''Tell Me You Love Me'' is an American cable television drama series that premiered on HBO and

The Movie Network Crave (formerly The Movie Network or TMN) is a Canadian premium television network and streaming service owned by the Bell Media subsidiary of BCE Inc. Launched in 1983 as the national service First Choice, early difficulties and a subsequent ...

on September 9, 2007. The series was created by

Cynthia Mort Cynthia Mort (born June 18, 1956) is an American director, screenwriter, and producer. Mort has worked primarily in television since beginning her career in 1994, writing for the sitcom '' Roseanne''. Her notable works include the HBO series ...

and originally conceived as ''Sexlife''. The pilot episode was produced and directed by

Patricia Rozema Patricia Rozema (born 20 August 1958) is a Canadian film director, writer and producer. She was part of a loosely-affiliated group of filmmakers to emerge in 1980s from Toronto known as the Toronto New Wave. Early life Rozema was born in King ...

and shot in

Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the province of Manitoba in Canada. It is centred on the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, near the longitudinal centre of North America. , Winnipeg had a city population of 749, ...

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. The series was picked up by HBO for a second season in October 2007, but was ultimately canceled in July 2008 when Mort said she and the network "were unable to find the direction of the show for the second season".

Overview

''Tell Me You Love Me'' revolves around three couples, Jamie and Hugo (Borth and Kirby), Katie and David (Walker and DeKay), and Carolyn and Palek (Walger and Scott), each with their own problems concerning intimacy in their relationships. They seek the help of therapist May Foster (Alexander), who herself has relationship problems with her partner Arthur (Selby).

Cast

Regular cast

Jane Alexander Jane Alexander (née Quigley; born October 28, 1939) is an American actress and author. She is the recipient of two Primetime Emmy Awards, a Tony Award, and nominations for four Academy Awards, and three Golden Globe Awards. From 1993 to 19 ...

as Dr. May Foster *

Michelle Borth Michelle Borth is an American actress who has portrayed characters on '' The Forgotten'' and the HBO series '' Tell Me You Love Me''. Borth played Catherine Rollins on the CBS crime-drama '' Hawaii Five-0''. Early life and education Borth was ...

as Jamie *

Tim DeKay Timothy Robert DeKay (born June 12, 1963) is an American actor. He starred in the USA Network series '' White Collar'' (2009–2014) Early life Tim DeKay was born June 12, 1963, to Jim DeKay and Jill Vaughn in Lansing, New York, where he and ...

as David * Aislinn Paul as Isabella * Adam Scott as Palek *Katharine Towne as Mason *

Sonya Walger Sonya Walger (born 6 June 1974) is a British actress who also holds American citizenship. She had starring roles in the short-lived sitcoms ''The Mind of the Married Man'' (2001–2002) and ''Coupling'' (2003) before landing her role as Penny W ...

as Carolyn *

Ally Walker Allene Damian "Ally" Walker (born August 25, 1961) is an American actress. She made her television debut in the NBC daytime soap opera '' Santa Barbara'' (1988) before landing the leading roles on the short-lived dramas '' True Blue'' (1989–199 ...

as Katie *

Julie Mond Julie Mond is an American actress. She may be best known for establishing the role of Dr Lisa Niles on the daily soap opera '' General Hospital'' in November 2009, then being replaced by a different actress after two weeks. Mond also gained atte ...

as Nicole

Recurring guest stars

* David Selby as Arthur Foster *

Luke Kirby Luke Farrell Kirby (born June 29, 1978) is a Canadian actor. In 2019, he won a Primetime Emmy Award for his guest role as Lenny Bruce on the television series ''The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel''. Early life Kirby was born in Hamilton, Ontario, to ...

as Hugo * Ryan Wynott as Joshua * Ian Somerhalder as Nick *

Sherry Stringfield Sherry Lea Stringfield (born June 24, 1967) is an American actress. She is best known for playing the role of Dr. Susan Lewis on the NBC medical drama '' ER'', a role for which she received three Emmy Award nominations. Stringfield was a member ...

as Rita *

Ronny Cox Daniel Ronald Cox (born July 23, 1938) is an American actor, singer and songwriter. His best-known roles include Drew Ballinger in ''Deliverance'' (1972), George Apple in '' Apple's Way'' (1974–75), Ozark Bule in '' Bound for Glory'' (1976), C ...

as John

Structure

Each episode screens without any introduction, no

title card In films, an intertitle, also known as a title card, is a piece of filmed, printed text edited into the midst of (i.e., ''inter-'') the photographed action at various points. Intertitles used to convey character dialogue are referred to as "dialo ...

s, and no opening credits. The episodes are also shot with handheld cameras, giving the show a somewhat documentary-like feel. No episode has a music score or

soundtrack A soundtrack is recorded music accompanying and synchronised to the images of a motion picture, drama, book, television program, radio program, or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack ...

, except for one song which generally starts in the last two to three scenes and carries over the

closing credits Closing credits or end credits are a list of the cast and crew of a particular motion picture, television program, or video game. Where opening credits appear at the beginning of a work, closing credits appear close to, or at the very end of a ...

. The title card for the show is not shown until immediately before the closing credits.

Depiction of sex

The series gained early publicity because of its extremely realistic depictions of sexual intercourse,

oral sex Oral sex, sometimes referred to as oral intercourse, is sexual activity involving the stimulation of the genitalia of a person by another person using the mouth (including the lips, tongue, or teeth) and the throat. Cunnilingus is oral sex p ...

and masturbation. Despite persistent rumors to the contrary, and a notable lack of comment on the matter from either HBO or the production team, the sex scenes were simulated. Director Patricia Rozema was among those to have addressed this issue directly: With regard to these controversial scenes actress Jane Alexander has said the following:

Reception

Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, ...

''s

James Poniewozik James "Jim" Poniewozik (; born July 12, 1968) is an American journalist and television critic. He is the chief TV critic for ''The New York Times''. Earlier in his career, he wrote ''Time'' magazine's ''Tuned In'' column for 16 years. Early life ...

named it one of the Top 10 New TV Series of 2007, ranking it at #3. The first episode of the show only attracted a total of about 910,000 viewers—far fewer than what the network had been pulling in for previous series such as ''

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'', '' Deadwood'', and even the ill-fated ''

John from Cincinnati ''John from Cincinnati'' is an American drama television series, set against the surfing community of Imperial Beach, California. It aired on HBO from June 10 to August 12, 2007. Overview ''John from Cincinnati'' is the result of a collaborativ ...

''. A month after its debut, HBO claimed the show had drawn a total of 3.1 million viewers across seven broadcasts.

Home media

References

External links

Overview of Tell Me You Love Me: "Everything About HBO's Tell Me You Love Me"
* {{HBONetwork Shows 2007 American television series debuts 2007 American television series endings 2000s American drama television series HBO original programming Crave original programming Television shows set in Manitoba Television shows filmed in Winnipeg English-language television shows