HBO Struggles for Post-Sopranos Hits

(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»

Once out-and-proud network is now just an HBO wannabe

(NEWSER) - Showtime, which has an openly gay president and used to be the home of “the two most sexually explicit gay dramas ever,” has failed its queer audience completely, Aymar Jean Christian writes. Sure, networks in general have backed off gay-centric programming after realizing “they could get a gay audience by writing just one or two marginal characters,” but Showtime, which had huge hits in Queer as Folk and The L Word, “deserves to be chastised for its blatant de-gaying.” More»

The golden age of TV may have died this year

(NEWSER) - Today's golden age of TV lost a little shine this year, Heather Havrilesky writes on Salon. Twelve quick months gobbled up all of the momentum and promise from years past, leaving “a haze of crappy, unoriginal new programming, lackluster sophomore shows, flaccid sitcoms and pointless cable comedies.” Old standbys like Heroes and Weeds wilted, while rookies like My Own Worst Enemy and Easy Money collapsed. More»

Albrecht fired after earlier attack on a girlfriend, hushed by HBO, was revealed

(NEWSER) - Chris Albrecht, who turned HBO into a titan with mega-hits "Sex and the City" and "The Sopranos," was fired yesterday in the aftermath of an arrest for choking his girlfriend outside the MGM Grand in Vegas. A temporary leave was announced after Sunday's altercation, but Albrecht was forced out after the LA Times revealed an earlier violent incident HBO had kept quiet. More»

Albrecht takes indefinite leave after drunken arrest Sunday

(NEWSER) - HBO's capo is making like Tony Soprano and taking an indefinite leave of absence from the cable network. Chris Albrecht, who has led the network since 2002, was arrested by Las Vegas police on Sunday, after officers said they witnessed Albrecht in a violent altercation with his girlfriend. More»