itsss…. SHOWTIME

July 9th, 2008

Sex sells… just ask Showtime. Also ask them whether violence and drugs sell well too… and I think they would give you an enthusiastic thumbs up. Subtlety its seems… is out… and in your face wish fufillment is back in style. And if you ask me it couldn’t have come soon enough.

You see not so long ago Showtime was just another blip on the vast media radar, a retarded stepbrother of sorts to the all powerful Home Box Office. Because I myself am a product of the later 90s… and anyone with half a brain knows that HBO ruled that time period, creating entertainment that left everyone else gasping for breath while showtime was most useful for (slightly) pubescent glimpses at gasping areolas on mute while your parents slept in the next hotel bed.

First there was Sex and the City in 1998 which caused quite a stir among my parents when they had the balls to brazenly use the word Sex in the title… big shocker… and yet because of the brilliant writing and wanna have fashion (thank you Patricia) this show became the cultural phenomenon it is today. Now eight year olds can laugh about vibrators too!!

Then a year later they debut The Sopranos… about the guilty conscience and the mobsters who have them… and despite the graphic nature of this program families everywhere settled down with their TV dinners and related to this twisted new jerseyite and his wacko family…  

Then there were the comedies… In 2000 Curb Your Enthusiasm was born and may still be one of the most honest comedies in production today… but really there is only so much I can take of Larry David offending people and pretending it was an accident… But for me their biggest coup came four years later in the testosterone laden west coast version of their previous gender bonding hit when Marky Mark decided to let us in on some of the fun in Entourage… needless to say  I think this is the best show they have and I can’t wait for some more… but anyway..

I truly believe it was HBO who set the standard for the kind of movie quality TV entertainment we have today.

But that does not mean they knew how to keep the ball rolling… because meanwhile… Showtime… who’s only notable contribution during the previously mentioned time period would be the boundary breaking gay soap opera we all know called Queer as Folk… which I never got… because if any of you have ever seen, heard or been involved in anything “folk” ish… you’ll know that queer is not a word often associated.

But Showtime got it I think… when they did that… they said hey… there are still boundaries left to be pushed and people left to offend… so it went on the offensive.

Now if asked what my favorite shows are… my list will feature Showtime heavily while HBO holds on with only Entourage left to keep me tuned in.

Lets take a look at why I’m head over heals for Showtime…

 Weeds

Dexter

Secret Diary of a Call Girl

Californication

The Tudors

Penn & Teller: Bullshit!

 

 

Written by Zac |