FromThe SopranostoGame of Thrones,HBOhas served TV lovers some of the most enjoyable shows. The network’s executives almost always seem to know how to sieve the great stories from the bad ones, resulting in quality programming across all genres. Cancelations are also rare. Thanks to the careful selection, most shows go on to have lengthy and healthy runs. Additionally, they collect multiple accolades during each award season.
However, there have been times when the network made the wrong call on pitches, rejecting shows that became successful elsewhere. The higher-ups definitely must have felt a pinch of regret as it would have been great to have some of these hits under the HBO banner. Interestingly, some of the shows seem like the standard HBO production, given how much they defy conventions. So, why were they rejected?
Picked up by AMC
Mad Mencovers the personal and professional lives of a group of wisecracking advertising executives in the 1960s, with the dapper and womanizing creative director, Don Draper (John Hamm), serving as the show’s central character.The term “Mad Men” is believed to have been used in the ‘50s by advertisers working along Madison Avenue in Manhattan, “Mad” being the short form of “Madison”.
HBO Wanted David Chase to be the Executive Producer
This superlative show byThe Sopranoswriter Matt Weiner peers at the dark side of corporate life with ripe, lewd humor and the utmost tenderness. Interestingly, Weiner’s idea was rejected by HBO,even though he had worked with the network before.
During a panel discussion at the Paley Center’s International Council Summit in New York City, HBO CEO Richard Plepler described passing onMad Menasthe biggest regret of his professional career.Plepler wanted David Chase to serve as executive producer, but he wasn’t interested, so, he too, said no. Thankfully, AMC said yes.
The Walking Dead
Based on one of the most successful and popular comic books of all time, AMC’s The Walking Dead captures the ongoing human drama following a zombie apocalypse. The series, developed for television by Frank Darabont, follows a group of survivors, led by police officer Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln), who are traveling in search of a safe and secure home. However, instead of the zombies, it is the living who remain that truly become the walking dead. The Walking Dead lasted for eleven seasons and spawned several spinoff shows, such as Fear the Walking Dead and The Walking Dead: World Beyond.
Based on the comic series of the same name by Tony Moore, Robert Kirkman, and Charlie Adlard,The Walking Deadfollows survivors of a zombie apocalypse as they fend off attacks from zombies known as “walkers.” In this fictional world, modern civilization is shown to have collapsed, so the survivors also confront various other challenges, including fellow humans acting irrationally.
Undoubtedly the Greatest Zombie Show
The riveting show is so expertly done that some of the events feel entirely plausible, while the hard-bitten, unlucky-in-life characters make everything even more enjoyable. The multilayered narrative is gritty and intense, especially compared to what’s on offer elsewhere. It also has multiple spinoffs at the moment, hence Max could have had a bulkier library
It’s a shocker that the celebrated network fumbled what would becomethe greatest zombie show of all time. How did that happen? Well, HBO was willing to commitif the production team toned down the graphic violence of the source material,butexecutive producer Gale Anne Hurd declined those terms. She continued shopping the series around and eventually found a network willing to bite.
6Yellowjackets (2021 – Present)
Picked up by Showtime
Yellowjackets
Yellowjacketstakes viewers back to1996, when a New Jersey high school girls' soccer team boards a plane to Seattle, only for their plane to crash in the wilderness. The girls are left stranded for 19 months, and during this period some of them resort to cannibalism, while others are hit with surreal occurrences. The series also peeks into the lives of the survivors 25 years later in 2021.
Another Teen Show Blocked It
From great cinematography to an endless eerie feel, there is no shortage of things to love aboutYellowjackets. It is not just one of Showtime’s best offerings;it may be the best American show ever about being young, afraid, and on the cusp of maturity.
It sure seems inspired byLostandthe 1993 survival movieAlive, as well as the 1954 novelLord of the Flies, but it still flies at its own altitude as a crisp, wonderfully moving evocation of teenage restlessness. It’s a shame that HBO execs rejected it becausethey felt it would be too similar toEuphoria.
Breaking Bad
Breaking Badis a raw and engrossing tale of a man driven to crime by life’s misfortunes. At the start of the show, lowly-paid high-school Chemistry teacher Walter White (Bryan Cranston) finds out he has cancer. To ensure his family doesn’t suffer after he dies, he decides to use his knowledge to produce methamphetamine. He hopes to get out of the business once he makes a tidy sum, but with each new episode, he gets pulled deeper and deeper into the underworld.
