David Duchovny heads up the cast in this comedy about a novelist with sex and drug addictions who is struggling to raise his daughter half the time, while having problems with his ex-girlfriend.
The series revolves around Hank Moody, a charming writer and novelist plagued with personal demons. He blames his years-long case of writer's block on a variety of reasons, ranging from the hedonism of Los Angeles, to his on-again, off-again relationship with his girlfriend Karen (Natascha McElhone).
Hank's highly acclaimed best-selling novel "God Hates Us All" has been made into an innocuous romantic comedy film with Katie Holmes and Tom Cruise named "A Crazy Little Thing Called Love." The novel may have been the summit of Hank's literary career; after a lengthy professional slump, he was suffering from the mother of all midlife crises.
To boost his tattered self-esteem, Hank turns to booze and drugs, to say nothing of his innumerable one-night stands with an endless parade of nameless starlets, waitresses, and assorted floozies. As a result, his relationship with his 12-year-old daughter, Becca (Madeleine Martin), is somewhat shaky; while Becca's mother, Karen, weary of Hank's self-destructive hedonism in particular and the L.A. scene in general, has become engaged to another man.
At the same time, Hank's brief fling with a girl named Mia (Madeline Zima) would prove to sobering long-range ramifications. He finds out she is actually Bill's 16-year-old daughter. Hank spends most of his time boozing and not writing. Mia continues to haunt Hank during his visits to his family, using the threat of statutory rape to steal stories for her creative writing class.
The first season takes place in the months leading up to Karen's planned marriage to Bill, a Los Angeles publisher.
"Californication" is a Showtime TV series production that combines the elements of comedy and drama. The show is created by Tom Kapinos and premiered on November 8, 2007.
The series, the runtime of which is 60 minutes per episode, stars David Duchovny as Hank Moody, Natascha McElhone as Karen, Madeleine Martin as Becca Moody, Madeline Zima as Mia Lewis, Evan Handler as Charlie Runkle, Pamela Adlon as Marcy Runkle, and Rachel Miner as Dani.