It looks like HBO is just TV after all. After airing such intense fare as The Sopranos and Carnivalé, the new head of production, Sue Naegle (or at least that's my guess on who pulled the plug based on the quotes) is pulling the plug on the in development HBO adaptation of DC/Vertigo's Preacher. The Garth Ennis-Steve Dillon comic book series was controversial for its intense violence and handling of religious subjects, but it was also a huge sales and critical hit.

There was talk of adapting the series with each episode comprising exactly one comic issue. Dialogue was lifted almost exactly from the book with the comic art used as the storyboard. Fans were incredibly enthusiastic about it, but "the new head of HBO felt it was just too dark and too violent and too controversial," according to Mark Steven Johnson (Daredevil, Ghost Rider). Naegle loves In Treatment, Big Love and Tell Me You Love Me, so that tells you where here tastes lie. These aren't bad shows but they're also not going to jump out and grab headlines, and headlines are exactly what HBO needs for its original series.

HBO is developing a one-hour series based on the late 1990s comic, called Preacher. The story is about a small-town Texas preacher who is possessed by a Genesis, a half angel/half demon entity. As The Hollywood Reporter describes, "the preacher teamed with an old girlfriend and a hard-drinking Irish vampire and set out on a journey across America to find God." The series was considered edgy for its commentary on American religious and political issues. The Irish and British creators of the comic are co-executive producing the series. It's being written by Mark Steven Johnson, the screenwriter who adapted Daredevil for the big screen.

If the series can be as clever in its observations on Americana as the comic was, it sounds like a great fit for HBO. The network is in desperate need of something that is going to make people talk. The Sopranos and Sex and the City used to be that for HBO, but one has fizzled while the other is long gone.