I recently saw the True Blood pilot for the first time, and the experience was downright depressing. It seems that HBO is now in the same trap as FX and Showtime at their worst, in which lurid, R-rated subject matter equates to something interesting. (I know they always have, but still..go with me here)
My favorite current pay cable drama is probably Dexter, and my complaints about the show made me think more about the state of pay cable shows today. A poster on the Dexter thread (can't remember, sorry) talked about how the show tends to "play it safe, in spite of the central premise of the show," and I agree. It seems that the pay cable networks are greenlighting shows in terms of their edgy surface content, rather than with their unique and mature dramatic approaches, which I thought was the key to every single one of HBO's dramas during their golden run. For me, the best "pay cable" show of the past couple of years, in terms of adult storytelling, has been "Mad Men."
I know that future David Milch and David Simon pilots are in the offing on HBO, but what will happen after those shows don't get the ratings they deserve? Showtime is doing well, but their "FX + The F-Word" approach, while viscerally interesting, gets old after awhile. With AMC greenlighting pilots, does anyone else think that they may be the ones to pick up the dramatic mantle?
My favorite current pay cable drama is probably Dexter, and my complaints about the show made me think more about the state of pay cable shows today. A poster on the Dexter thread (can't remember, sorry) talked about how the show tends to "play it safe, in spite of the central premise of the show," and I agree. It seems that the pay cable networks are greenlighting shows in terms of their edgy surface content, rather than with their unique and mature dramatic approaches, which I thought was the key to every single one of HBO's dramas during their golden run. For me, the best "pay cable" show of the past couple of years, in terms of adult storytelling, has been "Mad Men."
I know that future David Milch and David Simon pilots are in the offing on HBO, but what will happen after those shows don't get the ratings they deserve? Showtime is doing well, but their "FX + The F-Word" approach, while viscerally interesting, gets old after awhile. With AMC greenlighting pilots, does anyone else think that they may be the ones to pick up the dramatic mantle?
