Family Business

The line which separates the world of pornography and the social mainstream is real. It always will be so as long as their are laws to protect children. That line, thanks to shows like "Family Business" is not becoming fuzzier - its becoming clearer.

A show like this doesn't "legitimize" the porn business any more than the internet does. Viewers do that. Since the internet caused porn to explode into mainstream consciousness so thoroughly, it's difficult to remember what it felt like to be scandalized about it. Therefore, it's smart and perfectly appropriate that this series document the progress of this shift public in awareness and a small part of it's impact by allowing cable viewers (whose porn fluency has become so much more engorged, so to speak) to gaze at it from another angle.

Showtime has made a bold move in trying to de-mystify some of the the mechanism within the sex industry by unveiling the rather charming personality of a successful porn film director. What I found most interesting, apart from the fascinating nature of the business and those toiling within it, was my own ambivalent response to the series and its subject.

One is forced to re-examine the tired clichés which have been the stock apprehensions about porn. The misgivings may still be legitimate, but they need to be thought through more carefully. This show is important as these issues are brought into the front of the mind. Adults, and parents particularly, should be equipped with genuine and complex answers about sexuality for children; the world has become so very much more complicated over the last six years.

I particularly appreciated an episode wherein a family friend from Canada who wished to enter the industry was disuaded by everyone. (A statement made by Lila Glasser that men can easily maintain public respect that is generally denied to women within that business was delivered with great, understated pathos). The young girl in question exemplified an important difference between girls who enter that business because they like sex and think that it'll be fun, and those other girls who are compelled into the business by motives which are more profound and intense than simply a love of sex. They both say the same thing yet the difference is clear to those like Mr.Glasser who have seen hundreds of girls enter the business.

(I am curious to know how Mr.Glasser's young son will be brought to understand the nature of his father's metier. Relationship, attachment and connection are important for youngsters; the sexual playacting staged by Daddy have the surface sheen of those things but in truth, have nothing to do with relationships in any meaningful sense.)

While it has the patina of a reality show or a docu-drama, the nature of the topic and the (mostly) bias free presentation lend "Family Business" a more complex and layered message. By appearing so pleasantly inoffensive and unconfrontational, it effectively reframes the question to the viewer: where do you stand on the subject of commercial sexuality?

After all the hype about how talented he is and how creative he is.

This guy doesn't offer anything that a 14 year old with a video camera can't do.

After several episodes of this show, I was looking forward to something new. There's nothing new. Nothing original.

To have a show that consists only of some pervert filming naked chicks is really poor quality programming.

This should be on the Playboy channel or something. There are real filmmakers out there with talent and education and screenplays and film crews.

This is an insult to everybody who went through film school only to be rejected and have some piece of crap host a film about porn.

Porn is porn and it should be available to view, but to have an entire series dedicated to some freaks with a poor vocabulary is very sad.

It's not talent or education. It's just garbage that kills 30 minutes or so.

Family Business, the X-rated reality series, could be one of the best goodwill ambassadors the adult movie industry has ever produced. Not only is it sexy (as a show of this nature is obligated to be), it is also touching and extremely funny. It shows that behind the porno nom de plumes like Seymore Butts lurk real people, with real problems. The only thing setting them apart from other people is that they are in an industry that ruffles lots of feathers.

The show admirably presents the porn industry with a warts and all approach, for the most part. Some aspects of the business are a little candy coated (for example, the drug use displayed in a number of Seymore's videos is not mentioned at all in any of the episodes I have seen). Yet the show does not shy away from detailing the negative impact being a porn star has on Adam/Seymore's life. One touching episode showed him trying to go on a date, with mixed results once she found out what he did for a living. In another episode, we see porn veteran Herschel Savage trying to launch a new career as a stand-up comedian; we learn that he is married to a fellow porn actress. Even Seymore/Adam talks at length about how all his serious relationships (including the one that produced his son) was with people in the industry. One notable episode follows Adam and Cousin Stevie as they try their best to dissuade an 18 year old relative from Canada from entering the porn business; we never learn whether their efforts are successful, though we do see the unveiling of Mari Possa, a porn actress who begins her career as Adam's assistant and moves in front of the camera despite Adam's initial objections.

The down sides notwithstanding, Family Business is also a hilarious show, and that is thanks to Stevie, Adam's 60-something cousin who, along with Adam's mom, helps keep the Seymore Butts ship afloat. Every moment when Stevie is on the screen is electric because you never know what he'll do next. From berating a lawyer on the phone, to sneaking into an adult bookstore for a lap dance, to accidentally (ha!) finding himself in the middle of an SM/Domination convention in Vegas, Stevie is a hoot and is, beyond Adam/Seymore, the true star of the show.

Family Business is not a hardcore program. We'll probably never see an uncensored version since the show includes scenes of Adam's well-underaged son (you'll have to rent or buy some Seymore Butts videos to see what Showtime's cameras can't show you), but that said it is still perhaps the most explicit series that network has yet produced. If you are offended by porn, Family Business probably won't win you over. If you approach it with an open mind, or are already a fan of the adult film genre, Family Business is a fascinating, touching, and at time drop-dead funny look at a unique family in a unique industry.

Showtime's new series following the professional and personal drudgery of America's most popular adult filmmaker Seymour Butts.

Cable television takes another step towards hardcore programming with this reality show, filled with nudity, sex, sex toys, and unsuccessful dating, as Adam (a.k.a. Seymore) looks for a soul mate who'll accept both his career choice and young son. The creative mind behind such titles as SQUIRTERS and GLUTEUS TO THE MAXIMUS runs his business with the help of Lila, his open-minded mother (the bookkeeper), and foul-mouthed, cantankerous Cousin Stevie (the distributor and gopher).

My favorite episode (there's only, like, five so far) is the one in which Chase, a male porn star wannabe, talks himself into a role, only to discover he's unable to supply the crucial money shot, even after taking Viagra.

Like BOOGIE NIGHTS, "Family Business" proves that entertainment can deal with pornography without being pornographic itself. There's a rather bemused air around this show, so it's hard to be offended by it. Besides, if you're easily offended, would you be subscribing to Showtime in the first place?

New episodes currently air Fridays @ 11:30 EST.

I'm no friend of porn (watched some, couldn't get to like them). And I'm no friend of soaps either. But this one is somewhere in between and quite intriguing.

Technically speaking, the camera is shaky, pictures often slightly blurry, sound is ok. The editing is sometimes fast, sometimes steady - seems just right to me. Props - well, it seems to just be Seymore's (aka Adam Glasser) real house, the studio and the surroundings (nearby sex shops, strip clubs, a hotel hall, mall's parking lot). Story, simple: A porn producer and director trying to get a proper life outside of work.

After watching the first three episodes I really want to know: Will he achieve the desperately sought after, steady relationship? Will cousin Stevie cheer up a little? Will Seymore's mom find a neighbour accepting her bookkeeping of an adult video producing business, and not stop talking to her?

Well, I rate it to be 6 of 10.

Maybe I like soaps after all...but don't tell my girlfriend ;-)