
Scripted series · Showtime
Californication
He's in way too deep.
Who's in it
Cast
The principal ensemble across the run of the series.
The Nutevio profile
TV DNA
How Californication actually feels to watch, measured on the traits our editors track across every series.
Signature profile
Californication reads strongest on Character Depth, Humour and Emotional Weight.
How fully written and psychologically layered the ensemble is.
How often the series is genuinely funny, by design.
How much the series is designed to affect you.
How hard it is to stop after one episode.
How much each hour depends on the one before it.
How often an episode ends on a hook you can't ignore.
The sustained pressure the series keeps you under.
Visual ambition — scale, craft and set-piece filmmaking.
The scale, internal logic and texture of the world.
The story
What it's about
A self-loathing, alcoholic writer attempts to repair his damaged relationships with his daughter and her mother while combating sex addiction, a budding drug problem, and the seeming inability to avoid making bad decisions.
The run
Seasons
7 seasons · 84 episodes.

Season 0 · Unannounced
Specials
7 episodes

Season 1 · Complete
Season 1
200712 episodes
7.8IMDbNovelist Hank Moody struggles to help raise his 13-year-old daughter, while carrying a torch for his ex-girlfriend Karen. His obsession with honesty and his self-destructive behavior are simultaneously destroying and enriching his career. . . all this in the city he loathes the most: Los Angeles.
Best episode · S01E12 The Last Waltz

Season 2 · Complete
Season 2
200812 episodes
7.6IMDbThis season, Hank and Karen will finally rekindle their long-lost romance. But their road to love will hit a major snag when Hank's new job as biography writer for a legendary music producer lands him waist-deep in his three favorite vices — sex, drugs, and rock & roll. Meanwhile, daughter Becca is growing up way too fast; best friend and agent Charlie and wife Marcy are working through the fallout from last season's affair; and Hank's newest book is a huge hit — for someone else, who stole the manuscript from him and is basking in her newfound, totally unearned fame. But nothing gets good old Hank down for long — it's all just another day in the city for our favorite hedonistic scribe.
Best episode · S02E12 La Petite Mort

Season 3 · Complete
Season 3
200912 episodes
7.3IMDbThis season Hank Moody’s life, like the economy, is officially turned upside down. The lack of writing assignments forces him to get a “real” job as a college professor while trying to keep wild child Becca on the straight and narrow with Karen still working in New York. Can he learn to keep “regular” hours and inspire the next generation of scribes? First, he'll have to stay on the right side of the dean of students, the dean’s wife and a teacher’s assistant who’s immune to his charms… Meanwhile, Charlie’s returned to the mainstream -- he’s ditched the porn world for a job at a legitimate agency. His only problem is a boss/agency head who’s more interested in him than her clients (hello, Rick Springfield!). It would all be manageable with Marcy by his side, but she’s still bitter over his affair and is even back on the dating scene, which is further complicated since the two are platonically sharing the house – who can afford a divorce in a recession?
Best episode · S03E12 Mia Culpa

Season 4 · Complete
Season 4
201112 episodes
7.3IMDbHank Moody is back and he couldn’t be more screwed. A one-night misunderstanding has landed him in serious hot water, but his troubles don’t end there. Hank's literary sex scandal has caused a sensation, even as he prepares to defend himself in court and tries to get Karen and Becca to speak to him, and a movie based on his stolen book begins production.
Best episode · S04E10 The Trial

Season 5 · Complete
Season 5
201212 episodes
6.9IMDbHank Moody has become hip hop’s most wanted. Rich and powerful rap mogul extraordinaire Samurai Apocalypse is pimped-out famous – and hell bent on getting our bad boy writer into more trouble than he’s ever known. With Charlie chasing strange and pining over Marcy, and an insufferable 20-year-old Hank wannabe dating his beloved daughter Becca, Hank’s got more on his plate than ever in the town he hates to love.
Best episode · S05E12 Hell Ain't a Bad Place to Be

Season 6 · Complete
Season 6
201312 episodes
6.8IMDbThis season Hank collaborates on a musical with a rock star while taking up with his beautiful muse, Charlie and Stu compete for Marcy, Marcy falls under the spell of a radical feminist, and Becca drops out of college to become a writer.
Best episode · S06E12 I'll Lay My Monsters Down

Season 7 · Complete
Season 7
201412 episodes
6.5IMDbHe’s come a long way. After blowing every chance at love and happiness – and burning every bridge in Hollywood – Hank Moody is finally ready to put the past to bed. But as always, old indiscretions turn up to bite him squarely in the ass. Could it be too late to pull off a happy ending?
Best episode · S07E12 Grace
Where the series peaks
Best Episodes
The hours that define the show, ranked by audience response and editorial signal.

