After watching the first two episodes of Californication i realised they might just call it Skin Deep - The series. The similarities are just too many to mention, womenizing drunken writer down on his luck getting caught in weird and embarrasing situations often of a sexual nature and so on. Mind you, i think both Californication and Skin Deep are absolutely brilliant...
I understand where the OP is coming from in comparing the two...but I don't quite agree. As a straight male I often get bored and occasionally frustrated with how some women are attracted to selfish, commitment phobic men. However, when they're like Zach (John Ritter) I can understand them, at least a little bit. He's got a certain amiable, vulnerable charm. Hank on the other hand is just creepy. Maybe I say this because Ritter is dead or because I remember him as Jack Tripper (3's Company). At any rate, one guy is a lot easier to root for than the other.
On the whole, I find a great deal of merit to your observation, dave; would add only that if one Googles Alpha Male: Hank Moody more than one fellow viewer cites/features clips that showcase the allure that HM is frequently able to conjure up, even if inevitably superficial...
Californ definitely copied skin deep, but it did a rather good job of it. One of the best movies ever made...and the best tv show currently being filmed today.
Skin Deep is one of my favorites (all things Blake Edwards). It took me a few episodes of Hank Moody to connect it to Skin Deep. Glad I am not alone in that insight. It seems more likely than not that the Californ writers got their inspiration from SD.