Is Showtime replacing HBO?

I've discovered some new television shows recently that have been stealing the majority of my television time from old staples. And no less than three of these new findings are from American pay-TV channel Showtime.

I'm still watching a couple of HBO shows, namely Entourage (and reading the excellent blog, Entourage: Let's Blog it Out), Big Love and Flight of the Concords. However, with the recent exodus of The Sopranos and Deadwood and the short-lived run of Rome, HBO is laying the framework for it's quick demise as the number one producer of my television favorites. The massive wait between the fourth and fifth season of The Wire isn't helping their case either.

And Showtime is stepping up to the plate. I started watching Weeds during the first season and enjoyed it immensely. The second season continued the greenthumb goodness and the third season has just begun airing. Another show that I was turned on to by my friend and screenwriting partner Ryan is Californication, a half-hour drama starring David Duchovny as a troubled writer. The first thirty minutes alone was full of more original television than almost all of network television produces during their best premiere week. The third and, probably not final part of the Showtime takeover is Dexter, plotted around a forensic expert who moonlights as a serial killer who targets other serial killers. In a word: kick-fucking-ass!!!

All three above shows need to be checked out by you, in no particular order, then tell me if you think HBO has some work cut out for it.

Also, if you have Movie Central On Demand (as most of you readers are of the Canuckian breed), check out Durham County. It is a six part miniseries about a homicide detective who moves from downtown Toronto to suburban Durham County, directly across the street from his high school nemesis. It is a Canadian production and decidedly spectacular on all accounts. The writing is outstanding and the directing is far beyond anything I've seen from a Canadian production in either film or television. And for housing a mainly Canadian cast, the acting is much, much better than would be expected. Also, according to the Wikipedia article, the "original run" is listed as May 7, 2007 - Present, indicating a second series may be in development. I was not, however, able to back that up anywhere else in the minimal amount of time I spent looking around for corroborating evidence.