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The Excitement of HBO (Guest Post)

by Jef Dinsmore
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Jef is one of the HBO fans that responded to our call for people who would like to discuss HBO related topics here on HBOWatch.  An obvious fan of the premium cable network, you may see more articles on the homepage written by Jef in the future.  Consider this his introduction to the HBO community and we look forward to hearing what he has to say in the future as well!

hbo-old-logo-300x220I cannot remember the exact year Home Box Office showed up on our TV screen but, I do know it was very early on. I mean within its first year of hitting the airwaves. The channel wasn’t even twenty-four hour then. Also between movies there were more showings of short films than trailers. I learned an appreciation of the short-form watching those interstitials. The only one, alas, that comes to mind now is Hardware Wars. Anyone remember it? It was an exciting service my parents were willing to pay for in the day.

 

The list of early programming still easily comes to mind. We all watched HBO’s first original movie, The Terry Fox Story  in 1983 as well as Fraggle Rock starting that same year. As a subscriber to the pay channel we used to get a little booklet mailed to us with the monthly schedule complete with airdates. (A digital version still exists as a PDF  at HBO’s homepage.) I digress from my early programming memories which included such shows as Standing Room Only which featured filmed performances of  stage shows, form Vanities to Camelot; Young Comedians Specials hosted usually by Rodney Dangerfield; concerts by such artists as Simon & Garfunkel, Air Supply, Tina Turner, Richard Pryor, and Billy Joel. I can also remember shows like First & Ten, starring Delta Burke and O. J. Simpson, The Hitchhiker and Not Necessarily the News.
HBO was entertainment magic in our family back then and it still is to this day. Not every series is a hit and there are fewer concerts on now and the theatrical movies are, of course, only as good as Hollywood can make them. But, the original series and movies created hold our attention. They have to with the competitive nature of the industry. Have to keep ahead of Showtime, right? I know, there could be a debate there!

 

I’m excited and looking forward to what HBO has to offer in 2012 and beyond, if they can get to screen everything they have optioned, that is. How about The Corrections , based on Jonathan Franzen’s novel; Da Brick, a series based in the world of boxing; The Dark Tower, from Stephen King and Swamplandia!, from the bestselling novel? Also don’t forget HBO Films offerings in the future. Ok, you get the idea. Can you tell I love HBO and I’m exciting of what is ahead? Maybe, I’ll be allowed to comment more on it as time goes by.
If you would like to write for us on any HBO related topic feel free to check out our ‘Write for Us‘ page!  Thank you for answering our call, Jef and we hope to see more from you in 2012!
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