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The Hire
Take a Memo, Darling! Re: ‘Fixing HBO’—Hire New York Smarties, Sophisticates! With Opinions! Get Me Tina Brown! Get Me Frank Rich! Next! Bring Me The Wire! Next! Get Me Juice! Not a Metaphor! Cranberry!
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Over the past few weeks, HBO has announced a series of moves to stem the tide of speculation that the network is faltering. After canceling 12 Miles of Bad Road, a series starring Lily Tomlin, HBO announced deals with Oscar winners Alexander Payne (of Sideways and Election fame) to develop a dark comedy called Hung, about a man who divines power from his generous equipment; and Alan Ball, the creator of Six Feet Under, who is working on not one but two shows for the network. (One of those is about vampires, the other about a women’s prison.) Then came the news that Frank Rich would join Tina Brown in serving as a “creative consultant” to the network.
“In recent years, since giving up criticism in 1993, occasionally someone has asked me to look at something, whether it was a play or a manuscript, and to try and tweak it or whatever,” said Mr. Rich. “I love this stuff so much. This is a way to kind of do it in a less amateur fashion and on a more regular basis. It’s a way to satisfy this craving I have had.”
HBO needs the help. Even as its documentary, original-movie and comedy programming remain strong, the network has been without a new hit series for some time now. Lucky Louie tanked. John From Cincinnati is practically a punch line. In Treatment, the five-day-a-week peek into therapy that aired this past winter, was a little too much like, well, therapy to draw a mass crowd. The Wire, which reliably delivered critical acclaim for five seasons, is over.
And Flight of the Conchords? Although it was renewed, that show is kids’ stuff compared to the shows that kept HBO series so far ahead of the rest. What they do next has to be big, smart, serious, bold. But what can journalists do to make that happen?
HBO’s SOPRANOS FINALE a year ago drew 11.9 million viewers, meaning that over a third of HBO’s 30 million subscribers at the time tuned in to witness the end of Tony on television. By contrast, HBO’s most recent series, In Treatment, drew such poor ratings on its debut—under a half-million viewers—that the network decided to stream it for free online. Their popular miniseries John Adams did better—with an average of 2.2 million viewers over seven weeks—but it was hardly a blockbuster, and it was temporary.
So what’s next? Besides the development deals with Mr. Payne and Mr. Ball, pilots have been ordered for a Darren Star adaptation of Tracy Quan’s Diary of a Manhattan Call Girl, and Surburban Shootout, based on a U.K. series, about a woman in the suburbs stuck between two housewife gangs. (Showtime, it should be noted, also has a call-girl show in the works, and Weeds, which is also about a housewife in the suburbs, is a steady hit for the rival network.) Neither of HBO’s projects have yet been green-lighted; they may be old before they see the light of day.
This is the first time in recent years that HBO, which for so long has been at the very forefront of creative programming, has been without a hit or a hit-in-the-making. Remember when Entourage debuted? Surely the network wasn’t helped by the departure of programming guru Chris Albrecht last year. That’s when Richard Plepler, a longtime PR man for the network (after whom Tony Soprano’s surgeon was named in “The Sopranos”), became co-president of the premium cable network, along with Michael Lombardo in L.A.
Since then, Mr. Plepler has earned the reputation of a man about town who is not exactly shy about using HBO’s money to harvest connections among the city’s elite power brokers and creative talents, which he thinks will benefit his network.
“Frank is an enormous talent who understands our brand and what makes HBO unique,” said Mr. Plepler. “To have a part of his energy focused on the network can only be a good thing for us.”
Roughly five months ago, Mr. Plepler and Mr. Lombardo also signed former Vanity Fair and New Yorker editor Tina Brown to a deal that Mr. Plepler says is “spiritually” similar to that of Mr. Rich’s.
Ms. Brown said that since January, she’s pitched two projects—an idea for a series and an idea for a movie—that the HBO executives liked and are in the process of “taking a little further.” According to Ms. Brown, she does not regularly meet with the HBO heads, nor do they send her material to vet. Typically, she contacts Mr. Plepler or Mr. Lombardo at her own discretion. “It’s up to me,” said Ms. Brown. “If I collide with some interesting material, I’ll call or e-mail them. Sometimes it’s something I’m interested in doing. Sometimes it’s something I think they should know about. Richard wants to encourage people who have good relationships with the creative community to simply be thinking about HBO when they’re out and about. It’s working out well.” Next Page >
"FORMER SPY MAGAZINE founder and current Studio 360 host Kurt Andersen hopes that HBO’s hiring of Ms. Brown and Mr. Rich will spurn other networks to do the same."
Spurn? Get me rewrite!
I don't know what the ratings were for Deadwood, but I know there are a bunch of pissed off viewers that HBO dropped it after three seasons. If they were running a fourth, I'd subscribe to HBO...
