The HBO business model just doesn't make sense to me. They've been fortunate that since they began airing original TV series, they've had shows that are so good that they get the network new subscribers who don't even necessarily want the movies. That big a monthly fee just doesn't make sense for one or two shows, especially when Showtime might have a show you really want to watch as well.

And HBO isn't even that good at getting their shows on video, either. Unless it's the Sopranos, they don't seem to put much effort into their release schedule. I'm still praying that one day they'll release my beloved Carnivale on bluray, since it's the most stunning TV show cinematography I've ever seen. But I'll be waiting a long time for that.


I've been picking up new series that aren't really much to write home about. Breakout Kings is pretty entertaining, but I'm not going to get anything profound out of it or anything. Other than that, I can't really think of any new shows I'm checking out.

My wife and I tried starting two shows that everyone raved about, but we stopped after 2-4 episodes of each:

Archer - while I like the cast and it had its funny moments, this simply wasn't funny enough to keep me coming back. I also never understood why people found the guy who voices Archer to be funny. He played the son on Dr Katz, which I also never enjoyed, and it's basically the same voice and delivery.

Boardwalk Empire - I love the time period, the visuals are stunning, and Steve Buscemi is great. But that's all I found to like about the show. I was shocked by how little I cared about what was going on. Maybe I should have given it more time, but after investing four hours into the show and being left cold, we just decided to drop it.


One show - that isn't technically part of 2011 yet, only when my wife and I caught up on it - is Children's Hospital. It's an Adult Swim show and it's friggin' hysterical. At least, if this is the kind of humor for you. If you found Hot Tub Time Machine funny, or any movie by David Wain (Wet Hot American Summer is amazing), then you might be into this. It's a completely wacky and fairly offensive parody of all types of doctor TV shows. It's also pretty easy to catch up on, mostly because there really is no plot*, each episode is only 15 minutes long, and there's 10-12 episodes in each of the two seasons.

Anyway, sorry to ramble a little in this post. I didn't sleep that well last night...