HBO’s ‘Watchmen’ Premiere Creates Major Competition On Sunday Nights

How many places can your eyes be at once? You’re going to have to make some tough decisions this fall. HBO has confirmed that Watchmen will premiere on Sunday, October 20 at 9pm on the network.

That creates direct competition within DC and Warner Bros., with Supergirl airing at the same time on The CW. Fans of The Walking Dead will also note that there is a choice for them to make, as well. You could take this to mean one of two things.

I’m willing to admit this could be a coincidence, but networks tend to pick these premiere dates and times quite strategically. Given that, HBO might feel very strongly that they have a big hit on their hands. Most networks wouldn’t take on a mainstay series like The Walking Dead unless they felt like they could compete with or exceed that series. This seems like the more likely scenario.

The less likely scenario is that this is how you set a show up to have excuses as to why ratings might be a bit lower. All of that competition, you could understand why some fans could wait to watch the show on the HBO app. To me, it feels like HBO wants this to be a Live success, not a Live+ success. The reason I say that is they were very adamant in letting us know the show would premiere first on the HBO network.

Set in an alternate history where masked vigilantes are treated as outlaws, WATCHMEN, from executive producer Damon Lindelof (Emmy® winner for “Lost”; HBO’s “The Leftovers”) embraces the nostalgia of the original groundbreaking graphic novel of the same name, while attempting to break new ground of its own. Nicole Kassell directs the pilot from a script written by Lindelof.

WATCHMEN is produced for HBO by White Rabbit in association with Warner Bros. Television; executive producer/writer, Damon Lindelof; executive producer/director, Nicole Kassell; executive producer, Tom Spezialy; executive producer/director, Stephen Williams; executive producer, Joseph Iberti. Based on the iconic graphic novel co-created and illustrated by Dave Gibbons and published by DC.

Learn more about Watchmen by seeing the trailer and our previous coverage.

Photo Credit: Mark Hill/HBO