Alan Ball has wrapped up his tenure on HBO's vampy True Blood and now he's headed for his next series on...Cinemax? Can that be right? Yes, believe it or not Cinemax is renewing its focus on original programming that is not entirely composed of soft-core pornography, and one of their more promising upcoming shows is Ball's Banshee, set to premiere next year. Cinemax has just posted the first teaser for it and it's definitely heavy on the "tease."
So, what have we learned? Well, the town is full of scumbags. I think there was a train car exploding. Also, there will be naked people. That shouldn't be a huge surprise. If Cinemax's (admittedly fun) Strike Back series is any indication, just because the network is trying to class the joint up with things like scripts and actors you've heard of, that doesn't mean it's going to back down on its longstanding commitment to showing us photogenic naked people. It's the American way.
Banshee tells the story of an ex-convict and thief who takes over the identity of a sheriff in Banshee, PA. Naturally, he uses his newfound legitimacy to keep breaking the law on the side, as well as hoping the mobsters he ripped off before coming to the town never find him.
While Banshee is still a long way off, Cinemax debuts another original series, Hunted, this October. It stars Melissa George as an intelligence operative who survives an assassination attempt and begins to suspect she was set up by members of her own team. The series is exec produced by former X-Filer Frank Spotnitz.
