Albrecht still is. In 1995 HBO was primarily a movie channel “hanging on by a fingernail” to its lead over rival Showtime, says chairman Jeff Bewkes. Then Albrecht, already a 10-year veteran of HBO after a stint as a Hollywood agent, was named president of original programming. Today HBO is the hottest number on the dial, winning Golden Globes for best TV series–comedy and drama–and spooking the networks into panicked memos about how to keep up. “As showbiz goes, we’re all wrong more often than we’re right,” says “Sopranos” producer Brad Grey. “But Chris’s percentage is stronger than all the others.” It’s not just weekly series, either. Albrecht oversees a shop that has created gushed-over movies (“Wit”), miniseries (“The Corner”) and variety shows (“The Chris Rock Show”). And isn’t it time to admit that, yes, you watch “G-String Divas”?
Albrecht’s method, like his track record, is unique. He and his team make decisions by instinct, not with test audiences, and it’s clear by his tone that this is a source of puffy-chested pride. “We just think, ‘Is it good? Can we make it good?’ Because if you fail with good, then you haven’t really failed.”
Picking the right projects, though, is one thing; having their creators come back for seconds is another. Tom Hanks, who is a very busy man, enjoyed his experience on 1998’s “From the Earth to the Moon” so much that when he returned for “Band of Brothers,” he brought along Steven Spielberg. Next up for Hanks: a miniseries about John Adams. So what’s the secret? Albrecht’s laissez-faire reputation is legendary, but also a bit inaccurate. Says Grey, who also did “The Larry Sanders Show” with HBO and has two more projects in the works: “With Chris and HBO, you actually welcome their notes. That is very rare.” Or maybe just ahead of its time.
