The TV Addict 

Showtime, hands down! I’ve been saying for a long time now that Showtime is the new HBO. There is nothing on HBO that can compare to Weeds or Dexter. I was a huge SATC fan back in the day and that was the only time I watched HBO. Never was a fan of The Sopranos so that’s no loss to me.
I tested out John from Cincinnati and was really disappointed. I felt like I was jumping into watching the middle of the season and didn’t care for any of the deeply flawed characters. Even Dylan McKay couldn’t save that show for me. I might give it one more try but it took a lot of effort to get through His Visit: Day One.
Big Love is the only show worth watching on HBO since Extras has now played out its last season. Flight of the Conchords might be alright but I’m not clamoring to see it.
Meadowlands and Californication should both be pleasant summer fare that will probably be better than any of HBO’s offerings.
But that’s just my two cents…

neither…I’m perfectly happy living in Canada and sacrificing the ability to get either channel.

HBO is a mess right now after the boss beat up his girlfriend and was fired. They killed of Carnivale, Deadwood and few others before they were finished. Six Feet Under, Sopranos and Sex and The City are gone leaving the net with no new hits. John From Cincy is getting killed by critics and nothing on the horizon looks worthy at this point of being a ‘hit”. They still have cult faves Big Love, Entourage and Curb Your Enthusiasm but the cult faves use to always offset a hit or two. And whoever thought it was a good idea to kill Deadwood and launch Cincy in the same breath is nuts.

Meahwhile showtime has The L Word, Weeds, Dexter, The Tudors and Brotherhood and what will be the most buzzed about show late summer Californication. Not to mention a new personal fave Meadowlands.

My vote is Showtime… by a long shot….

I enjoy SHO much more, too bad Weeds & Dexter can’t be on for longer season runs…

I’d choose neither. If I was forced, I would choose HBO, but not for the actual programming. I’m not particularly into either channel’s current programming. I’m not huge on weeds. Weeds isn’t bad, but I don’t really find the show all that amusing. It struck me as hackish and boring, but that’s just how I saw it. I came into the L Word too late. I would have to watch four seasons of the show on DVD to even understand what’s going on. I actually like this show, but it’s a serial program which requires background knowledge that I just don’t have because I have to know backgrounds of characters and make personal investments. I did like queer as folk, but those days are over.

Additionally, I’m not watching period shows because they don’t really interest me, so that takes Rome and the Tudors out of the running off the bat since I really don’t care about ancient Rome or Middle Ages England. The programming on HBO is slightly better to me. I do like big love and the wire. Flight of the Conchords might be interesting, but this is not why I’m choosing HBO.

The reason I choose HBO is because the boxing coverage on HBO is light years ahead of Showtime. The fighters are better, the commentators are better, and the frequency is much higher. So, while showtime is doing its thing, I’d choose HBO over showtime.

Showtime, definitely!

I’m not sure what HBO have going for it besides Big Love.

Neither, don’t watch either of there original series enough if I had to pay for them myself.

its gotta be HBO. Showtime has the fantastic Weeds and Dexter and…oh wait, that’s it. HBO may not have any hits besides Entourage on this very second, but you know there will be more– HBO has been very consistent in its excellence for years, while Showtime is just starting to get good. I’d stick to the more reliable of the two.

Showtime by a mile… though i like Big Love, i LOVE Dexter.

That is why Canada is so great! we get pretty much all the shows with the movie network

For me.. I love Big Love, but then I also love Dexter and The L Word. So 2 against one? It’s hard because who knows what series they’ll have next. Right now I’d go with Showtime.
Isn’t it cheaper to just dl all series you like on itunes instead of paying a certain amount a month?..