Andy Greenwald chronicles how the cable channel went from “the place to watch Goodfellas at two in the afternoon” to the home of the blockbuster shows Breaking Bad, Mad Men, and The Walking Dead:
Long before their final seasons, AMC’s first two original series had secured their spots on TV Drama Mount Rushmore. And AMC found itself batting a thousand in a league of its own: No network in television history has ever experienced such out-of-the-box development success.
But it’s worth noting that AMC didn’t have anything to do with developing either show. And the splash made by Mad Men and Breaking Bad created many ripples, many in the form of other no-name networks, from A&E to WE, deciding to quit treading water and start paddling around in scripted waters. This meant AMC could no longer float to the top on the backs of exceptional leftovers and would instead be forced to sink or swim on its own. Aside from a certain monstrous hit … the results haven’t been pretty.
Designed to complement the network’s deep bench of conspiracy thrillers, AMC’s first in-house series, Rubicon, drove itself mad and its audience to boredom when it debuted in 2010. It was a show that had all the signifiers of a prestige viewing experience — a rich, sumptuous visual style; an overarching sense of menace; a pace akin to a slug circumnavigating an apple dipped in molasses — but none of the content to match. Problems existed off-camera as well: Creator Jason Horwich was fired after the pilot, leaving Henry Bromell, an Emmy-winning industry veteran, to make do as best he could. It wasn’t nearly enough. Rubicon was a compelling idea that, when strung out over 13 aimless hours, revealed itself to be nothing more. It was canceled after a single season.
Rubicon‘s trailer:
The Dish 