David Duchovny returns to TV with 'Californication'

If the Showtime series "Weeds" (which returns Monday) is the tale of an unlikely drug dealer, the story of Hank Moody is one we’ve seen too many times before.

Moody, the lead character in the new comedy-drama “Californication” (9:30 p.m. Monday, Showtime), is a highly regarded writer who has moved to L.A., where he's become disillusioned by the entertainment industry machinery and ultimately finds he’s lost the ability to write. His relationship with his girlfriend has broken up, he’s starting to seem sleazy to his daughter, and he drinks too much and sleeps around. A lot.

The story of the cynical L.A. writer is one that’s been told many times since F. Scott Fitzgerald arrived in Hollywood in the 1930s, and though David Duchovny does a deft job in the lead role of Hank, in the first episode at least, “Californication” adds little to this shopworn tale.

Hank is one of those self-pitying bleaters who doesn’t see his own hypocrisy: He berates and curses the suits of the entertainment industry for their reliance on cliches, though the fact is, his entire life is a cliche. A narcissistic writer bemoaning the Hollywood that overpays him? Color me fascinated.

Will Hank ever crank out another Great American Novel? After all, his first book (which was, of course, turned into a terrible movie starring “Tom and Katie”) did well — even though it bore the cheery title “God Hates Us All.”

Regarding Hank, maybe God was on to something.

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