Last week at Comic-Con, I attended the Dexter panel and we were treated to a very intriguing and entertaining preview of Season 4! Here is the sneak peek and here is the entire panel, for your viewing pleasure.

The panel featured stars Michael C. Hall, Julie Benz, Jennifer Carpenter and fabulous new addition John Lithgow, as well as executive producers Sara Colleton, John Goldwyn, Clyde Phillips and Melissa Rosenberg (who is also the screenwriter for the Twilight movies).

I was thrilled when they unveiled a very cool animated webisode prequel, Dexter: Early Cuts, which will be debuting in the fall. There will also be a Dexter video game for the iPhone and iPod Touch!

And of course I had to pick up two of the Dexter bobbleheads from the Entertainment Earth booth; Dexter and Debra are now hanging out with Ben Linus, Dwight Schrute and Hiro Nakamura in my office.

If you are not familiar or caught up with Dexter, I highly recommend that you rent or buy Seasons 1-3 before the fourth season kicks off on September 27. The series is easily in my top 10 favorite shows of all time list, and you will not find a more complex, likable villain than Dexter Morgan anywhere else on television.

Of the three actresses from Friends, I still find that Courteney Cox has the best comedic timing. Her series Dirt was a true guilty pleasure and I was quite entertained by her stint on Scrubs as well. She is the only reason that I plan to give the new ABC show Cougar Town a chance when it debuts in the fall. Based on that title alone, it may have otherwise been a pass.

By the way, there is something about Jennifer Westfeldt (who will be on 24 next season; she also co-wrote & starred in the fantastic Kissing Jessica Stein) that has always reminded me of Lisa Kudrow. The above is a Gap ad that she appeared in with her boyfriend of over ten years, Jon Hamm (Mad Men).

I digress, as usual. 

There is no way I was going to pass on the opportunity to play with the title of this new HBO series. And thankfully, when you Google the word hung…actual websites for the show and for American Idol reject William Hung populate the first page.  I imagined the search result would be far more graphic.

HBDoh!

Like many, I have been generally disappointed by the original programming that HBO has offered since the end of Deadwood, Six Feet Under and The Sopranos. Currently, I am only a dedicated fan of Entourage and True Blood. Yes, I know – I should also be watching In Treatment (it tops my long list of shows to watch after Lost ends next season).

Well…Hung

In short (not so much), Thomas Jane plays a down-on-his-luck, divorced high school coach who decides to market his best asset in order to improve his life; though we do not get a glimpse of the whip behind his zip, we quickly ascertain that there is potential for both great success and comedy of errors.

I haven’t made up my mind about how I feel about leading man Jane yet. However, I do love his partner-in-pimp Jane Adams; she has been in some of my favorite films (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Wonder Boys) and reminds me of Susan Sarandon in the 80′s. Personal life aside, I enjoy watching Anne Heche on the small screen. It is a shame that the underrated Men in Trees was canceled before the show was able to wrap up her story line.

Separated at birth?

I do love that the children of the good looking Jane and Heche are anything but Stepford. By the way, goth teen Damon is a young doppelganger for Jermaine on Flight of the Conchords. 

Rich in quirky

The creative team behind the series gives me hope for its future. Hung is from the mind of Colette Burson and Dmitry Lipkin, who brought us The Riches.  The tone and feel of first episode reminded me of an Alexander Payne movie…so I was pleasantly surprised to discover that the pilot was directed by Payne himself (Election, Sideways).

Initial grade: B

I recommend that you give Hung a shot and decide for yourselves. As a longtime viewer, I feel as though I am entitled to hold HBO to higher standards. Given the network’s track record and brilliant programming in years past, I remain cautiously optimistic that Hung will improve with each episode.

In the meantime, however, I am enjoying Showtime’s resurgence and fare far more: Dexter, Nurse Jackie, United States of Tara and Weeds.