But not every project is picked up: HBO passed on purported Nikki Finke drama Tilda (which makes us slightly fearful, despite creative difficulties on the Tilda set, for Aaron Sorkin's inside-media Olbermann pilot), and New York family drama The Miraculous Year. They also passed on a pilot by Alan Ball, the man behind one of the network's only current hits, True Blood. This would seem to make greenlighting of Mr. Milch's series proof that Luck must fill the need for splashy spectacle on the network, or that Michael Mann's involvement as director must be notable in a Scorsese-at-Boardwalk Empire sense.

Martin Scorsese's involvement with the Atlantic City drama (created by Terence Winter) is a good case study: The network's current model seems to be matching high-concept idea with boldface name: Mr. Chabon, Ms. Dunham and Mr. Apatow, Mr. Ferrell and Mr. McKay, Mr. Sorkin, Frank Rich (producer of Julia Louis-Dreyfus project Veep). Their voices are all markedly different from one another's--and from past HBO creators'. The Sopranos came from a TV lifer, David Chase, who'd written for television, without great personal fame, for years before creating his series. It's unlikely that a name like his--at least without a major director along for the ride--could greenlight a series at the network today.

ddaddario@observer.com :: @DPD_