Hank Moody at the Gym
David Duchovny as Hank Moody in the tenth episode of Californication, “The Devil’s Threesome”.
Vitals
David Duchovny as Hank Moody, bored writer and womanizer
Venice Beach, Fall 2007
Series: Californication
Episode: “The Devil’s Threesome” (Episode 1.10)
Air Date: October 15, 2007
Director: John Dahl
Costume Designer: Peggy A. Schnitzer
Background
By the tenth episode, Hank is now the unofficial roommate and caretaker of his agent and best friend Charlie, who’s been “kicked to the curb by his diminutive lesbian wife,” according to Hank. Looking to get back into the dating game, and knowing Hank’s reputation as a cocksman supreme, Charlie decides to hit the gym and use Hank as a wingman.
Charlie: What’ve you got going on later?
Hank: Oh, I don’t know… I thought I’d start the day with some dry toast and half a grapefruit, bust out the old computer, bang out ten pages, maybe go for a run… Maybe I’ll just jerk off and go back to bed. Wake me up when you come home.
Needless to say, Hank does the latter.
What’d He Wear?
Hank doesn’t see any reason to switch up his normal attire just because he’s going to the gym. In addition to his black cotton short-sleeve T-shirt, he also sports his dark wash jeans with orange-brown stitching and large rear pockets, worn beltless of course. In case you weren’t sure, jeans tend to be frowned upon in most gyms.
The plug for Showtime is much more shameless than the placement of Hank’s Pumas. (See what I did there?) Edit: A commenter noted that Hank’s Pumas are likely a pair of Suede Classics rather than Whirlwinds. He is right.
Hank also wears a new pair of shoes that we see a few more times over the next season. These are a pair of Puma Suede Classic sneakers with black suede uppers and a white rubber outsole, as well as white piping. Hank wears these with laces in – of course – black. A guy like Hank probably has an original pair from the ’80s.
Once the Nikes have been phased out as Hank’s “alternate shoe”, we see more and more of the Pumas, including an uncharacteristic pair in blue and orange or, according to Puma, “new navy”, “orange popsicle”, and “limoges”. The blue/orange Pumas are seen in the second season, notably episodes 4 and 12, so just you wait.
Hank appropriately wears a pair of black ankle socks with his shoes, making his footwear the only truly appropriate clothing he is wearing for the gym. Even his usual accessories, the black leather cuff with silver hexagonal studs, thin black braided leather bracelet, and silver index finger ring, aren’t the most practical for working out.
Not that he’s getting much of a workout in, anyway.
We get a few glimpses at Hank’s boxer briefs, a black pair (duh) with a short inseam and gray piping around the top of the waistband.
I felt weird taking these screenshots, but a lot of people seriously ask what his underwear looks like. Don’t expect more than this.
When called out to box against Laura, an old one night stand, he loses the shirt and throws on a large boxing belt with black elastic sides and a brown leather codpiece. Paired with the pink Pro-brand boxing gloves, this is very comical. After some investigation, this brand is local to southern California.
Hank doesn’t really respond well to being beaten up.
After a long day at the gym, Hank drapes himself in his usual chocolate brown smoking jacket and heads out to the bars with Charlie before getting a fateful phone call sending them home.
Go Big or Go Home
Other than the boxing equipment, this episode is chock-full of fictional brands. Perhaps advertisers were distancing themselves from the horrifying content in the inevitable climactic scene (heh…) of an episode called “The Devil’s Threesome”.
Feeling particularly sorry for himself, Hank throws caution to the wind and is back to chain-smoking. His brand is once again Malvolio, the fictional brand with the box modeled after Marlboro Lights. The cigarettes clearly have an orange filter (where Marlboro Lights have white filters) and are likely the Honeyrose herbals smoked by Duchovny instead. His light blue lighter, however, is clearly a Bic Classic.
Hank starts off the episode with a bottle of beer that’s been resting on his nightstand for god knows how long. He takes a swig and we clearly see the label – Goldweisen. This is also the six-pack that Marcy and Karen show up with at the end of the episode.
A quick search tells you that this is a nonexistent beer, at least with this label. However, the brown bottle with a gold, black, and red label very much resembles the fictional Ulberg’s Premium Lager Beer labels used by Earl Hays Press in some productions, including other TV shows such as It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia and Weeds. If you browse the Earl Hays Press (or the ISS) websites, you’ll probably find quite a number of fictional labels that have turned up in movies and TV when a real brand can’t be shown. (It appears that both Goldweisen beer and Malvolio cigarettes are Prop Graphics items.)
The Goldweisen bottle also looks like Uhlberg’s, another fictional brand seen in plenty of movies and TV shows.
Evidently, given his strenous schedule for the day, Hank is heeding Bruce Willis’ advice in Last Man Standing to switch to beer to avoid “getting sloppy”. He nurses a bottle at the gym, another fictional brand called Alexander’s Finest that has made sporadic appearances throughout the show.
How do you think he managed to get that in there?
After the gym, Hank numbs his pain at the bar with straight Scotch. Once he’s home, he whips out the bottle of Glen Deville, a fictional brand he is seen purchasing earlier in the series. Glen Deville was also George Jung’s Scotch of choice in the film Blow. The real Jung, in the book, stated a prefernce for brands like Glenlivet, but I’m getting ahead of myself.
How to Get the Look
You may get some odd looks sporting jeans at the gym. Of course, if you’re following Hank’s example, you’ll get some odd looks puffing on a cigarette and nursing a beer in a gym as well.
After this… well, you don’t want to know.
- Black cotton short-sleeve T-shirt
- Dark wash blue denim jeans
- Black Puma sneakers with light gray piping and black laces
- Black ankle socks
- Black boxer briefs with gray waistband trim
- Silver ring with two ridged bands, worn on the right index finger
- Black leather bracelet with silver hexagonal and round studs, worn on the left wrist
- Thin black braided leather bracelet, also worn on the left wrist
Do Yourself a Favor and…
Check out the first season.
The Quote
You know, most people, they go their whole life and they never really find the one they love. They say they do because everybody’s the star of their own little romantic comedy, but they’re full of shit. You and me, we had women who loved us for who we were, really loved us for who we were, and we fucked it up. For what? Some stupid piece of ass we forgot about 10 minutes later?
Footnote
Hank’s bracelets are available through Urban Wrist.
I really dont think those pumas are whirlwinds, the soles are totally different, there closer to the ‘suede classic’
True that