| Season Number: | 1 |
| Bgcolour: |
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| Starring: | |
| Network: | Showtime |
| Num Episodes: | 10 |
| Episode List: | List of Weeds episodes |
The first season of Weeds, an American dark comedy-drama television series created by Jenji Kohan, premiered on August 8, 2005, on the premium cable network Showtime. The principal cast consisted of Mary-Louise Parker, Elizabeth Perkins, Tonye Patano, Romany Malco, Justin Kirk, Hunter Parrish, Alexander Gould, and Kevin Nealon. The season had ten episodes, and its initial airing concluded on October 10, 2005. Season one focuses on Nancy Botwin (Parker), a single mother living in the suburban town of Agrestic, who begins dealing marijuana in an effort to maintain her family's upper middle class lifestyle following the death of her husband.
See also: List of Weeds episodes.
Weeds debuted to 538,000 U.S. viewers, which was modest in comparison to the viewership of Showtime's other television series.[1]
The season received generally positive reviews from critics. On Rotten Tomatoes, the first season of Weeds received 79%. The site's critics consensus reads: "Weeds is a cheeky comedy with dark, humorous, and sometimes outrageous moments centered around a talented female-led cast including Emmy winner Mary-Louise Parker."[2] On Metacritic, the first season received a 70 out of 100, indicating generally favorable reviews.[3] Gillian Flynn of Entertainment Weekly spoke highly of Parker and Nealon's performances, and praised the acting of Perkins as Celia Hodes, writing "Perkins is so perfectly, nastily desperate that she gets away with it."[4] David Wiegand of the San Francisco Chronicle also praised the acting of Parker and Perkins, and stated "Weeds may indeed be the best written new show of the year."[5] Alessandra Stanley of The New York Times wrote "Weeds is well written and engrossing, and has a slick balance of satire and soap opera."[6] Ed Gonzalez of Slant Magazine gave a mixed review of the season, praising the performances of Perkins and Gould, but criticizing the characterization of Nancy, commenting: "There's a sense that the writers of Weeds are as lazy as their main character, that they understand her as little as she seems to understand herself." However, Gonzalez spoke highly of Parker's acting, writing "Parker brings a great performance to a less than one-dimensional part."[7]
Some critics criticized the depiction of Heylia and her family, believing that the characters perpetuated harmful black stereotypes. Dana Stevens of Slate Magazine gave a positive review, but commented "the black characters, led by a sassy matriarch named Heylia [...] seemed to embody the most egregious of African-American stereotypes."[8] In an NPR interview, commentator Betty Bayé stated "[Weeds is] the latest chapter in a long history of negative black stereotypes in the media."[9] In response to the criticism, series creator Jenji Kohan commented that the characters of Heylia, Conrad and Vaneeta were inspired by her friends in Venice Beach, stating: “Heylia and her family are kind of [a] homage to that time in my life and those guys", further commenting "I knew them, and this is my experience of how they spoke and how they related".[10]
The first season received numerous awards and nominations, including three Golden Globe Awards nominations with one win. Mary-Louise Parker won for Best Actress in a Television Series Musical or Comedy. The series was nominated for Best Television Series Musical or Comedy, and Elizabeth Perkins was nominated for Best Supporting Actress in a Series, Miniseries or Television Film. The show also received five Primetime Emmy Award nominations. It was nominated for Outstanding Casting for a Comedy Series, Outstanding Main Title Design, Outstanding Single-camera Picture Editing for a Comedy Series, Elizabeth Perkins was nominated for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series, and Craig Zisk was nominated for Outstanding Directing for a Comedy Series. Parker won a Satellite Award for Best Actress in a Musical or Comedy Series, and Perkins was nominated for the same category.
On July 11, 2006, Lionsgate released the first season of Weeds on the DVD format; the season was released on the Blu-ray Disc format on May 29, 2007. In addition to the ten episodes, both formats contain bonus content including six audio commentaries, behind the scenes with cast and crew, two featurettes, and season trailers.