Why don't the idiots at HBO know when they have a good thing? The Wire was fantastic, best show ever produced for TV, and they canceled it. Deadwood was innovative, reasonably popular...canceled. I don't get it. Does every form of artistic expression in this pathetic country have to bring in "blockbuster" money in order to survive?
Why don't the idiots at HBO know when they have a good thing? The Wire was fantastic, best show ever produced for TV, and they canceled it. Deadwood was innovative, reasonably popular...canceled. I don't get it. Does every form of artistic expression in this pathetic country have to bring in "blockbuster" money in order to survive?
Deadwood was and is the best show I have ever seen on TV and I am 45 years old. I cannot imagine why HBO would cancel such a brilliant show.
They didn't cancel The Wire you dingleberry. David Simon decided early on that it would only last 5 seasons. Sorry for sounding like a fanboy.
They didn't cancel The Wire you dingleberry. David Simon decided early on that it would only last 5 seasons. Sorry for sounding like a fanboy.
A friend of mine a great writer Steven Handelman of the L.A.area and founder of got peace?, wrote a terrific series idea I wish I could give you the title but it has tons of attitude great plots terrific characters with spin off potential..
Even just the title alone would have people watch like crazy and they did have one meeting with Steven but during the strike so let's all hope they give him a call and let him explain and pitch this terrific show again..it really is a winner..
HBO Call Steve Handelman..yours TJ aka Spinach..
HBO cancelled Carnivale. They cancelled Deadwood. These two absolutely brilliant shows were killed before their time. If the network wants to demonstrate a commitment to quality, they should bring back these two shows.
Everyone calm down. Deadwood was canceled mainly because the principle cast members were starting to get movie work because their performances were so good and they'd be stupid to turn it down. I do, however agree that one more season would have been great to tie up the historical story arc of the town (I won't tell you what happened to the town in real life but it's a doozy of a story how it all ended, particularly for Swearengen.) It's really hard to keep an ensemble cast of that caliber together. I think HBO's smart to bring in these consultants. It's no secret that things weren't working out so great creatively since Albrecht left and the powers that be at HBO are simply recognizing that there's a problem and taking pains to fix it. The upcoming shows show a lot of promise and I think they've learned their lesson watching AMC pick up Mad Men and Breaking Bad.
"Hung" will be DOA, just like the ill-fated John From Cincinnati. Payne is talented, but a show about a supernatural penis? And one about vampires? Gimme a break.
Wise up, HBO: ditch the magic/supernatural angle. It appeals mostly to kids and that ain't your target demo. Learn your lesson from the failure of Carnivale and John From Cincinnati, and the success of your shows set in the real world.
Andy why no mention of "Big Love"? We need more shows like that, Sopranos, and SFU.
Agreed - and it was particularly angering as they substituted Deadwood with "John From Cincinnati"
David Milch and HBO really f-ed the pooch on that one!
I finally canceled HBO a month ago when it occurred to me that with all of my favorite series winding down or canceled, Bill Maher was the only thing I was tuning in for, and that's just not a good enough reason to pay for HBO. I rely on Netflix for movies; the ONLY thing I wanted from HBO were innovative, interesting, adult-oriented series that the censors couldn't touch. HBO lost its edge and its judge of talent and scripts and Showtime has now become what HBO used to be.
I disagree with the premise of your argument -
"Deadwood was canceled mainly because the principle cast members were starting to get movie work because their performances were so good and they'd be stupid to turn it down. I do, however agree that one more season would have been great to tie up the historical story arc of the town . . . It's really hard to keep an ensemble cast of that caliber together."
First, if this were true, great shows and their actors would routinely be pulled after a few seasons.
Second, even if some members of the cast were out doing "other" projects, HBO should have had the foresight to ensure that contracts were in place so that writers/producers could prepare, as is I am sure it is standard in the industry, for the continuity of story line. Furthermore, if an actor breached their contract, there are, I am quite positive, a well-spring of talented actors who could have easily been written into a new story line.
No - this is simply an illustrative lesson for HBO - you screw your fan base without reason, i.e., lack of funding, strikes, poor viewership, etc., then fans won't give allow you to sucker them in to new programming if there is a possibility that their loyalty to a show will be so quickly disregarded. Your fans are always #1.
Valuable and humiliating lesson, in my humble opinion for "top" execs at HBO - with the cancellation of Deadwood, Carnival, & Rome, I became HBO series weary. I now watch Showtime's Dexter, Weeds, Tudors, to name just a few, and it will be a very long time before I trust HBO and PERHAPS give it my very precious downtime.
I was a fan, but in truth DEADWOOD's ratings were so low that the amount of people that cancelled subscriptions would not make much of a dent in terms of HBO's success. Although it would have been nice to tie it up. Same with Carnivale.
ROME on the other hand, was actually picking up viewers in it's second season, but they had already cancelled it prematurely... while they were shooting the 2nd episode/series 2 or something. Tactical blunder.
I was a fan, but in truth DEADWOOD's ratings were so low that the amount of people that cancelled subscriptions would not make much of a dent in terms of HBO's success. Although it would have been nice to tie it up. Same with Carnivale.
