A new HBO TV show premiered last night titled Tell Me You Love Me. This new drama focuses around several couples and their problems. Three couples and a psychotherapist and her husband. Each couple has an apparent problem in their relationship.
One couple, desperately wants to have a baby. In the relationship of the second couple, sex has left their relationship.The third couple are engaged to marry but the woman has doubts about the fidelity of her boyfriend. The anchor character is a 60 something psychotherapist who counsels each couple. The psychotherapist relationship with her husband is also explored.
The first episode was extremely disappointing. The main focus of the first episode was five or six extremely explicit sex scenes that included frontal nudity. There was some dialogue developing the relationship among the couples in, but it seemed as if the show was trying to develop the relationship mostly through sex scenes.
This is the second premier cable show that we have been very disappointed in because of the focus on sex rather than developing the characters and the plot line. The other show in this category was a new Showtime show called Californication . The show’s stars David Ducoveny . See our review this show in another article.
Why is sex such a main focus in Tell Me You Love Me? Do the show producers and writers think that this is the main area of interest for their audience? Who do they think that their audience is?
In the past some of the most successful TV shows on HBO and Showtime have involved relationships. For example, the show, Six Feet Under was a wonderful show about a family and the dynamics of each relationship. Although there were sex scenes on 6 FU, they were never very explicit, and only help to move the plot and character development of the show.
Both Tell Me You Love Me, and Californication do little to involve the viewer with interesting characters or plot lines. They seem to think that the audience is mostly interested in watching soft porn sex. Why is that?
The focus on sex has not been successful format in other hit shows such as 6FU. Great story lines and extended characterization development are the factors that have made these previous shows so successful.
It almost seems as if the writers and producers of these new series such as Tell Me You Love Me and Californication are 25-year-old man who do think the audience just wants to look at explicit sex. Yes, 20 somethings do think sex is the most important element but not general audiences. Do they think that sex scenes is what will draw an audience into the show and keep the audience coming back to view the show? They are so wrong!
It is our guess that the vast majority of these HBO or Showtime audiences are in their 30s 40s 50s and beyond. They are intelligent people interested in character development and interesting plot lines, not soft porn sex scenes.
Why are shows such as Deadwood, Heroes, Boston Public, The Shield so popular? Do you immediately think of sex scenes when you think of these hit TV shows? No!
Tell Me You Love Me will not succeed in it’s current format and focus on sex. The writers and producers of these new series need to understand why people look at a new show and continue to view it. They are way off base and do not apparently understand their audiences therefore their shows will not succeed.
We do not recommend Tell Me You Love Me as a show that you will want to just see unless you are a 25-year-old man, who is interested in soft porn shows. The show as well insults our intelligence! TV show writers and producers you are on the wrong track. We suggest the HBO management hire more intelligent writers.
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