HBO Never Considered It
Vince Gilligan’shard-hitting, frighteningly authentic look at family and criminal lifesmooths over nothing in its depiction of an angry working-class Albuquerque man who finds pride in a new venture he never thought he would undertake. It’s now considered one ofthe greatest shows of all time, and it would have belonged to HBO had the execs been nicer.
About the rejection,Gilligan recalls:
“They wouldn’t even grace us with a ‘no.’ They were basically like, ‘Just get out of the office, please.' The person we were pitching to could not have been less interested. Not even in my story, but about whether I actually lived or died."
Quite brutal.
4Desperate Housewives (2004 – 2012)
Picked up by ABC
Desperate Housewives
Desperate Housewivesis set on Wisteria Lane, a street in the fictional city of Fairview, and captures the lives of a group of women as seen through the eyes of a neighbor who committed suicide in the series premiere. The plot stretches across 15 years of the women’s lives, with a five-year time jump. Additionally, there are a few flashbacks and flashforwards to the 1980s and 2020s.
The show is an unswerving delight, lifting what could have been a “suburban American woman” story to exciting new heights.Teri Hatcher shines more here than she did while playing Lois Lane,and Eva Longoria juggles mischief and comedy with endless aplomb.
The potential could be seen right from the pilot, but HBO turned it down,believing it would be too similar toSex and the City. One can understand the network’s desire to avoid repeating itself, but this show ended up being very different.
3Sons of Anarchy (2008 – 2014)
Picked up by FX
Sons of Anarchy
Every criminal organization has someone who hates needless bloodshed, and inSons of Anarchy, that person is Jax Teller (Charlie Hunnam). He is the prince of the fictional SAMCRO biker gang, having been sired by a former leader. Like his father, he hopes to ride into more legitimate territory, but that proves harder than expected because of the deep roots that his faction has in California’s underworld.
Snubbed for a Failed Project
Sons of Anarchyhas chases, shootouts, fisticuffs, and everything else that viewers would demand from a show like this.There’s also a revolving door of great villains, and many intriguing supporting characters,including one played by Stephen King.
According to Variety, series creator Kurt Sutter pitched the project to HBO, but the network declined becauseit had already picked up another biker show. Interestingly, the show chosen by the network never blossomed past the production stage, while the FX show became one of the biggest crime dramas on television.
2The Sandman (2022 – Present)
Picked up by Netflix
The Sandman
Plucked right out of DC Comics,The Sandmantraces the journey of Morpheus, aka, Dream, as he tries to restore order in his realm known as The Dreaming. Morpheus isthe personification of dreams and nightmaresand one of the universe’s seven cosmic beings known as the Endless (Death, Delirium, Desire, Despair, Destiny, Destruction, and Dream). It’s revealed that the protagonist is trying to make up for lost time, having been held in captivity for 106 years by occultists.
All About the Money
Watching Morpheus reawaken long-dormant emotions is pure fun. Overall,The Sandmanis as strong as the source material, weaving in numerous theories that require keenness to comprehend. So, why did the recent DC adaptation end up on Netflix instead of Max? It’s as simple as money, HBOfelt it was too expensive to make, so a pitch was made to Netflix.
1Yellowstone (2018 - Present)
Picked up by Paramount Network
Yellowstone
Yellowstone stars Kevin Costner and centers on his character John Dutton. Dutton and his family live on a cattle ranch just a few hours away from Yellowstone National Park. The series chronicles the family’s struggle to defend their home from an Indian reservation and land developers. As if their life wasn’t complicated enough, the Duttons also have medical issues, political aspirations, and family secrets stacked against them.
Yellowstonecenters around the Dutton family, owners of Montana’s largest ranch, the Yellowstone Dutton Ranch, commonly referred to as “The Yellowstone.” Most of the show’s plots touch on family drama inside the ranch and the community politics stemming from the Broken Rock Indian Reservation, and real estate developers.
So Close, Yet So Far
Taylor Sheridan has been on fireover the past few years, andYellowstoneremains his best creation. The series combines political intrigue, marvelous landscapes, family drama, and strong performances (especifically from Kevin Costner), to create a modern work of art. Sheridan revealed that his show didn’t get the “get out of here” treatment thatBreaking Badreceived from HBO;the network was super interested.The only problem was the difference in approach. Sheridan’s insistence on casting Kevin Costner was a dealbreaker, so the neo-western ended up at Paramount.
