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List Price: $39.95 | | Label: Sony Pictures
Salesrank: 28754
Released: March 21, 2006 |
| Our Price: $13.40 |
| Used Price: $12.98 |
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MPAA Rating: Unrated
Media: DVD |
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Editorial Review:
Dr. Craig Huffstodt is a family man and a successful psychiatrist who gets a wake-up call when one of his patients, a 15-year-old boy, commits suicide during a therapy session. Huff's whole existence - as doctor, husband, father, son, brother and friend - goes through a dramatic reawakening as he begins to question who he is, what he's made of and how he fits in --- anywhere. Having always considered himself the eternal caretaker, whose mission is to save people, Huff suddenly realizes that he can't save everyone. The lines of reality start to blur as he goes from the functionally insane at the office to the daily insanities of life with his family at home. His nurturing nature is tested at nearly every turn and soon his so-called "normal" world and family life start to become as surreal as the world of his patients.
Description of Huff - The Complete First Season:
Dr. Craig Huffstodt (Hank Azaria, Shattered Glass) has it all--beautiful wife Beth (Paget Brewster, Andy Richter Controls the Universe), cute son Byrd (Anton Yelchin), sleek golden retriever, silver BMW, and tastefully-appointed model home. In the pilot, an inconsolable teenager pulls a gun out of his bag and shoots himself--right in the middle of a therapy session. Suddenly, Huff starts to question everything: the job, the marriage, life. Created by Bob Lowry (Any Day Now) and produced by Scott Winant (thirtysomething) for Showtime, Huff combines drama, comedy, flashbacks, and dream sequences to examine one "rich, guilt-ridden white man's" struggle with the Abyss. Sometimes it's Frasier, sometimes The Sopranos--sometimes American Beauty.
Appearances to the contrary, Huff's well-constructed façade is not without its fissures, and as Byrd ominously quotes in episode eight ("Cold Day in Shanghai"), "If you gaze for long into the Abyss, the Abyss also gazes into you--Nietzsche." Live-in mother Izzy (Emmy winner Blythe Danner) is a judgmental busybody, younger brother Teddy (Andy Comeau, Providence) is a sympathetic schizophrenic, and best buddy Russell (Oliver Platt having the time of his life) is a pill-popping, cocaine-snorting, booze-guzzling lawyer whose moral compass has been missing "ever since my daddy's sperm hit the egg." Then there's psychotic patient Melody (Lara Flynn Boyle, The Practice), smart-talking office manager Paula (Kimberly Russell), and homeless Hungarian musician István (Jack Laufer) who keeps crossing his path. (Does he really even exist?) Other recurring characters include Huff's estranged father, Ben (Robert Forster), and Beth's terminally ill mother, Madeline (Swoosie Kurtz). In its first year, Huff garnered seven Emmy nominations and was renewed for a second season. --Kathleen C. Fennessy
Huff - The Complete First Season Reviews:
Good but Not as Good as "In Treatment" 
2009-07-02 - After viewing Season 1 Disc 1, I've concluded that this series is not quite as good as "In Treatment". This is mainly due to intermittent lapses of reality (into the surreal) which detract from the overall dynamic. Nevertheless, you can see that this series is comprised of a better than average storyline and acting. In fact, entertaining characters abound. Also worthwhile is the creative photography--especially the wide sweep segues from one scene to the next. Recommended.
Wow! Huff is outstanding! 
2009-05-04 - Went to the library to find something to watch over the weekend, almost didn't take this home, and am I glad I did. Right up there with Dexter, Damages, Mad Men, etc, but still in a class all it's own. Smart, excellent writing will pull at your heart strings and plenty of dark humor (thanks to Oliver Platt as Huff's attorney) to make you laugh out loud. Huff is believable and extraordinary.
Bittersweet drama with lots of laughs. WHERE'S SEASON TWO?
Best Ever Show on Either HBO OR Showtime!!!
2009-02-05 - Superb cast, characters, storylines and expecially the remarkable acting.
So WHERE is Season Two??? So many of us have been patiently waiting for Showtime to release this gem. We even check monthly with Amazon.
As much as I loved 6FU, Dexter, Weeds, Sopranos, Deadwood and the rest, this was our families all time favorite.
Still waiting!
Can't be faulted.
2009-01-16 - I just started watching Huff season 2 again on cable - the 50+ minutes fly by every episode. There is nothing wrong with this series except that it was cancelled, and that it isn't out on DVD in its entirety.
The whole cast is tremendous, they act their best and then some! It'd be unfair to name any one individual, I love them all! The characters are so believable and appealing.
Get it out on DVD please.
Huff--The Complete First Season
2009-01-05 -
Don't take my word for it. Huff is programming at it's best. You will not be disappointed.
