The Sopranos couldn’t have gone black
By fred | July 16, 2007
When recently asked about the ending of The Sopranos, bot Chairman and CEO of Showtime Matthew Blank and President of Entertainment Robert Greenblatt smirked.
And when the question was clear, would they have creator, executive producer and showrunner David Chase end the show the way it did, would it have been on Showtime, Blank clearly said “No.“.
To which Greenblatt added, “Personally I didn’t like it.”
This looks like yet another perfect illustration of why HBO is so different, and really, “is not TV”. When HBO’s new co-president Richard Plepler saw it, he didn’t like it either. But there’s a huge difference between not liking what direction or artistic decisions writers made on a show, and going against them.
When they saw that, HBO might have not liked it, but they supported it. “This was the way he wanted to end it and we supported him.” declared Plepler.
Sure, it might not just be HBO’s willingness to let an artist say (and do) anything, and would it not have been Chase, who had not only “proven” himself but earned power over there, things may not have gone the same way, or as easily.
But still, as a fan, when your favorite show end, wouldn’t you want the artistic minds behind the curtain to do it, and not some network executive ? I mean, how would people feel if, when the time comes, ABC’s execs were to rewrite the whole ending of Lost because they didn’t like the choices made by Lieber, Abrams and Lindelof ?? Seriously ?
Posted in News
Shows: Lost, The Sopranos
