Showtime

With its roster of dark sexual comedies, Showtime launches ‘House of Lies’ to get in bed with ‘Shameless’ and ‘Californication.’ And just to prove its place in the lineup with Showtime’s dysfunctional male leads, the series starts off in bed with our lead Marty Kaan (Don Cheadle) and his ex wife Monica (Dawn Oliveri), whom he has just had “angry sex” with. Their son Roscoe (Donis Leonard Jr.) walks in while his mom is still unconscious and asks why she is there. With this already maladjusted setup we are primed and ready for the whole episode.

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Some specific choices the show makes are in line with new comedy formats, such as talking directly to camera, but it’s not clear if we are supposed to be in on the joke or not. This jarring technique does not bring us comedic anecdotes and / or story progression; like in say ‘The Office’ or ‘Modern Family,’ rather we are learning about the lingo of management consultants, Kaan’s high-powered job.
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Marty Kaan travels with his team consisting of the smart and sassy Ivy League educated Jeanine (Kristen Bell), and two nerdy number crunchers, Doug (Josh Lawson) and Clyde (Ben Schwartz). While they are trying to win the big business of a financial company in the throws of an image crisis due to sub-prime loans, the team also inexplicably heads to a strip club post meeting. It’s this sort of plot line that seems superfluous and a bit cliche.
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In a last ditch effort to care for Kaan, he proves himself to be a somewhat caring father when the school casts his son as Sandy in Grease, and threatens to give the role to a girl lead instead. Kaan negotiates and his son gets cast as Rizzo, much to Roscoe’s dismay. However, while the play is happening, Kaan is having sex in the back of a car with the newly cast Sandy’s mother. Bad dad wins out in the end.
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Cringe worthy Discomfort: B
There’s lots of gratuitous sex and unnecessary profanity, much like ‘Shameless.’ However most of the time if feels just that – gratuitous and unnecessary. Especially the lesbian bathroom sex scene and the aftermath from the incident. Say what?

Strength of Episode: B+

Don Cheadle and Kristen Bell give great performances. The episode does a good job of establishing characters and plot but in the end I’m hoping to care more about Kaan as a character.
Oddness of Characters: B-
So far the cast is strong and there are plenty of story plot lines that they could carry. I’m not sure I am buying the sexual tension that is established between Kaan and Jeanine in the first episode. If they end up getting together it would indeed be odd.

Potential Strength of Season to Come: B
If we start caring for Kaan and if the show steps away from the more cliché, there’s hope for a great show.

Overall Grade: B
I have high hopes of better story lines to come. And here’s to hoping for a better rest of the season.