Tell Me You Love Me

"HBO's" new adult only drama relationship series "Tell Me You Love Me" clearly is unlike anything before that was shown on TV even cable for that matter. A viewer can see this series explores relationships and sexuality to new heights showing the most sensitive matters in the most frank nature leaving the viewers to feel the raw emotions of the characters. Most for sure this is the series to watch if your concerned and interested in couples with sexual problems, pregnancy issues, commitment fears, masturbation, and passionate love making. The series focuses on two couples and one young female and the relationship problems they face are all guided along by a veteran and strong female Dr. May Foster(Jane Alexander) who despite her characters age has the healthiest sex life of all. The most and best likable couple is middle class and hard working Dave(Tim DeKay) and Katie(Ally Walker) both married for years and they have two children yet all of a sudden the action in the bedroom has stopped. Is it loss of sexual desire or personal lack of security? It's very interesting to watch this couple get counseled as you just feel like rooting for them to return to a normal and active life between the sheets. Second is the business and successful career orientated couple of Palek(Adam Scott) and Carolyn(Sonya Walger) who are happy and have a very active and passionate love and sex life, yet the one little problem is the couple can't get pregnant! The issue grows on each causing many stresses and mind changing feelings as Carolyn wants desperate to become a mother and Palek losses interest. Clearly a couple that sparkles yet you wonder if the difference of interest will let them last. Finally young girl Jamie(Michelle Borth) who has a commitment fear she just doesn't want to settle down after being hurt from a previous relationship, after each and every bed she hops in and out of it's more worry on finding the right one she even wonders to satisfy herself should she be celibate? Clearly a show that any adult can relate to all the above mentioned relationship problems no matter if married or not. It proves it's okay to receive therapy for complex issues. Again I must hand it to HBO it pushes the envelope again this series should be a lasting winner for the way it deals with adult relationship problems direct and in a frank manner it really grows on viewers emotions. A final word the performances of Ally Walker and Sonya Walger are worth mention, Ally is cool calm and strong in her role, while Sonya is just as sexy as ever while dealing with her struggles as a conflicted yet successful business lady.

And I'm French... Who wanna see "realistic" sex and relationships problems on screen when you can have lots (and lots, and lots) of them in your real life? Like in a french movie, nobody seems to have (or to need) a job or to care about anything else than their little and meaningless lives. Furthermore, in real life, relationships and sex are directly related to money and job problems and to your social background. Nothing is said in the show about the social aspects of relationships - of course, because otherwise it would never air because it would be truly disturbing. Showing explicit sex (or explicit violence) is always a cheap way for people to pretend that they are "open mind" and "liberal" (like some famous editor of adult content magazines who manages to make everybody forget he's just a pimp). We sure know that in France where 70% of the movies are just soft porn with bad lightening (well, not exactly: the characters have some books in their homes so you can tell you're seeing a "real" movie).

Besides, what's the matter with those women shaved to look like twelve years old little girls or porn "stars"? In Californication there was a very good line about that...

Well, it's difficult to me to understand how people can find this show disturbing. Sadly, they are plenty of more disturbing things in the world. However, if prude people are offended, that's a good point!

You see, many couples in Australia would never dream of seeing a therapist. The mere stigma of owning up to issues, issues most couples experience, is just too confronting. The worry that friends or family might find out may lead too more sleepless nights, a more important consequence than the actual saving of the marriage. Well in the privacy of ones own home comes "Tell Me You Love Me". A riveting drama more akin to a self - help DVD. We meet a therapist confronting her own problems, deal with the contrasting issues of three couples. The clever positioning of the drama is that the ages of each couple ranges from early 20's to early sixties (the therapist and her past) and the challenges faced by each reflect their stage of life. Sex becomes the key to the healing for each partnership. The sex scenes are explicit and may be confronting but that adds to the spice of the series. The sex experienced by all of the characters helps them to reveal where they are at emotionally. The therapist encourages sexual communication for all her clients but under prescription,and each of her prescriptions are modeled with precision. An important piece of television ...... if you have a partner, sit and watch this together. If the themes bring fresh thoughts and dialogue in your union then maybe you've saved two things. Therapist fees not covered by Medicare or maybe, but more importantly, your relationship.

Some people will have heard about this show because of its controversy. I did myself. Admittedly, I was intrigued because of the promise of sexual content on TV - HBO, nonetheless. Having now seen the first episode of "Tell Me You Love Me", I know what the show is actually about.

If you're expecting "porn TV", think again. Yes, the show does have several moments of sexual contact, both oral and intercourse, but when they occur it is anything but arousing - instead it's uncomfortably realistic - down to moments of climax, the show does not flinch from showing the explicit.

But soon enough, if you actually watch the show, you'll realise that this isn't what the show is about. Many people will make the mistake of thinking this show is about sex, but it's about relationships, and how sex is used to shield us from the problems of our relationships.

Three different couples are the focus each dealing with different problems; one tries desperately for a baby, one's physical relationship is intense but unreliable in terms of commitment, and one married couple struggles to deal with the lack of sex in their lives. Both the issues raised in the show and the dialogue are uncannily realistic, to the point that you can't help but compare the relationships in the show with your own, and this can sometimes make for uncomfortable viewing - I'd strongly advise against watching this with your partner.

To speak analogously, Anyone unamused by Tell Me You Love Me just doesn't want to take the deep dive and would rather stay close to shore in shallow water. To those people I say "Your loss!" I WILL BE SHORT HERE.

Given the nature of the sex scenes, I too am genuinely surprised at finding the script and storyline flowing nicely as any HBO show's should. This show makes it's points in evoking our own thoughts and emotions around the issue of love and relationships through the interactions of the character couples. If you can't get by the nudity, then that is unfortunate for you (and paradoxically emphasizes one of the key motifs of the show: HUMAN VULNERABILITY!) Let me reiterate, Right out of the gate, this show is instantly unique for it's no holds-barred depiction of intimacy, but as other reviews suggest: DO NOT LET THIS SWAY YOU. While the sexual choreography is intense, the simultaneous depiction of reality itself (marital freedom, relationship statuses, the burden of children) overshadows the lustiness, creating a truly RAW atmosphere that I personally have yet to see done in television (besides maybe EASY).

The cast truly go balls to the wall in creating brutally real depictions of the phenomena of marriage. Even the slower moments in the anthology of character storylines create a healthy amount of anticipation.

I will keep this review short and just say it is worth giving this show a watch, as there are very few shows with the "extremity through mundanity" that this show has, and it may be AS CLOSE AS WE'LL GET to a a show that accurately depicts the issues of monogamous relationships, and it is weirdly entertaining for it.