Drama Builds At HBO As CEO Departs

(NEWSER) - Some things are certain: death, taxes, and Cinemax showing women with their shoes on having sex late at night. Soft-core porn is "in our DNA," an exec with the parent company of "Skinemax" tells the LA Times . "We're not running away from it." Neither are its premium-cable competitors, which are hardly relegating racier content to late night. Consider HBO's True Blood and Showtime's explicit Californication. More»

Claire Danes shines in title role as animal behavior expert

(NEWSER) - Temple Grandin, the renowned animal behaviorist who credits her achievements to her autism, values "tangible results" over emotion—and so does her HBO biopic. The eponymous film, debuting tomorrow, "avoids the mawkish clichés" so typical of made-for-TV movies, instead delivering "a movie that is funny, instructive, and also intangibly charming," writes Alessandra Stanley in the New York Times . More»

HBO show resuscitates Larry David's other brainchild 10 years later

(NEWSER) - Tonight's episode of Curb Your Enthusiasm will go farther than usual to satisfy your Seinfeld craving, but it's hardly the real thing—nor is it meant to be. The eagerly awaited reunion arc kicks off with Jerry Seinfeld himself deeming the very idea "desperate" and "pathetic," which he explains is true to his real-life reaction. And "surreal is the only word" to describe working on the sitcom's rescued sets, the comedian tells USA Today. More»

Comedian attacks host, other celebrities

(NEWSER) - Comedian Artie Lange appeared on the premiere of HBO's Joe Buck Live last night, and it sounds as if the host wishes he hadn't. Buck told USA Today he couldn't wait for Lange to finish his obscene, homophobic routine. "I thought that spending time on a treadmill felt long," said the veteran baseball announcer, who appeared helpless as the show ran off the rails. "That was like 8 or 9 minutes that turned into an eternity." More»

New management picks a new crop of shows, hoping for a winner

(NEWSER) - HBO, at 36 years old no longer a bold young upstart of a network, is struggling to come up with hits to match The Sopranos and Sex & The City, the Wall Street Journal reports. Changes in the top ranks have meant shifts in direction: The Texas-set Lily Tomlin drama 12 Miles of Bad Road HBO was ditched after execs saw the first few episodes. More»