Weeds (season 1)

The first season of '' Weeds'', an American dark comedy-drama television series created by Jenji Kohan, premiered on August 8, 2005, on the premium cable network Showtime. The principal cast consisted of Mary-Louise Parker, Elizabeth Perkins, Tonye Patano, Romany Malco, Justin Kirk, Hunter Parrish, Alexander Gould, and Kevin Nealon. The season had ten episodes, and its initial airing concluded on October 10, 2005. Season one focuses on Nancy Botwin (Parker), a single mother living in the suburban town of Agrestic, who begins dealing marijuana in an effort to maintain her family's upper middle class lifestyle following the death of her husband.

Episodes

Cast

Main cast

* Mary-Louise Parker as Nancy Botwin, a single mother and marijuana dealer
* Elizabeth Perkins as Celia Hodes, Botwin's self-centered neighbor
* Tonye Patano as Heylia James, Botwin's hardheaded drug supplier
* Romany Malco as Conrad Shepard, Botwin's initial supplier and James's nephew
* Justin Kirk as Andrew "Andy" Botwin, Botwin's carefree brother-in-law
* Hunter Parrish as Silas Botwin, the eldest Botwin child
* Alexander Gould as Shane Botwin, the youngest Botwin child
* Kevin Nealon as Doug Wilson, Botwin's irresponsible accountant

Recurring cast

* Andy Milder as Dean Hodes, Hodes's unfaithful husband
* Renée Victor as Lupita, the Botwin family's maid
* Indigo as Vaneeta James, James's daughter and employee
* Shoshannah Stern as Silas Botwin's deaf girlfriend
* Tressa DiFiglia as Maggie, the Agrestic PTA chairman
* Allie Grant as Isabelle Hodes, Hodes's youngest daughter
* Becky Thyre as Pam Gruber, an Agrestic PTA member
* Shawn Schepps as Alison, an Agrestic PTA member
* Becky Thyre as Pam Gruber, an Agrestic PTA member
* Maulik Pancholy as Sanjay Patel, a college student who Botwin employees
* Vincent Laresca as Alejandro, Botwin's rival dealer
* Martin Donovan as Peter Scottson, Botwin's DEA agent boyfriend
* David Doty as Principal Dodge, the principal of Agrestic Elementary
* Jeffrey Dean Morgan as Judah Botwin, Botwin's late-husband
* Tyrone Mitchell as Keeyon James, James's son and employee
* Haley Hudson as Quinn Hodes, Hodes's eldest daughter
* Daryl Sabara as Tim Scottson, Scottson's son
* Justin Chatwin as Josh Wilson, Wilson's son
* Craig X. Rubin as Craig X, a marijuana dispensary employee

Reception

Viewership

''Weeds'' debuted to 538,000 U.S. viewers, which was modest in comparison to the viewership of Showtime's other television series.

Critical response

The season received generally positive reviews from critics. On Rotten Tomatoes, the first season of Weeds received 79%. The site's critics consensus reads: "''Weeds'' is a cheeky comedy with dark, humorous, and sometimes outrageous moments centered around a talented female-led cast including Emmy winner Mary-Louise Parker." On Metacritic, the first season received a 70 out of 100, indicating generally favorable reviews. Gillian Flynn of Entertainment Weekly spoke highly of Parker and Nealon's performances, and praised the acting of Perkins as Celia Hodes, writing "Perkins is so perfectly, nastily desperate that she gets away with it." David Wiegand of the San Francisco Chronicle also praised the acting of Parker and Perkins, and stated "''Weeds'' may indeed be the best written new show of the year." Alessandra Stanley of The New York Times wrote "''Weeds'' is well written and engrossing, and has a slick balance of satire and soap opera." Ed Gonzalez of Slant Magazine gave a mixed review of the season, praising the performances of Perkins and Gould, but criticizing the characterization of Nancy, commenting: "There's a sense that the writers of ''Weeds'' are as lazy as their main character, that they understand her as little as she seems to understand herself." However, Gonzalez spoke highly of Parker's acting, writing "Parker brings a great performance to a less than one-dimensional part."

Some critics criticized the depiction of Heylia and her family, believing that the characters perpetuated harmful black stereotypes. Dana Stevens of Slate Magazine gave a positive review, but commented "the black characters, led by a sassy matriarch named Heylia ..seemed to embody the most egregious of African-American stereotypes." In an NPR interview, commentator Betty Bayé stated " eeds isthe latest chapter in a long history of negative black stereotypes in the media." In response to the criticism, series creator Jenji Kohan commented that the characters of Heylia, Conrad and Vaneeta were inspired by her friends in Venice Beach, stating: “Heylia and her family are kind of homage to that time in my life and those guys", further commenting "I ''knew'' them, and this is my experience of how they spoke and how they related".

Accolades

The first season received numerous awards and nominations, including three Golden Globe Awards nominations with one win. Mary-Louise Parker won for Best Actress in a Television Series Musical or Comedy. The series was nominated for Best Television Series Musical or Comedy, and Elizabeth Perkins was nominated for Best Supporting Actress in a Series, Miniseries or Television Film. The show also received five Primetime Emmy Award nominations. It was nominated for Outstanding Casting for a Comedy Series, Outstanding Main Title Design, Outstanding Single-camera Picture Editing for a Comedy Series, Elizabeth Perkins was nominated for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series, and Craig Zisk was nominated for Outstanding Directing for a Comedy Series. Parker won a Satellite Award for Best Actress in a Musical or Comedy Series, and Perkins was nominated for the same category.

Home media

On July 11, 2006, Lionsgate released the first season of ''Weeds'' on the DVD format; the season was released on the Blu-ray Disc format on May 29, 2007. In addition to the ten episodes, both formats contain bonus content including six audio commentaries, behind the scenes with cast and crew, two featurettes, and season trailers.

References

External links

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{{Weeds

2005 American television seasons
Weeds (TV series) seasons