S01E12
The Last Waltz
As Karen's wedding to Bill nears, Hank struggles with accepting what appears to be inevitable. Bill informs Mia that he will not allow her book to be published and Hank has a unique solution to dealing with Becca's surprise visitor.
- Directed by Scott Winant
- Written by Tom Kapinos

S02E04
The Raw & the Cooked
Hank proposes to Karen right before a dinner party, to which Mia, Charlie, Marcy, Lew Ashby, Sonja and Julian are invited. Drugs and special circumstances turn the evening in an unexpected direction.
- Directed by David Von Ancken
- Written by Tom Kapinos

S01E11
Turn the Page
Charlie and Dani represent Mia after she wrote a book that seems to have come out of Hank's feather. Becca decides to move out of Bill and Karen's home to live with her dad Hank.
- Directed by David Von Ancken
- Written by Gina Fattore, Eric Weinberg

S02E12
La Petite Mort
Hank completes his biography of Ashby. Charlie is reduced to working at a car dealership. Sonja gives birth. Karen accepts a job offer back home in New York, forcing Hank and Becca to make painful choices.
- Directed by Bart Freundlich
- Written by Tom Kapinos

S02E11
Blues from Laurel Canyon
Ashby hosts a party to celebrate the publication of Mia's book. Becca is devastated to catch Damien cheating on her.
- Directed by Michael Lehmann
- Written by Gina Fattore

S01E08
California Son
Hank's father dies. Despite the memories of his father floating to the surface, he doesn't want to go to the funeral. To ease his pain, he goes to bed with a hooker named Trixie, despite the fact he doesn't have enough money to pay her. Meanwhile, Karen does her best to help him overcome the pain.
- Directed by Scott Winant
- Written by Tom Kapinos
Behind the series
Created by
Showrunners, creators, executive producers and the writers who set the voice of the series.

Tom Kapinos
Showrunner

David Duchovny
Executive producer
- Photo unavailable
Melanie Greene
Executive producer

Stephen Hopkins
Executive producer

Gina Fattore
Executive producer

Scott Winant
Executive producer

Susan McMartin
Writer
- Photo unavailable
Gabriel Roth
Writer
- Photo unavailable
Vanessa Reisen
Writer
- Photo unavailable
Daisy Gardner
Writer
- Photo unavailable
Eric Weinberg
Writer
- Photo unavailable
Ildy Modrovich
Writer
- Photo unavailable
Jay Dyer
Writer
- Photo unavailable
Matt Patterson
Writer
The craft
Key Crew
Directing, writing, production, camera, music and editing.
Executive production
- Tom KapinosExecutive Producer
- David DuchovnyExecutive Producer
- Melanie GreeneExecutive Producer
- Melanie GreeneProducer
- Stephen HopkinsExecutive Producer
- Gina FattoreExecutive Producer
Writing
- Susan McMartinWriter
- Tom KapinosWriter
- Gabriel RothWriter
- Vanessa ReisenWriter
- Daisy GardnerWriter
- Gina FattoreWriter
Direction
- Adam BernsteinDirector
- Beth McCarthy-MillerDirector
- David DuchovnyDirector
- Stephen HopkinsDirector
- Ken WhittinghamDirector
- Helen HuntDirector
Cinematography
- Tim BellenDirector of Photography
- Andy GrahamDirector of Photography
- Michael WeaverDirector of Photography
- Peter LevyDirector of Photography
Music
- Tree AdamsOriginal Music Composer
- Tyler BatesOriginal Music Composer
Recognition
Awards
0 wins · 1 nomination
Golden Globes
No wins yet · 1 nomination
- NomineeGolden Globe Award for Best Television Series – Musical or Comedy2008
Californication · Californication
Where to watch
Streaming
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