In case you forgot (as pretty much everyone did), DirecTV has original programming now. Rogue launched via DirecTV’s subscribers-only Applause Network last spring, and another original drama, Neil LaBute’s Full Circle, was filmed last summer for Applause.
Much like Netflix, now that DirecTV’s got a couple of dramas under its belt, the satellite provider is making its first foray into comedy. It’s ordered 10 episodes of the original series Things You Shouldn’t Say Past Midnight, based on a play by Ice Age and The Americans screenwriter Peter Ackerman. Set in Los Angeles, the show takes place over the course of 12 hours, based on the idea that nothing good happens after midnight. Presumably, it will air before midnight.
Satellite still lags behind cable in subscribers; DirecTV and its biggest competitor, DISH, had a total of 34.3 million subscribers at the end of 2013, with 20.25 million of those subscribing to DirecTV, as opposed to cable’s 49.5 million. (For comparison, Netflix ended 2013 with 31.1 million subscribers.) However, last year satellite actually gained customers while every cable company was hemorrhaging them, so maybe there’s life—and now laughs—in the old dish model yet.