is not baited by the comment, but retorts with an amusing grin and wryly delivered, "Wow, Celia. (effective pause) I didn't know you read books." The timing and rapport between these two characters is pure magic-the steel magnolias of the "soccer mom" set.

She is a real person in a real world, as plastic as it may seem- and she makes irrational, emotional decisions; she acts impulsively and impetuously, balanced with a carefully controlled, tender-hearted, frailty which makes her all the more likable. She displays the civility so rarely seen in our barely civilized civilization, while weathering the social slings of the socialites in her society.

The supporting cast of characters provide a rich and intricate skein to weave throughout the threads of storyline, some are a skosh stereotypical but in a way that works- making them familiar. Like real people we know, all of Nancy's "people" are imperfect and interesting - making it easier to connect the dots between the (probably purposely) missing why's, when's and how's.

A must see for the open minded. Plus the special features are more interesting than most TV series' DVDs.

From the world of a professional herbalist and addict of amazingly written anything, film, shows, books...I find Weeds to be one of those things in life that I just can't live without. Not only are the actors extremely well cast in their roles, but the plot and dialog go wayyyy beyond the bump and grind life of a suburban widow drug dealer. I often find myself yelping with joy (alongside my neighbor since we get together every Monday at 10:00 to watch the latest episode)...then running to the office the next day to spread the word about Weeds.

In a world of trash television like American Idol, and Desperate Housewives, it's not only refreshing to be enlightened with such a cool antecdote to life's monotany, but also mandatory.

This one surely won't go up in smoke, unless of course you're just sharing the gift of the earth.

To be honest, I didn't like the first episode and I wondered what all the fuss was about. But getting through that, and moving through the rest of the season was fun and funny and sometimes touching. This is a terrific show about a new widow (Nancy, played by Mary-Louise Parker) trying to raise two boys and provide for them after her husband dies suddenly.
We never saw how she got into selling pot, but the focus of the show is showing Nancy trying to get her new 'business' to grow (excuse the pun) while trying to keep it secret from her kids, housekeeper and her best friend (Celia, played by Elizabeth Perkins).
While the Golden Globe for best actress in a comedy went to Parker, I really think the funniest character in the program is Elizabeth Perkins. I love how she shaved her husbands hair off after she found out he cheated on her. She swaps her overweight daughters chocolate stash for laxatives and pays the price when her daughter gets her back by switching her pills to imodium.
It's a break from the norm, but let me tell you this show is definately worth watching. It's dark and funny and thoroughly enjoyable. It's got a great cast and it's a show not afraid to take chances. I especially love the unexpected twist in the very last scene of the last episode in this season. I really love it and highly recommend it.

WEEDS is a complicated series currently airing on the cable network SHOWTIME, the same corp. that brought us DEAD LIKE ME and other controversial storylines. And WEEDS certainly is wonderfully bizarre.

Mary-Louise Parker (THE WEST WING) stars as Nancy Botwin, a recent widow with two children and a cash flow problem. She lives in the fictitious town of Agrestic in Anywhere Suburbia, America. In fact, the shows lead-in goes through great pains to show us how common an area she and her family live in. This is vital since most of today's drug culture tends to live right under our proverbial noses. And the drug, as the title intends, is marijuana, often considered shameful by some to be considered "illegal" while others throw tantrums about its gateway significance. But Nancy has to feed her family and she'll do whatever it takes to ensure their survival.

In the midst of this seemingly benign town we have a troop of old and new pot smokers. The older generation is exhibited by none other than Kevin Nealon (ANGER MANAGEMENT) whose character, Doug Wilson, is a bored and immature accountant. Self-centered and completely useless in terms of assisting his neighbors, his character is absolutely fantastic. You could easily picture him still in high school if it weren't for his extremely receding hairline and the family minivan he drives. The newer generation is brought to light by Nancy Botwin's brother-in-law, Andy, played by the excellent Justin Kirk (FLANNEL PAJAMAS, 2006). He has no direction in life and is now firmly entrenched in Nancy's home. His failings at life are mirrored through his careless attitudes toward women or growing in any meaningful way. But once in a while -- just occasionally -- he'll make a remark of wonderful profoundness that blows Nancy away. He also is a much needed father-figure (although a VERY screwed up one) for Nancy's two boys, Shane (Alexander Gould, FINDING NEMO) and Silas (Hunter Parrish, RV). It is Silas, the high schooler, whom we get to see experiment with the emerging drug culture that surrounds his household. Although initially unaware of his mother's "business", he quickly reveals to the viewer that he's "not stupid" about what's happening under his own roof.

Nancy's friends are a mixed bag. Celia (Elizabeth Perkins, BIG), is a member of the PTA, has a child who suffers with being overweight, and recently found out her husband had an affair with the local, and beautiful, Asian tennis instructor. As the series progresses, we learn that Celia has breast cancer and this comes as devastating news for someone so infatuated with one's appearance (as seen through the mother-daughter relationships). The Shepard's, a black family that live in a "bad part of town", act as Nancy's suppliers of the green leaf. They battle finances versus keeping their business strictly business whenever Nancy comes around (which fluctuates as her business expands and contracts).

The wonderful thing about this series is that it puts a mess of moral material in the viewer's lap. What is wrong with marijuana when Percocet and other heavy narcotics are readily available via a doctor's prescription? Is it wrong for a person to support their family by dealing in something as shady as drug trafficking? Can a woman be both a loving and compassionate mother while at the same time selling something potentially addicting? Is it hypocritical for someone to sell "the stuff" while at the same time punishing their kids when they catch them doing some of it? Quite a moral quagmire, I'd say.

