'Outlander' casts important role: How the show became a hit for Starz
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Molly Driscoll Staff writer
The Starz hit program 鈥淥utlander鈥� has added another cast member, and book readers know that the actress will take on an important role.
Actress Sophie Skelton will join the cast for season 2, joining such cast members as Caitriona Balfe and Sam Heughan.聽
The Starz show centers on married World War II nurse Claire Randall (Caitriona Balfe), who travels through time to eighteenth-century Scotland and meets Scotsman Jamie Fraser (Heughan).聽
So who is Skelton playing? (Spoilers follow鈥�)
Skelton is taking on the role of Brianna Fraser, who readers of the book series by Diana Gabaldon on which 鈥淥utlander鈥� is based know is Jamie and Claire鈥檚 daughter.
Why is Jamie and Claire鈥檚 daughter an adult? You鈥檒l have to wait and see on that one.
The second season of the Golden Globe-nominated drama 鈥淥utlander鈥� will return this April.
鈥淥utlander鈥� has proven to be a breakout hit for network Starz. In today鈥檚 television landscape where every cable network and streaming service seemingly wants an original hit, 鈥淥utlander鈥� seems to be an important part of Starz鈥檚 current status as a player that can hold its own.
When the first season of the historical drama debuted in 2014 (the show split its first season between 2014 and 2015), 鈥淥utlander鈥� drew , with the premiere of the show debuting on TV, online, and On Demand.聽
wrote last year that Starz is doing well and 鈥淥utlander鈥� is crucial to that.聽
鈥淥utlander,鈥� the ambitious adaptation of Diana Gabaldon鈥檚 epic fantasy-adventure novels, has attracted similarly strong Nielsen numbers [as Starz show 鈥楶ower鈥橾, as well as a vocal online fandom,鈥� Mr. Adalian wrote. 鈥溾�tarz finally seems to have found its groove.鈥澛�
noted that the show also helped draw viewers to Starz that hadn't been there before.
"A success for Starz from its August 9 premiere last year, 'Outlander'聽has proved a vital part of the cabler鈥檚 rebranding[,] attracting female viewers to the previously predominantly male inclined Starz," Mr. Patten wrote last year.
鈥淥utlander鈥� has attracted critical attention as well, with the Hollywood Foreign Press Association bestowing on it such high-profile Golden Globes nominations as best TV drama series, best actress in a drama series for Ms. Balfe, and best supporting actor for Tobias Menzies.
If 鈥淥utlander鈥� is a crucial part of Starz鈥檚 current success, what other shows have proven to be hits that put their cable network or streaming service on the map?聽
Cable network AMC hit it big almost as soon as it ventured into original scripted programming. The TV show 鈥淢ad Men鈥� was the network鈥檚 first scripted drama show and is now called one of the greatest TV shows of all time.聽
Similarly, Netflix鈥檚 鈥淗ouse of Cards,鈥� which came to the service early in Netflix鈥檚 foray into original programming, became a big hit quickly.
For others, multiple programs helped bring networks or streaming services to viewers鈥� attention. Programs on HBO like 鈥淭he Larry Sanders Show鈥� helped with the cable network鈥檚 growing prominence before its popularity exploded in the late 1990s with shows like 鈥淭he Sopranos鈥� and 鈥淪ex and the City.鈥澛�
Similarly, Showtime aired a few original programs around the same time that all drew interest, including 鈥淒exter鈥� and 鈥淲eeds.鈥澛�
So what happens after these networks or services bring on a hit? Of course, they have to sustain the success. And in the current TV world, nothing is more true than that there鈥檚 always something new, as more and more original offerings from TV networks and streaming services arrive, fighting for viewers鈥� attention.聽
But one hit show can make a network or service's name in a way that would have been difficult to believe even 10 years ago. As they produce hits, cable networks and streaming services that viewers may not even have heard of now will no doubt keep coming to TV fans鈥� attention.
