The question is: how much of the blame for that should be placed on the writers and producers of those shows, and how much is due to Showtime’s interference? In the case of the Dexter, Showtime was apparently responsible for the show’s ridiculous cop-out of an ending. It stands to reason, then, that they’ve influenced shows in other ways, too. If that’s the case, they need to stop the meddling. If it’s not, then they need to exercise some quality control. That doesn’t mean trying to determine the creative course of a show. TV executives are really bad at that sort of thing. It means knowing when to put a show out to pasture. This is something HBO has not been afraid to do. In fact, some have accused HBO of doing it a little too eagerly.
And that brings us to another part of the equation: the fans. Thanks to the wonders of the Internet, anytime HBO kills off a show, no matter how poorly it did ratings-wise, there are howls of protest on Twitter and the blogosphere. Petitions are created, “save our show” campaigns are started, and people get all sorts of uptight about it. Deadwood and Enlightened are just two examples of this. Yes, they were quality shows, but even HBO has to have some sort of standard when it comes to ratings. Showtime has skirted around this sort of controversial decision-making by letting shows go on and on until they are drained of any last vestige of creativity, and then people like me blast them for not canceling them sooner.
You can see how it’s a lose-lose scenario.
So what’s the solution, then? We can start being more discerning TV viewers, for one thing. If a once-good show goes bad, stop watching it. I can’t even count how many times during the last few seasons of the American version of The Office I heard someone say some variation of “Yeah, it stopped being good years ago but I still watch it anyway.” DON’T DO THAT. Compare that with the British version, which lasted for only two seasons and a Christmas special. There weren’t mass protests when the show ended. There weren’t howls of Internet anger at the injustice of it all. It’s simply remembered as one of the best sitcoms of all time, and rightfully so. If it had gone on for another eight seasons, chances are pretty good it would not be remembered so fondly. We as a society need to learn to let things go.
But also, Showtime needs to take some responsibility for their programming and not force creative decisions on shows that compromise their artistic integrity. Masters of Sex is one of my favorite new shows this year, but I find myself nervous about watching it because I feel like the same thing is going to happen to it that has happened to every other Showtime series I’ve watched. Fool me once and all that. That fear is enhanced by just how much I don’t like this season of Homeland. Still, I’ll continue to watch Masters of Sex until it gives me a reason not to. And then, at that point, I will take to Twitter to complain.