was so fn good....
here was a story written about the cancellation:
US cable network AMC announced November 11 that Rubicon, its provocative series about the American intelligence apparatus, has been pulled from its roster after one season. AMC only offered a tersely worded statement as explanation:
“Rubicon gave us an opportunity to tell a rich and compelling story, and we’re proud of the series. This was not an easy decision, but we are grateful to have had the opportunity to work with such a phenomenally talented and dedicated team.”
At the center of Rubicon’s storyline is Will Travers (James Badge Dale), a brilliant, but disillusioned, employee of an intelligence think tank, the American Policy Institute (API). His wife and daughter have been killed in the September 11, 2001, terror attacks. His dead wife’s father apparently obtains the job for him at API and becomes his boss. In the first episode, the latter dies in a train crash, but Will has reason to think he has been murdered. (See our review.)
The series had numerous shortcomings, but the plot provided some genuine insight into the workings of the US intelligence community and the so-called “war on terror.”
An element of Rubicon’s drama paralleling reality is the sinister role played by a company called Atlas-McDowell. The firm’s tendrils reach into the US intelligence apparatus, through which high-level government policy decisions are influenced. One can’t help but think of Dick Cheney’s Halliburton and its real-life connections to American intelligence and government policy. Atlas-McDowell profits enormously from being “in on the know.” Rubicon depicts incidents that are entirely the company’s creation.
In Episode 12, the second to last, after Will and his API team are too late in their desperate attempt to uncover a terrorist plot, they see on the television news that an oil tanker has been blown up in a strategic shipping lane off the Texas coast. Truxton Spangler (Michael Cristofer), the API chief connected to Atlas-McDowell (who bears a remarkable resemblance to Cheney), smugly congratulates himself in private. The newscasters intone, “Once again, America is under attack.”
Viewers would find it difficult to avoid making the connection to September 11, when the world watched, stunned, the events at the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.
Of course, this raises serious questions about the so-called war on terror. A weakness of Rubicon is that it did not openly make a connection to the highest levels of government itself, but limited the conspiracy to a few well-placed “bad guys.” One wonders where the series would have gone if there had been a second season or more.
US television networks, to whom the public airwaves are handed over, are private entities, answerable to no one. Their programming decisions are made in the interest of profit. There is not the slightest trace of democratic control by the American population.
That being said, Rubicon received positive reviews. And looking at the numbers alone doesn’t explain the show’s fate. The series’ opener attracted more than 2 million viewers—higher than for either of AMC’s previous originals, Mad Men and Breaking Bad. By the series finale, viewership had dropped to just over 1 million. Mad Men’s first season’s ratings were comparable to those of Rubicon, but the network opted to continue production of the former series for a second season. It completed its fourth season in October.
AMC (originally American Movie Classics) started life as a commercial-free classic movie cable channel, but in 2002 began interrupting its broadcasts with advertisements and lost much of its appeal. In 2007, AMC began airing its own original series, starting with the much-celebrated Mad Men. Rubicon is the first of the series to be cancelled.
At the very least, AMC officials have shown they are not willing to make the sort of commitment to Rubicon they did to Mad Men. Why not? The show had a significant following as evidenced by the hundreds of posts on AMC’s blog, praising the series and protesting against its cancellation.
Questions arise: Was there direct or indirect pressure applied to AMC? Did the series make certain people nervous or unhappy? Was it hitting too close to home?
For now, these can only be posed as questions. Consider, however, the deep and universal hostility of the political establishment to the WikiLeaks revelations. Rubicon’s tagline, “Not every conspiracy is a theory,” may have some validity in this case.
I voted sopranos because overall i think it carries the most weight but pound for pound i would say Deadwood and Breaking Bad for me are THE BEST. I have never watched The Wire though and that is something ive heard others talk about as well as people here. I also never watched Sons of Anarchy (probably because so many women watched it). I think HBO and the premiums are always going to have an advantage because they have WAYYY more freedom. That is something to consider. Here are my favs...
True Detective (season 1)
Deadwood
Sopranos (1-4 seasons)
Fargo (season 2 for sure)
Westworld
Breaking Bad
Game of Thrones
Walking Dead (seasons 1-2.5)
Curb
True Detective (season 1)
Deadwood
Sopranos (1-4 seasons)
Fargo (season 2 for sure)
Westworld
Breaking Bad
Game of Thrones
Walking Dead (seasons 1-2.5)
Curb
Uh, Yeah.
From the Plot-line stuff you posted I can totally see why AMC had to cancel Rubicon. Occurs to me such a show might be at times tantamount to a 'Suggestion Box' or even a Training Video for Islamic Fanatic Groups or just Lone Wolves.
I'm shocked at some of the stuff that HOMELAND gets away with and also HOUSE OF CARDS
but RUBICON sounds like it was up around "8.5" or even higher on a scale 1-10 where 10 would be straight out (maybe) "Treasonous", potentially dangerous to USA and HOMELAND would come in around 6 on that scale and HOUSE OF CARDS around 4.
Of Course Cheney had it pulled though cuz just from that brief synopsis on that Scale up to 10 where 10 is potentially detrimental to CHENEY and other Croney-Elite
RUBICON sounds as though it was a 12
May as well just go ahead and fire a Lahz Rocket into Blackwater Headquarters
What are We? DEVO?
Of Course DICK got it pulled.
So Glad to see CURB made the list even as low as it is cuz I felt "dirty" praising it.
Deal is tho I was So Glad that Larry David did it and was able to do it cuz it gave him a vehicle to do stuff, writing-wise and Character-wise that he was unable to get away with on Seinfeld.
There was an Occasional Seinfeld where such stuff got snuck in, The "Assman" stuff, Costanza's dick after he had just come out of the pool....other examples I forget.
"Soup Nazi"...
CURB gave Larry David Freedom though. So I was glad for that. He's a weird funny guy. Had he not done CURB USA Entertainment would have been left with just a Severely Censored Larry David per SEINFELD and that would've been bad.
Strangest thing though is that Larry David MOVIES are so horrifically BAD. I mean, really bad. He hasn't made many movies but those he has made have been so bad that its actually mind-boggling how terrible they are.
They're SO unwatchable and utterly stupid in fact that the question of whether he did it on purpose, set out to make The Worst Movie in the entire history of Cinema, is a very very valid question.
That would "fit" 100% with his sense of Humor, for sure.
