HBO needs a shot in the arm

It used to be that a new show on HBO meant something truly original and groundbreaking, even if I personally felt Six Feet Under was a show infatuated with its own cleverness and Sex and the City's writing and acting was sub-soap opera at best. Despite my aversion to some of HBO's shows, I can't deny the network puts out programming that rivals most of network television.

However, even while the cable channel is raking in the dough from its subscription and on-demand services and DVD sales, its shows seem to be losing their audience. That, to me, seems to be the nature of television audiences. People may continue to sing the praises of a television show while not actually tuning in as regularly as they used to. Maybe I'm not the best one to judge, since the only HBO show I ever really enjoyed was Oz. I'm just inexplicably drawn to naked men stabbing each other.