The other thing that makes this series work is it's sexy. Mary-Louise Parker has that ...something about her that makes her both a respectable looking woman and just a tad slutty. She's a sexual being who struggles with life in the shadow of her husband's death and has to decide what's best for her, her kids, and her husband's memory; most times these things are in direct opposition of each other. Elizabeth Perkins mirrors much of Parker's character in that she too has that respectable/slutty look but also some uppityness ...until her cancer rears up. Then she becomes more introspective and the slut takes over, for a while.

The series producers also put in a deaf and sexually promiscuous girlfriend for Nancy's son, Silas. This added an entirely new dimension to Silas' character as he's forced to grow-up without a father to guide him through this teenage sexual minefield and he finds solace with the deaf girl's household more than with his own whenever internal family problems arise.

This first season took about two episodes to get rolling, but once it did there was no stopping it. You really need to open your mind to the possibilities surrounding this show. It's not JUST about drugs. It's about the people that are shoved into this niche group for the sake of survival, and it's captivating to watch how their flawed lives intermingle. Pot smoker or not, these characters are headed for interesting days. Season two has already been purchased by SHOWTIME, which would indicate WEED might be picking up speed and continue smokin' for some time.

After hearing all the praise about the show, I decided to watch the Pilot - Season 1 - Episode 1. From then, I was hooked. Decided to order the first season on Amazon and also Pre-Order Season 2.

The wait is worth it. The Picture Quality is so much better than on the air. The show itself is awesome to say the least and you are going to be in for a treat at the end of Season 2 :)

As for the 1 star comment - I do agree. There are 2 episodes where the picture quality looks very grainy. After that tho, all episodes are perfect. Does not bother me and I would buy it again knowing this!!

GET THIS SHOW!!!

Weeds is one of the smartest, wittiest and most intriguing television shows I have come across, and with that said, it is no wonder it could only air on a network like Showtime (the other being HBO). While most people will enjoy this show, I think only people who have "experience" with the show's overall theme will fully understand and appreciate the situations that the show deals with. This show is also that much more better while you watch it under the same influence that it is talking about :] But that doesn't undermine the show's clever writing and brilliant acting. I'm so glad Parker won the best actress Golden Globe nod over the overrated Desperate Housewives cast because she is not only a better actress but it also gave this show the publicity it very much deserves. It's one of the sharpest shows on TV, and there is never a dull moment. Again, if you've never experienced the lifestyle that this show portrays, you might find yourself wondering what all the buzz is about. But otherwise, I don't think anyone could refuse this show. Brilliant, and can't wait for season 2. (Great cliffhanger in season 1 by the way)

PS Did anyone know that Nancy's son is the same actor who provided the voice for Nemo in Finding Nemo? :]

First off, I have to admit that I've loved Mary-Louise Parker for a long time, so I'm probably going to like any thing she's in.

That said, every one I've known who's watched this show has loved it. It's funny and somewhat realistic. The premise is that Parker is a recently widowed mom living in an expensive LA suburb. To make ends meet she sells marijuana to her white, middle-class neighbors after buying it from a black family in a less affluent area.

This show is witty, sexy, and compelling. If you watch about 3 episodes you'll be hooked. The cast is excellent. In addition to Parker in the lead role, you also have Elizabeth Perkins as the snooty neighbor/friend, Romany Malco (from The Forty Year Old Virgin) as one of her suppliers, and Kevin Nealon as her main client/CPA/city councilman.

The first ten episode follow Parker as he grows her business while trying to raise her two sons. Along the way she has run ins with her competition and the law. Plus she has to deal with her brother-in-law showing up and causing some extra problems.

It's a great show and it has a lot in common with "Big Love," "Desperate Housewives," "Six Feet Under," or any other show that tries to point out the stranger side of life.

This Showtime adult comedy-drama has hit its stride following a quirky and unsure starting season. The plot is simple and character driven, giving this cast a chance to shine as each episode reveals more character development and draws the viewer into the lives of these suburban slaves.
Weeds begins with the primary character, Nancy, (Mary-Louise Parker) living a upwardly mobile life which has come crashing down around her upon her husband's death. All too real, he failed to provide for this possibility - no life insurance, no financial stability aside from his obviously sufficient salary, the first episode begins after his death, and immediately puts the viewer in the spectator seat as we watch Nancy try to deal with two kids (both boys) one a teenager and one just starting middle school. She finds her house payments, car payments, maid, and lifestyle all too unaffordable, and as the pilot develops so does her temporary solution, dealing pot to her husbands friends as well as the husbands of her friends in their suburban utopia "Agrestic" CA.
As the season develops so does this fantastic character-driven Showtime Gen X soap-opera. Kevin Nealon is perfectly cast as a dope smoking city councilman, and Nancy's dealer, (played by Conrad Shepard of "40 Year Old Virgin") really stands out as his realtively minor part blooms into the most compelling relationship in a black / white friendship turn possible romance I have seen on TV. This show goes beyond a predictable comedy of errors and farce, showing the human side of suburbia and the foils and all too real human fraility behind the 100k a year salary drones who reside within. Weeds is less about pot smoking or drugs than it is about people, and its casual acceptance of 30-something mother Nancy Botwin, yuppy mom turned pot dealer by a twist of fate accurately reflects the reality of their generation's attitude toward the failed 'war on drugs' - as far as pot smoking goes (Nancy is outraged by her children's use of the same drug she deals - reflecting the hypocricy of the whole issue of drug use and the do's and dont's surrounding it) and is more about how people - trapped in a lifestyle by circumstance and inertia - survive day-by-day. I highly reccomend Weeds, it is insightful and touching, both comedy and drama, easily one of the best shows of Television.