HBO "Luck" Thing Was Not Sure The Get-go

HBO "Luck" Thing Was Not Sure The Get-go: Take two creative geniuses flying with different views, add the site to the intricacies of a slow sport with meaningless characters who speak in vague jargon, throw in the dangers of working with animals, and you have a trifecta, but the wrong type.

The death of the third horse in the production, it was easy for HBO, to pull the plug on his racehorse drama "luck." Already renewed for a second season, despite the very low, "Luck" was fast becoming a kind of vanity project of HBO can not afford to do.

HBO brass is often the case, because it's paid cable channel that does not advertise, he does not have to worry about the vote. This is true to some extent. HBO billion revenue comes from subscription fees and the sale of its contents, both here and abroad.

However, the notes indicate whether the show is catching on with the public HBO. HBO has 30 million subscribers. There is a number that has not been increased in recent years (while rivals Showtime and Starz subscribers added) as well in a tough economy, all the channels, the cable must be paid are concerned that consumers may decide to effectively save a few dollars.

This does not mean that every HBO show should be home run. Indeed, a huge success on HBO is a failure to question or basic cable channels that are available in more than 100 million households. HBO knows that has a diversified customer base. She went on "The Wire", his critically acclaimed drama about the drug war in Baltimore for five seasons, because it appeals to those who love the intellectual and political drama that viewers who appreciated the show sandy crime.

But the "happiness" was not even a conspiracy against the standards of HBO, using less than 500,000 viewers per night Sunday slot. Although the amount of overtime during the week, and people who watch the episodes they were previously registered are likely to have increased these figures, the limited treatment of the show "Good Luck" bad bets in the long run.

HBO has renewed are "happy" after one episode to air was considered a case of jumping the gun from the first attracted only 1.1 million viewers. In the star of "Chance" includes Dustin Hoffman and Nick Nolte, and produced by David Milch ("Deadwood", "NYPD Blue") and Michael Mann ("Miami Vice," "Heat"), the second season was almost guaranteed to start show. (Networks and attract his black comedy "Illuminati," with Laura Dern, although his records were also very low with an episode of drawing less than 100,000 viewers).

One such reason is the creative talent on HBO in the fact that the channel is paying the cable is known to be very patient with their performances. Often, however, the network brought the show with a very limited appeal for the second season, he kills - as was the case with a series of "how it's done in America," "Rome" and "Carnival." Thus, HBO managed to avoid the stigma of having a first failure of the season.

The drama behind the scenes at the beginning of the production of "Good Luck" should have been a red flag for HBO. Milch and Mann, and perfectionists are often in conflict. "There was one day that David is going to kill Michael," Nolte recently recalled in an interview with The Times. Power behind the scenes, combined with a lack of action on the screen, have led to mixed reviews from critics, many thought, "Luck" was zero.

"This is a series of nine episodes too opaque and infuriating, and therefore respect for the rites and rituals of narration track is laborious without joy," wrote Alessandra Stanley in The New York Times in his review of "luck."

If a "luck" was a great success, HBO would be prepared to storm the death of the horses. But given that "luck" is unlikely to win, place or show with critics and viewers, putting a number down, the network is a real choice.