From Sex And The City to The Sopranos to Tell Me You Love Me, there’s little question that some of the appeal to HBO’s programming over the years has come from the sex, nudity and otherwise raunchy subject matter. Now that the network is in search of its next wave of hit shows, they’re hoping to reclaim some of this edginess with a dark comedy series called Hung, about a high school basketball coach who happens to be gifted with an unusually large male appendage. Thomas Jane will get in touch with his inner Dirk Diggler for the show’s lead role.

Hung was created by Dmitry Lipkin and Colette Burson (The Riches), and the pilot was directed by Alexander Payne (Election, Sideways) — a dream come true for Lipkin and Burson, who envisioned the show having the same feel as one of Payne’s films. Payne will remain on board as an executive producer. So will Hung be HBO’s answer to Californication? Well, not exactly. According to Lipkin, “It has its sexual moments, but the show is very much about what’s happening in the country, how people are trying to survive using what God had given them”. Clearly HBO is excited about the show, and they hope to have it on air by June.