For a while there, it looked like Showtime, with buzzworthy shows like Californication, Weeds and Dexter, was dominating headlines and getting all kinds of praise. In response, their ratings were rising. Meanwhile, HBO had struggled to replace The Sopranos, Deadwood and Rome when all three left the airwaves in 2006-07. New "big" shows like John From Cincinnati and Tell Me You Love Me failed to make waves with audiences.

Really, it was Dexter that started swinging the ship toward Showtime, and in so doing, brought attention to the rest of their lineup. With HBO floundering, Showtime saw an opportunity and took full advantage, offering bold new entries. Apparently there's an audience that looks almost exclusively for premium cable original programming. And everything was going so well ... until HBO managed to snag a piece of America's current fixation on vampires.