ROME on the other hand, was actually picking up viewers in it's second season, but they had already cancelled it prematurely... while they were shooting the 2nd episode/series 2 or something. Tactical blunder
Why should Frank Rich give up his role advising on cultural coverge? Seriously, what difference does it make. The issue to me isn't when a journalist has a potential conflict, it is when said conflict is ignored. Using this logic about Rich, he should also be prohibited from taking any swipes at Fox News, since CNN and HBO have the same parent. In fact, he should never in his OPINION columns address anything to do with media or culture. In fact, what the hell, he should just stop showing up to work altogether.
Transparency is bullshit. Give me someone who knows their shit and I'll decide how much of their own agenda is in play.
I've been a huge fan of HBO's original programming since "OZ" & "Sex & The City" hit the airways in the late 90s. And once "The Soprano's" was added to the mix I would've paid HBO just to watch their original series and boxing and nothing else.
Even then, I couldn't have imagined that HBO would follow up those hits with "Six Feet Under", "Deadwood", "Entourage", "Rome" and the best TV series to ever air in Television history: "The Wire". And even with all these incredible series -- HBO also managed to come up with some of the best mini-series that have ever been produced: the brilliant "Band of Brothers" and "From the Earth to the Moon" immediately come to mind.
But what has happened over the past few years is just inexplicable. The cancellations of "Rome" and "Deadwood" were just incredible mistakes... Never should have happened!
HBO's excuse of the expense of shooting 'Rome' in Italy is just absurd! Build a set in the Cali desert and get filming!!
Canceling 'Deadwood' is the real head-scratcher -- the acting and writing were superb and the story line was finite... JUST FINISH THE DAMN STORY AND PEOPLE WOULD'VE BEEN SATISFIED! Why would you tell only a 1/3 or 1/2 of the story and leave your audience hanging!?
I canceled HBO after they canceled 'Deadwood' & 'Rome'.
another NYC journalist who jumped the creative/critic fence with little or no success: Elvis Mitchell
In regards to the cancellation of the Wire, I was at a Q&A session with the writers David Simon and Ed Burns and the cast members as well as a high executive at HBO. (Can't remember her name but she had a short hair cut, was over weight and wore mismatched socks. Brown and Green.) Anyway, the creators of the show were actually tired of doing the show. Not in a bad way. They basically sort of ran out of things to cover. They were going to do one more season (6th season) that dealt with the influx of latinos in Baltimore but felt to get it right it would take 2 years of research and everyone involved just felt it was better to end where they were. I'm sure if you google his name you can find an interview where he states this as well.
I don't know about new programming, but I do know fresh programming. Renegotiate with David Milch and bring back "Deadwood."
'Critics are like eunuchs in a harem: they know how it’s done, they see it being done every day, they just can’t do it themselves.'
Irish playwright-novelist Brendan Behan
Deadwood was the best show on TV, not just HBO. It took a while to get used to with the profanity but once you got past that it was magic. As soon as HBO cancelled DW, I cancelled HBO. How could they leave the series like that with no closure. Terrible and wasteful, one day it will be seen maybe in another timeslot and HBO will see what a big mistake they made
When HBO and other networks program shows that appeal to Mr. and Mrs. MIDDLE AMERICA, they are successful. When they get assecutives that are just so full of their Ivy League educations and upper west side mentality-they end up with crap that nobody cares to watch.
SURPRISE-SURPRISE--THE WORLD DOES NOT END AT THE WEST BANK OF THE HUDSON.
HBO made a major mistake when it passed on buying rights to LA VIE EN ROSE because it was subtitled. It couldn't have fit this remarkable film, with its Oscar/BAFTA/Cesar-winning performance by Marion Cotillard, in between reruns of AMERICAN PIE and boxing? Do the HBO staff making these decisions not know that the Metropolitan Opera's subtitled telecasts of its productions this year were sold out in many cities? No one else seems afraid of reading translations on such telecasts and movies. I turn on HBO when Bill Maher is on, and turn it off when he's on break. Until HBO can get over its biases about foreign films, and produce better programming, they won't get me year-round.
I miss Rome; great sets, good writing, and most episodes a buried treasure - a sight joke, funny as the dickens. one of my favorites, the graffiti on the back of the chariots.
"Hung", "Diary of a Manhattan Call Girl", a show about a women's prison....HBO is doomed if they think the only way to get better is to ape the rest of the TV landscape and just throw up junk that appeals only to the prurient interests of the their viewers.
And they really need to stop coming up with shows about counseling and psychiatry - "Addiction", "The Sopranos", In Treatment", "Tell Me You Love Me". Even "Six Feet Under" and "Curb" have used it multiple times.
shepard smith is by far the best at what he does . I never miss either one of his new cast. he,s very serious on things he supposed be, and can be very funny at times.
he is a true professional. so please quit putting him down.a
good
wow gold sell