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Weeds is an American comedy-drama television program developed for the Showtime network by Lionsgate Television. The woman responsible for the creation of the series is Jenji Kohan.

The plot of Weeds mainly involves a housewife who has been widowed and thus must find a way to make money. She lives in an affluent California suburb and basically becomes the neighborhood drug dealer selling marijuana in order to earn her income.

The TV series name, Weeds, seems to refer both to the plant that the protagonist sells (marijuana) as well as widow’s weeds which is what one would wear when one’s husband dies and becomes a widow. Additionally, it may refer to American suburbs which grow quickly like weeds and contain many people who are indistinguishable; just like weeds.

The theme for the series which begins at the opening of each show is “Little Boxes”, a song that stresses the sameness of suburban life and is a very nice song to be used for this series that involves that aspect of suburban culture.

Weeds currently has five seasons and began to play in 2005. It was the highest rated series for Showtime in its first year and has been considered a definite success for the channel. On average, the season has attracted 962,000 viewers.

1.2 million viewers and an additional 500,000 for the rerun later that night meant that the season 5 premier was a definite success and with a total viewership of 1.7 million, it is safe to say that the Showtime channel was probably quite happy.

The show’s exterior shots and many other shots are taken in places in California like Calabasa and Santa Clarita Valley.

Nancy Botwin is the main protagonist who is the houselife living the typical suburban lifestyle in America until her husband dies and she must find a way to make ends meet. This leads her to the marijuana business where she begins selling to people like her accountant, lawyer and neighborhood friends. Eventually she must continue on to expand her customer base which brings about more obstacles for her throughout the show.

Celia is Nancy’s best enemy and friend. She is in a marriage that is particularly unhappy which may explain why she is so attracted to various vices like alcohol and trying to take others down in order to “teach them a lesson”. However, her friend/enemy status is interesting in contrast to Nancy.

Season 1 starts off with Nancy’s husband dying suddenly while he is out jogging thus leaving Nancy alone and in search of a trade to keep her suburban lifestyle afloat. This leads her to the marijuana trade.

Nancy’s children, both of them, attend public school but it is necessary for Nancy to earn money by selling marijuana to her friends and neighbors in order to earn enough to keep their upper middle class lifestyle going.

When some customers of Nancy’s begin to go to a marijuana dispensary, Nancy is forced to become innovative and thus uses her baking skills to make delicious baked goods in order to sell her inferior marijuana. She later goes on to open a bakery as a cover up. She buys baked goods from Costco and puts them on the shelves as her own in order to cover this up.

Weeds is an excellent television show and has had a long standing viewership. If this sort of topic and protagonist sounds interesting to you, you should definitely check out the show on Showtime. You may also find clips and other previews if you search on the internet for the television show, Weeds.

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