Why HBO Passed On Sons Of Anarchy

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If you ask which brand reigns supreme in prestige television, most would say HBO. “The Sopranos” and “The Wire” are summits that television dramas have been pursuing for two decades. HBO’s judgment is not unassailable, however. The network refused several programs which continued to be enormous successes elsewhere. One of the shows rejected by HBO was “Breaking Bad”, “ which is generally classified alongside “sopranos” and “The Wire” as the third knot of the “television masterpiece”.

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Another was the series which became “son of anarchy”. Created by Kurt Sutter, the series is essentially “Hamlet” told with the Hells Angels. Jackson “Jax” Teller (Charlie Hunnam) is a member of The Sons of Anarchy, a motorcycle club in Northern California which makes money in progress. The club was founded by the late Jax’s father John, but these days are led by his stepfather, Clay Morrow (Ron Perlman). Jax Unarths of his father’s newspapers, realizes that Teller Sr. wanted the sons to be outlaws but not criminals, and butts heads with clay while trying to reform the club.

Taking up for seven seasons, “Sons of Anarchy” was a coherent rating for FX. After the series of the series in 2014, FX Greenlit has both a new Sutter series (short-term “the Bastard Executioner”) and a spin-off “Mayans MC”, but all this success could have been that of HBO.

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Suteter and executive producer John Linson initially launched The show to HBO, then entitled “Forever Sam Crow”. (“Sam Crow” is a name in the universe for the Motorcycle Club, derived from Sons of Anarchy Motorcycle Club, Redwood Originals or Samcro.) But unfortunately, HBO had a biker drama too much at the time.

When Sutter and Linson launched HBO, the network already developed a series of bikers from the scriptwriter Michael Tolkin (writer of “The Player” and “Change Lanes”.) The height of Tolkin was “1%”, inspired by The autobiography of the founder of Hells Angels Sonny Barger. Developed with Barger, the series would follow a fictitious motorcycle club, The Death Riders, in Arizona. The main role of the series was Donal Logue, playing a biker nicknamed Misfit.

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HBO obviously decided that they couldn’t go out two Competiting biker dramas at the same time. Compare how years later, HBO refused “Yellowjackets” Because they thought that the dramatic elements of the teenagers of the series were too close to “the euphoria”.

If you have never heard of “1%”, there is a good reason: the show did not go to the series. Before the pilot was broadcast, the series has already been in trouble when Barger continued HBO, Tolkin and the production company The White Mountain Company. Barger said he had been cut off from production and not properly credited, and these aspects of the pilot were too close to the reality of Hells Angels. The “1%” driver was finally released under the name of TV movie in 2008But good luck trying to find him to look now. “Sons of anarchy” obviously did not share this fate.

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Sutter has broken down on television as a writer on the fx police drama “The Shield”, which was the series which proved that FX could offer HBO entertainment. So, after the rejection of HBO, Sutter cashed his tokens to FX and made the ground “Forever Sam Crow”. The series has been renamed “Sons of Anarchy” (which, let’s be real, is a a lot A better and more evocative title), and was created in September 2008, a few months before “The Shield” ended in November.

“Sons of Anarchy” ran along the highway to the success at FX, leaving HBO and its “1%” Faulty driver to eat (SAM) Crow.