A riveting three-part miniseries on Carlos the Jackal premieres this week on the Sundance Channel, the network’s first original scripted series. A fact-based fictional film, “Carlos” is just the latest evidence of the boom in original cable production.
A timely story about the infamous terrorist who eluded capture for decades, “Carlos” debuts Monday- Wednesday this week, 10 p.m.-midnight on Comcast Channel 505. The lead, Édgar Ramírez (“The Bourne Ultimatum,” “Che”) is magnetic. French filmmaker Olivier Assayas (“Summer Hours”) artfully incorporates violence, nudity and several spoken languages. The tone is more indie film than network miniseries.
Beyond its three-night run, the film represents the image Sundance aims to project for itself.
“Scripted (programming) is obviously part of our heritage, so it felt like something that made sense to Sundance,” according to Sarah Barnett, executive vice president and general manager for Sundance Channel. “We see scripted as one of the important tent poles in our slate. It’s a way of evolving.” She has a number of scripted originals in development for 2011.
Some of the best dramas on television are original cable productions, particularly in this lackluster season for the broadcast networks.
Cable networks are thriving on bold originals, defining themselves through the scripted programs they offer.
Michael Wright, who is responsible for all original programming for TBS, TNT and TCM, concludes that “the marriage of original programming to a brand and an identity is crucial.”
The big basic cable networks like TBS and USA are doing what it takes to compete with the broadcast networks year-round: spending on original production. Now smaller networks are following suit.
ABC Family, A&E and Bravo are producing more hours of original programming than ever. TNT this year scored cable’s biggest audiences ever: “The Closer,” starring Emmy winner Kyra Sedgwick, this season chalked up 7.2 million viewers. “Rizzoli & Isles,” starring Angie Harmon, followed with 6.6 million viewers.
TNT and AMC originals have won Emmy Awards for Sedgwick and Bryan Cranston; AMC’s “Mad Men” has won the Emmy for best drama three years running.
For seekers of above-average entertainment, it’s not enough to look in all the old familiar places. Younger viewers in particular no longer differentiate between broadcast and cable.
“It’s truly become a one-television world,” said Wright. “The channels are all delivered through the same portal; the key distinguishing factor is the quality of the content itself. I’d argue we’ve truly reached parity (with the broadcast networks). Sometimes there’s great television on both — sometimes, not so good.”
Some cable networks, like Sundance, have carved out small niches and target a specific audience. Others, like Turner, play in a much broader space. “We’re challenging the broadcast networks” in terms of quality and advertising prices, Wright said.
Advertisers look for factors beyond raw numbers, including the efficiency and reach of a network, and the quality of the environment itself.
“Advertisers seek a well-branded network with a high engagement level,” Wright said. TNT’s “Leverage” is a great example of a smallish show with an incredibly loyal following: “solid ratings of 4 million plus, but also extraordinarily high DVR numbers,” Wright said. “The audience almost doubles” when DVR playback is counted. And advertisers love it.
Wright credits the Turner networks with “the foresight six years ago to get ahead of the curve and get into the original-programming business. We created a footprint. Audiences have come to identify the networks as places that deliver a certain style of entertainment that they favor.”
Cable’s push into original production goes back at least a decade.
When HBO launched with boxing matches in a subscription package, the promise of original scripted programming seemed elusive. Eventually, executives realized that although original production was expensive, it was the best way to cement a brand.
After the ad-free networks HBO and Showtime started producing originals (remember “1st and 10,” “Tall Tales & Legends,” “Red Shoe Diaries”?), it took years before quality, award-worthy series with notable stars became part of the premium cable deal. “Oz,” “The Sopranos,” “The Wire,” “Weeds” and “Dexter” bowed in the late 1990s and early 2000s.
The next wave was led by FX. The basic cable network offered dark, tough, sometimes cynical shows with “The Shield” (2002), “Nip/Tuck” (2003) and “Rescue Me” (2004), using the tagline, “There is no box.”
The big general-entertainment networks like USA and Turner brought a gentler voice to originals.
Wright calls Turner’s style “blue-sky, escapist.” Think of “The Closer” as emblematic of the brand: a procedural with quirky humor and a strong female protagonist.
Next, AMC (“Breaking Bad” in 2008; “Mad Men” in 2007), and Starz (“Party Down,” 2009; “Spartacus: Blood and Sand,” 2010) staked claims in original production. AMC, formerly a resource for old movies, ramped up its load of originals in the past year, also in a dark vein. “Breaking Bad” was joined by “Mad Men,” then “Rubicon” and, later this month, the zombie adaptation, “The Walking Dead.”
When TNT says “we know drama,” and TBS says “very funny,” what they mean is that they’re gunning for the same demographics as the broadcast networks. In development for TNT is an update of the soap opera “Dallas” that will follow the Ewing family to the 21st century.
On USA, the dramas “Burn Notice” and “White Collar” are characteristic of the brand. USA touts “characters welcome” in stories that feature generally likable protagonists weighing moral dilemmas. On FX, the edgy modern Western “Justified” and the slacker buddy-cop drama “Terriers” are the latest angst-filled dramatic breakthroughs.
While the broadcast networks’ current season shrivels, cable is pushing forward in originals. The trend that’s been building for years is spreading to more remote corners of the cable universe.
“There is a distinct space that Sundance can sit in,” Sundance’s Barnett said. The content must be “emotionally immersive, entertaining, a little bit different, with talent on both sides of the camera, that speaks to a broad but smart audience, something that isn’t cynical, that tells new stories in new kinds of ways.”
And using original drama to cement that identity is key.
Joanne Ostrow: 303-954-1830 or jostrow@denverpost.com
