The TV Zone

If I'm HBO, I'm worried. Much hyped "True Blood" pretty much tanked Sunday night - too early for me to think of any lame metaphors about vampires and blood and the dismal ratings state of this newcomer (so the headline will have to do). It was seen by only 1.4 million subs on Sunday, and while - I know, I know, this isn't TV, it's HBO, and they don't pay attention to ratings, etc. - it's still a pretty bad number. What happened? I have no idea, although this review in Newsday did indicate in no uncertain terms that it's probably a good idea to skip this one. As Denise Martin in the LA Times notes, "Big Love" bowed to a 4.56 million in March 2006, "Rome" to 3.8 million in August 2005 and "Deadwood" to 5.79 million in March 2004. "Entourage" also had a soft opening this past season - only 1.6 million. What's going on with HBO, which once not so very long ago could do no wrong? It's the oldest story in TV - inertia. Once you start to slide south, you continue to slide, and it takes something short of a programming miracle to reverse that. HBO needs a hit fast - before people start saying that Showtime is the New HBO. (Or are they already?)

(Photo: Gary Friedman, LAT)