A Little Trivia from Californication

The series revolves around Hank Moody, a charming ladies' man of a writer and novelist plagued by personal demons. He blames his years-long case of writer's block on a variety of reasons, ranging from the hedonism of Los Angeles, to his girlfriend Karen leaving him. Hank constantly deals with the consequences of his lack of will to say "no" to available drugs, sex and alcohol, while trying to show his family that he can be a good, responsible caring father to Becca and a monogamous partner to Karen.

But with lack of book sales force Hank into teaching at a Los Angeles university. Will he be able to keep it together while guiding the next generation of scribes? Californication is created by Tom Kapinos and executive produced by Kapinos, Duchovny and Gina Fattore.

The titles of Hank's novels named in the show are taken from American thrash metal band Slayer's albums. These are: South of Heaven, Seasons in the Abyss, and of course the main novel in the show, God Hates Us All. Charlie also stated that the bathroom of his house was the only place that had been spared of he and Marcy's "Unholy Alliance", or the only place they had not had sex. Unholy Alliance was the name of a tour by Slayer. Twice in the first season, the wait for Hank's new novel is compared to the wait for the latest Guns 'N Roses album, Chinese Democracy, which took over a decade to be released.

The music of Warren Zevon also plays a significant role in the series. Many of his songs appear in the show, including "Mohammed's Radio", "My Shit's Fucked Up", and "Keep Me in Your Heart". Steve Earle's cover of "Reconsider Me" makes an appearance, as does "Don't Let Us Get Sick", as performed by Becca Moody's band. There are also nods to Zevon's music in the characters' dialogue, including the phrases "life'll kill ya", "porcelain monkey" and "excitable boy". In Season 2, Hank Moody describes his ritual for finishing a book as "whiskey, weed, and Warren Zevon." Also, in the Season 3 finale, the GG Allin version of "Carmelita" plays in the opening scene.

Harry Chapin is also referenced in Season Three. Episode three is titled "Verities and Balderdash" which was the title of a Chapin album. The tenth episode is entitled "Dogtown" which was the title of a Chapin song.

The longest running rock music reference on the show is more subtle. In Season One, Episode One, Hank had his headlight knocked out by a jealous husband wielding a baseball bat. The reference is to the Wallflowers hit song "One Headlight." Hank Moody still drives home with one headlight.
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