Some of the finest shows on TV are on FX, a small but increasingly powerful network that launched a decade ago with reruns of “The Green Hornet” and “The A-Team.”
Until about three years ago, FX was virtually buzz-less. Few people watched it; nobody talked about it.
Who would have thought then that FX would become buzz-worthy with high-quality, cutting-edge dramas such as “The Shield,” “Nip/Tuck” and “Rescue Me”?
Or that some of Hollywood’s top talent– including multiple Academy Award nominee Glenn Close, Oscar-nominated “Super Size Me” filmmaker Morgan Spurlock and multiple Emmy winner Steven Bochco–would wind up calling the little cable weblet home?
Peter Liguori, who was recently reassigned from FX president to entertainment president for the Fox network, is credited as the visionary who steered the course from reruns, reality shows and less than sterling originals to the current smorgasbord of quality.
Taking a page from HBO’s playbook, Liguori used original movies as building blocks. In 2002 came “The Shield,” which exploded with 4.8 million viewers on opening night, making it the most-watched series premiere in basic-cable history. “Nip/Tuck” followed in 2003 and “Rescue Me” in 2004. FX became a destination channel in a 200-channel lineup.
The network ranked 10th among basic-cable networks in total households last season, and FX original series continue to pull in millions of viewers.
Joining the originals in July is “Over There,” the first drama series about the war in Iraq. Bochco, who changed the face of TV drama with “Hill Street Blues” and whose acclaimed “NYPD Blue” recently ended its 12-year run on ABC, was lured to the project.
Another new series coming to FX in July will be “Thief,” a moody drama set in New Orleans and starring Emmy winner Andre Braugher as a sophisticated and richly complicated robber.
In August, FX will branch into original comedies with “Starved,” which will attempt the improbable task of mining yuks from four thirtysomething friends in Brooklyn who are each battling eating disorders, and “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia,” about three friends who own a bar and try to balance business and friendship.
Coming in June is “30 Days,” an unscripted series from Spurlock. The series will place people into an environment totally different from their own for a month–such as a Christian insurance salesman from West Virginia who is sent to a Muslim community in Dearborn, Mich.
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Edited by Cara DiPasquale ([email protected]) and Kris Karnopp ([email protected])
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