The pile is getting tall, I know. After sitting for a while on the corner of the kitchen table, it seems as though the pile of papers will, one day, break open and swallow you whole. But the content within these envelopes and what’s faintly printed on that Ikea receipt, are numbers high enough to send what’s left of your hair, or nerves, swirling down the shower drain.
Cell phone…heat… pet food…car insurance…subscription to The Fruit of the Month Club…. Just when you thought you couldn’t deal with another unnecessary monthly expense, The Cable Junkie stops by your desktop with yet another wallet-thinning necessity.
That’s right, call your cable company pronto; it’s time for some new channels. For now, we’ll only discuss HBO since this year will be a big one for the groundbreaking network. In 2006, old staples return and new hits are sure to raise a few eyebrows. HBO will curse, drink, graphically copulate, and brutally murder. It’s a lot like regular television’s edgy, older brother.
Of course the presence of HBO makes TV a bit uneasy. Smoking HBO secretly buys beer for innocent TV, without their parents knowing; tells TV all about sex in detail; and speeds down the freeway with the wind blowing across TV’s nervous demeanor.
Regular cable has been using some of the techniques taught to them by HBO with boundary-pushing shows like Nip/Tuck and The Shield, but on the whole, there is nothing cooler on television than watching Al Swearengen stare a fool down on Deadwood, or Ari Gold talk his way out of a wet paper bag on Entourage.
It was with the hugely successful premieres of The Sopranos and Sex and the City in the late 90’s that HBO changed the way it approached programming. What followed was hit, after hit, after hit. Six Feet Under, Entourage, Real Time with Bill Maher, The Wire, Carnivale, Deadwood, Da Ali G Show, Curb Your Enthusiasm–all shows that have received Emmy nods, and been met with public obsession and critical acclaim.
2006 will be a big year for HBO, due partly to the fact that last year was not one that will go down in the history books. In 2005, the popular funeral home drama Six Feet Under took its final breath; and two shows that debuted, The Comeback and Rome, were solid additions, but both, oddly, failed to reach talk-of-the-town status–typically normal fare for an HBO premiere. The latter of which was one of the most expensive series ever made with a reported budget of $100 million.
On HBO’s Horizon:
The posters and billboards are in place, and an official video preview is available on the web for the March 12 season premiere of The Sopranos. It will be the first time new episodes of the popular mob drama air in nearly two years. Creator David Chase certainly likes to take his time with Tony and co., and this year, which was supposed to be the last, will be no different. Twelve new episodes are to air beginning in March, and then an additional eight beginning in January of 2007. It’s never too late to get caught up in the noisy, violent, and sometimes sentimental psyche of Tony Soprano.
Also causing big waves in 2006 is Big Love, a drama that is already stirring up the pot of controversy. The tale of polygamy starring Bill Paxton, Jeanne Tripplehorn and Chloe Sevigny also premieres on March 12, and will air following The Sopranos every Sunday. The story follows Bill Henrickson (Paxton), who strains to juggle his life of three houses, with three different families.
If those two shows weren’t enough to pique your interest, also returning in 2006 will be many other lineup staples. Real Time with Bill Maher, a show that proudly boasts being kicked off of network television in 2002 is set to begin its new politically charged season on February 17th. The gritty western Deadwood, which features more swear words each episode than one can count on 20 hands is slated to start up later this year, as is the complex cop drama set in Baltimore, The Wire.
On HBO there’s something for everybody, at anytime, as all shows are regularly available on HBO On Demand. So far, they have parted ways with hit shows like Sex and The City, Carnivale, and Six Feet Under, and have still somehow remained fresh, and on the cutting edge. With the newly reformatted Showtime, competing with similarly dark and twisted shows like Weeds and The L Word, the folks at HBO will have to keep raising the bar to remain on top.
More Cable Junk to come…. In the next edition…Cable Reality Show Report…including, Project Runway–three designers standing.
