5 Best American Cable Networks For Original Programming

5. Showtime

Much like the USA Network, Showtime is a 'sister station' of sorts to one of the 'big four' networks, in this case CBS. Broadcast to around 25% of American television households, its remit of original programming grew considerably throughout the 2000s, as its schedule became less dominated by movies and softcore adult programming and more renowned for its series about subjects that other networks wouldn't dare to touch (at least at the time), including the lifestyles of LGBT individuals (Queer as Folk, The L Word), cancer (the Big C), drugs (Weeds) and prostitution (Secret Diary Of A Call Girl). Perhaps its most notable creation, however, was Dexter, which began airing in 2007 and quickly generated buzz for its unique 'serial killer hunting criminals' formula, which garnered four successive Emmy nominations for Oustanding Drama Series. Key to Showtime's continued evolution was the first season of Homeland in 2011. Based on an Israeli series, it captivated audiences with the interweaving stories of Nicholas Brody (Damian Lewis), a US marine returning home from captivity in Iraq, and Carrie Matheson (Claire Danes), the bipolar CIA agent convinced that he has been turned into a threat. The series won a host of Emmys in the wake of its initial success, including Outstanding Drama Series, Outstanding Lead Actor for Lewis and Outstanding Lead Actress for Danes. As a result, its subsequent seasons were highly anticipated, but despite securing a further eight Emmy nominations in 2012, the general consensus now seems to be that the show has deviated too far from the original formula that made it such a captivating watch, relying too heavily on constant plot twists taken straight out of 24's book. Despite this, it is now the network's top-rated show following the conclusion of Dexter in 2013, securing audience figures of around 1.5 million per episode in its recent fourth season. Since 2011, it has been joined in the schedules but a number of solid if unspectacular dramas and comedies, including Ray Donovan, a crime drama starring Liev Schreiber as the eponymous Hollywood 'fixer', House of Lies, a comedy about management consultants starring Don Cheadle and Kristen Bell, and Episodes, a co-production with the BBC that sees Matt LeBlanc play a fictionalised version of himself. The new critic's darling on the network, meanwhile, is Masters of Sex, the often graphic dramatisation of 1950s sex researchers William Masters (Michael Sheen) and Virginia Johnson (Lizzy Caplan). Though many of these shows struggle to top a million viewers a time, they are evidence of how far Showtime has come, and demonstrative of a commitment to unrestricted original programming that seems set to continue in the near future.