HBO is under the microscope at the moment. Having seen a number of high profile shows scuttled, their big launch of “Vinyl” somewhat fizzle, and going through an executive shakeup earlier this year, the network who at one time seemed incapable of taking a wrong step, is now having every move scrutinized. And at a time when they are facing more competition than ever, particularly from the streaming world, their position at the top of the heap of premium programming has never seemed more tenuous. Have they lost their mojo? According to one major TV creative, the answer is yes.
Tom Fontana, creator of HBO’s legendary prison drama “Oz,” hit the ATX Television Festival over the weekend, and didn’t hold back about what he perceived as the network’s current inability to take the kind of risks they might have in the past. And it’s a problem he blames, in part, on the network being swallowed up by a major conglomerate.
“There’s a very bizarre phenomenon that happens in television, which probably happens everywhere: success breeds fear as much as failure does. And that’s what happened at HBO. They became afraid that they were’t going to find the next ‘Sopranos’ and they could actually dictate what the next ‘Sopranos’ was going to be,” he reflected. “The other thing that happened is that HBO – which was owned by Time Warner – Time Warner merged with AOL in an ill-fated marriage. And like what also happened with a lot of broadcast networks, the corporate nature of the day-to-day life at HBO changed. [Former HBO chairman and CEO Chris Albrecht] could no longer sit in a room with two people and say, ‘Lets make it.’ He was no longer free to do that because there were too many corporate entities at stake now.”
Sitting on the same panel, “The Wire” creator David Simon, who also has the porn industry drama “The Deuce” on the way for HBO, defended the network.
“I don’t want to suggest there’s not really good work being done at HBO,” he said. “I got to make [‘Show Me A Hero‘] last year on housing in Yonkers [about] housing policy and hyper-segregration … so [quality, unconventional programming is] still happening. It’s happening because ‘Game of Thrones’ is subsidizing all of us. But it’s also happening because [‘Show Me a Hero’ is only] six hours. … They understand that’s not going to be the next Sopranos.”
And in fairness to HBO, they are moving ahead with some ambitious stuff, including an adaptation of Marvel‘s “Scarlet,” and recent pilot orders for shows from filmmakers Kathryn Bigelow and Adam McKay. But if Fontana’s comments underscore anything, it’s perhaps the perception HBO’s recent woes have cast on the network, and what they will need to overcome to continue luring the best talent in the game to their stable. [EW]