Tell Me You Love Me
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| Tell Me You Love Me | |
|---|---|
| Format | Drama |
| Created by | Cynthia Mort |
| Starring | Jane Alexander Michelle Borth Tim DeKay Luke Kirby Adam Scott David Selby Katharine Towne Sonya Walger Ally Walker |
| Country of origin |  United States |
| No. of seasons | 1 |
| No. of episodes | 10 |
| Production | |
| Running time | 62 minutes |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | HBO |
| Original run | September 9, 2007 – present |
| External links | |
| Official website | |
| IMDb profile | |
Tell Me You Love Me is an American cable television drama series that premiered on HBO and on The Movie Network on September 9, 2007.
Contents |
[edit] 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 Dr. May Foster, who herself has relationship issues with her partner Arthur (Selby).
The series was created by Cynthia Mort and originally conceived as sexlife. The pilot episode was produced and directed by Patricia Rozema and shot in Winnipeg, Manitoba. The series has been picked up by HBO for a second season.[1]
[edit] Cast
[edit] Regular cast
- Jane Alexander - Dr. May Foster
- David Selby - Arthur Foster
- Michelle Borth - Jamie
- Luke Kirby - Hugo
- Tim DeKay - David
- Ally Walker - Katie
- Sonya Walger - Carolyn
- Adam Scott - Palek
- Katharine Towne - Mason
[edit] Guests
- Ian Somerhalder - Nick
- Sherry Stringfield - Rita
- Ronny Cox - John
[edit] Structure
Each episode screens without any introduction, no title cards and no opening credits. The episodes are also shot with handheld cameras, giving the show a somewhat documentary-like feel. Each episode has no music score or soundtrack, except for one song which generally starts in the last 2-3 scenes and carries over the closing credits. The "Tell Me You Love Me" title card for the show is not shown until immediately before the closing credits.
[edit] Controversy
The series gained some early publicity because of its extremely realistic depictions of sexual intercourse, oral sex, masturbation and ejaculation.[2][3][4][5] Despite persistent rumours to the contrary, and a notable lack of comment on the matter from either HBO or the production team, the sex scenes were finally confirmed as simulated by several individuals intimately connected with the show. Director Patricia Rozema was among those to have addressed this issue directly:
"But it’s not real, it’s simulated. At one point, one of the producers was floating this idea in the trade papers that it would be real sex in the series. I immediately said, “Well, find another director, I don’t want to do that.” I wasn’t interested in that."[6]
With regard to these controversial scenes actress Jane Alexander has said the following:
"You know, people tend to believe those scenes, when they see them, are real, but they're not. They're acted. Our union doesn't even let us have any real sex, not that we would anyway. But just acting with someone like David [Selby], whom I have known for so long, it was fine. Those scenes are never easy."[7]
And Michelle Borth, whose scenes were perhaps the most explicit, said:
"We tried to do it as authentic as possible, but we were not having sex."[8]
[edit] Ratings
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 Rome, Deadwood, and even the ill-fated John from Cincinnati.[9] A month after its debut, HBO claimed the show had drawn a total of 3.1 million viewers across seven broadcasts.[1]
[edit] Critical reaction
Time magazine's James Poniewozik named it one of the Top 10 New TV Series of 2007, ranking it at #3.[10]
[edit] DVD release
| DVD name | Release date | Ep # | Additional information |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Complete First Season | February 12, 2008 | 10 |
[edit] References
- ^ a b "HBO Renews 'Tell Me You Love Me'", Buddy TV, October 5, 2007.
- ^ "Tuned In: Star Jones unveils new look in promoting new talk show", Pittsburgh Post Gazette, July 16, 2007.
- ^ "HBO gets raw -- or is it raunchy? -- with sexually explicit 'Tell Me You Love Me'", Los Angeles Times, July 14, 2007.
- ^ "PASSION PUT-ON", New York Post, September 1, 2007.
- ^ "'Tell Me You Love Me': A Different Kind of Real Sex for HBO", Hollywood.com.
- ^ "Sex Talk", www.cbc.ca, October 1, 2007.
- ^ "'Tell Me You Love Me' Bares Bodies and Souls", www.zap2it.com, September 9, 2007.
- ^ "Michelle Borth", www.complex.com.
- ^ "HBO's 'Tell Me' speaks to few", Variety Magazine, September 11, 2007.
- ^ Poniewozik, James; Top 10 New TV Series; time.com
