Weeds

“Weeds” grows in the bountiful comedic world of suburban compromise; everybody in Agrestic, Calif., where Botwin lives, seems to want just a bit more satisfaction, but it’s so nice to drink wine by the pool that they never get around to thinking up any real dreams to fulfil. That’s not to say that the often diffident Botwin doesn’t kick herself into a higher gear as Season 2 begins.

With help from a motley collection of friends and neighbors, she attempts to start growing her own pot crop. So, given her line of work ..

. dating a DEA agent? Not, perhaps, the best idea.

Still, the writers for the show find a creative way to keep the federal agent, played by an adorably hangdog Martin Donovan, in the picture, since Botwin can’t quite bring herself to cut him completely out of her life. And that’s really what “Weeds” is about -- people who want to have it both ways. Frozen by grief or indecision, Botwin can’t choose where to go next in her life, so she just keeps going, often making questionable yet somehow believable decisions.

Botwin’s nitwit accountant, the flippant aging frat boy Doug Wilson (played with masterful comic chops by Kevin Nealon), thinks that he can sit on the town council and still toke up in his car without anyone noticing or caring. And Botwin’s friend Celia Hodes (the deft Elizabeth Perkins) wants a thin, perfect child, but doesn’t see the connection between her daughter’s rebellion and weight issues and Hodes’ relentless sniping. Season 2’s most entertaining character, Andy Botwin (Justin Kirk), has made a life out of settling into a holding pattern and not making any real choices.

As Nancy Botwin’s brother-in-law, he’s allegedly there to help out with the kids and such, but he’s really just freeloading and “studying” to be a rabbi so that he can escape a call-up by the Army. Say what you will about Andy, but he’s perfected the art of mooching. And a scene in an upcoming episode in which he discusses the details of masturbation with one of his nephews is absolutely priceless.

The most ambitious person in Nancy Botwin’s orbit comes from her supplier’s ’hood, not surprisingly. Conrad Shepard (Romany Malco) is the one person in Botwin’s motley crew who actually has half a clue about how to go about setting up a pot-growing business. And half the time, Botwin’s helpers are fully baked, or just misguided enough to get themselves into a world of trouble.

Thankfully, “Weeds” avoids the strained farce of “Desperate Housewives,” and despite being billed as a comedy, the perceptively written show is actually a credible look at lives stuck in neutral and people almost trapped by their addiction to a certain level of upper-middle class comfort. If that level of sociological analysis doesn’t interest you, just watch “Weeds” for its comedic ensemble, which is among TV’s best; Perkins, Malco, Kirk and Nealon are as good as it gets, and as Botwin’s main pot supplier, Tonye Patano is a tart treat. “Weeds” isn’t about laugh-out-loud humor, for the most part, but if you’re nearing (or past) 40 and addicted to lattes, you’re bound to get at least a few wry chuckles out of life in Agrestic.

Photo: Elizabeth Perkins, Mary-Louise Parker and Kevin Nealon on Weeds. in Weeds | Permalink | Comments (3) In one episode, she burbles “Walkies!” to her brother, whom she pretends is a dog (mom and dad, who never appear, won’t let Lola get a real pooch).

Lola then tries to borrow the “very extremely very clever dog” Sizzles, whom she and her friend Lotta “honestly and promisely” say they will take good care of. Of course the ever-patient Charlie has to bail Lola out of that one, but never mind, she’s already off on another adventure; she invents a pirate tale to take her mind off a boring wait at the doctor’s office, finds a creative way to eat a tomato, which she had vowed to “not ever never” eat and refuses to drink her bedtime “pink milk” until the three imaginary tigers at the kitchen table get theirs too. (By the way, thanks to this show, to- -toes are now known in our house as moon squirters.

Based on books by Lauren Child, who has an enchanting collage style that mixes spindly drawings with delightful fabrics, photo cut-outs and patterns, “Charlie and Lola” is a kids’ show that I’ve happily watched when there are no kids around. Philip Glenister on “Life on Mars.” The premise of this intriguing BBC America show has a present-day Manchester detective, played by John Simm, sent back in time to 1973 - or so he thinks.

Is the time travel all just a mental illusion prompted by a serious car accident? He can’t tell, but until he figures out what’s going on, he tries to work with the police department that he finds on his arrival in the Manchester of the ’70s. Trouble is, the top cop there, Gene Hunt (played by Glenister), is an old-school type who thinks nothing of planting evidence on a suspect Hunt just knows is a bad guy.

In Glenister’s hands, you see the frustration and anger of a more or less decent man trying hard to keep some kind of order in a once-proud industrial city in the midst of a serious decline. “Life on Mars,” which is being adapted for American TV by David E. Kelley, has its third airing “Weeds” grows in the bountiful comedic world of suburban compromise; everybody in Agrestic, Calif.

, where Botwin lives, seems to want just a bit more satisfaction, but it’s so nice to drink wine by the pool that they never get around to thinking up any real dreams to fulfil.