Weeds is returning to Showtime this Monday, August 14th, at 10PM. Showtime is being a bit ballsy promoting it with a banner showing Mary-Louise Parker as “Her Highness“, saying that the show “Puts the herb in suburb.”

I’ve read that they’re also giving away Weeds-labelled brownies.

If you’re not familiar with the show, it’s a half-hour drama/comedy starring Mary Louise Parker as a recently widowed suburban mom who turns to selling pot for a living. The concept is similar to the British film Saving Grace, about a widow who finds her husband left her deeply in debt.

Saving Grace is a sweet, funny film which grows more and more deeply unbelievable by its end. While Saving Grace follows its main character’s discovery of her situation and the path that leads her into growing pot, Weeds picks up with Mary-Louise Parker’s character Nancy Botwin already dealing.

I’ve loved Mary-Louise Parker since the first time I saw her… okay, I don’t really remember her from Fried Green Tomatoes, Grand Canyon, Longtime Companion or Bullets Over Broadway, but then I barely remember anything about these films other than that I saw them and some vague notions about their plots. I remember her mostly as Amy Gardner from The West Wing. And Nancy Botwin is very much Amy Gardner, suburban widow and pot dealer.

Weeds manages to find humor in coping with cancer, dealing pot, infidelity and teenage drug use through its fantastic cast and the situations they find themselves in, leading up to Nancy Botwin’s discovery in the final scene of the season, deeply funny and threatening to her at the same time.

I’m so happy that the second season of Weeds is finally here… let’s hope it doesn’t slide into Showtime oblivion.

The first season of Weeds is available on DVD from Amazon.com and for download from iTunes.

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