HBO Turned Down One Of The Most Beloved Shows Of The 2000s

The good people of HBO have a long history of intelligent decision -making. They are lit Five seasons of “The Wire” Even if the show was never a note, a decision that has borne fruit massively in the years that followed. They took a bet on “Game of Thrones”, even if in the mid -2000s, it was not yet clear if a fantastic series heavy in incest in a low budget would be in good land. HBO leaders seem to have a good eye on what will work well both in terms of notes and criticism, which is why it is so surprising to hear about the good ideas they have neglected.

Example: “Desperate Housewives”, the series of long -term dramas which has become a free kick straight out of the door, was initially presented to HBO. As The telegraph reported in 2004“It may be elegant, but it did not prevent being refused by several networks-CBS, NBC, Fox, HBO, Showtime and Lifetime. Only ABC, its own dramatic outing in the pan, has much to lose.”

Most of these listed networks do not rise to much eyebrows, but HBO and Showtime do it. These are the channels that are free from many usual network television constraints; For such a risky show as “desperate housewives”, it is tempting to wonder what could have looked like an HBO version of the series. A showtime version could also have been very scandalous, but at least we know that HBO would not have dragged the show for 8 seasons (as ABC did with “Desperate Housewives” and as Showtime has done with most of his best shows).

There are many network shows to blame the limits that inevitably raise the question: what happens if it was on HBO? It is impossible not to wonder about a version of “Desperate Housewives” where the characters could curse in a realistic way, or if all these surprise pregnancy scenarios could have taken abortion seriously as an option for the characters (As the showrunners wanted).

Fans of “Twin Peaks”, another series that goes to incredibly dark places despite its initial respectable veneer, have often wondered the same. Although at least these fans somehow obtained their response in 2017, when “Twin Peaks: The Return” was broadcast Not on ABC but on ShowtimeAnd he did not hold back on blood / blasphemy / nudity.

One of the other big “What if?” Moments in the history of television concerned “crazy men”. It was a program centered on a sexual addict, but thanks to its broadcast on AMC, it was not allowed to show a nudity. This is a problem that becomes more visible once you discovered that the showrunner, Matt Weiner, had previously written for “The Sopranos” by HBO and had launched “Mad Men” to the leaders of HBO at the height of the fame of “The Sopranos”. Even if everything we know about HBO implies that they would be interested in this kind of television program, they have passed.

But with both “Mad Men” and “desperate housewives”, there is at least one argument to argue that the emissions have benefited from their restrictions. The two programs were creative with the way they worked around the censors, and their 42 -minute episodes maintained their tight pace. Fans of the two programs also argued that the involvement of sexuality is often more attractive than sexuality itself, so the intrigue of the two series is higher because of what they are not allowed to show. Is it a fair argument, or is it just bitter grapes? This is difficult to say, but with the “Mad Men” who become strong for seven seasons and “Desperate Housewives” lasts eight, it is clear that the two programs have done very well for themselves without the help of HBO.