Bingeing, microdosed: The Big C, s02e03, "Sexual Healing" (created by Darlene Hunt, 2011)
The commercial success of the first seasons of "Weeds" (its astoundingly good season six) spawned "Nurse Jackie" and "The Big C," i.e. dramedies led by forty-plus renowned actresses who salvage, through their sheer awesomeness, plodding and mundanely structured storylines. When Cynthia Nixon's supremely annoying character gets pregnant, you know it won't end well. When Hugh Dancy's incredibly hot cancer patient shows up at the beginning of season two, you can bet he will be dead by its end: guest-star contracts work (or: used to work) this way. It's a low-key and frequently marred pleasure.