Weeds (TV series)
| Weeds | |
|---|---|
 The cast of Weeds circa Season 2, Left to Right: Romany Malco, Tonye Patano, Mary-Louise Parker, Kevin Nealon, Elizabeth Perkins, and Justin Kirk | |
| 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 | 19 |
| Production | |
| Running time | 30 minutes |
| Original release | |
| Network | Showtime |
| Release | August 8, 2005 – present |
Weeds is an American dark comedy television series about a fictional California suburb and its residents, a handful of whom are involved in the distribution and consumption of marijuana. It was the highest rated series for Showtime in 2005.[1]The second season started broadcasting on August 14,2006.[2]
Plot synopsis
The fictional 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 has recently 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) attend. Botwin befriends the manic, image-obsessed Celia Hodes (Elizabeth Perkins) president of the Agrestic PTA. Heylia James, assisted by her nephew Conrad, supplies Nancy with marijuana. Andy Botwin (Justin Kirk), brother of Nancy's late husband, and family's black sheep, moves into the Botwin household.
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
- Shoshannah Stern as Megan
- Maulik Pancholy as Sanjay
- Martin Donovan as Peter
- Justin Chatwin as Josh Wilson (pilot episode only, then left the cast to film War of the Worlds[3])
- Romany Malco as Conrad Shepard
- Hunter Parrish as Silas Botwin
- Alexander Gould as Shane Botwin
- Andy Milder as Dean Hodes
- Renee Victor as Lupita
- Allie Grant as Isabelle Hodes
- Tyrone M. Mitchell as Keeyon
- Eden Sher as Gretchen
- Indigo as Vaneeta
Creator: Jenji Kohan
Producer/Director: Brian Dannelly
Awards & 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
- Best Performance by a TV Supporting Actress Elizabeth Perkins (2006)
- Screen Actors Guild
- Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Comedy Series Mary-Louise Parker (2006)
- Satellite Awards
- Outstanding Actress in a Series-Comedy Elizabeth Perkins (2005)
- Emmy Awards
- Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series Elizabeth Perkins (2006)
- Outstanding Directing for a Comedy Series Craig Zisk, Good Shit Lollipop (2006)
Episodes
Trivia
- 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.
- 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. Artists include Elvis Costello (episode 201), Death Cab for Cutie (episode 202), Engelbert Humperdinck (episode 203), Kate and Anna McGarrigle (episode 204, performed in French), a classical orchestra (episode 205), Aidan Hawken (episode 206), Ozomatli (episode 207), The Submarines (episode 208), Tim DeLaughter (episode 209), and Regina Spektor (episode 210).
- MPP and NORML logos can be seen throughout parts of the second episode of the second season.
- Due to product placement deals, Nancy often carries a "It's a Grind Coffee House" beverage.
- In season 2, Nancy uses fake identification documents to rent a house for a large-scale grow operation. She uses the name "Lacy Laplante" ("la plante" is french for "the plant") and a Quebec driver's license (Permis de conduire) with the address 13468 Drummond, Montreal, Quebec, H3G 114. Drummond is a real street in Montreal and does use the postal code prefix H3G, but the highest address is 3480. The postal code H3G 114 has an invalid format; the Canadian postal code standard suffix is number-letter-number. The various codes on "Lacy's" license show the standard passenger-vehicle and motorcycle permits, with the requirement she wear glasses or corrective lenses.
- 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 much more popular 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. Desperate Housewives is one of the biggest shows on the planet, and Weeds is only watched by Snoop Doggy Dogg."[1] Ironically, Parker beat all four ladies of Desperate Housewives to take home the award.
Broadcasters
- Australia: Nine Network
- Brazil: GNT
- Canada: Showcase Television
- Finland: Nelonen premiere in October 2006
- France: Canal+
- Hungary: HBO premiere in June 2006
- Iceland: Sirkus premiere in October 2006
- Israel: yes+
- New Zealand: Prime
- Norway: TV3 (Viasat) aired season one during September-October 2006, undecided on airing season 2
- Spain: Canal+ Spain premiere in September
- Sweden: TV3 (Viasat) premiere in September
- Turkey: Comedy Max (Subtitled) aired season one, season two will probably begin before christmas
- United Kingdom: Sky One, Sky Three
- Arab World: Showtime Arabia channels called Paramount Comedy Channel and Paramount Comedy Channel +2 (Subtitled)
References
External links
- Weeds at IMDb
- Official Website (only available in the US)
- Sky One Weeds Website (UK broadcaster)
- Showcase Weeds Website (Canadian broadcaster)
- Canal+ Weeds Website (French broadcaster)
- Canal+ Weeds Website (Spanish broadcaster)
