Take 4 TV: Nip/Tuck

Nip/Tuck: Season One (2003)

What's Going On?: Nip/Tuck follows the personal and professional lives of two best friends and plastic surgeons in Miami. Sean is the professional and conservative surgeon, with no lack of talent, while Christian is the "oversexed anti-Christ" (as one of his one-night stands puts it) that oozes charm...but will do anything for his friend. The first season follows the growth of their own practice, despite pressure from a sleazy competitor, criminal interference, marital infidelity and difficult patients.

Leading the Line-Up: Dylan Walsh and Julian McMahon play Sean and Christian, the two lead plastic surgeons. The part of conservative Dr. Sean was written with Walsh in mind, but the writers were pleasantly surprised with McMahon's portrayal of Christian...here you have a character who could easily have come off as evil and villainous, but despite his no-holds-barred approach to getting women, there are just as many moments where you see the good man inside who will do anything for his friend and his friend's family.

Things to Look Out For: Very graphic plastic surgery scenes. Apparently a leading body-effects company helped with the replicas for the surgeries, and the actors didn't actually work on the dummy bodies until well into the season because they were a bit queasy at the thought. Professional surgeons commented that the surgery scenes were bloodier than they actually are in real life...but recognized the need for dramatic enhancement for television.

Special Features to Catch: Many of the episodes have clips of scenes that were cut, which is kind of interesting to check out, because you can see how an entire storyline can be eliminated with just a couple snips here and there. Ironic, given the topic of the show. Also, a couple cool features on the last disc, including a simple behind-the-scenes look at the show, as well as a focus on how some of the plastic surgery scenes are crafted. There is an outtake/blooper reel...but it's pretty lame.

Random Trivia: Several characters were only meant to have a one-time appearance...but had such an impact on-screen and with fans of the show that they became recurring characters. Gina (the Sexaholiccs Anonymous girl) and Sofia Lopez (the trans-gendered Hispanic) are two examples.

And I Quote: Christian: "Can I buy you a drink?" Kimber: "I don't drink." Christian: "May I buy you an appetizer?"

Life Lessons from Nip/Tuck: 1) To get board-certified in plastic surgery, you have to operate on a decapitated head. Pass. 2) It's tough giving CPR to a dog. 3) Never trust a drug runner to give you implants.

Curt's Take: "Worth Considering" - I was very surprised that I liked this series as much as I did. I thought I was going to be turned off by the surgical scenes...and don't get me wrong, I didn't play them in slo-mo or anything. But the dialogue and characters and relationships were all so well-crafted and thought out, I definitely felt engaged with what was going on, despite the "gross out" factor. Don't go into this thinking it's just about breast implants...the surgeries cover the range of medical situations. If you are easily grossed out, you may end up passing on this, but you may want to catch an episode or two and see if you get hooked. Be warned...this show isn't episodic in nature, so just hopping in anywhere is a little more difficult than watching them sequentially.

On Our Next Episode: Death isn't what it's cracked up to be...