I started watching "Californication" because of how tremendously disappointing (at least to me) David Duchovny was in the recent X-files comeback miniseries. Having only known DD from that Fox Mulder role, and being generally a huge fan of The X-Files, I was curious to check out another body of work of his to see what he could bring to the comedic table. While in no way was I disappointed in his performance, I quickly found (after about six episodes) that this show just wasn't for me.
For a basic plot summary, "Californication" is the story of Hank Moody (Duchovny), a boozy, sex-a-holic writer who, come to think of it, hasn't actually written anything in quite some time. He still harbors feelings for ex-wife Karen (Natascha McElhone), ends up in quite a tryst with step-daughter Mia (Madeline Zima), yet still manages to be a supportive father to Becca (Madeleine Martin). He's also in constant contact (hilarious and otherwise) with agent Charlie (Evan Handler), who constantly encourages him (in a variety of ways) to get back into the writing game again.
After watching the pilot episode, I thought that Californication might offer me something, as it made me belly laugh a number of times and generally kept me entertained by it's willingness to go further on its sexual jokes than any show I've ever seen. Also, Duchovny is perfect for the Hank Moody role, which is infinitely closer to his personality than Fox Mulder ever was. One could argue that strictly in terms of acting, Moody might outshine Mulder.
The problem I discovered with the show fairly quickly, however, was that it seemed to be a simple sex comedy week in and week out. I had two problems with this: 1. While not a complete and utter prude, even I was cringing in disgust at some of the things brought up; and 2. That formula just gets old. Had the show really gone for some drama, perhaps I would have stuck around longer, but it seemed to be settling into the same formula each episode: Raunchy sex jokes/situations followed by a pittance of "family/relationship stuff" towards the end of each episode to make you think there is character development happening. I wasn't buying in.
So, despite the fact that I was surprised at how well Duchovny brought Mr. Moody to life, the show as a whole just didn't have what I was looking for. It made me laugh from time to time, but not enough (and too many cringes in between) to feel like I wanted to continue.