Show Me Yours: The Complete Series review, Show Me Yours: The Complete Series DVD review
Starring
Rachael Crawford, Adam Harrington, Rachel Wilson, Jeff Seymour, Jennie Raymond, Balazs Koos, Steve Boyle, Albert Watson, Sasha Roiz
Director
Various
Show Me Yours:
The Complete Series

Reviewed by Will Harris

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hen it comes to “chick” shows, the industry standard is, of course, “Sex and the City,” and since its demise, viewers have regularly been handed pale imitations which are supposed to fill the void but in reality come nowhere close to doing any such thing. We sometimes forget, however, that these sorts of wannabes have actually been around since the show was originally on the air, and it’s surprising to find that “Show Me Yours,” which certainly looked to capture the same approximate demographic, was actually quite good. How strange, then, that it only lasted two seasons.

The show was originally produced for Canada’s Showcase network, which – for lack of a better point of comparison – bears a striking resemblance to such American networks as FX and USA: it airs reruns from other networks, but it also produces its own original programming. Here in the States, however, “Show Me Yours” turned up on Oxygen, a network which, according to Bullz-Eye’s own Jeff Giles, “has a special FCC exemption to show whatever it wants, because no one is watching anything on there, anyway.” This is probably just a punchline, but it would explain how they got away with airing a series which regularly featured a significant number of bare breasts.

Ah, do I have your attention now, gentlemen?

The series focuses on Kate Langford (Rachael Crawford), a psychologist turned sex expert who finds herself teamed up with an arrogant PhD named Benjamin Chase (Adam Harrington) to write a book. That there’s soon sexual tension between Kate and Benjamin is so much of a given that it doesn’t even count as a spoiler, just as you know immediately that, even though Kate is seemingly living happily ever after with David (Jeff Seymour), it’s a given that the “will they, won’t they” formula will turn into “whoops, they did it” soon enough. The more interesting part of “Show Me Yours” is the book collaboration between Kate and Ben, which finds them inviting patients into their shared office and having them go on camera to discuss their various sexual histories. Indeed, many of the episodes begin with a patient in mid-story, and we see the events from their tale being acted out onscreen. As is only appropriate for a comedy, they’re usually pretty funny, but the presentation is extremely creative – particularly one involving a pizza delivery which is being told by a mother whose child is sitting next to her, necessitating some hilarious adjustments to the dialogue in her story. There are also some interesting supporting characters within the series, including Kate’s best friend, Jodi (Jennie Raymond), an otherwise straight woman who surprises herself by stumbling into a brief affair with another woman, and Stella (Rachel Wilson), Kate and Ben’s randy receptionist who develops a fascination with Michael (Balazs Koos), the lad who comes to keep the office fish tank up to snuff.

If you ever saw HBO’s “Tell Me You Love Me” and loved the concept but were completely bummed out by the show’s slit-your-wrists harshness, here’s a chance to get some psychological insight into the sex drives of both men and women while scoring some laughs in the process. Be prepared for an anticlimactic ending at the end of Season Two – one which leaves things pretty well open-ended – but you’ll find a great deal to enjoy about “Show Me Yours” up until that point.

Special Features: There are bare-boned sets, and then there’s this one. Wow, what happened here? There’s no commentary, no behind-the-scenes featurette, not even so much as a round-up of the original series promos. Did neither the stars of this show nor its creators enjoy working on it?

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