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Damages in peril

Insiders say talk of any deal between Sony and DirecTV may not be enough to save Damages from the axe.

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That potential lifeline being floated to address the cost of Damages may not be enough to save the FX drama.

Despite hopes of Sony Pictures Television and satellite service DirecTV sharing the series, insiders say it doesn’t look as though the drama is a good fit for the latter.

DirecTV is performing with its male-skewing lineup including reruns of Oz, Deadwood, Brotherhood, Friday Night Lights and our very own Underbelly. It will add The Wire in July.

Does that mean Damages is a female-skewed show just because it has Glenn Close and Rose Byrne at the front? Apparently.

Variety notes Sony would have to take a substantial license-fee reduction for a fourth season and with potential salary increases for cast and crew it would likely be difficult, though not impossible, to cut costs.

There are also issues with which network might air the show first.

Fingers crossed they work this thing out. The show is gold.

Source: Variety

15 Responses

  1. I have noticed that there are more stories about some shows than others on TV Tonight (American Idol, comes to mind) but that’s your prerogative. It’s your blog, so you can run more stories on your favourites. If readers want more news about their favourite shows then they can always look elsewhere.

  2. Wrong again. 5 stories mentioning Damages this year. 9 mentioning Sea Patrol including a feature interview.

    But that wasn’t even your original issue. It was that I seemingly favoured an American show over and above Australian ones.

  5. What a stupid claim Warrigul.

    Click on the Damages Tag and you will find it mentioned in all of 5 stories so far this year. Then go back and tell me how many stories this week alone are about Australian content, starting with today’s feature on Sea Patrol and how Lisa McCune champions Australian drama. I don’t mind being disagreed with or even criticised but get it right first.

  7. I’d rather three seasons of awesomeness with Damages than this going on for years and getting worse… I honestly haven’t enjoyed Season 3 quite as much as the first three seasons… it feels very fractured and kind of aimless… but the characters and the main case has kept me coming back…

    I really dont see this surviving beyond this season, but hopefully there is some resolution to the storyline…

  9. This is just bullcrap.

    Damages is one of the best shows of the last decade [I watch a _lot_ of TV – some say too much!], and for it to only manage 3 seasons is a sad indictment on the “general” TV viewing populace.

    My main reason for watching? *Every* *single* *episode* – there’s a “holy $h1t!” moment, brining something unexpected. Even when you know something “unexpected” is coming, you still don’t see it coming. The writers on this show are, simply put, bloody awesome. As are the actors – and with plenty of big names, it confuses me why it’s not a more popular show.

    If you haven’t watched it, do yourself a favour and get season 1 on DVD [it should be pretty cheap by now.]

    They could save money on a 4th season by not having _quite_ so many big names as supporting characters I suppose – but then “you gets whats you pays for” 🙂

  10. This is the show I look forward to most, so I am not liking what I am reading. With one 90min episode of Season 3 left to air next week, I will be sad to see this show go 🙁

    Season 3 would have to be the best of the 3 aired.

  12. David, DirecTV isn’t a cable network, it’s a satellite TV provider. And it’s their exclusive satellite channel The 101 that airs these shows.

    And Damages is absolutely dead, its ratings are miniscule, and sharing its ratings they’d shrink even more for each party.

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