HBO premieres a brand new offbeat comedy series, HUNG, about a former high school sports legend turned middle-aged high school basketball coach who is a divorced dad in dire straits struggling to make ends meet and regain control of his life. Because desperate times call for desperate measures, the well-endowed Ray decides to exploit his best asset in a last-ditch attempt to change his fortunes.
The ten-episode first season of this HBO Original Series premieres on 2 January at 10pm with two back-to-back episodes airing daily on HBO SIGNATURE as well as on HBO and in high definition on HBO HD from 4 January 2010 at 10pm.
The series stars Thomas Jane (“The Punisher,” HBO’s “*61”) as Ray Drecker; Jane Adams (“Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind”) as Ray’s business partner, Tanya Skagle; Anne Heche (“Men in Trees”) as Ray’s ex-wife, Jessica Haxon; Eddie Jemison (“Ocean’s Thirteen”) as Jessica’s successful husband Ronnie; Sianoa Smit-McPhee (“As the Bell Rings”) as Ray’s daughter Darby; and Charlie Saxton (“The Lovely Bones”) as Ray’s son Damon.
Years ago, as a student at Detroit’s West Lakefield High School, Ray Drecker (Thomas Jane) was athletic, popular and destined for success. Today, as a West Lakefield teacher and coach of the varsity basketball team (which is on an unprecedented losing streak), he’s underpaid, uninsured and embittered that his wife of 20 years (Anne Heche) left him for her dermatologist, Ronnie Haxon (Eddie Jemison). After fire damages the rundown lakeside home he inherited from his parents, Ray’s fortunes reach an all-time low when his twin children Darby (Sianoa Smit-McPhee) and Damon (Charlie Saxton), who had been living with him, move in with their mom and her smug new husband.
Lonely, run down and at wit’s end, Ray attends a self-help class, where the mantra is to identify a personal “winning tool” to market for financial success. After a not-so-fulfilling encounter with fellow attendee Tanya Skagle (Jane Adams), a would-be poet, Ray has a “eureka” moment. With the help of Tanya, the well-endowed Ray sets out to exploit his greatest asset in hopes of changing his fortunes.
HUNG was created by Dmitry Lipkin and Colette Burson; executive producers, Colette Burson, Dmitry Lipkin, Alexander Payne, Michael Rosenberg, John Morayniss and Noreen Halpern; co-executive producers, Scott Stephens and Emily Kapnek.
Catch the first season of the all new HBO comedy series HUNG when it premieres on 2 January 2010 on HBO SIGNATURE with two new episodes airing daily from 2 to 6 January at 10pm every night.
Subscribers can also catch the entire first season of HUNG from Monday, 4 January 2010 with two back-to-back episodes every Monday at 10pm on HBO and in high definition on HBO HD. For more play times, log on to www.hboasia.com.
CHARACTERS
RAY DRECKER played by Thomas Jane
In 1984, Ray Drecker owned West Lakefield High: Popular star ball player, destined for great things, admired by the girls and envied by the guys. He married his cheerleading High School sweetheart and they took off for greener pastures. But after an aborted professional career with the Atlanta Braves, Ray, Jessica and their twins returned to the Detroit suburbs for Ray to take a temporary job teaching history at their alma mater, and coaching the school's varsity basketball team.
The stop-gap turned into a career and two years ago, Jessica dumped him for her dermatologist. Ray moved back to his parents' rundown lakeside house with the twins. He thought things couldn't get worse...
TANYA SKAGLE played by Jane Adams
A struggling poet, Tanya works the night shift at a Detroit law firm as a perma-temp proofreader. She knows about Ray's special talent as the result of their brief encounter after visiting his history class as part of a "Poets in the Schools" program. When they meet again at an entrepreneurial workshop, it is Tanya who reminds Ray of his winning tool.
She offers to help Ray in his new venture for a percentage, while also pursuing her own project: Lyric Bread.
JESSICA HAXON played by Anne Heche
A former beauty queen and cheerleader, Jessica fell hard for Ray in high school and followed him to Florida when he got a baseball scholarship and Atlanta when he was recruited by the Braves. But after he was sidelined by an injury and they had to return to their old hometown, the magic wore thin.
After years struggling as the wife of a public school teacher, Jessica found that who she chose in high school no longer worked for her and found love with Ronnie Haxon, her dermatologist. Following an acrimonious break-up, she and Ray struggle to co-parent their twins.
DAMON DRECKER played by Charlie Saxton
Twin brother to Darby, Damon expresses his individuality through gothic attire. Like most teens, he's struggling with his sexuality, but in Detroit, with a dad like Ray, he faces perhaps more obstacles to expressing his true self than some of his peers.
Protective of his sister, loyal to his father, Damon's sensitive side doesn't necessarily extend to his mother and her new husband, Ronnie.
DARBY DRECKER played by Sianoa Smit-McPhee
Twin sister to Damon, Darby is in the throes of young love, testing boundaries and experiencing heartbreak for the first time with her on-again, off-again boyfriend, Hammer.
While she and Damon would ideally rather live with their father than their mother and her new husband, they do struggle with the choice between a house and a tent.
RONNIE HAXON played by Eddie Jemison
A successful dermatologist, Ronnie stole his patient Jessica away from Ray before Ray even realized his wife had a skin condition.
A giving man who's always willing to remove a mole or inject some Botox for family, he barely flinches when Jessica's mother moves in, nor does he complain when the twins show up after Ray's house was on fire.
