Tell Me You Love Me

I like this a lot. Very new pace, daring way to go about telling stories. I am a big fan of this style,I think it is riveting and relevant to life, just my kind of thing. God I love to see sex that seems somewhat real. Good writing, true, insightful, fresh. GREAT ACTING!!! Ally Walker is brilliant, had these moment where I just sat with my mouth open, I knew exactly the inexpressible conflicting place she was at. All the choices were subtle, very right, exactly catching the moments of marriage and the pain. The pilot also was brilliantly directed, so quirky and confident. Not surprising coming from a woman who directed "I Heard the Mermaids Singing" Bravo Patricia! It is a show that seems to cash in on honest and patient Canadian integrity while remaining thoroughly entertaining. Note, give it more than 10 minutes before you decide it's not for you. Hope it manages to last- it is a bit risky, not what we're used to. Also, I'm not sure it will appeal to everyone, a little worrisome that I like it so much but I also am a big fan of Six Feet Under, Gray's Anatomy, House and Entourage (but I also liked John from Cincinatti) so who knows?

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.

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.

I've watched the first two episodes of this series and I truly enjoyed it, and not for the explicit scenes. The drastically different couples all have very deep character profiles that seem to parallel in unexpected ways. If you can look below the surface of being a "glorified porno" like jrpk1964 thinks it is, the true intentions of the show will become apparent. To portray the lives of these couples each with unique situations that all seem to share commonalities which you can relate to.

Overall I wouldn't call this show ground-breaking but it is definitely a well executed drama.

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!